Reviews and Comments

"The Bay Area's secret weapon" Carrie Hunter has written a number of poetry collections, but this one — just out from Nightboat — is my fav. Recommended if you like: telling people your dreams and hearing about people's dreams, eavesdropping, collage, impossible situations, ALL CAPS, thinking about sex while "meditating," the strangeness of everyday language.

This book! Sophia Shalmiyev writes: "Vanasco performs a literary feminist miracle for all women who have been denied basic rights, been suspect, been labeled, been unbelievable after their rapes and assaults, and shines our collective shame outwardly, to ask a man why a choice to abuse is made." It's really an extraordinary book; as far as I know, nothing like this has been done before. Vanasco interviews the ex-friend who raped her when they were teens, and makes sense of his answers with input from her writing group, her friends, her editors, and her partner.

This is a beautifully written, formally inventive, moving, and brave essay collection about chronic migraines, addiction, codependent relationships, and how impossible it is for many chronic pain patients to get the care they need. My favorite part may be the essay that's a list of all the NYC pharmacies the author had to visit in order to get her RX filled.

I don't normally love short story collections ... hard for me to wind up caring about characters and situations I only spend a few pages with ... I realize this is 100% my bias ... but anyway I really loved this collection by Corinne Manning. All kinds of queer characters variously making messes and sorting things out. And I cared about all of them, for the few pages I knew them. One thing that sticks in my mind is a moment when a character makes a bad situation worse by putting on a ridiculous costume. No, I don't remember what costume or what situation. You'll have to read it and find out!