danielshankcruz

Books Acquired Recently: Salt Lake City Edition

I am visiting Salt Lake City for the holidays, and over the past few days I’ve visited two of my favorite bookstores in the city, The King’s English, where I bought Lessing’s novel, and Central Book Exchange, where I bought Kosinski’s and Poe’s books. Kosinski, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. 1965. New York: Bantam, 1972. IContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Salt Lake City Edition”

Books Acquired Recently: Holiday Gift Edition

This post lists the various books I’ve received as gifts this holiday season. I actually didn’t ask for very many this year (I went a more purely aesthetic route, getting some snazzy clothing and several pieces of art), hence the small number, though I’ll probably buy a few more with some holiday cash. There areContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Holiday Gift Edition”

Book Acquired Recently: Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin & Marissa Alexander

Osayande, Ewuare X., ed. Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin & Marissa Alexander. Philadelphia: FreedomSeed, 2013. I received this anthology from my father, who works with Osayande at Mennonite Central Committee. I am incredibly excited to read it, as it looks to be an important addition to the long tradition of politically-activist poetry anthologiesContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin & Marissa Alexander”

The Ten Most Influential Books List

I recently participated in the Facebook meme that asks for a list of the ten most influential books on a person’s life. Here is my list with some brief comments: 1. boneyard by Stephen Beachy—This book showed myself to me in an exact way that I had never encountered before in literature. Queer and Anabaptist:Continue reading “The Ten Most Influential Books List”

Thoughts on the 2014 World Cup Draw

Well, the United States will have their work cut out for them in the 2014 World Cup, as they have been drawn in the Group of Death with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana. A win in the first match against Ghana is a necessity, and then the U.S. will have to hope for a result againstContinue reading “Thoughts on the 2014 World Cup Draw”

Books Acquired Recently: R.J. Julia Edition, and Some Thoughts on the Form

First, let me say that obviously my blog has been taken over by Books Acquired Recently posts in recent weeks. This is partly a manifestation of my book-acquiring addiction and partly a manifestation of the busyness of my first semester teaching at Utica College: I just haven’t had time to write about other subjects. IContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: R.J. Julia Edition, and Some Thoughts on the Form”

Books Acquired Recently: Retiring Colleague Edition

One of my colleagues is retiring after this semester, and she gave me some of her books dealing with African American literature because it is one of my research interests. I am happy to preserve some of her library by integrating it into my own. Several of the paperbacks are from the 1970s and haveContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Retiring Colleague Edition”

Book Acquired Recently: Philip Fried’s Early/Late

Fried, Philip. Early/Late: New & Selected Poems. Cliffs of Moher: Salmon, 2011. The New York City-based poet Philip Fried gave a delightful reading at Utica College this afternoon, and I bought his book afterwards. I had only read a few of Fried’s poems in anthologies before, and am very glad to have had this chanceContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Philip Fried’s Early/Late”

Books Acquired Recently

Arenas, Reinaldo. Before Night Falls. Trans. Dolores M. Koch. 1993. New York: Penguin, 1994. I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while, as it combines two interests of mine, queerness and Cuba. I’ve actually hardly read any Cuban literature, which is a problem that I need to remedy. Arenas’s memoir is a start.Continue reading “Books Acquired Recently”

Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copies Edition

DeLillo, Don. End Zone. 1972. New York: Penguin, 1986. I’ll be teaching this novel in my Literature in Focus: Teens and Twenty-Somethings course next semester. The course only includes books with youngish protagonists. End Zone is the story of a college football team in Texas, and I am including it in the course with theContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copies Edition”