first published in Misfit Magazine, Alan Catlin, ed. William Taylor Jr., The People Are Like Wolves to Me, Roadside Press, roadsidefam.com distributed by Magical Jeep, also available on Amazon, 2025, 85 pages, $17. If his poetry is to be taken literally, and there is no reason not to take him at his word, Taylor is a melancholy …
Tag: alan catlin
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 …
Jan 10
Alan Catlin reviews Karl Koweski’s Abandoned by All Things
first published in http://misfitmagazine.net/ Karl Koweski, Abandoned by All Things, Roadside Press Distributed by Magical Jeep Distribution, available on Amazon, 2024, 136 pages $15- Koweski’s journey in life travels from the Midwest to the deep South. He observes Alabama’s barely sentient senator Tommy Tuberville as “the mostly evil, largely senseless/senator of Alabama” whose modest credentials for elective office, …
Jul 04
Alan Catlin reviews THEY SAID I WASN’T COLLEGE MATERIAL by Scot Young
first published in http://misfitmagazine.net/ Scot Young, They Said I Wasn’t College Material, Roadside Press, Magic Jeep Distributing, available on Amazon, 2024, 132 pages, $15 Young’s latest collection is a selected, mostly culled from before 2009. The title comes from an actual conversation with a guidance counselor who failed to see Young’s potential as a student. Scot, in …
Jun 25
Alan Catlin reviews AND BLACKBERRIES GREW WILD by Susan Ward Mickelberry
first published in misfitmagazine.net Susan Ward Mickelberry, and blackberries grew wild, Roadside Press, distributed by Magical Jeep, available on Amazon, 2024, 100 pages, $15 Susan is essentially a narrative poet reflecting on her past in the many places she has lived in and visited as an army brat, over a long and eventful life. A strong sense …
