Paul's March 2013 pick

A linguistic soaring collection of new poems from Ali, this collection explores desperation and desire and grace through word- and space-play, but remain grounded in the most daily human experiences. The candor and unease riffling the surface of these poems makes their beauty all the more startling.

 

Paul's November 2012 pick

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

Throughout this mesmerizing book, Macfarlane chronicles numerous journeys, most on foot, a few by boat, following the old ways, the trails & pathways used down through the centuries to take people from place to place a back again. It is a book haunted by the landscapes & seascapes of the past, but always look forward to what we will learn from them in the unknowable future. An Odyssey for the post-modern world.

Paul's June 2012 pick

Love, an Index by Rebecca Lindenberg

A multifarious collection of serial poems linked by sadness & joy & longing, as well as the details of the poet's relationship with another poet, who disappears while hiking a volcano. Lindenberg's voice both sings of & matter-of-factly recounts their love, her loss, and one way to go on living even though haunted.

Paul's February 2012 pick

A fascinating meditation on the fraught territory between fact and fiction, truth and accuracy, knowledge and entertainment, this slim book chronicles the development of an essay written by D'Agata through the questioning & clarifying feedback provided by Fingal. Wonderfully insightful, it's also beautifully arranged on the page.

Paul's November 2011 pick

A fascinating approach to the telling of history, using objects left behind by ordinary men & women to chronicle the passing of the world's civilizations. Kaleidoscopic & endlessly surprising. The photographs of the objects are as illuminating as the stories themselves.