Nothing like the condensed elegance of the haiku to clear our heads for the new year. Below are mini reflections on some great books read toward the end of 2020.
STUDIES OF SILHOUETTES
Pierre Senges, tr. Jacob Siefring
Sublunary Editions 2020
More Kafka-esque than
the man himself. Here is a
master of self-strife.
TERMINAL PARK
Gary J. Shipley
Apocalypse Party 2020
Psycho plus British
SF on PCP is
my negative muse.
THE BLACK SPIDER
Jeremias Gotthelf, tr. Susan Bernofksy
NYRB Classics 2013 [1842]
God punishes us
for dissing feudalism.
This is “Dark Pushkin.”
THE PALM-WINE DRINKARD and MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS
Amos Tutuola
Grove Press 1994 [1954]
You had to English
your unlettered culture
thru this masterpiece.
FEVER DREAM
Samanta Schweblin, tr. Megan McDowell
Riverhead 2017 [2014]
Don’t drink the water
in which the horses have perished.
Meh, I’ve forgotten.
MAC’S PROBLEM
Enrique Vila-Matas, tr. Margaret Jull Costa and Sophie Hughes
New Directions 2019
What if I reviewed
my older shitty novel
as my new novel?
Second Slope 