Author: Lara Ehrlich
Publisher: Red Hen Press 2020
Animal Wife’s fifteen stories take place in worlds of fantasy, mystery, chance, contradictions and danger—a world where, “happiness has sharp edges.” Women of various ages and stages, from childhood to adulthood, experience the real and the idyllic inherent in the “feminine mystique,” and in life itself. They navigate through innocence, sexuality, uncertainty, expectations of others, as well as their own fears, memories and desires. Readers are delightfully and inevitably drawn in to their own navigation of the blurred lines between fantasy and its underlying realities.
These captivating tales involve women longing, though not always for a clearly defined “something”; often they have no desire for the things others tell them they should want or have. They strive or drift toward identity, fulfillment, and varied forms of escape with surprising inner and outer transformations, sometimes frightening, sometimes wished for and self-fulfilling.
There is the enigmatic fate of one whose swan sisters warn her that, “no good can come of longing,” yet her longing draws her to a man who, “hides her feathers.” A young girl’s friends tell her, “It doesn’t matter if you like a boy or not; it only matters if he likes you.” One young girl concentrates so hard on appearing pleasant, she forgets to breathe.” A wannabe deer woman, “needs a change she can’t come back from.” One drinks the cotton candy-flavored "Foresight," delivered in an Amazon box, but ultimately rejects all the “possible futures” presented to her, “preferring the unknown.”
In a recent interview with Joel Brown of Bostonia (Boston University’s alumni magazine), author Ehrlich speaks of her interest in, “capturing a sense of fuzziness between reality and fantasy. I want to give the readers room to interpret the reality or unreality of a situation—but there’s a fine line between intentional uncertainty and unintentional confusion …. I’ve intended them to question reality.”
We are reminded of the wide-spread appeal of imaginative works, such as Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and those of more contemporary authors, such as Italo Calvino and Elizabeth Allende. Not only has this genre of literature been read and enjoyed through time, it has forever been retold and drawn upon in art, drama, film and television. It also has long been explored and analyzed by scholars (Joseph Campbell), and psychologists (Jung and Bettelheim) for its dream-like magic with meaning.
There is this kind of appeal for readers in the highly recommended Animal Wife, Red Hen Press’s Fiction Award winner, with its fresh take on the mythopoeic in relation to women’s lives. It is engaging at every turn of the page for its innovative approach. Ehrlich weaves compelling characters and situations, gripping images and language in her deft storytelling.
Full Title: The Essential Doug Holder: New & Selected Works
Author: Doug Holder
Publisher: Big Table Publishing 2020Y
Doug Holder, founder of the Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, MA, is a well-known and well-loved figure on the New England literary landscape. His recent publication: The Essential Doug Holder: New & Selected Works begins with a long introduction (not penned by him). Save this commentary for later, and go directly to the poems, which speak for themselves. And they have much to say, having urban appeal, specifically for Somerville, Boston and New York City, as well as broader and deeper universal appeal, expressed in Holder’s journalistic-like exposure of the essential humor, irony and pathos of the human condition.
The range of content is vast, presenting Holder’s new work and selected, previously-published pieces—offering a comprehensive and representative collection. A few examples of Holder’s singular style of stating, without rating, an experience will serve to convey the reader’s feeling of being transported directly into his subject without need for multiple literary devices. It’s as if Holder is not interested in artfulness (not that there’s anything wrong with that), so much as revealing what exists in and of itself, leaving interpretation and a sense of emotional dimension to be found in the tangible, palpable evidence of the five senses—in subways, ballparks, cafes, hospitals, delis, and in human relationships—the humor, compassion and reality of it all.
“Cambridge, MA: Two Old Women”
Two old women walk down my street each morning
A daily ritual of decrepit defiance
the ground that will own them.
“Au Bon Pain at Dusk”
You sit at a table in the courtyard of the cafe
brittle autumnal leaves rest
then tumble off your round shoulders.
There is this kind of appeal for readers in the highly recommended Animal Wife, Red Hen Press’s Fiction Award winner, with its fresh take on the mythopoeic in relation to women’s lives. It is engaging at every turn of the page for its innovative approach. Ehrlich weaves compelling characters and situations, gripping images and language in her deft storytelling.
*********
Full Title: The Essential Doug Holder: New & Selected Works
Author: Doug Holder
Publisher: Big Table Publishing 2020Y
Doug Holder, founder of the Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, MA, is a well-known and well-loved figure on the New England literary landscape. His recent publication: The Essential Doug Holder: New & Selected Works begins with a long introduction (not penned by him). Save this commentary for later, and go directly to the poems, which speak for themselves. And they have much to say, having urban appeal, specifically for Somerville, Boston and New York City, as well as broader and deeper universal appeal, expressed in Holder’s journalistic-like exposure of the essential humor, irony and pathos of the human condition.
The range of content is vast, presenting Holder’s new work and selected, previously-published pieces—offering a comprehensive and representative collection. A few examples of Holder’s singular style of stating, without rating, an experience will serve to convey the reader’s feeling of being transported directly into his subject without need for multiple literary devices. It’s as if Holder is not interested in artfulness (not that there’s anything wrong with that), so much as revealing what exists in and of itself, leaving interpretation and a sense of emotional dimension to be found in the tangible, palpable evidence of the five senses—in subways, ballparks, cafes, hospitals, delis, and in human relationships—the humor, compassion and reality of it all.
“Cambridge, MA: Two Old Women”
Two old women walk down my street each morning
A daily ritual of decrepit defiance
the ground that will own them.
“Au Bon Pain at Dusk”
You sit at a table in the courtyard of the cafe
brittle autumnal leaves rest
then tumble off your round shoulders.
They just don’t hold what they used to
“When Father Dies”
When Father dies
let it be on the rush hour train home
his face buried in The Post
his last breath involved with the world
“Dreaming on the Senior Line at Market Basket”
I walk with Ginsberg and Whitman
and we will talk.
I will tell them about the predicament we are in.
It feels like Holder inhabits his work, speaking from a “fly on the wall” perspective, keenly observing people, places and things, but not necessarily commenting on their meaning. Yet the message comes through with clarity and impact. His poet’s eye roams and records his observations of “ordinary” life, which of course, is never ordinary. In the tradition of all true poets, he gives them, “a local habitation and a name.”
If you like poetry served up homestyle, deliciously fresh and familiar, The Essential Doug Holder will satisfy, and resonate a long time after you put it down. If keeping a book of poems at your bedside is not something you see yourself doing, try this collection. As the book’s back cover suggests, “This is a must-keep-on your nightstand.” You might be surprised that you will pick it up, again and again.
“When Father Dies”
When Father dies
let it be on the rush hour train home
his face buried in The Post
his last breath involved with the world
“Dreaming on the Senior Line at Market Basket”
I walk with Ginsberg and Whitman
and we will talk.
I will tell them about the predicament we are in.
It feels like Holder inhabits his work, speaking from a “fly on the wall” perspective, keenly observing people, places and things, but not necessarily commenting on their meaning. Yet the message comes through with clarity and impact. His poet’s eye roams and records his observations of “ordinary” life, which of course, is never ordinary. In the tradition of all true poets, he gives them, “a local habitation and a name.”
If you like poetry served up homestyle, deliciously fresh and familiar, The Essential Doug Holder will satisfy, and resonate a long time after you put it down. If keeping a book of poems at your bedside is not something you see yourself doing, try this collection. As the book’s back cover suggests, “This is a must-keep-on your nightstand.” You might be surprised that you will pick it up, again and again.
