Ann Patchett

interviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on January 1, 2001

Candace Moonshower talks with Ann Patchett about the writing life, novel endings, and the camaraderie of waiting tables at TGI Fridays.

Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on April 1, 1999

A collection of lesbian writings which, unfortunately, is little more than a showcase for “a few excellent pieces within a framework of sometimes insipid and less-than-stellar works.”

Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft in America

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on February 1, 1999

“Rarely do words carry with them such long-standing pejorative connotations as the terms “witch” and “witchcraft.” Although most folks living on the cusp of the twenty-first century claim not to believe in witches in the same way that their ancestors in seventeenth-century Colonial America might have….”

Music Lessons

by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on January 1, 1999

Candace Moonshower reminisces on the travails of being only moderately musical, in “Music Lessons.”

The Freeing of the Dust

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on December 1, 1998

Many of Levertov’s poems are explicitly about her anti-American sentiments regarding the involvement of the United States in Vietnam. In “From a Plane,” the poet reflects on how Vietnam looks untouched if viewed from the air, “the great body / not torn apart, though raked and raked / by our claws-.” “The Distance” points to [...]

A Piece of My Heart

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on December 1, 1998

Twenty-six women told their stories to Keith Walker about their experiences serving in Vietnam during the American involvement in that country. It is significant that each story is different and yet the same. Each woman tells the story of what prompted her to go to Vietnam, the reality of her experience in Vietnam, and the [...]

Snake’s Daughter: The Roads In and Out of War

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on December 1, 1998

On March 21, 1967, ten thousand miles from home and a million miles from nowhere, an American gave his life to save the lives of his compatriots, jumping onto the back of an escaping prisoner, forcing him to the ground and covering the man’s body with his own until the grenade the Vietcong had stolen [...]

Visions of War, Dreams of Peace

reviewed by Candace Moonshower

Originally published on December 1, 1998

Visions of War, Dreams of Peace is a compilation of poems written by women intimately involved with the Vietnam War and the soldiers who fought it. The poets include mothers, daughters, wives, sweethearts, nurses, Red Cross workers, anti-war activists, journalists and entertainers, but the themes are the same. The war irrevocably changed their lives. For [...]