Evelyn Getchell

The irony of fate, May 8, 2013

Last week I read one of the most powerful books I have read in a long time, FALLING TO EARTH by Kate Southwood. I can hardly put the words together that would adequately describe the impact this novel has made on me. And to think that this is Ms. Southwood's first novel!

This is a novel of such intensity that I had to set the book aside for several days before attempting to review it. I had to allow myself a long enough recovery period so that my emotions would settle down and my mind would quiet. I needed the space so that I might fully process the reading experience that not only brought me to my knees and made me weep, but has also haunted me every day since I finished the… Read more

Clear, unspeakable joy., May 5, 2013

WOOLGATHERING by Patti Smith is a rare and precious jewel of a book - a small but multifaceted memoir of rich, artistic expression and shimmering, ethereal prose that takes soaring flight with the evocative imagery of Patti's unique and genuine poetic language.

Patti Smith writes with such grace and honesty from her most sacred interior landscapes that each of the memories she shares with us in WOOLGATHERING is a nugget of pure gold, mined from the substratum of her personal truth.

I have always loved Patti Smith's music, ever since I first heard Horses when I myself was a young Bohemian in the mid-seventies… Read more

The "ARGO" - she sails there still!, May 3, 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

THE WHISPERING MUSE is a charming modern day fable penned smartly by the celebrated Icelandic author known simply as Sjon.

I was drawn to this author and this new English translation of his 2005 novel because of the comparisons of Sjon with the undisputed master of contemporary Icelandic literature and 1955 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Halldor Laxness. Laxness is one of my favorite storytellers of all time, so I expected some masterful storytelling from Sjon as well. And I was not disappointed with THE WHISPERING MUSE - a little bit flummoxed perhaps but not disappointed.

THE WHISPERING MUSE is a whimsical, expeditious tale of an aging Icelander named… Read more