Review by Mack Hassler “…his demons are driving him [the lead violinist]….The company takes up the choruses and men and women cry oit like all possessed… some celebrate the beauty of the bride and the joys of love in the excitement….” Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1929), pp. 10-11. “…[a study]…
Review by Sharon Brunner Michael and Evie Carrier brought to life dangerous situations, passionate and enduring love, and the trials and tribulations of a young couple in their memoir “Trax: We Made in New York 1968-72.” Michael provided a disclosure at the beginning of the book about their different recollections…
Review by Victor R. Volkman Quite rarely, a “social history” book of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula crosses my Superior Reads desk. Social history focuses on the lives and experiences of ordinary people, rather than just political or military events. Social history is often described as “history from below” because it explores…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Kenneth C. Bracco’s “Michigan Auto Company: Calumet’s First Auto Dealership and the Man Behind it” brought to life stages of the automobile industry and other life changing events from 1900 to the 1960s. Other places mentioned in the book were Detroit and Chicago besides the main location…
Review by Mack Hassler “The World was all before them , where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide … hand in hand with wandering steps and slow Through Eden [they] took their solitary way.” …
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Michael Carrier’s “Liz” reveals a world filled with illegal drugs, murder and kidnapping. Our story happens in San Francisco and Sault Ste. Marie, a community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) and the time period of the story is current time. The main characters were Jack,…
Review by Mack Hassler “Young Mason would spend much of his time in far off New York City…where there was work to be done in the new Nation.” Life and Times of Steven Thomas Mason Boy Governor of Michigan, Lawton T. Hemans (1920). I have been reading for review some books…
Review by Mack Hassler “ We know what we are but know not what we may be” William Shakespeare, daily quote in the news sheet of my retirement home on the birthday of Shakespeare, 23 April 2025. We know that Lawton Hemans did not live to see his masterpiece in…
by Ernest Dempsey For the well-known novelist Sue Harrison of Pickford, Michigan, this summer translates into book bliss. Between the final week of May and mid-September, Harrison is scheduled to tour eight libraries and a learning center in various towns in the Upper Peninsula region to participate in workshops, book…
Review by Sharon Brunner M.F. Erler has woven an intimate tale filled with despair, hope, and resiliency in her book An Irish Odyssey: from Despair to Hope. Maggie, Thomas, John and Mary were some of the main characters who struggled to succumb to the hardships placed upon them by the…
Review by Sharon Brunner Adam Dompierre’s Paint An Inch Thick revealed a madcap mystery in which the main character, Eddie London, encountered murder, greed, dark secrets and mind-boggling acts of deception. The story takes place in California during the 1980s. Other characters, who made multiple appearances throughout the book were…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera What can you do with a wordless picture book? Oh, let me count the ways! First, a parent or other adult can let a child, or children make up the story, and there can be many stories going on in the progression of the illustrations….
Review by Sharon Brunner Jon C. Stott embraces the advent of the seasons, the mysterious and magical allure of nature and many treasured memories in his book “Wild Blueberry Summer: More Upper Michigan Moments and Memories.” Some of the main characters in his book were woodland creatures, waterfowl, old friends…
Review by Mack Hassler References Paul Fussell, Meter and Poetic Form (1965) Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (1975) Kelly Peach prides himself on being an “author” in a rather charming way in Please, Do Not Tap on the Glass about the form of his poems. I have…
Review by Mack Hassler “Sheriff George looked at Ashley and Franklin, ‘To begin with, Evangeline’s real father called me almost two months ago to ask me to find Evangeline.’” p. 59 Both the great New England poet Longfellow and the TV series Longmire, a crime drama based on the Walt…
Review by Mack Hassler “A doctor gave his patient six months to live, but he couldn’t pay his bill, so he gave him another six months.” — Henny Youngman, comic (1906-1998) Recent Yooper writers of humor that I have reviewed may or may not know Henny Youngman’s one-liners, but I…
Reviewed by Sharon Brunner Nia To Go There’s matwân cî …wondering about now and then and everything everywhere poetry book portrays an innate intimacy between animals, birds, humans and inanimate objects between worlds. Stories, language, dances and visions exist and were experienced everywhere with everything. In other words, the time…
Review by Mack Hassler “Mark Twain’s Huck Finn underlies all American Literature” Character of Hemingway in Midnight in Paris (2011) by Woody Allen When he writes, produces, and directs film, Woody Allen can be brilliant. In the epigraph above, he captures an idea about Hemingway often found in scholarly work. …
