The books TREE RIVER FISH, HISTORIC HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN PERIL, and CRACKER GOTHIC each earn strong reviews.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC, USA, September 3, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ --

TREE RIVER FISH: "Raw, bracing, thoroughly contemporary political verse." (Kirkus Reviews)

A collection offers a cri de coeur from a poet who, after three years of the Donald Trump presidency, just can’t take it anymore. As proof of his intellect, Trump recently rattled off a list of words: “Person, woman, man, camera, TV.” For the president, the list recalled a question on a cognitive test he had been talking about all summer—one that he “aced.” His answer to that question supposedly showed his sharp memory, but it also felt like a snippet of Trumpian poetry, as if e.e. cummings got strained through the brain of a Queens real estate mogul. Readers will likely think about Trump when reading the title of Williams’ new collection that references a Native American proverb but also sounds an awful lot like the president’s strange verse. The connection, it turns out, isn’t merely fortuitous because the author’s poetry both reflects on and rages at Trump’s America. Sometimes, the link is quite direct, as in “The Poem to Trump All Others,” which captures the president’s perpetual braggadocio: “This poem will be so good / it’ll make your head spin. / You’ll be amazed at / how good this poem will be. / … / You won’t even remember other poems / because this poem will be the poem for the ages.” Elsewhere in the volume, Williams ruminates more broadly—not necessarily about Trump, but about life in the America the president is in the process of creating. So there is a piece on conservative consternation over The 1619 Project in the New York Times, the paper’s reevaluation of American history in light of the pervasive influence of slavery. And there is “And Then Eminem Created Rap,” about hip-hop and cultural appropriation. One of the most effective of these wider-ranging pieces is “#metoo,” which opens: “You ask us / to unearth these hurts, / you say giving voice to the pain / will make us heal, dull the / jagged edges of / unholy theft / You misunderstand: / there is / no relief.” In the hands of a lesser writer, these ripped-from-the-headlines poems might feel convenient or undigested. Not so for Williams, who uses poetry both to channel her anger at the day’s political scene and to add urgency to her call to action.

HISTORIC HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN PERIL: "A thorough and thought-provoking examination of the roles houses of worship play in communities." (Kirkus Reviews)

Throughout the book, the author takes a bracing, factual tone, completely rejecting the idea that he’s indulging in mere nostalgia. The historical activities he’s engaged in, “remembering stories of the past, asking how buildings came to be, or who the people were who populated this house of worship and this community,” are, he points out, “explicitly anti-nostalgic.” Understanding this kind of history, he maintains, “is essential in planning for a constructive future.” Frank uses the case of North Adams very skillfully in order to both explore the issues and challenge his readers. He has some stern words for the callous or unthinking way municipalities—and church management teams—sometimes deal with the issues involved in closing houses of worship. When he describes, for instance, the somewhat fumbling way North Adams dealt with closing, consolidating, and renaming churches, he asks: “But a diocese” can just “announce the renovation of collective memory and the institution of new folkways?” Most of Frank’s readers have at least a few houses of worship in their own immediate settings, and perhaps many of them know of such places that have indeed been transformed into condos or office spaces. But all readers will be captivated by the author’s intelligent and unflinching insights into both the role that houses of worship play in their cities and the changes that can happen when they close their doors.

CRACKER GOTHIC: "An acutely observed panorama of small-town Florida." (Kirkus Reviews)

A Floridian whose mother is diagnosed with dementia finds solace by returning to her roots in this debut memoir. Duncan’s book opens with a description of a road trip from North Carolina to Florida, a familiar journey for the author after learning that her mother had dementia. At the age of 18, Duncan left her hometown of Green Cove Springs in North Florida to attend college in North Carolina, where she graduated and married. She confides that she had made no plans to return to live in the town where she grew up, remarking on the “stifled economy, the lack of opportunity, the boring weather,” and “the swamps.” Her father died a few years after her graduation, and the onset of her mother’s dementia led to the author’s returning to Florida more regularly. During her mother’s illness, Duncan’s husband committed suicide. Green Cove Springs, the town she once took a “direct tangent away from,” became her place of emotional refuge. The author celebrates the town’s past while telling her own story and that of her family bloodline—the “product of outside blood mingled with generations of Florida Crackers, the old pioneer families of Florida, descendants of swamp dwellers.” In this richly embroidered account, Duncan’s writing is effortlessly atmospheric. Describing the Congaree River, she notes: “Thick, blue-gray, opaque mists hang above its broad, flat surface, backlit by the orange dawn.” The author interweaves evocative descriptions with detailed historical background that reaches back to Ponce de Leon and personal anecdotes, such as recalling the soothing nature of sewing with her mother at the time of her illness: “I loved the sweet smell of steam on cotton, the satisfying feel of a sharp blade cutting through fabric, the hum of this dear old machine from my childhood.” Illustrated with striking black and white photographs by Duncan, along with historical shots, this is a poignant and compelling memoir that explores familial, cultural, and spiritual ties to a birthplace.

William Kane
Library Partners Press
+1 336-758-6181
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