After having read the poem “Bellow,” I realized the only punctuation Limón used were commas, and semi-colons —  except for a period at the very end. After having read the poem again, this time more carefully, I paused after the phrases: … Continue reading →

Sarah Gerard’s essay “Going Diamond” is about consumerism and development. These themes, which are national issues, are delivered to the reader through Gerard’s account of her parents’ time with Amway and also through fictionalized home-buying scenarios that follow a couple who … Continue reading →

I find it more difficult to discuss craft in a non-fiction collection of essays, but I noticed after a few pages that Gerard seems to be playing with the structure of the story. It is organized in scenes that alternate … Continue reading →

If any of you have read it, this story reads like one of Rebecca Lee’s short stories from her collection Bobcat. It is strange and unnerving, from the rooms without doors, to the surveillance, to the disappearance, all of it is … Continue reading →

In “Cracked,” the third chapter of Elizabeth Strout’s bestselling novel, Anything is Possible, I was most interested in the characters. The chapter’s main character, at least in contrast to Yvonne and Karen Lucie, is not entirely confident or assured. I … Continue reading →

Unlike the other linked stories, it was unclear to me how these stories were linked until the end. There was no unifying Lucy Barton. As far as craft is concerned, I think the first paragraph is interesting. We learn a … Continue reading →

Dark Lady by Margaret Atwood was an interesting final piece of the Gavin puzzle. Or the Constance puzzle, though, to me, Gavin seems to be the biggest part of all three stories, even though he is the worst of all … Continue reading →