Hallway to Nowhere

Category: book review

  • Layered Tegmen (Poem)

    darkness moved upon my skin

    quick as the eyes of the birds that waited

    perched above me in the dripping trees

    fluid as the fast moving snakes that swam

    to keep me company in the estuarial brine

    I left my childhood on those banks

    draped careless as a wornout shirt

    then walked away with this unseen coating

    that called out wherever I lived

    the rich soil of the Delta answered

    by offering the hardworn notes of the blues

    those sank into my veins along with Sh’ma Yisroel

    that hung in air like candle flame in the hot humid night

    the mountains also gave their response

    skies so lowering and gray with rain

    like night itself had come to drench me with bits of coal

    grimed this textured tattoo

    with the wail of a fiddle wrapped around it

    barbed and rusty as old fence wire

    older now I wonder what next

    my adamantine sediment will attract

    some silver flecks to shine like laughter

    some precious gems to recall love

  • Holiday, Age 25 (Poem)

    and so the last thanksgiving, the final visit I made to that home

    I spent the day alone in pain from being cut open

    through walls drifted rise and fall of conversation

    everyone enjoying food and this, the very best day of the year

    tables filled to overflow with harvests from land sea and sky

    fragrant warmth from the kitchen echoed

    by heated crackle from logs in the living room hearth

    that evening my father brought me a plate

    grateful to be remembered and for the meal I thanked him

    but could eat very little, my small appetitie whittled away

    the next day I managed a few steps to sit by glowing embers

    yet felt older than I could ever be and frail

    I examined my hands expecting to see

    them wrinkled and bent by the gnarls of time

  • As I Cling To Life (Poem)

    first breath when I open my eyes

    so bitter I gag to spit out the detritus

    night caught in my throat, all I dragged up from the midden

    mouth coated with ash, nose with rot, fingers with slime

    sleep a visit to the charnel house, waking hours a walking pyre

    I constantly shed charcoal shards, a neglected trail of blackened bone

  • Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review

    Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review

    If you haven’t read anything by Caleb Carr, now is the time to start! Surrender, New York is a superb literary thriller that features Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal psychologist in the upstate town of Surrender. He is the foremost authority on Dr. Lazlo Kreitzler (hero of Carr’s book The Alienist, also excellent)  and follows in his unconventional footsteps throughout the winding paths of this novel. If you follow shows that like CSI or Bones, then you will definitely want to read this, as much for the protagonist’s trenchant views on forensic science, as for the plot. The plot is intricate, involving throwaway children, politicians, and the wealthy in New York City. But this is no simple matter, and Carr has a very deft way of surprising you. I’m a long-time mystery reader, and and I didn’t see the plot development in this one. I was impressed, I must say. Highly recommended! ( The book has also lead me to do some research on the troubling topic of runaway parents. I had no idea this was such a burgeoning problem. Smh.)

  • Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review

    Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review

    If you haven’t read anything by Caleb Carr, now is the time to start! Surrender, New York is a superb literary thriller that features Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal psychologist in the upstate town of Surrender. He is the foremost authority on Dr. Lazlo Kreitzler (hero of Carr’s book The Alienist, also excellent)  and follows in his unconventional footsteps throughout the winding paths of this novel. If you follow shows that like CSI or Bones, then you will definitely want to read this, as much for the protagonist’s trenchant views on forensic science, as for the plot. The plot is intricate, involving throwaway children, politicians, and the wealthy in New York City. But this is no simple matter, and Carr has a very deft way of surprising you. I’m a long-time mystery reader, and and I didn’t see the plot development in this one. I was impressed, I must say. Highly recommended! ( The book has also lead me to do some research on the troubling topic of runaway parents. I had no idea this was such a burgeoning problem. Smh.)

  • The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review

    The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review

    David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, documents Donald Trump’s rise to prominence, giving an account of his business dealings that indicates Trump regularly engages in shady and disreputable business practices, not to mention business associates. This probably comes as no surprise to most, save to those of Trump’s supporters, who will no doubt decry the book as slanderous, but Cay has been following Mr. Trump for many years and can back up every claim that he makes with cold hard proof. Unfortunately, as we saw in the past debate, that does not stop Trump from lying about anything. He is fully capable of denying that he said something, when he can be presented with evidence that he did. Or his memory, which as we all know, is “the greatest in the world”, will fail-again and again and again. The book is a sad testament to a businessman who schemed his way to the Republican nomination by nickel and diming and cheating, when he had every chance to actually do it right. He CHOSE to act the way he did, because that is his vaunted temperament, revenge being one of his prime motivating factors. (That, and over-weening narcissism.) A good biography  of Donald Trump that will help you understand his journey to power. Put it, however reluctantly, on your list.

