& THEY LIVED

& THEY LIVED BY LA FELLEMAN

LA Felleman’s debut chapbook, & they lived, is a refreshingly blunt collection that holds a mirror up to its readers, exploring the individual moments that make up a life: yours, mine, ours—anyone’s. Her poems seek to shine color and sound upon the canvas of existence—the humor, regret, and possibilities that fill our lives with meaning.

Felleman doesn’t shy away from experimentation in this collection, with several of her poems pushing convention. From caesural play in “Hum” and “Tossed,” to a poem-within-a-poem in “Imperceptible Forgiveness,” to using symbols as titles, Felleman aptly demonstrates her precision and control over language and form. 

It is also worth noting the emotion that Felleman’s collection elicits; line-by-line, she hints at more than what is on the page, leading readers beyond their initial reactions. In “Bella,” the speaker reminisces about a puppy that she had loved, but that had been taken away from her: “your intent alerted my husband / You went back to the shelter the very next day. . .” (10). Within a few short lines, the poem opens up to reveal an entire subcontext regarding the dynamic between the speaker and their husband. What at first glance appears to be a nice poem about a dog suddenly balloons outward to become about love, marriage, regret, power, and how something as simple as a pet can serve as a symbol for all of this. 

& they lived challenges the reader to evaluate who they are now, who they were in the past, and who they want to be in the future. It is a collection that will reveal the world to be more than what can be seen on the surface, and it will remind you that life is always in flux. After all, as Felleman puts it in “Postlapsarian,” “Younger me would have found your concern annoying / This-age me accepts your regard / As cherishing” (22).   

Alien Buddha Press.

—Review by Sam Campbell

ON CATS: AN ANTHOLOGY

ON CATS: AN ANTHOLOGY BY MARGARET ATWOOD

Critically acclaimed yet equally mistrusted, cats are inarguably one of the most enjoyable parts of life. For centuries, cats have been worshipped as gods, feared as predators, and documented by authors around the globe. Through letters, memoir, poetry, and prose, all things cat are explored in this new anthology. With an introduction by Margaret Atwood, On Cats is a must-have collection for cat-lovers, book-lovers, and anyone in-between.

A pocket-sized book with a cloth cover and a ribbon bookmark, On Cats is a delightful experience from the moment you pick it up. Not only is the book a physical treat to behold, it contains a smorgasbord of treasures from some of the world’s most notable literary geniuses—Lewis Carroll, Alice Walker, Mary Gaitskill, Christina Rossetti, and John Keats, to name a few. “Writers and their cats—it’s a theme,” writes Atwood in her introduction, “Are they Influences? Are they Muses? Yes and no, depending on how you count.”

Interspersed amongst the novel excerpts, poems, letters, and other cat-filled narrative bits are gorgeous black and white photographs of cats, making On Cats an aesthetically pleasing experience from cover to cover. The book concludes with a charming section aptly titled “Cat-echisms,” filled with famous quotes pertaining to these “purr-fect” pets. One such quote by Charles Dickens posits: “What greater gift than the love of a cat?” To which I would have to answer that there is none, but On Cats would certainly be a close second.

Notting Hill Editions.

—Review by Sam Campbell

TONO MONOGATARI

TONO MONOGATARI BY SHIGERU MIZUKI TRANS. ZACK DAVISSON

Critically acclaimed mangaka Shigeru Mizuki’s collection, Tono Monogatari, has been skillfully translated from Japanese by Zack Davisson. The book, which is a beautiful display of gathered oral stories and folklore, demonstrates the importance of handing down stories from generation to generation. What began with the community of Tono telling stories amongst themselves became in 1910 a joint project between Kunio Yanagita and Kizen Sakasi as they attempted to write those stories down to preserve them during a time when folklore was being forgotten. Because of their work, and now the work of Mizuki and Davisson, we are able to remember, learn from, and enjoy the classic stories of yokai.

