Once Upon A Time in the West Book review by Jude Joseph Lovell Here we are in the U.S.A. in “the evil of its winter,” to lift a phrase from the celebrated Irish fiction writer Kevin Barry’s brand-new book of stories, That Old Country Music (Doubleday). “But then,” he notes, “I suppose January is a tough Read more
Home for the Holidays This year, many of our writers and contributors will have a new tradition of sorts for the holidays, no thanks to COVID19. In honor of our fabulous family of writers, I asked them to send a short sentence or two on how they will be spending Thanksgiving this year. Remember that Read more
INTRODUCING “THE DOUBLYS” – THE LITERARY OSCARS A modest proposal by Jude Joseph Lovell Hollywood recently rolled out its red carpets yet again in Los Angeles, California, for the 71st Emmy Awards, honoring the best achievements in American television. All the brightest and prettiest people paraded across them, posed for pictures, and made small talk Read more
As the Crow Flies Book review by Jude Joseph Lovell In a recent, good-natured debate I had with my brother-in-law about books, he let me know that he didn’t care for a novel I had recommended. There were too many open-ended questions at the end of the story, he explained. “I don’t like that,” he Read more
Band of Fathers by Jude Joseph Lovell I am the second of four brothers. I have an identical twin who counts as the third because he was born after me. We also have older and younger brothers. And we have two sisters as well. Our father, Richard, had two brothers. One died right after birth. Read more
Hadestown: An Old Song Made Brand New By Jude Joseph Lovell The singer-songwriter turned composer Anaïs Mitchell has not been satisfied with a conventional singer’s career path. Since the early 2000’s she has been toiling on a “folk opera” called Hadestown, based on the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone. First Read more
The Cathedral of Imagination by Jude Joseph Lovell We all watched as the images came across our laptops, our TV screens, and our phones on April 15—the great cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris engulfed in catastrophic fire. I can’t speak for others, but the horror that seemed to claw out of my gut and climb Read more
The Citadel Within Book review by Jude Joseph Lovell Someone very special to me was recently hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms consistent with congestive heart failure. We learned later that there had been no “cardiac event” after all—the heart in question was responding to attacks of anxiety and depression. Only about a week later, I saw Read more
