BOOK REVIEW: NATURAL BEAUTY (2023) BY LING LING HUANG — THE HORRORS OF AESTHETIC OBSESSION

SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — Self-care is “taking action to preserve or improve one’s health.” Framed as mindfulness, the concept has exploded on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Yet, it has been co-opted by something darker. A recent piece from the New York Times discusses “the Catch-22 of self-care” as the…

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MUSIC REVIEW: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT (2023) – ZEPH’S WHIMSICAL STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — Often, our innermost desires stay that way: internal. These wants hum to themselves, “Why can’t I be the only one you need?” This thought, and many others are brought to life in Zeph’s newest album, Character Development.  Zephani Jong, known as Zeph, is a Korean singer-songwriter…

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BOOK REVIEW: PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE (JUNE 2023) BY AO OMAE – SHARED EXPERIENCES OF ESTRANGED MODERN YOUTH

SASHA SENGELMANN WRITES – It is no secret that opening up to others may often be a daunting task, for there is no telling whether one’s display of vulnerability will be met with compassion or criticism. Such an idea is apparent in Ao Omae’s People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals…

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BOOK REVIEW: VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS (2023) BY JESSE SUTANTO – A WHOLESOME INVESTIGATION OF THE UNCONVENTIONAL

SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — Vera Wong’s days are often uneventful. Despite owning her own business, she finds that her once vibrant neighborhood and community have become monotonous—until a dead man turns up in her teahouse. When the police, however, don’t seem to take it as seriously as she expects, Vera…

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JAPAN: RECENT LEGAL REVISIONS ELIMINATE “FORCIBLE” FROM THE DEFINITION OF RAPE

ALI ZANE WRITES – Long criticized for its sex crime laws, Japan has revised the Penal Code, redefining rape as non-consensual sexual intercourse. Previously, rape was classified as forcible sexual intercourse, meaning that the assailant had to have used physical violence to qualify for prosecution. This century-old law has created…

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HAS THE INDIVIDUAL FALLEN?

ARMAAN JHANGIANI writes – Societies with law and order, power and stability, and virtues of morality and love have always been epitomized as the peak of human community and self-restraint. While the beginnings of America would encapsulate this, the industrial rise following America’s success in World War II would introduce…

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BOOK REVIEW: GREEK LESSONS (2023) BY HAN KANG — A MEDITATION ON SILENCE AND SELFHOOD

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — What if talking were like reaching into a vast abyss with no hope of a response? That’s how it is for South Korean author Han Kang’s mute protagonist in her latest English language release, Greek Lessons (2023). Kang’s novel, both riveting and entirely…

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BOOK REVIEW: HAPPY STORIES, MOSTLY (2023) BY NORMAN ERIKSON PASARIBU — ALWAYS ALMOST, NEVER QUITE

GABY RUSLI WRITES— To be or not to be happy? That is certainly not the question. The soon-to-be-published in America short story collection Happy Stories, Mostly (2021) expresses an LGBTQ+ person’s limited accessibility to happiness in a world plagued with acute heteronormativity. Happy Stories, Mostly (2023) by Indonesian-born Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a collection…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: HAPPY STORIES, MOSTLY (2023) BY NORMAN ERIKSON PASARIBU — ALWAYS ALMOST, NEVER QUITE