Middlesex: A Review by Jillian D’Urso

This is the sixth of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.
After having read Jeffrey Eugenides’ first novel, The Virgin Suicides, I was prepared for his sophomore effort, Middlesex. However, this delightful, [...]

The Namesake: A Review by Shuchi Saraswat

This is the fifth of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.
I admit, it seems cliché that I would like The Namesake, Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel. I see a [...]

Farm Bill/Fat Bill and Hurrah for India

A few headlines for social justice…

Are farm subsidies causing obesity? Yes. US farm subsidies mostly go to big corporate farms that grow corn, making unhealthy food cheaper. Kim O’Donnell of the Washington Post suggests that we subsidize fruits and vegetables. Sounds like a good idea to me. I know, Nancy Pelosi already signed off on [...]

Trend: Keeping the baby

Before Harry Potter took over as Ultimate Hit of Summer 2007, there was a very popular movie called Knocked Up, comedically chronicling two young people deciding to keep the baby. All of a sudden, these stories are everywhere: Glamour has hired a 26-year-old single mom-to-be to blog about her experience (and here’s what Gawker burped [...]

Native Speaker: A Review by Matt Salesses

This is the fourth of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.
How could you not love the opening to Chang-rae Lee’s PEN/Hemingway award-winning *Native Speaker,* in which narrator Henry Park’s wife, having decided [...]

Caramelo: A Review by Lizzie Stark

This is the third of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.
I began reading Caramelo in early August of 2005, after my first year in Emerson’s MFA program. Why do I remember [...]

The Liars’ Club: A Review by Jillian D’Urso

This is the second of a many-part series written by the staff and editors of Fringe Magazine, who will be reviewing books from the Pool as part of the 25 Books Project.
I read Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club for a nonfiction writing workshop – it was so good that I’ve since all but [...]

Anti-Feminist Line of the Day

My day job requires that I fill out a lot of forms for college students, including verifications of good student status for insurance companies that have good student discount programs. I rarely read the eligibility specifics past the part that pertains to me, but it was a slow day, so I skimmed through and [...]

The Girls Next Door, A Guilty Pleasure

In general, I’m not susceptible to reality TV (unless it involves cooking), but I have to admit that even though I don’t make a point of watching E!’s show The Girls Next Door, I find myself flipping to it during commercials with shocking frequency.
The show is “reality” fare that follows Hugh Heffner’s three girlfriends’ lives [...]

Teeth, feathers, girls, boys

A good poem from Jeannine Hall Gailey on Verse Daily this morning:
The Husband Tries to Write to the Disappearing Wife.
On her blog, Jeannine says: “This is one of the few persona poems where I tried to write in a male voice, so it was a little risky for me.”
I reckon it’s good—potentially good for the [...]