Dusting Off: “Squandering the Blue” by Kate Braverman

By Claire Shefchik It’s hard now to figure out how my tenth-grade English teacher Mr. Martin became trapped working in a high school in suburban Minnesota; he was full of resentment for what he called “sleepy little Stillwater,” actually assigning his classes to make the trek into the city each semester to hang out at poetry readings and art-house movie theaters, in hopes that something hip would rub off. He was one of the first to give us “adult” short […]

Continue Reading

Dusting Off: Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano

By Willa A. Cmiel This Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Malcolm Lowry. His novel Under the Volcano, which pops up on all kinds of read-before-you-die lists, was the first book in years that I just couldn’t get through. In desperate rationalization, I labeled it “man lit” and argued that the only people I ever knew who loooved the book (and people really love it) were middle-aged men. And while the book is certainly Joyce-ean in its […]

Continue Reading