Category Archives: reviews

On Time… More

I just finished reading Elizabeth Alexander’s wonderful memoir The Light of the World. Most people know Alexander as the poet who wrote/read the poem “Praise Song for the Day” at President Obama’s 2009 inauguration. I met Elizabeth only briefly, through the poet Kevin Young, when she … Continue reading

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“Margaret” by Kenneth Lonergan

Thursday night I was walking with my parents on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. A woman walking behind us wearing a fake fur and with very, very blond hair, was talking in a normal voice on her phone, and we heard … Continue reading

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The Arrival of Christ: What Kind of Gift Is This?

I wrote this during the second week in Advent and sent it to a few Catholic publications, hoping to get it on one of their blogs. Now Christmas is almost over– Epiphany is today if you go by the “old” liturgical calendar … Continue reading

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Survivorship

I’ve been desperate for a book. Not any book, but the book, written for me and where I am now. So when another cancer survivor friend recommended Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales, I leapt at it. I … Continue reading

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Arrival (review)

SPOILER ALERT! I’m gonna tell you pretty much everything that happens in this film. Thanksgiving weekend is a good time for movies, old and new. We saw Arrival two weeks ago, when it opened, and I started a review, but it was too early … Continue reading

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The Underground Railroad (review)

Just yesterday I wrote a review of Colson Whitehead’s amazing novel, The Underground Railroad, on Goodreads. And today I hear he won the National Book Award. I actually reviewed two books on Goodreads yesterday. The second was the photographer Sally Mann’s … Continue reading

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Ethiopian Food in St. Cloud

One of the benefits of new immigrant groups in an area is the arrival of good new cuisines. Steve and I have made an effort to find Somalian food in St. Cloud, eating at two small restaurants, and a few … Continue reading

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Finally, a Crime Podcast Done Right

I’ve been more than ambivalent about the recent trend in crime-exploring podcasts that throw doubt on the results of the criminal justice system. It’s not even so much that I doubt their editing and production process led us to the … Continue reading

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Elena Ferrante Revealed

In one of my early care packages, my friend Paula sent me all four of “the Neapolitan novels” by Elena Ferrante. The thousands of pages and sprawling story of a friendship between two women was both a wonderful goal and … Continue reading

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Miss Sharon Jones

Yesterday, Steve and I went on a date to Minneapolis. Our favorite dates go like this: Mass at the Basilica, brunch at Moose and Sadie’s, play at the Guthrie or movie at the Lagoon or Edina theater. Because the film … Continue reading

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