Iowa Books

"Lone Tree" is an account of a killing rampage by a one-time prosperous Iowa farmer and a metaphor about the killing of the American farmer during the 1980's. Author Bruce Brown does a great job of examining the psychology of prosperity, the cause and consequences of Federal Farm policies, and the forces that propelled Dale Barr to kill his neighbor, wife, and banker. As we see and smell corporate hog confinements dotting our landscape and witness the continued fall of farm incomes, the conditions for a reenactment of the tragedy of Lone Tree exist. Not a fun book, but a good one.

Don't expect to find everything mentioned in the book; it's been awhile since it's been written. I can only speak for Harrold, SD, but the Centennial Cafe has been torn down, and Bohning's Grocery went out, though the building's still there. Still, it's a good history, and the most thorough one about the state that I've read. That includes the ones about Deadwood and Mt. Rushmore, because of their narrow scope.

I think "Lug" must stand for "lugubrious," but Joshua Wilkinson's new book is at any rate some sort of soul-changing experience, particularly for those with a fondness for the works of Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. The scary monsters they disclose, the secrets from which their slightly later US contemporaries Susan Rothenberg and Eric Fischl drew 1980s neo-figuration, fascinate this young, upcoming poet, even though, as the old saying goes, "You can't go home again." Again and again, Mr. Wilkinson shows us the 2006 version of serial poems that zone in on one subject, or topic, and then flit off at the first sign of closure, too anguished to find even the momentary rest of a rhyme.

As FE Smith once wrote, "The world continues to offer glittering prizes to those who have stout hearts and sharp swords." Wilkinson's blade is sharp and his heart is not only stout but wide in compass. His fragmented poem drips with feeling, gathering up glimpses of the absurd and the understated in many countries round the globe. Not for nothing has he travelled to many places, and how refreshing it is to come upon a poet so concerned with European matters, not only those of an aesthetic nature, but of a geopolitical bent as well. In "The Bowling Alley's Most Beautiful Thief" we revisit not only his eroticized penchant for thievery (his totem animal should be the magpie) but we see troubling instances of the sort of institutionalized torture Amnesty International reports on but, of course, poets knew about it all along: "Triangulated position of girl thieves/ in the crossbeams, in the horizontal rafters./ Pulleys & ropes across, clicked into their bellies."

There are real bodies everywhere in the book, as the title points out. "Until you unstick the kite from the oak's branches./ /Until your name finds you in another body." And yet at the same time there's a drive away from the body and into a lyric mist, a confusion between realms ("Christmas or Boxing Day," wonders the bicoastal narrator, as though unable to distinguish the date.) "A duck perched on my oar, proof of my/ absence."

At the end of the book there's a list of previous winners of the Iowa Poetry Prize. That list is more chilling than a visit to the Winchester Mystery House. Read it and shiver for the vanity of earthly delights. These poets, who must have thought that their names and works would now live forever, form a gallery of has beens and never made its, with a few notable exceptions who are indeed among my closest friends

In five chapters Linda Kinnahan explores linguistically innovative poetry by contemporary women in North America and Britain that represents feminist reconsiderations of the lyric subject. Kinnahan discusses women avant-garde poets within a critical discourse largely centered upon men until the past five years or so; calls attention to innovative women poets advancing a feminist sensibility; considers an experimental alternative to male-centered narratives and theorizations of Language writing; and discusses women's innovative poetry to include the British context.

This product is same as described in purchase. Delivery was very quickly and good conditions. I recommend this product and provider. Sincerely. Jose Pena

Compiled by the team of Craig Crist-Evans, Kate Fetherston, and Roger Weingarten, Manthology: Poems On The Male Experience is an anthology of poems by ninety-three varied authors about maleness, gender, sexuality, war, peace, and self-doubt. At times mercilessly brutal, at times introspective, ranging among male subjects from fathers, sons, and protectors to drug addicts, victims, soldiers and criminals, Manthology offers a raw glimpse to the complexities and challenges of the male experience. When My Dead Father Called: Last night I dreamt my father called to us. / He was stuck somewhere. It took us / A long time to dress, I don't know why. / The night was snowy; there were long black roads // Finally, we reached the little town, Bellingham. / There he stood by a streetlamp in cold wind, / Snow blowing along the sidewalk. I noticed / The uneven sort of shoes that men wore. // In the early Forties. And overalls. He was smoking. / Why did it take us so long to get going? Perhaps / He left us somewhere once, or did I simply / Forget he was alone in winter in some town?

Read the masterpiece... and get the key to the wonderful world of veterinary neurology!!

I used this manual during my surgical clerckship last year and found it to be extremely useful. This text deals with perioperative patient care in a concise, easily memorized and very clearly laid down manner. It is also very useful in reviewing important subjects that are usually ignored during surgical rounds such as cardiac arrhythmias and others. It is very deductive and easy to read . I recommend it to every medical student taking a surgical clerckship so that he/she may better comprehend the crucial role of good pre- and postoperative care of the patient and inhance their knowledge in different subjects of great importance in surgical theraputics.

A couple of months ago I began a new career as an economist for the USDA-AMS Dairy Programs. Although I have a master's degree in economics, I had no specific knowledge of the dairy industry. One of my colleagues recommended this book. Reading it helped me to quickly gain basic knowledge of pricing and marketing in the dairy industry.

This lovely collection of stories is refreshing in it's honesty and authenticity. This is how real women think and emote. A refreshing change from the more frivolous, albeit amusing, fiction genre that has become so popular. If you want to have short journeys with an interesting woman, read these stories. This author truly understands how intellectual women and men process the world they live in.