Unaccustomed Earth

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Jhumpa Lahiri's second collection of short stories is just phenomenal.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008).

A short story collection and a novel

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"An hour later, a couple lingered in front of a death mask that cost several hundred dollars. They both wore shorts and sandals and carried mesh tote bags. They spoke in a foreign language; the man kept touching the space between the woman's shoulders. Joyce watched them from behind the register. They were young, early twenties, and looked happy. She both envied and pitied them."

This segment is from "We Are Calling to Offer You a Fabulous Life," a short story by Laura van den Berg. It was first published in the Northwest Review and then in her first book, What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us (Dzanc Books, 2009). The story collection also includes the title story (first printed in One Story), which I discussed in a previous post, and "Where We Must Be," about a failed actress who takes a job pretending to be Bigfoot.

I also recently read Jhumpa Lahiri's first published novel, The Namesake (Houghton Mifflin, 2003).

The Reader

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I read this novel (by Bernhard Schlink) many years ago, but I just watched the film a few days ago. The novel is an intelligent rendering of issues that are quite complicated, especially in a moral sense. Although I haven't read it again in the intervening years, I thought that the film captured the sense of the book quite well. I was particularly impressed with David Kross, who played the younger Michael.

The Reader, based on the novel The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, directed by Stephen Daldry, written for the screen by David Hare, and starring Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz, David Kross as a younger Michael Berg, and Ralph Fiennes as an older Michael Berg.

News of the Spirit (short stories by Lee Smith)

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Nice to reread out on the back porch on a lazy summer day (or an unseasonably warm spring evening).

"A Meditation in Tweets"

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I never, ever thought that I would print or in any way promote a poem written in such a distorted style. I admit, I was biased against this poem from the moment I read the title. But ultimately I was impressed by the language and the way the poet used the form to her advantage.

Pasted below is the last stanza of the poem (because, as mentioned in the addendum, the poem is intended to be read in reverse order, beginning with the last stanza).

"A Meditation in Tweets"
by Kimberly Grey

. . .
Birdbath out back but we r the birds of this tub, our little boat almost sunk & us beneath it;
necks smeared w/a pithy brightness. Let this

"A Meditation in Tweets," a poem by Kimberly Grey, was published on April 13, 2010, and is continued online in Linebreak.

Two from Knopf's Poem-A-Day (April 2010)

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"A Remedy for Insomnia"
by Vera Pavlova

Not sheep coming down the hills,
not cracks on the ceiling—
count the ones you loved,
. . .

"A Remedy for Insomnia," a poem by Vera Pavlova, from If There Is Something To Desire (translated from the Russian by her husband, Steven Seymour), was sent on April 9 and is continued at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2010/04/09/remedy-for-insomnia-pavlova/.

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"Seven Horses" by Marge Piercy

When I was a pencil of a girl
I had seven horses, one
for each day of the week.
. . .

"Seven Horses," a poem by Marge Piercy, from The Crooked Inheritance (Middlemarsh, 2006), was sent on April 2 and is continued at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2010/04/02/piercy-seven-horses/.

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Every day in April, in celebration of National Poetry Month, Knopf Poetry sends a free poem via e-mail. You can sign up for these mailings on the Knopf website at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/?ref=poemaday_poetrynl.

Happy Poetry Month!

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"Cat Love" by Lyn Lifshin

if you had a favorite
pillow or worn cotton
shirt it would be ok
about loving it. But
cat love is a risky
choice. It sounds so
sentimental and this
isn’t even a dead or
dying cat. Let’s say it
is not a cat but say
an old bathrobe you
feel comfortable in. . . .

"Cat Love," a poem by Lyn Lifshin, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2006).

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"Jane Austen's Toes" by Rob Hardy

Jane Austen never mentions toes,
although she must sometimes
have thought about her own—
blistered, perhaps, and sore
from walking in pattens with wooden soles. . . .

"Jane Austen's Toes," a poem by Rob Hardy, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2007).

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"This Morning" by Bonnie Bolling

Another morning and I wake
hungry for something I cannot name.
I walk out to the grass and everywhere
there are gifts—the tree hangs with
lemons. . . .

"This Morning," a poem by Bonnie Bolling, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2007).