My mother used to say “good things come in small packages” when I was young. For a while I wore a pin that declared magnum in parvo, which translates as much in little or greatness in small things. That carries over into my love of small, independent publishers. Here’s a list of recent small press books by Midwest authors or publishers, to give or be given these holidays.
“On Immunity: An Inoculation” by Eula Biss, cultural analysis and personal history, from Graywolf Press, 216 pages, hardcover, $24.
“Once I was Cool” by Megan Stielstra, totally cool personal essays, from Curbside Splendor, 202 pages, $15.95.
“Swarm to Glory” by Garnett Kilberg Cohen, sly fiction about endings, from Wiseblood Books, 212 pages, $13.
“King Me” by Roger Reeves, poems about love and masculinity, poverty, class and race relations, from Copper Canyon Press, $15.
“Does Not Love” by James Tadd Adcox, sinister satire from Curbside Splendor, 200 pages, $14.
“The Empathy Exams” by Leslie Jamison, essays about pain and understanding, from Graywolf Press, 248 pages, $15.
“Occasional Desire” by David Lazar, witty essays about the trappings of memory, from University of Nebraska Press, 232 pages, $21.95.
“A Table That Goes On For Miles” by Stefania Heim, poems, from Switchback Books, 79 pages, $16.00
“Citizen, An American Lyric” by Claudia Rankine, essay, image and poetry, from Graywolf Press, 160 pages, $20. (Toni Nealie)
The Mother of Good Luck: A Review of Dream Books and Gamblers Elizabeth Schroeder Schlabach takes us to Great Migration-era Chicago. When southern Blacks transplanted to Chicago, fleeing Jim Crow, they first landed and were crowded into the Bronzeville neighborhood. Soon after an informal market of illegal lotteries referred to as “policy” sprung up. Schlabach’s particular focus is Black womanhood in this policy industry.
My mother used to say “good things come in small packages” when I was young. For a while I wore a pin that declared magnum in parvo, which translates as much in little or greatness in small things. That carries over into my love of small, independent publishers. Here’s a list of recent small press books by Midwest authors or publishers, to give or be given these holidays.
