Stories from the Sierra Zapotec

Stories from the Sierra Zapotec

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Red Ants by Pergentino José, translated by Thomas Bunstead (Dallas: Deep Vellum Publishing, November 3, 2020; 152 pages; $14.95; ISBNs: 9781646050192 paperback, 9781646050185 ebook). First published in 2012 as Hormigas rojas by Almadía Ediciones in Oaxaca…

Exploring History Through Clutter

Exploring History Through Clutter

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Clutter: An Untidy History by Jennifer Howard (Cleveland, Ohio: Belt Publishing, September 1, 2020; 176 pages; $26.00; hardcover ISBN 9781948742726; distributed by PGW). “But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.” —Anne Lamott…

The Pursuit of Home

The Pursuit of Home

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor A Place of Exodus: Home, Memory, and Texas by David Biespiel (Portland, Oregon: Kelson Books, September 30, 2020; 202 pages; $20.00 paperback: ISBN 978-0-9827838-5-6; distributed by SPD). “One is always at home in one’s past….” —Vladimir Nabokov,…

A Collage of Broken Realms

A Collage of Broken Realms

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Driftwood by Marie Brennan (San Francisco: Tachyon, August 14, 2020; 224 pages; $15.95 trade paperback: ISBN 978-1-61696-346-0; $9.99 digital formats: ISBN 978-1-61696-347-7).  “Thus sang Úlfr Uggason: ‘….With old tales the hall was painted.’” —Snorri Sturlson, The…

OSNABRÜCK STATION TO JERUSALEM by Hélène Cixous

OSNABRÜCK STATION TO JERUSALEM by Hélène Cixous

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Osnabrück Station to Jerusalem: A Memoir by Hélène Cixous (New York: Fordham University Press, March 3, 2020; 144 pages; $24.95 hardcover; ISBN 9780823287628). Translated by Peggy Kamuf, foreword by Eva Hoffman. Originally published in French as Gare…

An Insane Novel for Insane Times

An Insane Novel for Insane Times

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Little Constructions: A Novel by Anna Burns (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, February 18, 2020; 312 pages; $16.00; paperback ISBN 978-1-64445-013-0). First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2007. “In violence, we forget who we…

BIRDER ON BERRY LANE by Robert Tougias

BIRDER ON BERRY LANE by Robert Tougias

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Birder on Berry Lane: Three Acres, Twelve Months, Thousands of Birds by Robert Tougias, illustrated by Mark Szantyr (Watertown, Massachusetts: Imagine! Publishing (a Charlesbridge imprint), March 17, 2020; 224 pages; $19.99; hardback ISBN 978-1-62354-541-3). “O, well…

Defying Genres

Defying Genres

Eye on the Indies: A Look at Indie Authors and Their Publishers By Lanie Tankard, Indie Book Review Editor Include Me Out by María Sonia Cristoff, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver (Oakland, California: Transit Books, February 4, 2020. 140 pages; $16.95; paperback ISBN 978-1-945492-30-3; ebook ISBN 978-1-945492-33-4). Originally published as Inclúyanme afuera by Editorial…