Before I start reviewing Girls, I have to express my disappointment in Lena Dunham’s casting decisions. Plenty has been said about how startlingly white the actors are, but that doesn’t excuse the rest of us from continuing to discuss what is a blatantly irresponsible creative choice. Tiny Furniture, Dunham’s breakout indie film, showed audiences that Dunham is familiar enough with gender theory. Each flash of cellulite and glimpse of adult acne was meant to subvert expectations of what a privileged […]
Surreal Odes to Saints and Feral Children: A Review of The Odditorium by Melissa Pritchard
The Odditorium: Stories by Melissa Pritchard Bellevue Literary Press; 252 p. Melissa Pritchard’s eighth book, The Odditorium, is a collection of short stories with a giant vague Annie Dillard quote (“Melissa Pritchard is one of our finest writers.”) on the front cover. Where is she one of our finest writers? At Veselka on 2nd Avenue on a Sunday night? At the big annual Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Lorrie Moore? But I’m not here to nitpick Pritchard’s blurb choice. I’m here […]
Mary Shelley Influenced And Eli Roth Approved: A Review Of “Hemlock Grove” By Brian McGreevy
Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 336 p. I read the galley for screenwriter Brian McGreevy’s novel, Hemlock Grove, at the beach sometime ago; admittedly a strange locale for what is essentially a contemporary homage to traditional gothic horror. The back cover blurb by torture porn sommelier Eli Roth had me initially soured, envisioning something of a gorier Twilight encapsulated within; however, I found the novel to be clever and written with reverence toward its generic forbearers. […]