Ellis, Will. Abandoned NYC. Atglen: Schiffer, 2014. This book is a collection of images from Ellis’s website of the same name. He goes around New York City photographing spaces that have been abandoned. This is an extremely fascinating topic considering how space is at such a premium in the city. It is difficult to believeContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Category Archives: Literature
Book Acquired Recently: Porn Archives
Dean, Tim, Steven Ruszczycky, and David Squires, eds. Porn Archives. Durham: Duke UP, 2014. I received this book as a Valentine’s Day present. I saw an ad for it during the holidays (I think in Book Forum) and had put it on my amazon.com wishlist. It interests me in part because I’ve read some ofContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Porn Archives”
Book Acquired Recently: David Peace’s The Damned Utd
Peace, David. The Damned Utd. 2006. Brooklyn: Melville, 2014. I recently read Peace’s novel about Bill Shankly, Red or Dead, and enjoyed it enough that I decided to explore more of his work. The Damned Utd is about Brian Clough’s short tenure as manager of Leeds United. Clough is a figure who has long fascinatedContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: David Peace’s The Damned Utd”
Thoughts on Combining Personal Libraries
I just came across this excellent article by Alexander Chee (whose novel Edinburgh is fantastic, incidentally) about the issue of combining libraries when one moves in with a new romantic partner. This is a topic that I have thought a lot about over the years, and especially in the past few as I’ve gone throughContinue reading “Thoughts on Combining Personal Libraries”
Books Acquired Recently
July, Miranda. The First Bad Man. New York: Scribner, 2015. I really enjoyed July’s short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You, and thus probably would have bought this book eventually. However, what caused me to buy it immediately was Kaitlin Phillips’s review in the February/March issue of Book Forum. Phillips writes ofContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Books Acquired Recently
Castillo, Ana. Give It To Me. New York: Feminist, 2014. I read the first draft of this book when Castillo and I were colleagues at Westminster College for a semester and loved it. It is sexy, humorous, and scandalous. I bought it as soon as I found out it had been released. This, Plett’s, andContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copy Edition
I already had the most recent editions (and thus the ones that are in print that the campus bookstore can order for students) of most of the books that I’ll be teaching this semester. The Harper and Larsen are for an African American literature course, and the Whitehead is for a Literature of New YorkContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Desk Copy Edition”
Books Acquired Recently: Holiday Edition
I’ve acquired a number of books over the past few weeks. Most of them (the ones without their provenance listed) have been gifts, though a few I’ve bought for gifts to myself to read over the semester break. Ballard, J.G. Cocaine Nights. 1996. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998. Ballard is an author that I love toContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently: Holiday Edition”
Book Acquired Recently: Jennifer Pashley’s States
Pashley, Jennifer. States. Lewiston: Lewis-Clark, 2007. Pashley gave a reading of her fiction at Utica College last week, and it was one of those experiences where literature provided exactly the message I needed to hear at the time. I am always amazed and grateful when this happens. The reading was powerful enough that I wasContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Jennifer Pashley’s States”
Book Acquired Recently: Rudy Wiebe’s Come Back
Wiebe, Rudy. Come Back. Toronto: Knopf, 2014. Rudy Wiebe has been an important author in my life, and of course he is one of the most influential Mennonite writers ever, so when his new novel came out I was eager to purchase it. It hasn’t been published in the U.S. yet, but I was ableContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Rudy Wiebe’s Come Back”
Daniel Shank Cruz 