An honest and incisive exploration of life’s loveliness that occasionally overcomplicates its message.
Shea explores how we carry the past, embody the present, and move toward the future in this collection of poems.
The collection opens with “Please Give Me Your Ars,” a reflection on wildfires and how people have become desensitized to their destruction. In “Blood Beloved,” the poet juxtaposes the “relics” of her ancestors (bone china, salt and pepper shakers, a butter dish) with the beautiful chaos of grandchildren (Legos, Pokemon cards, plastic guns). In “Pop Art Super Market,” the speaker wonders what it would be like to approach the grocery store from a 6-year-old’s perspective, through which all of the cereal boxes are “bright toys / to be thrown on the floor.” “The Slick Slope” recounts how the poet’s husband signed them up for Ski Patrol, observing, “Nobody sees me / when I take a drastic spill / then pick myself up again.” On her wedding anniversary, she tries to reconcile the expectation of a “bejeweled” gift with the reality of practical housewares. In nature-themed poems, the author describes poplars “exchanging intimacies” and revels in the bounty of a pear tree. Several poems address the collateral damage of aging, from scarred breasts in “Dimpled” to worsening sight in “Eyeglasses.” Shea’s descriptions are intricate and evocative; a phalaenopsis orchid has “leathery, oblong leaves / shaped like rabbit ears” and a “rouged moth mouth.” The poet’s truth-telling is bold and brave, as evidenced by her confession that “[She] wanted more children. [She] wanted / to become pregnant over and over”; instead, she kept this longing a secret and took the pill. Her love for her family is sincere but not saccharine in lines like, “Dearest creatures, my beloved blood / from a galaxy of nebulous deeds / beings magnetic and malleable, / you are the result of bygone pleasures and chance.” Some language is more difficult to decipher—lines like “Think vespertine, flourishing in the evening: / crepuscular. I crave an innocent gloaming” may stymie some readers.
An honest and incisive exploration of life’s loveliness that occasionally overcomplicates its message.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781963115338
Page Count: 102
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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