reviews – Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher

Good News: I Received a Favorable Review for Nocturne

I found out a few minutes ago that I received a vey favorable review for Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover from L.S. Popovich. I sent her a copy on November 17 and the review appeared today on Amazon and Goodreads. I did not pay her for the review. She should be posting the review on LibraryThing and her blog soon (the review might already be on both, but I haven’t found it yet). On Amazon and Goodreads she gave Nocturne five stars and titled the review “enjoyable poems, full of emotional resonance“. Here I quote her review:

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2020 This collection does not pretend to be anything more than it claims, but sometimes all you need are straightforward poems to pass the time. They are like deep meditations, in the vein of Saint Augustine – who is quoted at the beginning. These poems happen to be about love, and all of the attendant moments in life appended to that deep feeling, which though transitory, run though our lives like a current. I would not hesitate to call the deep or poignant, but they possess a brooding sense of vanishing happiness, of lost sensations.
In a way this is one of the quietest collections I’ve read. The words evoke the ordinary elegance of everyday things, the certainty and uncertainty of magical moments in day-to-day life, they bring to mind summer, youth, exuberance, and melancholia.
The poems flow into one another, can be read quickly or be savored, and many images stand out as memorable set-pieces upon the pages. The rhythm of the lines are very readable, and they are not bogged down by rhyme and meter. Distinguishing between poetry and prose in this context has to do with layout and punctuation, which are both in the form of free verse. They are easy on the eyes and soft on the heart. Affecting, at times breathtaking, simple, ageless and as clear and brisk as the air on an early morning in a mountain town.
Received a review copy from the author.
Reviewed on Amazon and Goodreads, November 27, 2020

Thanks L.S. Popovich for a favorable review. It is much appreciated.

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Good News: I Received a Favorable Review for Nocturne

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2020 This collection does not pretend to be anything more than it claims, but sometimes all you need are straightforward poems to pass the time. They are like deep meditations, in the vein of Saint Augustine – who is quoted at the beginning. These poems happen to be about love, and all of the attendant moments in life appended to that deep feeling, which though transitory, run though our lives like a current. I would not hesitate to call the deep or poignant, but they possess a brooding sense of vanishing happiness, of lost sensations.
In a way this is one of the quietest collections I’ve read. The words evoke the ordinary elegance of everyday things, the certainty and uncertainty of magical moments in day-to-day life, they bring to mind summer, youth, exuberance, and melancholia.
The poems flow into one another, can be read quickly or be savored, and many images stand out as memorable set-pieces upon the pages. The rhythm of the lines are very readable, and they are not bogged down by rhyme and meter. Distinguishing between poetry and prose in this context has to do with layout and punctuation, which are both in the form of free verse. They are easy on the eyes and soft on the heart. Affecting, at times breathtaking, simple, ageless and as clear and brisk as the air on an early morning in a mountain town.
Received a review copy from the author.
Reviewed on Amazon and Goodreads, November 27, 2020

Thanks L.S. Popovich for a favorable review. It is much appreciated.

Reviews Needed

I am looking for reviewers who would be interested in reviewing any of my works, but especially A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror and Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover. If you would be interested or know someone who would be, please let me know in the comments. I prefer to send paperback copies.

Cover of A Tale of Hell by Phil Slattery

New cover of Nocturne — New Cover as of August 9, 2020

Reviews Needed

I am seeking people to review my works and who post their reviews to markets in the US, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada. I offer my Kindle e-books for free periodically according to Amazon policy. You can find my works on my Amazon author’s page. Let me know which you would like to review and I will let you know when it available for free or set up a date that you can have it for fee. I am most interested in having reviewed either my short horror (A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror), my collected poetry (Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover), my short fiction on relationships (The Scent and Other Stories), or my action-adventure novelette (Click). The other two works are contained in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

Reviews Needed

Book Review by Ligeia Resurrected: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Book Review by Better than Food: 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade

This is another video review of one of de Sade‘s works that I ran across while researching the author. Since today is de Sade’s birthday, and I have already posted a review of one of de Sade’s two most infamous works, I thought I would post a review of his other most infamous work.

The review is by Clifford Sergeant, who does excellent reviews of modern and classic works of literature on his Better than Food Youtube channel. I have seen several of his videos and I think they are terrific. However, reading and reviewing 120 Days of Sodom seems to have shaken him somewhat in this video.

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week, for some unknown reason, I had a burning curiosity about de Sade’s life. I watched a few YouTube videos on it, and, suffice it to say, my curiosity for his works has been sated, but I would love to learn more about de Sade’s life. He seems to be a fascinating character, though severely flawed to say the least.

From what I can gather about 120 Days of Sodom, de Sade wrote it while in prison (I believe in the Bastille). He wrote it to keep himself entertained and never intended to have it published. However, after he escaped prison, the manuscript was found in his cell and by some strange strokes of luck, was eventually published.

I hope you enjoy the video. It is a fascinating glimpse into one of literature’s most infamous works.

Book Review by Ligeia Resurrected: Justine by the Marquis de Sade

Today is the birthday of Donatien Alphonse Francois, Marquis de Sade. In remembrance of that (for better or worse) I am posting a review of one of de Sade’s most famous works, Justine. The review is not for the faint of heart and comes with a few disclaimers and warnings. Seriously, the review is excellent, but it touches on some exceptionally cruel and obscene subjects. If you can’t handle the review, you by no means want to read the book. There is a reason sadism was named for the Marquis. If you want to know more about de Sade in addition to where the link above leads, there are some good videos about him on YouTube.

