The Age of Deer Documents How Deer Came to Represent Our Two Americas
As Erika Howsare writes in her new book, The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors, “Deer are bigger and more charismatic than” crows, vultures, or squirrels “by an order of magnitude … there’s something about how a deer looks back.” In the course of reading Howsare’s book, published by Penguin Random…
Arielle Burgdorf’s Prétend Contemplates the Nuance of Translation and Queerness
The life and identity of Jean, a queer translator navigating an abusive marriage, are ever-changing in Arielle Burgdorf’s debut novel, Prétend. Jean, who offers early on that she’s “not a citizen of anywhere in particular” but her closest place to “home” is Montreal, first meets Russian poet Konstantin in an Icelandic bar. Overlooking his controlling…
Universally Adored Unravels the Power of the Dollar Bill
In Universally Adored and Other $1 Dollar Stories, D.C. author (and actor) Elizabeth Bruce gives nearly three dozen reasons why a dollar bill can enrich a story. Her 33 microstories, like those of Haruki Murakami and Ottessa Moshfegh, are brief, feature a resolved plot, and occasionally a plot twist or a surprise. Sometimes the dollar is…
When She Left Is a Bloody Page-Turner With a Soul
Crime novels often feature hit men, but the best portray complex personalities rather than mere murderous thugs. And while hit men with psychological issues may be something of a comic television trope, that doesn’t make them any less engaging in print. Indeed, that engaging complexity is what characterizes Lucky, the star killer in E.A. Aymar’s…
2024 Spring Arts Guide
D.C.’s State of the Arts You might think that after three years I’d be bored with our biannual arts guides. Haven’t we seen and done it all, you might ask? After all this time steeped in the arts in D.C., am I not immune to her charms? The reality is that each and every time…
When the Music Stopped: Remembering Reuben Jackson
Throughout his life, Reuben Jackson listened to the music he loved—jazz, of course, but also Jimi Hendrix, Prince, John Prine, and Claude Debussy. As a jazz scholar, Jackson’s understanding of music was profound, and his knowledge vast. As a poet, he listened closely to the people around him, savoring each word’s timbre, musicality, and resonance.…
Les Be Honest Dreams Up a Queer, Sapphic Utopia
Following several failed businesses, Yasmeen Kiani stumbles upon a new idea. After finding a retail space for lease in her new neighborhood, entrepreneur Yasmeen decides to open a queer bar in Arlington, Virginia, in the new romance novel Les Be Honest by Sarah Robinson. She quickly meets Tyler Adams, the property manager of the building…
The Bard Is Back in Town: The Folger Reopens June 21
All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes, instead, it’s the reopening of a beloved local (and national) institution. After four years, and one public renovation extension, the Folger Shakespeare Library has announced its grand reopening for June 21, 2024. Days before COVID-19 closed down all of D.C.’s public spaces, the Folger—home to the world’s largest…
Defying Her Form: Temim Fruchter on Jewish Folklore, Queer Stories, and Hyena Laughs
In one of the many folktales sprinkled throughout City of Laughter, the debut novel from Temim Fruchter, a girl seeks to hold the rain, all of it, in her body. Ultimately, so the story goes, “the girl had become the rain. The rain had become the girl. The girl had defied her form. The girl…
City of Laughter, Temim Fruchter’s Debut Novel, Captivates
Temim Fruchter, who earned her MFA in fiction from the University of Maryland, College Park, is uber-talented, and she proves it in her debut novel, City of Laughter, an amalgam of sapphic love, family secrets, and Jewish folklore. The action begins when the protagonist, queer Jewish woman Shiva Margolin, develops an identity crisis at 31.…
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