Celebrating Community
Review of “Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance,” by Kevin Brown Review by Michael Quinn “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: / To make a poet black, and bid him sing!” – Countée Cullen, “Yet Do I Marvel” Come Thanksgiving, thoughts naturally turn to family and the communities that shape us. Kevin Brown’s “Countée Cullen’s Harlem Renaissance” is a […]
As summer heat finally descends upon Brooklyn, it feels extra good to slow down and make everything a bit lighter—from your clothes to your decor. Just in time, two local artists, Rose Pearlman and Erin Boyle, have released a new book that leans into minimalism. Making Things: Finding Use, Meaning, and Satisfaction in Crafting Everyday Objects is a 300+ page […]
Review of “The Margaret Palca Bakes Cookbook: 80 Cakes, Cookies, Muffins and More from a Famous Brooklyn Baker,” by Margaret Palca; photography by Michael Harlan Turkell Review by Michael Quinn Baking enthusiasts often cherish memories of the person who first taught them how to knead dough or frost a cake. For baker Margaret Palca, who retired last year after 40 […]
You’re reading this right now, so you likely recognize the importance of the Red Hook Star-Revue. Do you know how lucky we are to have a neighborhood newspaper? It reports on local events, holds our elected officials accountable to their campaign promises and supports our neighborhood businesses through advertising. Who else looks out for us like this? This paper is […]
You don’t choose to attend a performance at the floating cabaret, the Avalon. The Avalon chooses you. And you’re not only the guest of honor—you’re the only guest. Every song, every dance, every act is written just for you. But the invitation comes at a high price: step on board once, you risk leaving your old life behind forever. This […]
Hearing someone tell you about a dream they had can make your eyes glaze over. It could be because dreams follow their own logic, unique to each of us. Dreams can feel specific, urgent and compelling after we’ve experienced them, but vague, meandering and uninteresting in the retelling. Cartoonist Roz Chast understands this completely—but she still wants to tell you […]
Review of War Diary, by Yevgenia Belorusets, translated by Greg Nissan Right now, as you read this, there’s a war going on. Maybe you know every detail. Maybe you’ve skimmed the headlines. Maybe it feels like it has nothing to do with you. But what if the war was happening where you lived? You might think, This can’t be happening. […]
We are children for only a short time, but spend the rest of our lives making sense of our childhoods. It’s an impressionable period of so many firsts. We soak them up like a sponge. In his heartfelt coming-of-age memoir One Headlight, Matt Caprioli (a former arts editor of this paper) wrings out his origin story as a gay man […]
Not interested in science fiction? A longtime argument holds: Look beyond the setting (say, outer space) and the characters (maybe little green men) to find what’s human at its core—and therefore relatable. On their surface, the 21 short stories in “Falling from Trees” by Michael Fiorito are very much concerned with things like aliens and space travel. The characters are […]
Review of Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey Review by Michael Quinn Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, a collection of poems by the popular singer Lana Del Rey, wears its Beat-poet influences proudly. It reads like an unedited love letter to and from California, a place of “1,000 fires” and “scorched earth.” The small, hardcover […]