I'm sure the poetry John Berryman does it for somebody. But there's too must gesture and not enough substance for me. Most of the time I don't know what he means and I don't wanna. I guess I just like poetry clearer of intention and less as a moving target because then (as here) it feels the idea is to just keep you guessing in absence of there actually being anything to guess at.
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Kevin Smokler rated Stay True: 3 stars
Kevin Smokler rated Cruel Summer: 3 stars
Kevin Smokler rated We Don't Know Ourselves: 5 stars
We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole
Weaving his own experiences into this account of Irish social, cultural, and economic change, O’Toole shows how Ireland, in just …
Kevin Smokler rated The valley at the centre of the world: 5 stars
Malachy Tallack: The valley at the centre of the world (2018)
The valley at the centre of the world by Malachy Tallack
"'The thing he felt ending was not just one person, or even one generation; it was older, and had, in …
Kevin Smokler rated Hothouse: 5 stars
Boris Kachka: Hothouse (2013, Simon & Schuster, Limited)
Hothouse by Boris Kachka
An account of the book publisher who is home to more Nobel Prize-winning writers than any other publishing house in …
Kevin Smokler rated Stranger on the Ball Club: 4 stars
Alfred Slote: Stranger on the Ball Club (Paperback, Dell Publishing)
Stranger on the Ball Club by Alfred Slote
Trying hard to adjust to a new town, Tim wants to return the expensive baseball glove he found before the …
Kevin Smokler rated L'Ami D'Enfance De Maigret: 3 stars
L'Ami D'Enfance De Maigret by Georges Simenon
De moord op een jonge vrouw confronteert commissaris Maigret met een vroegere klasgenoot.
Kevin Smokler rated Lost and Found: 5 stars
Lost and Found by Kathryn Schulz
Eighteen months before Kathryn Schulz's father died, she met the woman she would marry. In Lost & Found, she weaves …
Kevin Smokler rated The Art of Travel: 2 stars
The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
Any Baedeker will tell us where we ought to travel, but only Alain de Botton will tell us how and …
Kevin Smokler rated Season of the Witch: 5 stars
Kevin Smokler reviewed 77 Dream Songs by Louis MacNeice
Review of '77 Dream Songs' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
I'm sure the poetry John Berryman does it for somebody. But there's too must gesture and not enough substance for me. Most of the time I don't know what he means and I don't wanna. I guess I just like poetry clearer of intention and less as a moving target because then (as here) it feels the idea is to just keep you guessing in absence of there actually being anything to guess at.
Kevin Smokler reviewed Make-Believe Ball Player by Alfred Slote
Although he's not very good at baseball, ten-year-old Henry uses his imagination to become a …
Review of 'Make-Believe Ball Player' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
Mr slope remains a legend of the kids sports genre. His books are better when he takes his time and spreads them over a longer story arc. His books based on a single game or incident, or plot trick, less so. “Jake” is the gold standard.
Mr slope remains a legend of the kids sports genre. His books are better when he takes his time and spreads them over a longer story arc. His books based on a single game or incident, or plot trick, less so. “Jake” is the gold standard.
Kevin Smokler rated Uncommon Grounds: 3 stars
Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast
Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of …