Critical Matters: Reviews and Thoughts
Human/Animal: A Conversation with Amie Souza Reilly
Occasionally a book comes along that takes me way too long to finish. The reason it takes me too long is that I continue to turn the pages back--I reread sections, passages, phrases. I roll ideas around my head that I've already considered. The books that take me too long are the books thatIi don't want to finish because they are so good. So good, that when I do, I turn directly back to page one.
Amie Souza Reilly's Human/Animal: A Bestiary in Essays is one of these books. I had the distinct honor of speaking with Amie about her book, about language, aggressive masculinity, and so much more. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Morris Louis, Beta Mu, 1961
Beta Mu hangs on a wall by itself. It’s massive: 102 x 170 inches. Thin lines of paint mixed with turpentine run down in diagonals and stain untreated canvas. The v-shaped center, the largest part, is naked. An inverted empty pyramid. It looks like two heaving lungs, I say to no one. A woman passing by turns and looks—at me, at the painting, at me. She walks away. What I mean is that it helps me to remember to breathe.
Grand Theft Hamlet
My relationship with Grand Theft Auto is virtually nil. I have never played any version of the popular video game—this is not a badge of honor I am pinning to my chest; the video game bug, like the comic book bug was one that never bit me. My closest relationship to it is the essay “Grand Theft” by Tom Bissell…
What We Tried to Bury Grows Here
Reading Julian Zabalbeascoa’s novel of the Spanish Civil War, What We Tried to Bury Grows Here, it’s impossible not to hear echoes of our current fractured political climate — and impossible not to think about French philosopher and political activist Simone Weil, her part in that civil war, and her abhorrence of political parties. “I don’t like war; but…