About a Book

In his third book of poetry, The Tradition , Jericho Brown covers much ground: he grapples with myth, media, racism, his own mortality, and still manages to push past established forms of poetry. It’s impressive in scope, but the breadth can leave the reader forgetting the ground covered because there was too much of it. Brown conveys a disdain for the world around him that embraces and encourages racism and violence, but also exudes a confidence about his own abilities to navigate the terrain. This is a book from a grown, tired man, and is filled with the heartbreak and the fortitude he’s earned. He introduces, too, the “Duplex” form in his poetry, described by Jeannine Hall Gailey in her Barrelhouse review of The Tradition as “a sonnet-like series of couplets that include repetition.” The repetition accomplishes a layering of experiences and voices, making his experiences feel that much more echoed in the lives of others, as though he is not alone. These stories are from a...

Scott Selby and Greg Campbell created a quietly cinematic depiction of the largest jewel heist in history in Flawless . In 2003, the Diamond Center in Antwerp , Belgium , was robbed of an estimated $500 million in jewels that still has not been recovered. Selby and Campbell do compact work here, packing the relatively short narrative with a creative take on how the “ School of Turin ,” a band of skilled thieves, came together to pull off the robbery. They focus on Leonardo Notabartolo, the inside man for the school, who rented office space in the Diamond Center, posed as a businessman, while he cased the area and reported back to his colleagues. By focusing on Notabartolo, the authors provide a lens for the reader to walk through the entirety of the scheme. The particulars of how he figured out the alarms, guards, and cameras are so detailed, it’s like watching Notabartolo while he works. Thanks to Strider Teague for recommending Flawless . I expect we’ll see a movi...

Juan Vidal writes of his burgeoning rap career in Rap Dad , his ambitions shifting with the birth of his children. The now music journalist explores his early success in the music industry and his even earlier disappointment in his own father for his infidelity and drug addiction. Vidal does an interesting job of showing the world of Hip Hop in Miami in the eighties and nineties, educating his reader about the intersections of music, graffiti, and skateboarding. All of these are thrown into a different context once Vidal has his own children, and Hip Hop pioneers like Nas, Jay-Z, and Will Smith are given credit for their influence in his own child-rearing. Without a strong role model for fatherhood in his real life, the author points to these Hip Hop giants as guide posts for his own role as dad. While the anecdotes Vidal shares can feel repetitive at times, he’s giving voice to a subculture of men who were raised by Hip Hop, then used its lessons in parenting their own kid...