Review by Mack Hassler An early issue of Clutch was one of the first collections I reviewed, long before Luczak had his idea of editing his series. The geography of Robert Zoschke reaches up and to the East toward the delta of the Menominee into Lake Michigan, so it is…
Review by Mack Hassler The Yooper Poetry Series, originated and edited by Luczak, captivates me in this book Amasa Speaker Factory by Chad Faries (volume VI), which deals mostly with Iron County; and with the Zoschke 2026 edition of Clutch, we get a similar Kerouac-centered “on the road” openness of structure…
Review by Mack Hassler And when the couple had enjoyed their lovemaking, they shared another pleasure –telling stories. Odysseus told her how much he hurt So many people, and in turn How much he had endured himself. She loved to listen and she did not fall asleep until he told…
.Review by Mack Hassler “… though Cook’s body was never found— eaten by the indigenous people Who killed him, his name will live forever in the remembrance of the people Grateful for the services his labors have afforded to mankind in general.” A letter by Joseph Banks…
Review by Mack Hassler “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve ofthem,whom he also designated apostles [special messengers]” Luke 6:12-13 I particularly like reading nonfiction storytelling…
Review by Mack Hassler “Well, I could have loved you better Didn’t mean to be unkind You know that was the last thing on my mind” Tom Paxton (1964) reprinted by permission “But for Adam there was not found a Helper fit for him” Genesis 2:21 “If you build it,…
Review by Mack Hassler “Special Agent Gracie Hart … is eager to be the next Miss United States … Sandra Bullock stars as an [undercover] operative posing as a contestant In order to ferret out a terrorist targeting the event” — Product information for the film, “Miss Congeniality” (DVD 2000)…
Review by Mack Hassler “‘You are Israel’s teacher, said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand … ?’ — John 2:25 “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God”‘ — John 3:…
Review by Mack Hassler Tantae molis erat Romanem condere gentum “How hard it was to found the race of Rome” Near the end of Book I, Vergil The Aeneid, written close to Christ’s birth I love the interplay in this epigraph between the language play in ancient thought given to…
Review by Mack Hassler “That is why it was called Babel— because the Lord confused the language of the whole world” Genesis 11:9 I think I will always, in a way, be thankful that God’s new creation of mankind in the Garden was a failed experiment. Adam and Eve and…
Review by Mack Hassler “…In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Fourth Gospel, by Saint John, 1:1 I have…
Review by Mack Hassler A beautifully-designed chapbook by Amy Hansen, Superior Stories is the product of workshopping for creative writers and chosen by chief judge Brian Gruley as the latest of this long series of chapbook winners. I have not reviewed any of the series previously, but the work of…
Review by Mack Hassler One of my great literary heroes is Samuel Johnson, “…the style of a man who thinks with rigorous clarity and as the author of a dictionary has the whole language at his command.” (from the Preface to Johnson’s The History of Ressalas by Michael Lewis, professor…
Review by Mack Hassler Scott Fitzgerald published and sold to mass-market and glossy magazines that paid well in order to maintain the expensive life style that his debutante wife Zelda expected. As a major American fiction writer, he also published four financially successful novels. This substantial collection gathers 43 of…
Review by Mack Hassler Oh Jake,” Brett said “We could have had such a damned-good time together…. “Yes,” I said, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” “You are all a lost generation” Gertrude Stein in conversation The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway (1926) I…
Review by Mack Hassler “then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” …
Review by Mack Hassler “ … upon this rock I will build my Church…. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Wharever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on on earth shall…
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]…
