Electric Review

Culture & Criticism Since 2003

Category Archives: Rat’s Notebook

Bob Dylan Spotlights the Music That Drives Us

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG. Bob Dylan. Simon and Schuster. “It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.”  Jack Kerouac, from the essay, “Are Writers Made or Born?” … Continue reading

November 11, 2022 · Leave a comment

Reborn Looks Past Bitter Unknowns To A New Beginning

REBORN: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE AND DEATH. Feli Mercado. Balboa Press. In early spring, I received a query from an author looking to engage me as an editor to … Continue reading

September 2, 2022 · Leave a comment

Hymns To the Midnight Poet

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JIM MORRISON. Jim Morrison. Forward by Tom Robbins. Introduction by Editor Frank Lisciandro. Harper Collins. My mind is calm & swirling like the marble pages of … Continue reading

April 1, 2022 · Leave a comment

Michael Baughman Takes Us On A Powerful Journey

AN OLD MAN REMEMBERING BIRDS. Michael Baughman. Oregon State University Press. One cold and windy morning about ten years ago, I was waiting for the bus at the shopping center … Continue reading

February 10, 2022 · Leave a comment

Life, Death & Poetry

HYMNS TO THE NIGHT ROAD (Poems For Dead Parents). John Aiello. Electric Review Press. “(and)I wonder whatYou’re thinking today(as)Your eyesDart aroundThe roomLike dank mirrored spears(wondering)Where theMind goes(fecund)In clots(& waiting)To die…” … Continue reading

January 3, 2022 · Leave a comment

Springtime In New York Showcases Rock’s One True Immutable Voice

SPRINGTIME IN NEW YORK. Bootleg Series – Volume 16: 1980-1985. Bob Dylan. Sony Legacy. Produced for release by Jeff Rosen and Steve Berkowitz. It’s often been written that the 1980s was … Continue reading

October 1, 2021 · 3 Comments

Statements On Life & Death

An Interview With Mule Kick Blues Editor Garrett Caples San Francisco poet Garrett Caples was charged with the vital task of editing Michael McClure’s last book of poems (Mule Kick … Continue reading

July 14, 2021 · Leave a comment

A Meditation On Michael McClure’s Mule Kick Blues

MULE KICK BLUES – AND LAST POEMS. Michael McClure. City Lights Books. Edited by Garrett Caples. I. Poet Michael McClure was obsessed with the way words hang on the page … Continue reading

June 1, 2021 · Leave a comment

What’s The Catch? A Discussion of Joe Abercrombie’s Fiction

I’ve been working my way through the collected works of Joe Abercrombie over the past few months, starting with the two books that begin his ongoing second trilogy, The Age … Continue reading

May 9, 2021 · Leave a comment
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