  • The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review

    The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review

    David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, documents Donald Trump’s rise to prominence, giving an account of his business dealings that indicates Trump regularly engages in shady and disreputable business practices, not to mention business associates. This probably comes as no surprise to most, save to those of Trump’s supporters, who will no doubt decry the book as slanderous, but Cay has been following Mr. Trump for many years and can back up every claim that he makes with cold hard proof. Unfortunately, as we saw in the past debate, that does not stop Trump from lying about anything. He is fully capable of denying that he said something, when he can be presented with evidence that he did. Or his memory, which as we all know, is “the greatest in the world”, will fail-again and again and again. The book is a sad testament to a businessman who schemed his way to the Republican nomination by nickel and diming and cheating, when he had every chance to actually do it right. He CHOSE to act the way he did, because that is his vaunted temperament, revenge being one of his prime motivating factors. (That, and over-weening narcissism.) A good biography  of Donald Trump that will help you understand his journey to power. Put it, however reluctantly, on your list.

  • Fates And Traitors: A Novel Of John Wilkes Booth By Jennifer Chiaverini-A Review

    Fates And Traitors: A Novel Of John Wilkes Booth By Jennifer Chiaverini-A Review

    Fates and Traitors recreates the story of one of America’s most famous men-John Wilkes Booth-through a skillful portrayal of four women surrounding him. As we follow Mary Ann Booth (his mother), Asia Booth (his sister), Lucy Hale (the woman he courted), and Mary Surratt (his supporter and Confederate sympathizer), we come to know Booth himself as he grows to manhood, becomes an actor, and eventually assassinates President Lincoln. The book shows a man gripped by an obsessive fixation on Lincoln as a means of solving, on way or another, the problems faced by the South at the end of the Civil War. He deceives those he loves in the employment of the Cause, with the bitter and tragic result that history records.  A good read, especially for any of you Civil War buffs! (On a personal note: when I was an undergrad working my first library job, one of my co-workers was a descendant of Dr. Mudd. He was most insistent that Dr. Mudd was innocent and had treated Booth not knowing what he had done. Very interesting fellow.)

  • Manitou Canyon By William Kent Krueger-A Review

    Manitou Canyon By William Kent Krueger-A Review

    Autumn seems the perfect setting for the latest (#15) Cork O’Connor book from William Kent Krueger. I like my settings to correspond, and so when I’m reading a novel that is set in the fall in a mountainous region, and I’M living in a mountainous region in the fall, it makes me oddly happy. Add to this that I read his previous book at this same time last year, and my OCD pattern yearnings are really satisfied! These things aside, the book is well worth reading, both as a stand-alone thriller but especially if you follow the series. There is a fast-paced plot with some interesting turns and twists. The characters that have appeared in previous O’Connor novels are here, plus a few new additions that we might be seeing later. The way Krueger writes about Minnesota’s Northwoods is itself reason enough to read his books-he truly makes the landscape an integral part of the story, and indeed it is part of the plot. This is a great book to take to bed as the leaves fall and the nights grow cooler!

  • Ordinarily Well: The Case For Anti-Depressants By Peter D. Kramer-A Review

    Ordinarily Well: The Case For Anti-Depressants By Peter D. Kramer-A Review

    Let me say first of all that I came to this book predisposed to like it. I had read Kramer’s earlier books on depression (Listening to Prozac, Against Depression) and enjoyed them  a great deal. I’m aware that there has been a controversy concerning the use of anti-depressants and their efficacy so was pleased when I found this book. In the interest of transparency, I have a personal reason for advocacy of this book, for I have a long history with depression. I’ve got reason to know that anti-depressants can be just as efficacious and life-saving as Kramer says. They have indeed made me “ordinarily well”, a person who can function in the world. Before I found the one that worked, I was immobilized by anxiety and the kind of depression that cripples a person. I regarded existence as a burden, longed to die, but was so immobilized and enervated that I lacked the energy to do anything about it. The right anti-depressant and a good psychiatrist changed that. And after several good years on the right medication, I can say that I have found I am more resilient, that I can face even potentially devastating news with a measure of equanimity,  and that I can finally say “I enjoy living.” In Kramer’s new book, he makes the case that anti-depressants ARE effective, that they have the research behind them to back this up, and they function as what he calls “co-therapists.”  He cites study after study and backs up his claims with evidence. There IS reason to be wary of Big Pharma where psych drugs are concerned, but anti-depressants just might be one of their biggest successes. Don’t stop taking your anti-depressants! If you want to know WHY NOT, read this book!