Our voices carry; and though slumber-bound, Some few half awake… Give tongue, proclaim their hidden name… W.B. Yeats At one point in Quinn’s Book, the fourth novel in William Kennedy’s masterful “Albany Cycle,” a trainload of Famine immigrants passes through Albany. Witnessing this sad procession, narrator Daniel Quinn is told by a companion, “Pay heed to these people and … [Read more...] about The Legacy of Danny Cassidy
Writers and Poets
J. Courtney Sullivan: Graduating from Chick Lit
J. Courtney Sullivan is, just like each of her engaging and multifaceted characters in Commencement, far from two-dimensional. In our conversation, she tells me stories about sending copies of works by feminist activist and scholar Catharine MacKinnon anonymously to boys after a terrible first date, and refers to her expression of newfound political views in her younger years … [Read more...] about J. Courtney Sullivan: Graduating from Chick Lit
Review of Books
Recommended Leo Tolstoy famously said that all great literature is one of two stories: a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. William Trevor’s latest novel is thus great literature two times over. The Cork-born Irish master, author of fourteen novels and twelve short story collections, came forth this September with Love and Summer, which focuses on the small … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Thomas Cahill: Civilization on Trial
I first encountered Thomas Cahill in the reading requirements for ninth grade history, where Mr. Dachille’s designation of Cahill’s book The Gifts of the Jews as a substitute for the dry textbooks to which I was accustomed instantly granted him canonical stature in my mind. And for good reason: Cahill’s accessible and fascinating takes on the histories of the Irish, the Jews, … [Read more...] about Thomas Cahill: Civilization on Trial
Review of Books
Recommended Edna O’Brien is best known for her provocative novels which, over a span of nearly five decades, have broken daring ground all across the world, but particularly in Ireland, where she was banned before she was beloved. But O’Brien’s latest book is not another novel. Instead, it is a second short biography of a radical artist. This, naturally, is a good fit for … [Read more...] about Review of Books