Rob Mclennan. BAGNE or CRITERIA for HEAVEN. Broken Jaw, 2000.
I was reading his Substack about his mother being a poet in Ottawa and before I finished it, I found this book in the BOOKMAN's sale shelves. Interesting. A long list of poems addressed to fellow Canadian poets.
Jeanine Cummins. SPEAK TO ME OF HOME. Henry Holt, 2025.
Book Club selection for February. Multi-generational saga of Puerta Rico family marrying, moving to Missouri, moving elsewhere, moving home. Interesting themes of the island culture, the innate racism, mixtures of Spanish, mixed, African, Irish, American backgrounds. The existence of racism on the island and in the mid-west. How some generations are unaware of their own snobbery. The idea that we are all both felon and victim in our own stories. The difficulty of admitting our own mistakes. The inequity of private medical insurance denying coverage. The unfairness of Puerta Rico being American territory without any representatives or say in US politics. DNA plays a role in inspiring people to tell the truth.
William Shakespeare. The Tempest.
My obsession continues with this play. Reduced my original down to 2500 words, CNF.
Anne Tyler. The AMATEUR MARRIAGE.
Book Club selection for January. The story of a couple who married in haste during the war, had three children, found a grandson and brought him home, and finally divorced after 30-some years. Very incompatible. Married for all the wrong reasons. I'm convinced no amount of therapy would have helped. Personally, the immature and mismatched couple just made me angry.
Federico Garcia Lorca. SELECTED POEMS with Parallel Spanish Text. Oxford, 2007.
With an introduction, a life timeline, and footnotes. Beautiful poetry about homeland, travel, love, sex, and death.
Joyce Carol Oates. DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery ad Suspense. Mysterious Press, 2017.
These stories, like Law & Order, are ripped from the headlines. Bodies buried in a crawl space. Naked woman rotting in the water tank of an apartment building. In unsecured handgun. Such incredibly good writing. I especially like "The Great Blue Heron", nature writing with a bird-metaphor of grief.
Angus (Byron), a Nova Scotia lawyer, faces an ethical conundrum upon the death of his old friend Allan Chase whose business dealings are less than above-board. Angus works it out with the help of his ex and her sister, the Winter sisters.
Rob Mclennan. BAGNE or CRITERIA for HEAVEN. Broken Jaw, 2000. I was reading his Substack about his mother being a poet in Ottawa and befor...
