A Surrealist fantasy western which recalls William S. Burroughs’ The Place of Dead Roads, and densely layered with puzzles and interrogations of narrative devices and the human construction of meaning and ourselves which reference those of Italo Calvino and Raymond Queneau, Jeff VanderMeer’s Dead Astronauts is a glorious sequel to Borne and a direct … Continue reading Dead Astronauts, Jeff VanderMeer
The best books of 2020, the ones we’ll still be reading a thousand years from now, include: Fiction Dead Astronauts, Jeff VanderMeer America Hurricane Season, Fernanda Melchor Latin American Lit- Mexico The Treatment, Michael Nath Britain Piranesi, Susanna Clarke Britain Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann Germany Girls Against God, Jenny Hval Scandanavian Lit-Norway Apeirogon, Colum … Continue reading The best books of 2020
February 12 2021 The World Was Once All Miracle: Raymond Yiu’s Tribute to Anthony Burgess Provocative and inspirational, Raymond Yiu’s new album, The World Was Once All Miracle, includes his brilliant and delightful comedy of ideas by that title, and two equally audacious operatic song cycles set among forests of gorgeous symphonic instrumentalism in counterpoint. … Continue reading Best New Music: Reviews From Dollhouse Park Conservatory
Valentine’s Day is a holiday we can celebrate as an unambiguous good, without conflicted historical legacies; named in honor of a man who was executed on February 14 278 AD for performing gay marriages in defiance of Imperial law, adelphopoiesis or brother-making which refers to his marrying Roman soldiers not to their girlfriends but to … Continue reading February 14 2021 On the Redemptive and Transformational Power of Love
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Roberto Calasso Prometheus: Archetypal Image of Human Existence, Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter, Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, Athene: Virgin and Mother in Greek Religion, Hermes: Guide of Souls, Apollo: The Wind, the Spirit, and the God: Four Studies, Zeus and Hera, Essays on a … Continue reading Mythology, Psychology, & Anthropology
Jay’s Revised Modern Canon 2020 Edition World Literature: Spain History Buried Mirror, Fuentes Farewell Espana, Sachar Age of Philip II, Braudel 1492: The Year the World Began, A Foot in the River, Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States, The World: A History, Millennium: A History of … Continue reading Spain
Jay’s Revised Modern Canon 2020 edition World Literature: Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden. & Denmark History The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe, Michael Pye A History of the Vikings, Gwynn Jones The Viking World, Brink ed Norse Mythology, John Lindow … Continue reading Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden. & Denmark
Jay’s Revised Modern Canon 2020 Edition World Literature: Russia History Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia, Suzanne Massie Natasha’s Dance:: a cultural history of Russia, Revolutionary Russia 1891-1991, Orlando Figes Russia and the Russians: A History, Geoffrey Hosking Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Robert K. … Continue reading Russia
Jay’s Revised Modern Canon 2020 Edition World Literature: Portugal History Journey to Portugal: history and culture, Jose Saramago Prince Henry “the Navigator”: A Life, Peter E. Russell Literature The Lusiads, Luís de Camões The Crime of Father Amaro, Eça de Queirós The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa … Continue reading Portugal
Jay’s Revised Modern Canon 2020 Edition World Literature: the Netherlands History The Dutch Golden Age: gateway to our modern world, Hans Goedkoop An Embarrassment of Riches, Rembrant’s Eyes, Simon Schama Amsterdam, Russell Shorto The Autumn of the Middle ages, Erasmus and the age of Reformation, John Huizinga Van … Continue reading the Netherlands
Dollhouse Park Conservatory & Imaginarium 