Brian Komei Dempster is the author of two volumes of poetry, Topaz (2013) and Seize (2020), both published by Four Way Books. In April 2021, I reviewed Seize for the Manoa and the Ethical Imagination blog. Here is an excerpt:
Seize is a beautiful book, symphonic in its music, intimate in its rendering of human flaws, and heroic in its attempts to portray a father and son reaching out to each other across the boundaries of their understanding. The cover art is a painting by the poet’s mother, Suiren: a portrait that suggests the continental United States, the womb, and the organic, ever-evolving realm we call the self.
Michael Schmicker, whom I've written about on the creative trouble blog, just published his first novel, The Witch of Napoli. He sent me a proof copy, and I posted a short review on his Amazon.com page. The complete version of the review appears on Thumbnail Reviews & News. Here is an excerpt:
Michael Schmicker draws on all his gifts as a journalist, student of the paranormal, and storyteller to make The Witch of Napoli—a novel about a nineteenth-century Italian medium named Alessandra Poverelli—captivating and compelling. I read it quickly, in three nights, and then started to read it again, savoring the story—and admiring Schmicker’s skill—more the second time.
Many women who emerge from tragic circumstances and try to remake themselves to meet the challenges of the present will identify with Alessandra. Though such women develop considerable strengths, they may remain vulnerable, and their weaknesses may leave them open to manipulation or exploitation. Alessandra has not only a strong will and a survivor’s temperament but also complicated passions and deep conflicts. She has her own dead, her own ghosts to contend with: her mother died of a terminal illness; and her father, a supporter of Garibaldi, was executed for treason. Alessandra endures other traumatic losses, and we see that her suffering is a major source of the energy that connects her to the spiritual realm.
Goodreads has some of the informal reviews I've written. On my page are opinions of books on technology, such as The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, and Data and Goliath; the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and the sequels by David Lagercrantz; the Miss Peregrine trilogy; books on sociology and psychology, such as Liespotting, Awkward, and The Sociopath Next Door; and fiction and nonfiction books about the paranormal, such as The Charm Buyers and A Haunted Love Story. Most of these were bought at the Barnes & Noble store at Ala Moana Center, of which I am a loyal member.
A partial list of my reviews for Manoa Journal:
The Man Who Died En Route (University of Massachusetts Press, 1989) by Nell Altizer, reviewed in the fall 1990 issue.
Sister Stew: Fiction and Poetry by Women (Bamboo Ridge Press, 1991), edited by Juliet Kono and Cathy Song, reviewed in the winter 1993 issue.
Sun Signs from a Polar Star (Old Harbor Press, 1993) by Dale de Armond, reviewed in the summer 1994 issue.
Desert Skin (University of Utah Press, 1995) by Thomas Miller, reviewed in the winter 1996 issue.
