Criticism

What the Caterpillar is Not

Friday, March 12, 2010
By Deborah Stokol

A roughly 300 word critique of this (“The Very Grouchy Daddy”) critique of The Hungry Caterpillar: On the whole, I think I’m grateful. I know I’m amused. But mostly, I’m pleased to encounter a piece that bitingly manages to balance the gently controversial with the insightful and fun. Daniel B. Smith’s “The Very Grouchy Daddy”’s indignant... »

Riding the Devil’s Highway with Death, Desolation and Perhaps Accountability

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
By Deborah Stokol

Of course, he’ll tell you up front that half plus one died. But you need not wait for his report: the back cover will supply the same one before you read a single page. That the number of Mexicans crossing the border illegally continues to soar is an understatement. That 26 attempted to do so in... »

In a Dark Time, the Eye begins to See: A Review of Busby Berkeley’s “By a Waterfall”

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By Deborah Stokol

“I hereby grant your rascal camera full access to my crotch!” They seem to laugh indulgently (lashes curled, eyelids a flutter). “After all, Busby-wusby, it’s for a good cause!” And what a cause, indeed. American poet Theodore Roethke once wrote that “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Well. I’d say the Depression counts... »

Welcome Back, Western

Thursday, October 8, 2009
By Deborah Stokol

Written September 2007 James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma is about redemption, self respect, and… pistol-packing, Stetson-wearing, leather-vested bad apples and their nefarious deeds. It’s also about bringing back the western as a more hardcore and less ridiculous genre. Mangold (of Walk the Line and Girl, Interrupted fame) is not the first to use the Elmore Leonard short story... »