BOA Blog

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, NBC News has included Ray Gonzalez's new book, Beautiful Wall, on its list of "10 New Books by Established Latino Authors." According to reviewer Rigoberto González, Beautiful Wall allows "the reader to experience this expansive American terrain through [its] image-driven verse." "The U.S.-Mexico border," the review continues, "is where histories and stories converge, not always pleasant but not always tragic, and certainly worth considering. Magic awaits the keen observer, the careful listener." Along with other authors on the list, including Sandra Cisneros, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Luis Alberto Urrea, and U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe...

Library Journal is again praising Ray Gonzalez's new poetry collection Beautiful Wall. In June, LJ named Gonzalez a "Key Poet to Discover and Rediscover," saying that "this latest collection, set in the sun-scorched desert region, perches on the wall between Gonzalez’s Mexican heritage and American upbringing and investigates all that entails." In a new LJ review, Doris Lynch calls the poems in Beautiful Wall "rich with cultural identity and blessed with a sense of place." The review mentions the sense of "journey" felt throughout the collection, while also noting how "nature becomes a breathing presence." Lynch adds that "several poems...

A new review from Booklist's Diego Báez praises BOA author Ray Gonzalez and "his invaluable role in American literature." The review focuses on Gonzalez's new book, Beautiful Wall, his seventh collection of poetry from BOA Editions. "Gonzalez, a celebrated and prolific poet, delivers another rich volume of exquisite verse, focusing on the beauty and ambiguity of walls, both literal and  metaphorical." Báez notes that Gonzalez's speaker "considers the epidemic of violence that plagues the U.S.-Mexico border," but also "balances this severity with a roster of creative beacons, referring often to artists and authors from around the globe." The result of...

Photo courtesy of PokerNews.com Poker News just today released a new review of James McManus' The Education of a Poker Player, along with an accompanying interview with the author. Giving the book high praise, reviewer Chad Holloway says, "There's good reason why Jim McManus is often referred to as the 'Shakespeare of Poker.' "Any serious poker fan has read Positively Fifth Street, widely considered one of the best poker narratives ever written, while Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker is the most comprehensive text on poker's expansive history. Now, McManus has added another poker book, The Education of a Poker...

Weekly Portland newspaper The Portland Mercury just published a wonderful and thoughtful review of James McManus' The Education of a Poker Player. According to reviewer Ned Lannamann, "James McManus' new book doesn't have the narrative arc of a novel, but it has the soul of one. "McManus' real theme is [protagonist] Vince's Catholicism and his struggle with the burdens of religion in his formative years. More specifically, as Vince enters adolescence, the notion of staying celibate becomes less and less appealing, not to mention logical." Education's greatest triumph, the review claims, is McManus' deft exploration of the parallels between Catholicism and poker....