reviewed by Richard Luck

Published in Issue No. 10 ~ January, 1998

Oracle is put together by poet K.L. Sullivan Isaacson, whose work you’ve probably read within these pages. As a poet, she’s done an exquisite job of selecting some great work. Her eye for quality poetry is to be applauded. Of course, many of the poets she’s included in the current issue have graced the pages of Pif as well, so admittedly I’m a little biased.

Beyond this, though, I found Oracle to be a disappointment. Opening the site, the first thing you see is this overly large, 8-bit graphic of what looks to be a man falling off a mountain. Flashing on and off above him, like some Neolithic icon, is a golden Prozac caplet. I know. I asked the same thing when I first saw it. Sometimes tongue-in-cheek is a little to cheeky to be understood by the uninitiated masses.

As I stated before, I also have a problem with white on black printing. I don’t know what the craze with this color scheme is, but I’d much rather see blue on red, or taupe on green, or, get this – black on white. Anything that doesn’t cause me to double over with a migraine after reading the first paragraph. Unfortunately, there is no reprieve here. Every page is a headache in hiding.

If it weren’t for the great poetry at this site, I’d recommend staying away until the editor turns the volume on her graphics down a bit. As it is, though, I can’t say that. The poetry is well worth the visit. Despite the headache.

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Richard Luck is the Founder and Technical Director for Pif Magazine.