Reviews
1058 results
Page 52
Nadia Boulanger: War Years in America and Her Last Decades, by James Whipple Miller
An artist and a woman, in her own words
Philadelphia-based author James Whipple Miller offers a valuable portrait of the legendary composer and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, told largely through letters to her longtime friend Ruth Robbins. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Let Your Heart Be Broken: Life and Music from a Classical Composer, by Tina Davidson
An esteemed Philadelphia composer tells her story
Composer Tina Davidson, who lived in Philadelphia for about 25 years, offers a memoir that isn’t the story of a solitary artist obsessed with a craft, but rather the worldly, spirited life that informs the art. Peter Burwasser reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Done Doing Time: A Portrait of Life After Prison, by Hinda Schuman
Every neighborhood, every human life
In her second book, Philadelphia photographer Hinda Schuman’s sensitive and unflinching lens documents the lives of two women struggling to rebuild their lives after incarceration. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
Working 9 to 5: A Women’s Movement, a Labor Union, and the Iconic Movie, by Ellen Cassedy
Women workers have come a long way—but the fight continues
This book by longtime Daily News columnist Ellen Cassedy explores the roots of a modern movement for women workers’ rights—a fight that continues today. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
Philadelphia, Corrupt and Consenting: A City’s Struggle Against an Epithet, by Brett H. Mandel
Still crooked after all these years
In a new book that promises to infuriate and illuminate in equal measure, Brett H. Mandel traces the roots of Philly’s notorious corruption, from the days of William Penn to Bobby Henon’s 2023 sentencing. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
The Time Left Between Us, by Alicia DeFonzo
War stories, then and now
South Philly author Alicia DeFonzo explores gripping parallel histories in her first book: her grandfather’s WWII service and the unexpected legacies pulling on her own life. Harrison Tsui reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
Dwell Here and Prosper, by Chris Eagle
A Delco delight
The real-life diary of a stroke survivor and Philly sports lover who entered an assisted-living facility in Delaware County in the 1990s inspires debut novelist Chris Eagle’s Dwell Here and Prosper. Stephen Silver reviews.
Reviews
2 minute read
to rule the desert, by Monica Robinson
Orpheus and Eurydice in the American Southwest
This debut novella from Philly writer Monica Robinson is inspired by a story ripe for re-imagining: the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice—with a queer, Southern Gothic twist. Jordan Cameron reviews.
Reviews
2 minute read
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blue: season, by Chris Lombardi
The gendered lines of genius
Philly novelist Chris Lombardi tackles the legacy of James Joyce—and perhaps all creative, eccentric people who have the benefit of being men—in this intricate novel, casting new eyes on Joyce’s daughter Lucia. Michael R. Fisher reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
Songs for the Gusle, by Prosper Mérimée; translated by Laura Nagle
Folklore and fakelore
A recent translation by Laura Nagle brings the early work of Prosper Mérimée to English. Songs for the Gusle brims with 19th-century Romantic spirit while keeping a game afoot in the footnotes. Helen Walsh reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read