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ABOUTNow in its 14th year of publication, this magazine was created to offer the discerning reader a stimulating selection of excellent original writing. Black Lamb Review is a literate rather than a literary publication. Regular columns by writers in a variety of geographic locations and vocations are supplemented by features, reviews, articles on books and authors, and a selection of “departments,” including an acerbic advice column and a lamb recipe. SUBMISSIONSBlack Lamb welcomes submissions from new writers. Email us. QUESTIONSIf you have questions or comments regarding Black Lamb, please email us. |
Pagan primer"In olden times...."June 1st, 2016 BY STEFFEN SILVIS Her hair needed pulling. She wore poor clothes that we could mock, and had “germs with no returns.†She sat silently while we stood and pledged our allegiance to the flag each morning: there was something about her religion, we were told. She never wore a Hallowe’en costume, was excused from carol practice, and never received a Valentine. She seemed to spend most of the year alone in the library, a fitting banishment from our revels, we thought. Books were boring and so was she.
Posted by: The Editors Big DaveBefore Dylan, Dave Van Ronk was the bull gooseJune 1st, 2016 BY ED GOLDBERG The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir One night on MacDougal Street, one of the major thoroughfares in Greenwich Village, I was listening to Dave Van Ronk at the Gaslight, a cellar folk club much mentioned in this book. It was, maybe, 1962. The cliche description of Van Ronk as a “bear of a man†was both easy and correct. He was big, broad, bearded, and lank-haired; his head almost hit the top of the proscenium. Two drunk high school kids sat at one of the minuscule tables and kept up a loud conversation during Dave’s set. He warned them twice, but they resumed chattering before long.
Posted by: The Editors Raiders of the lost tombsArchaeological adventure novelsJune 1st, 2016 BY JOHN M. DANIEL American Caliphate Were’s a spellbinding archaeological novel about a “dig†(archaeologists prefer the term “excavationâ€) on the north coast of Peru, the ancient home of the Moche Indians, who built adobe pyramids. These pyramids, and one pyramid in particular, are of particular interest to a team of North American academic archaeologists, but in this high-stakes adventure novel there are other parties equally interested in what might be found inside a certain tomb. The CIA, for example. The Vatican. A strong-minded old Muslim woman in Lima. And whoever it was that shot and nearly killed Ben and Jila, a pair of romantically involved archaeologists, the last time they poked around the Santiago de Paz pyramids. American Caliphate has a cast of intelligent, risk-taking characters driven by academic jealousy, political intrigue, religious rivalry, love and lust, outright greed, and insatiable nosiness about the ancient past. The plot is full of danger and discovery. And what these archaeologists discover may confirm rumors that Muslims fleeing the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal brought Islam to the New World.
Posted by: The Editors Honorary Black LambsJune 1st, 2016 June’s a jumble of juicy birthdays, but novelists are the overwhelming winners in the literary derby despite the appearance of one of the twentieth century’s greatest poets, William Butler Yeats on June 13, in 1865. Before he got old and Another poet, one of a different sort, adorns June, and that’s the late Allen Ginsberg, born on the 3rd in 1926. And a great master came on the scene, in Russia, on the 6th, in 1799, when Aleksandr Pushkin drooled his first. And although he’s better known for his grim novels, Thomas Hardy, born on the 2nd in 1840, was one of the great poets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are also a few notable dramatists to mention. Pierre Corneille, writer of comedies and also El Cid, came into being on the 6th in 1606. Ben Jonson, author of Volpone, howled his first howl on June 11, 1572, and Luigi Pirandello began his search for an author on the 28th, in 1867. John Gay, creator of The Beggar’s Opera, was born in 1685. His tombstone reads “Life’s a jest/And all things show it./I thought so once,/But now I know it.â€
Posted by: The Editors Ask MillieThe top tenJune 1st, 2016 BY MILLICENT MARSHALL The life of an advice columnist living in Big Sky Country is both bracing and sad. Bracing because the big sky gets me thinking big and gives my advice a heft that I believe other advisors’ columns lack. For example, the other morning, after clearing the sagebrush and enjoying my mountain-goat yogurt smoothie, I lifted the lid off the Black Lamb crate of goodies that arrives every month. Usually the crate is filled with letters asking advice, but this month, being the month of the “All-Book Issueâ€, the cris de coeur were all from my Editor. And they all boiled down to one thing: why would anyone buy this book, rather than Black Lamb? For he had packed the crate with the books holding the top ten sales slots in the country. The scary part was that, clearly, he had read them all. They were flagged, highlighted, and underlined. And beneath the scribbles was the existential cry, “Why?â€
Posted by: The Editors Black Lamb RecipeJune 1st, 2016 BY BLACK LAMB To prepare Shashlyk (Georgian skewered lamb), a dish from the Caucasus, assemble the following ingredients: 1 large onion, peeled and finely grated In a large mixing bowl, stir together the grated onion, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the meat the let it marinate for at least 3 hours at room temperature, tossing it in the marinade every hour or so to keep the pieces well moistened. Prepare coals in a charcoal broiler or preheat your kitchen broiler to its highest point. String the cubes of lamb tightly on 4 long skewers, alternating the lamb with the chunks of onion; press them firmly together. Broil 4 inches from the source of heat, turning the skewers occasionally, until the lamb is done to your taste and the onions are brown. Slide the lamb and onion off the skewers onto heated individual plates, and serve with the raw tomatoes and scallions. Serves 4.
Posted by: The Editors The All-Animal IssueVolume 14, Number 2 — May 2016May 1st, 2016 This May issue of Black Lamb, slightly delayed in settling into its nest online, is called The All-Animal Issue. So naturally it includes essays about dogs and cats, the most popular pet animals. But there’s also a horse, some budgies, and a few goats. Following these are our pantheon of Honorary Black Lambs, our Black Lamb recipe, and Millicent Marshall’s invaluable advice column. As always, we are confident that you will find stimulation and mental nourishment in these pages. •
Posted by: The Editors I miss JimmyAnimals can be as dear to us as humans — even more dearMay 1st, 2016 BY TERRY ROSS I miss Jimmy, who died in July 2013, more than I miss my deceased brother, more than I miss my dead mother and father.
When I knew that poor little Jimmy was dead, I wept, I lost sleep, I wandered around stunned. I did none of these when my brother Ken died of AIDS, when my mother expired after a long illness, or when my father breathed his last in a hospital bed at ninety-three. But I still find myself on the verge of tears when I think about Jimmy. My cat, Jimmy.
Posted by: The Editors Avian individualsCrows make me smileMay 1st, 2016 BY LANE BROWNING It’s come to this. I bought mealworms. No, not live ones — dried ones. I blame the store; had I not seen them on the shelf next to bird food I never would have thought of mealworms. What did I know from mealworms? Crispy brown slender parenthesis-shaped things that might as well be husks, though the bag promised protein and other nutrients. The text assured me that “unusual†birds would be drawn to my property. Right, not your garden variety sparrows, wrens, chickadees and jays, but exotic atypical birds. Really desirable birds.
Posted by: The Editors Ménage à troisLife with WarrenMay 1st, 2016 BY JOHN M. DANIEL One morning about three years ago, Susan gave me a sad, sad look and said, “It appears we may have lost our best friend.†“We’ve been through this before,†I reminded her. “That was years ago,†she reminded me. “Before he’d really settled in.†It may sound sentimental to call an animal companion our best friend, but Susan meant what she said, and I shared her sentiment. Friendship and love between members of different species is a real phenomenon, a generous blessing, a warm source of amusement and shared routines, and, at this moment three years ago, a cause for grief and near-panic.
Posted by: The Editors |
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