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 …
Tag: book
Jan 11
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 …
Jan 08
an excerpt from RADIO WATER, a collection of flash fiction, by Francine Witte
Night is a Man A man without hands, without feet. Night has nothing but eyes and ears and a scrap of heart. You left ten weeks ago, and Night is what I sleep with. Tonight, I wake Night up and take him to the grocery store. On the way there, Night looks at the moon, …
Jan 06
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 …
Jan 05
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 …
Jan 05
an excerpt from Clown Gravy by Misti Rainwater-Lites
CLOWN GRAVY Vanilla Cupcake was talking shit again, talking about how she would give anything to get in my bed for one hour. One hour is all it would take. It ain’t nothin’ nice bein’ the only African-American in a circus full of wack ass crackers. Sometimes I drop my g’s. Nothin’. Bein’. I’m from …
Jan 04
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 …
Jan 02
Review by Alan Catlin: Under Normal Conditions by Karl Koweski
review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024 Reading Koweski’s latest collection is like a heavyweight fight with life, language, and poetry. In fact, one of my favorite poems in the collections evokes the image of “the lifeless eyes of sonny liston.” The former champion who lost his crown to then Cassius Clay, …
Jan 01
Review by Alan Catlin: A Room Above a Convenience Store by William Taylor Jr.
review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024 William Taylor, A Room Above a Convenience Store, Roadside Press, available from www.magicaljeep.com 2023, 88 pages, $15 Taylor’s latest collection spans the pandemic years and a time of personal health crisis involving serious heart surgery. Perhaps, the most effective ones involve people he meets during …
Dec 31
Review by Alan Catlin: Street Corner Spirits by Westley Heine
review first published in misfitmagazine.net, Issue No. 37, Winter 2024 Westley Heine, Street Corner Spirits: poems and flash fiction, Roadside Press, available from www.magicaljeep.com or your favorite online retailer, 2023, 146 pages, $15 Street Corner Spirits is the second Roadside Press publication for Heine following his novel about trying to make his way as a …
