Posts Published by Christa

Get ‘Mean’

Myriam Gurba’s memoir Mean opens with the chase-torture-rape-death of Sophia Torres, a young woman described by some media as “transient.” Gurba and Torres are linked by more than a shared culture: Torres was raped by the…

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The moms

I have never-ever so wanted a book club to spontaneously form around me as when I was reading Brit Bennett’s un-put-downable debut novel The Mothers. I just really wanted to dish about Luke Sheppard, a…

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Catch the Wave

When Black Wave opens, everything is changing. Writer Michelle Tea’s anti-hero, also named Michelle, is in the midst of a neighborhood’s skin-peeling to reveal a whole something new. The stale-beer stink dive bar that catered to…

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2016 finale

Unearthed: A bunch of book review blurbs from things read in the latter half of 2016. I Love Dick by Chris Kraus There is so much to love about this book by Chris Kraus. It’s wacky,…

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Crash Landing

There are two great, gripping scenes in Noah Hawley’s novel Before the Fall. I’ll tell you about the first, but not the second. The second offers the story’s only startling, intake of breath moment, and…

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Making the movie sausage

Start reading a story about a high school film fanatic whose senior project involves aping an urban legend involving her favorite filmmaker. And then, upon successful completion, meets the elderly gent, moves into his house,…

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