Category: Reviews

review by Mala Rai: These Are the People in Your Neighbourhood by Jordan Trethewey

review of THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD by Jordan Trethewey, originally published in Miramichi Reader at https://miramichireader.ca/2024/03/these-are-the-people-in-your-neighbourhood-by-jordan-trethewey/ These Are the People In Your Neighbourhood by Jordan Trethewey March 25, 2024 by Mala Rai Jordan Trethewey’s tribute to the people of Fredericton, a city I have never been to,  travelled nearly 5400km westward for a curious …

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Review by Aleathia Drehmer: PRYING by Jack Micheline, Charles Bukowski and Catfish McDaris

Prying is a collection of work from Jack Micheline, Charles Bukowski, and Catfish McDaris, which was originally published by Four-Sep Publications in 1997. The book has since fallen out of print and Four-Sep Publications is defunct. Michele McDannold, editor of Roadside Press, is bringing this long-lost collection back in a new light with an updated cover and new …

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Disposable Darlings Anything but Disposable: a review by Julie Valin

Disposable Darlings Anything but Disposable Todd Cirillo’s new collection of poems, Disposable Darlings, is like a “cosmic jukebox” of the human condition, playing all our favorite songs, depending on our mood. You want a love song? Go to the very first poem, “Magnolias,” and move to the sounds and scents of Spring—a new love blooming. Or …

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Independent Book Review: Radio Water by Francine Witte

Radio Water By Francine Witte Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories Reviewed by Nick Rees Gardner Francine Witte evokes the sorrow of separation, the fear of alienation, and a snippet of hope in this flash fiction collection. All under 1000 words, most of the 44 stories in Francine Witte’s Radio Water have appeared separately before …

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Review by Dan Denton: Disposable Darlings by Todd Cirillo

A look at Todd Cirillo’s Disposable Darlings I have never met Todd Cirillo, and I’ve only read a few of his poems in online zines over the years. He has however been mentioned a few times in conversations with poets that I dig, so I was curious to take a look at his forthcoming collection …

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Review by Nadia Bruce-Rawlings: RADIO WATER by Francine Witte

review first published on A THIN SLICE OF ANXIETY (Anxiety Press) Radio Water, published by Roadside Press, is a beautiful collection of flash fiction from author Francine Witte. Witte writes with such poetry and grace. Every word is thought out, every action flows. The theme is mostly the dysfunctional family, women and children who have …

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Review by Steven Meloan: The Dead and the Desperate by Dan Denton

If you’re looking for a tale of personal purgatory but ultimate redemption, The Dead and the Desperate is the book for you. There have been many literary takes on blue collar life in America—dead-end jobs, dead-end relationships, and often mixed with substance abuse or variations of mental illness. But as a deft and brutally honest …

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Review by Alan Catlin: Kiss the Heathens by Ryan Quinn Flanagan

review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024 Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Kiss the Heathens, Roadside Press, available from www.magicaljeep.com 2023, 230 pages $20 Make no mistake about it, Kiss the Heathens, is a big ass book and true to its size and nature, it delivers the goods by taking names and seriously kicking …

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Review by Alan Catlin: Nothing and Too Much to Talk About by Nancy Patrice Davenport

review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024   Nancy Patrice Davenport, Nothing and Too Much to Talk About, Roadside Press,  2023, 86 pages, $15- There is a lot of smoking , all sorts of substances, chilling and communing with cats in Nancy Patrice Davenport’s latest book. I guess it should be expected …

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Review by Alan Catlin: Resurrection Song by George Wallace

review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024 George Wallace. Resurrection Song, Roadside Press, available through www.magicaljeep.com 2023, 250 pages, $20- Make no mistake about it, this is a massive tome that feels like a compilation of a life’s hard work, living, traveling, reading, and contemplating life and literature. The collection is not …

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