first published at The Literary Underground’s IN CONVERSATION McDannold, Michele (2025). Collected Poems 2005-2025 (Poetry Collection) Roadside Press 279p. $20.00 (Paperback) Michele McDannold’s Collected Poems 2005–2025 is a bruising, beautiful chronicle of two decades lived on the raw nerve of experience. The voice here is equal parts survivor, witness, and outlaw philosopher—one who has been scorched by the world’s …
Category: Reviews
Dec 02
THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE by Nicholas Claro reviewed by Alan Catlin
first published in Misfit Magazine, Editor Alan Catlin Nicholas Claro, This Is Where You Are, Roadside Press, www.roadsidefam.com distributed by www.magicaljeep.com, 2025, 155 pages, $18 Claro’s first book comes burdened with a blurb , “reminiscent of Raymond Carver’s classic story collections” and “In the tradition of Carver and Dubus.” I say burdened as those two guys are the masters of …
Nov 27
THE SCREW CITY POEMS by Richard Vargas reviewed by Alan Catlin
Richard Vargas, The Screw City Poems, 2025, 136 pages, $18 If you were expecting heavily charged erotica here due to the title, Screw City you will likely be disappointed. Not that there isn’t sex, there is some, married, break up sex, hook up sex but “Screw City” refers to a small midwestern city (Rockford, IL) that was once known …
Nov 26
LITTLE GRAVEYARDS by Aleathia Drehmer reviewed by Alan Catlin
first published in misfit magazine, Editor Alan Catlin Aleathia Drehmer, Little Graveyards, 2025, 66 pages, $15 Little Graveyards is a small, easily transportable book that will easily fit into your purse or back pocket. I highly recommend taking the poems with you, reading a couple at a time, and saving the rest for later. Aleathia works in health care, …
Jun 20
APOCALYPSING by Jason Anderson reviewed by Alan Catlin
Jason Anderson, Apocalypsing, 2024, 306 pages, $20 This is a wild ride. I kept thinking it is sort of like well if Lincoln in Bardo got mixed up with a PK Dick novel, take your pick which one, say, Ubik or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and had a Naked Lunch while tripping on acid, something like this might emerge. Maybe. The …
Feb 24
Kerry Trautman reviews Danny Shot’s Night Bird Flying
“It’s been said of my people, the Jews, that we are endlessly fascinated by all things concerning the Jews. It’s that way with me. I am forever fascinated by all things concerning me.” This, from the story “What a Wonderful World,” hints at a hubris that does not, in fact, ever rear its head in …
Jan 12
Alan Catlin reviews Dave Newman’s She Throws Herself Forward to Stop the Fall
first published in http://misfitmagazine.net/ Dave Newman, She Throws Herself Forward to Stop the Fall, Roadside Press, Magical Jeep Distribution, available on Amazon, 200 pages, 2024 Poet and prose master Newman scores big in this collection of seven tight stories. While these people don’t know each other, they probably would make instant connections. Most of them are at an …
