Category Archives: Fine Press Book Reviews

Ourika, by Claire De Durfort; Published by Bird & Bull Press

Posted on May 20, 2018 by J. Davis

Ourika by the Bird & Bull Press is just the kind of happy discovery I love as a reader who happens to also love private press books. My favorite private press books are the ones that give me joy in … Continue reading →

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Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski; Published by the Prototype Press in 2018

Posted on March 13, 2018 by J. Davis

I’m not sure what to think of Charles Bukowski. I was vaguely aware of his poetry from thumbing through it in some Los Angeles bookstores. Although not much of a movie watcher, one movie I did see was Barfly, and … Continue reading →

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The Splendour of a Morning by C.P. Cavafy; Published by Barbarian Press

Posted on January 17, 2018 by J. Davis

In preparing for this review, I realized that Splendour of a Morning is the ONLY modern Greek literature I have in my possession and I believe it might be the only modern Greek book I have read. The other twenty … Continue reading →

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The Hatchet Buddha by Rebecca Gayle Howell; Published by Larkspur Press

Posted on December 4, 2017 by J. Davis

I originally came across Larkspur Press in my endless pursuit of the writings of Wendell Berry. It was a joy to discover that I could get pieces of his writings from small private presses like Larkspur and The Press on … Continue reading →

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Tartuffe, by Moliere; Published by the Arion Press

Posted on February 3, 2017 by J. Davis

“To be flawlessly monstrous is, thank heaven, not easy.” “Life, happily, will not have it.” (Trigger warning: Politics…but, hey, it’s Moliere!)

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Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert; Published by The Limited Editions Club

Posted on January 2, 2017 by J. Davis

“Many of us ordinary folk find complicated ways in which to give expression to our disappointment in romance, like getting drunk, like going to the dogs, like murdering a beloved one, like marrying the wrong person. But Flaubert found a … Continue reading →

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FANCY: 8 Odes of John Keats; Published by the Barbarian Press

Posted on August 11, 2016 by J. Davis

Away! Away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards… –from Ode to a Nightingale I have definitely dawdled and procrastinated … Continue reading →

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Poetry of Sappho; Published by the Arion Press

Posted on April 17, 2016 by J. Davis

…“Whom again do I persuade to take you back into her love? Who, Sappho, is doing you wrong?” These lines from a poem of Sappho speak to us across the millennium. It’s been twenty-six centuries since this intriguing and unforgettable … Continue reading →

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The Iliad or the Poem of Force by Simone Weil; Published by The Lapis Press

Posted on December 31, 2015 by J. Davis

This marvelous essay by French Philosopher, activist, and Christian Mystic Simone Weil came along at just the right time for me. I’ve been studying the Yoga Sutra of Patañjali while completing my 200 –hour yoga certification and thinking a lot … Continue reading →

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A Lost Lady by Willa Cather; published by The Limited Editions Club

Posted on December 29, 2015 by J. Davis

This short novel by Willa Cather is a great example of the Schiff-era output of The Limited Editions Club as he changed the direction of the LEC from using book illustrators and graphic artists to using “fine art” artists to … Continue reading →

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