Brilliant illustrations—both black and white and color—intertwine with folklore, history, and tradition in this collection. The book opens with a brief history of Tono Monogatari and the people involved in making the book a reality. Then, we are taken on a journey with an animated Mizuki as our guide as he narrates the yokai for us. Interspersed between stories are bits of Japanese history that exemplify how these stories have shaped Japanese culture and continue to have an impact today. For example, after reading stories of evil spirits that roam the mountains near Tono, we learn that “travelers today never use the mountain pass called Fuefuki-Toge” because of its reputation. Instead, they will use the newer route, even though it is longer. These bits of cultural and historical information are what make this collection so special. Mizuki puts folklore into context which enhances its meaning. We are able to see the impact that storytelling has, the power with which it shapes life and our understanding of the world around us. Like Mizuki writes, “Whatever the truth may be, it is long lost to time. All that remains are legends.”

Tono Monogatari opens the door to a new way of experiencing Japan’s history and culture. Pick up a copy of this collection, read it, and share with others like the book itself requests: “May the legends continue to be told.”

Drawn & Quarterly.

—Review by Sam Campbell

STORIES WITH PICTURES

STORIES WITH PICTURES BY ANTONIO TABUCCHI TRANS. ELIZABETH HARRIS

“No one can write a book. Since before a book can really be, it needs the dawn, the dusk, centuries, arms, and the binding and sundering sea.” If this assertion from “Story of the Man of Paper,” is true, then Antonio Tabucchi is, in fact, in possession of dawn, dusk, centuries, arms, and the sea because he has written a masterpiece collection, Stories with Pictures, translated from Italian by Elizabeth Harris. The book is an extended ekphrastic exploration of the relationship between visual and written art. Each story in the collection opens with an image that inspired it—either overtly, such as in “Faraway,” where the story begins with the mention of the iron bars from the paired image: “My darling, I started painting behind the fence. Strange how iron bars can signal other times,” or subtly, such as in “Flames,” where the connection between three panels of an almost floral explosion of reds and burgundies and the tale of a dying miracle worker requires deeper reading to ascertain.

The relationship between visual art and writing is not the only connection that Tabucchi is interested in. Throughout the stories, the themes of color, composition, time, movement, and music emerge. The book is divided into three sections: Adagios; Andantes, con Brio; and Ariettas. Each section’s stories mirror the musical movement suggested by the section headings: the stories in the opening section are paced slower than the stories in the second and third, matching their ascribed tempos. Tabucchi does not stop there. He includes, for example, the ballet definition of adagio in his story, “Rainy Evening on a Holland Dike,” where he depicts the back and forth between a man and a woman who share a past connection and have reencountered. Each story in his collection is an examination of art, art’s interactions with other art, the way artists create, and the ars poetica. 

Stories with Pictures is a book for artists and art-lovers of all mediums. The stories within, along with the accompanying artwork, are short and engaging. Each one seems to say something new and important about life and the often-unnoticed impact that art, in any form, has in shaping us. 

Archipelago Books.

—Review by Sam Campbell

EXHAUSTED ON THE CROSS

EXHAUSTED ON THE CROSS BY NAJWAN DARWISH, TRANSLATED BY KAREEM JAMES ABU-ZEID

Critically acclaimed Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish’s second book, Exhausted on the Cross, translated from the Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid, is an engaging collection that examines the idea of history and strips it bare.

Darwish explores countless places in his poetry—from Gaza to Shiraz, from Shatila to Baghdad—and crosses paths with a variety of voices, including the Prophet Mohammad. Nothing is off-limits in this hard-hitting collection. Darwish doesn’t shy away from history, religion, war, love, hate, or anything in between. This collection has something to offer every reader, whether in the mood for something political, something historical, or something that  meditates on the simplicity of moment, such as in "The Beating Rain:" "You wake to rain / beating on the sea, / …waterfalls / creep over the mountain's back, / the sky is a piece of gray." 

Darwish’s collection blurs genre boundaries between poetry, prose, and nonfiction. An early piece of the collection, “A Story from Shiraz” is a prose poem delineating the story of Persian poet Hafez. Alternatively, later in the collection, “This Paradise” is a mere three lines long.

Exhausted at the Cross challenges preconceptions and opens readers’ eyes to alternate ways of viewing the world. So long as you’re human, you are welcome to this verse. After all, as Darwish puts it in “In Constantinople,” “People are simply people / Peel off the languages, and all you’ll find / is women and men.”

New York Review Books.

—Review by Sam Campbell