reviews

Dysfunctional Women Author: Dale M. Kushner I am fully in favor of dysfunctional family fiction. Movies, TV, books – bring it on. In The Conditions of Love by Dale M. Kushner, main character Eunice is absolutely at the center of a dysfunctional family. Unfortunately, I was unable to find my usual level of enthusiasm for her messed up world. Pity, that. As we enter her story, it is 1953 and Eunice is a child living with her single mother in the Midwest. Her father left them long ago, and her mother, who insists Eunice call her Mern (short for what, [...]

Pity the bird... Author:  Helen MacDonald Humans have been fascinated by wild animals since the beginning of time.  But it’s rare to be able to hold a genuine example of raw nature – red in tooth and claw – right in the palm of your hand, or in this case on a well leathered forearm.  I think that’s the fascination with falconry.  Taking a completely wild bird and conditioning it to your presence so that it allows you to participate in the hunt is about as close as a human can get to pure predatory wildness.  Seeking out her own [...]

Age Before Beauty... Author:  Rachel Sussman We’re all getting older.  One year at a time.  But some earthlings have been doing it for much longer than others.  Believe it or not, there are some beings on the planet that’ve been growing and surviving for thousands of years.  After spending years scouring the globe for its oldest inhabitants, photographer Rachel Sussman has collected her finds in The Oldest Living Things in the World.  It’s quite an assemblage of ancient wonders, sure to impress even the most cantankerous of geezers. Seeking to document every lifeform over two thousand years old, the Brooklyn-based [...]