Reviewed by Teresa G (May 12, 2011)

I'm giving it two stars because I made it past the halfway mark before I became so annoyed that I gave it up. First of all, I hate when "historical" characters speak in quasi-modern slang. Dialogue doesn't have to be completely authentic. However, I find it grating to have someone in a 17th century novel use a 19th century term such as "knocked up." But the final straw for The Hangman's Daughter came when both the hangman and the young physician left the hangman's daughter/physician's sweetheart, Magdalena, alone in a barn in order to hurry off to investigate the latest child murder. There is a scary "devil" on the loose who has already threatened the young physician and is, I suppose, responsible for the murders. I couldn't stretch my imagination any further to allow for the abandonment of Magdalena in a remote area by two people who supposedly love her very much.

Reviewed by Kay W (May 3, 2011)

It may well be a defect in the taste and sensibility of this reviewer, but, to this reviewer, the majority of these "good poems," read as boring, prosy, tone-deaf, overly-minute descriptions that doen't manage to offer access to deep sentiment nor to original insight nor to new possibilities of any kind.

This felt especially disappointing because this reviewer happily embraces the premise of the selection: poems about places that the average, educated poetry-reader will find engaging and easily understandable. Obviously a few of the poems here fit the criteria and are enjoyable--but so many seem based on fairly common-placed insights presented with too little rhythem and not enough melody (Except, of course, for "Folsom Prison Blues," which can at least be sung.)

Perhaps the dull setting does make great lines stand out: "You were the lyrics I sang but never wrote down," (Deborah Garrison on New York,) "the pennycandystore beyond the El, is where I first, fell in love with unreality,"(Lawrence Ferlinghetti,?) or "The low sandy beach and the thin scrub pine, The wide reach of bay and the long sky line," (George Santayana hypnotized by Cape Cod.) If poetry is memorable speech, a poem should be something you half memorize without even trying to. Perhaps someday, such an analogy, and anthology, will once again grace our shores.

Reviewed by Camille T (Apr 25, 2011)

I can describe this book in three words - drama, drama, drama! The plot of this "romance" novel is so ridiculous you know you should stop reading but you can't because you gotta see how this soap opera will play out. If you have some time to spare and want to read a book which will cause you to utter, "no way!" numerous times this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Kay W (Feb 28, 2011)

Does the following argument work for you? --That Shakespeare, because he was a humanist, could not write a great tragedy, because humanists can not write great tragadies? If you think this is a proper argument, both in its logic and in its cultural judgement, then you will love this book.

Yes-- that is a tad snarky, and for that, this bewildered reviewer apologizes. But the problem is that this reviewer wanted to like this book--it is a tale that bears enough possible truth to be worth telling, but it needs to be told in a more accessible way. The author throws in such wild, red, unexplained herrings (i.e.,Burke and Austens' worths came from their having Puritain, not Anglican temperments, something that would undoubtedly have suprised Burke's Catholic mother,) that they undercut the author's better points.

So--if perhaps the reader is ardent enough about the Reformed tradition,(for the book is very much about a highly heroic take on that,) they will overlook the author's weaknesses,and enjoy his strengths.

Reviewed by Donald R (Jan 1, 2011)

Futuristic novel about gene experimentation and the legalities thereof. Too preachy and not well-written. Repetitive.

Reviewed by Donald R (Jan 1, 2011)

Once an author has won a major award, in the case of Cunningham, the Pulitzer, one just expects more. The Hours was complex, unique and interesting. This latest novel, By Nightfall, seems trite, precious, and overly descriptive. Cunningham claims that he doesn't want to be referred to as a "gay writer". That's fine, but then, try to write something that doesn't sound exactly like it came from the mind of a gay man. The protagonist in this novel, Peter, seems gay right from the start, even though he is supposed to be straight. And what's up with his gay hairdresser? Do they really camp it up and tell their straight male clients all about their sex lives? I almost put this down midway through, but I stuck with it only to still be disappointed when it ended. If I had to use one word to describe this, I would say "tedious".

Reviewed by Teresa G (Dec 30, 2010)

At times a humorous and entertaining story of a young girl growing up in rural New York state. Her mom lives on an ex-commune and her dad has long abandoned them. Saskia and Jane Singh become good friends and, when Saskia's long absent father returns to her life, the two girls take a trip with him. Jane and Saskia's dad become lovers (Saskia is 12 and Jane is 13) and when they return to New York trouble begins.

Reviewed by Teresa G (Dec 30, 2010)

Mostly long and boring mystery set in England. A beautiful young woman and a teenage boy are murdered out on the moor. What is the connection between them?

Reviewed by Jeff B (Dec 24, 2010)

An apocalyptic morality tale with a simplistic, linear plot used to portray the author's concern that America is not paying attention to the greatest threat a terrorist group could (and eventually will, according to Gingrich, Forstchen, and Sanders) launch on our homeland: a nuclear EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse). The Republican American values of small town living, men know best and get things done, chivalry is not dead, authority should be respected, and government can (generally) be trusted are draped across the plot a bit too thickly for my taste as we watch civilization disintegrate after the EMP fries anything digital and electronic. What we would have to do without and how the folks of the small, NC mountain town of Black Mountain bravely and quite ingeniously cope was mildly interesting. The forward by Newt Gingrich and the afterword by retired US Navy Captain William Sanders colors the novel in political shades that detract from the story itself. On the Beach by Nevil Shute was much more gripping and heart-wrenching.

Reviewed by Helen A (Dec 17, 2010)

I think the main goal of this documentary was to convince the audience about how evil it would be to move the Barnes art collection to the city of Philadelphia. In the end, however, both sides as well as Barnes himself, come off as rather juvenile and petty. This entire saga became no longer about art but a power struggle as to who has control of this collection*. Yes, Barnes meant for the collection to stay where it was, but he had no way of knowing that it would become a huge tourist attraction, and the location and the building simply would not be able to accomodate the crowds who want to see it. Barnes wanted to keep the collection physically away from the city of Philadelphia (as in "I'll show you" type of gesture) because he was originally criticized by the Philadelphian art elite. So his objective was also about pettiness, not art. Unfortunately this film comes off as one-sided propaganda, and along the way everyone, including the viewer, starts to forget that this is supposed to be about art and not a power struggle. *Not to mention the whining neighbors throughout the documentary, who keep complaining about the traffic the museum brings, and in the same breath object very strongly to moving it elsewhere.