The Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage
Tags/ Posted by Gretta BarclayOpen your hands, see what is cupped there.continue reading this poem
The Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage has a desperate ring of truth. At the same time, the novel demonstrates how humor can get us through almost anything. Andrew Whittaker (Andy) is a slum landlord with no resources to fix anything, a novelist with the merest hope of ever writing a published novel, and the journal editor of his own literary magazine, SOAP.
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar
Tags/ Posted by Gretta BarclayDali, my darling, I've laid my wreath of wire at your floppy dial; calling you on the lobster phone, burning with love like giraffes.continue reading this poem
Being a Philosophy major in college, I never thought there was anything funny about the subject of Philosophy. Understanding metaphysics, logic, rationalism and existentialism etc. discussed by the super thinkers of the world like Aristotle, Plato, Marx, Sartre, and Kierkegaard seemed anything but humorous. Trying to grasp the perplexing questions of life like, “Why are we here?” and “What’s it all about, Alphie?” hardly seemed a subject for humor.
The Likeness by Tana French
Tags/ Posted by Gretta BarclayIf souls must be here they do not watch us even accidentally for a moment—not being subject to the laws of chance. With the kindly detachment of settlement house angels they overlook our lives.continue reading this poem
There is nothing I like better than a good literary mystery; one that is both suspenseful and sophisticated. I love a novel that not only gives you an intriguing plot, but also one with intricate character development, and sentences that are longer than six or seven words. Such a book is The Likeness by Tana French, her second after winning the Edgar Award for “In the Woods.”
Book Reviews: The Gardner Heist and The Art Thief
Tags/ Posted by Gretta BarclayIt is always spring for the mantis, hope gushing from some pheromone fountain inside its tiny brain.continue reading this poem
Until I read The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser, I did not know how easy it was to walk into a well known museum and simply lift rare and expensive art right off the walls. This is exactly what happened one early morning on March 18, 2009 in Boston, when two thieves entered the famous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and ripped off a Vermeer (only 35 left), three Rembrandts and five Degas, pulling off the biggest and most expensive heist in the world of art.