I am posting the video in case any of my followers has a burning curiosity about the Marquis or his works. I was in that situation last week, Now that my curiosity has been sated, I will continue to be interested in de Sade’s life story, but probably not in his works.

Though his works are generally not considered to be of the horror genre, they probably should be. De Sade’s works contain things that would nauseate Stephen King and Clive Barker as well.

Personally, I do not advise reading de Sade’s works. They are…”inhuman” seems to be the most apt term I can conjure up. Cruel and obscene seem inadequate in describing his works. Although you have probably heard the term sadistic many times, you probably will not conceive of its true spirit until you have read a few pages of Justine or of his other infamous work 120 Days of Sodom,

Once, a few years back, I picked up a copy of 120 Days of Sodom in a bookstore somewhere and read the first two to three pages out of curiosity. I read only two to three, because that was all I could stomach. I left it where I found it and will probably not pick up another of his works again. In fact, if I ever find out that someone I know is a fan of de Sade, I will probably not let him or her into my house ever again.

I have not read any of Justine. If you are mildly curious about it, there are a few YouTube videos on the movie (or two) that is based on it. You can actually find the trailer for it on YouTube.

When I was digging into the story of de Sade himself, I did find him to be a fascinating and tragic character. I would love to read a psychological study of him. He apparently had a lot of resentment toward his mother, who abandoned the family when he was quite young. That seems to be the reason the women in his works suffer such terrible fates, particularly if they are a mother. He seems to have been a man controlled by the mother (no pun intended) of all obsessions. Yet, in spite of blatant and cruel dalliances, there were women who loved him dearly though they knew of his numerous sordid affairs. Perhaps, he was their obsession. Perhaps not. I feel certain that anyone who had anything to do with de Sade for more than a few day would probably be an interesting psychological case in his/her own right.

I recommend that you read a biography of de Sade rather than one of his works. Maybe read a few pages of one of his works, so you get a (somewhat sickening) feel for them, but don’t force them upon yourself. Read only as much as you can tolerate, then put the book down, and never pick it up again.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the video.

Au revoir.

Book Review by Ligeia Resurrected: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Reviews Needed

Better than Food Book Review: Black Spring by Henry Miller

If I haven’t said this before, I love Cliff Sargeant’s book reviews. He discusses them as if you were just sitting with him in his house having coffee or in a bar having a beer, and not in any boring, monotonous scholarly way either. His reviews seem to come straight from the heart out of a genuine love for literature. He seems to connect on some spiritual level with many of the books he reviews. He is excited about them. I haven’t been able to find him on Goodreads yet. I’m sure, that, if he is on Goodreads, his list must be immense. Check out his channel at Better than Food.

I watched this one about half an hour ago. I read Tropic of Cancer several years ago. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Miller was living the kind of life I wanted to live at the time, drunk, rambunctious, full of sex and smoke-filled rooms. I have always felt that, though I felt I should live in a more intellectual fashion, in the sense of looking out from the ivory tower and down upon the world, I am more cut out for the Henry Miller lifestyle, which is a hell of a ride, but came close to being my undoing once or twice. I miss those times. I never enjoyed being absolutely schnockered, but I did love living the night life with a nearly consistent buzz and a pack of small, Nicaraguan cigars in my pocket and my eye on every woman that entered the bar. But those days are long gone and I am now living a quiet, temperate life deep in the Arkansas woods. I still love the spirit of Tropic of Cancer though.

Reviews Needed

Book Review by Ligeia Resurrected: The Dark and the Disturbed by Guy de Maupassant

I recently discovered Ligeia Resurrected. Her focus is on all things Goth, but the majority of her videos seem to be on gothic literature and music, dress, make-up, and absinthe, naturally. I enjoy her book reviews and will start posting them here occasionally. I am considering having book reviews by myself or others at 8:00 p.m. on Fridays, but that is still in the concept stage. If I do them, they will probably be written as my video production skills are rudimentary at best. I may make videos of them later. I hope you enjoy this presentation.

Video: Review of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Better than Food

I have recently started watching Clifford Sargent’s book review channel “Better than Food”. These are terrific reviews. I watch these and I love the way Mr. Sargent seems to not review these clinically as a English professor might, but he seems to take them to heart. His genuine love for the literary art form is obvious. His reviews are insightful with a stream-of-consciousness delivery that draws the viewer into the world of whatever he is reviewing. Throughout a review, he may inject little bio notes about the author and/o many other factors that led to the development of the work. These reviews may be practiced, but it is obvious that he is not reading from a script and he doesn’t seem to be struggling to recall anything he memorized. He talks to you as if you were a fellow classmate as you discuss a work you both read for class or you read in a book club and now you two relax in his home or in a park or in his yard or on a staircase while you have coffee together. Most of the books he reviews are contemporary novels like Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas by Fernando Flores, though sometimes he dives into the past and reviews a classic like Goethe’s Faust or a modern classics like Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.

His review tonight was of Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. I have heard of this story for many years and I have been intending to read it, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. After watching this review, I know I will have to read this ASAP. Apparently, I have been missing out on a great classic for years.

Be forewarned, this review does contain spoilers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.