“Poetry must be made by all and not by one.” — Comte de Lautréamont The ripple effect of an influential life creates plot developments to rival the greatest novels. In his new autobiography, I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp, singer, songwriter, musician, publishe... Read More
“Picabia has destroyed ‘beauty’ and built his work with the leftovers.” — Tristan Tzara A self-declared poet, painter, idiot, failure, pickpocket, and anti-artist, Francis Picabia was one of the leading figures of the Dadaist movement. Now, almost 50 years ... Read More
Gore Vidal died on July 31, 2012, and much has been written about him since. Some have retold the story of his infamous on-air argument with William F. Buckley Jr., while others have discussed his sexual preferences. I once had the pleasure of meeting Gore Vidal. The man I encoun... Read More
Mystery novels about Germany that show up on our shores tend to be either reprints of World War II-era books or new novels set in that time. It’s an interesting milieu, but it’s unimaginative. Jakob Arjouni escaped those confines by writing mysteries set in modern-day... Read More
“What if I forgave myself?” I thought. “What if I forgave myself even though I’d done something I shouldn’t have?” – Cheryl Strayed Cheryl Strayed’s Wild is more like a confession than a memoir. She set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail a... Read More
Is this a fairy tale? Are the stories true? These were the questions Patti Smith had to answer when Woolgathering was first published in 1992. New Directions recently published an augmented version that includes portions omitted from the original book plus additional observations... Read More