May 2026 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

What I’m Reading: The Violet Hour

My Goodreads and Amazon review of The Violet Hour by James Cahill (Rated 3) – Empty Canvas. The Violet Hour by James Cahill opens sharply, gradually fragments, and finally fizzles. The narrative purports to be a finely observed picture of today’s art market: agents and curators, collectors and critics, the artists themselves. Instead the novel is a convoluted tale of loves lost or foundering, among people about whom readers have scant reason to care. They are self-absorbed and controlling, cold and cruel, manipulative and murderous. The gratuitous sex ranges from gross to violent. As a fiber artist and novelist (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I hoped for insights into the creative process. But facing the canvas, the painter/protagonist shows an utter lack of engagement, a failure (his own judgment) to create anything of value. Presumably, that is the message of The Violet Hour — that today’s art world is devoid of artistry. However, the book itself is an empty canvas that fails to paint a picture what art should, or could, be.

An unflattering portrait of today’s art market

Why writers read: “Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?” – Annie Dillard

The Avocet to publish poem “Perversity”

Erato has once again whispered in my ear. My poem “Perversity” has been accepted for publication in The Avocet, summer print issue (Volume 74, Number 3, June 2026). The first line says it all: “What I love about summer is what others hate.” My unpopular summer pleasures include humidity, weeding, construction, and frizz. The Avocet, a poetry nature journal, emails a weekly PDF and prints four seasonal issues a year. The print issue should also be available online this summer. Read more about my occasional forays into writing poetry in POEMS.

What enervates others, energizes me

Why writers write: “I write to provide a verbal reflector for my 60-watt lighted head.”) – Sylvia Plath

Talk (please)

In a fifteen-year study, when researchers analyzed audio samples gathered by people aged 10-94 as they went about their daily lives, they found that the number of words spoken has fallen by 28% percent. That’s 120,000 fewer words per year for the average person. The decline, although steepest for those under 25, happened across all age groups. The reasons are multiple. We communicate via text and messaging apps; more people live and spend time alone; ATMs, self check-out, and online ordering eliminate humans from transactions. While the loss of conversation between family members and friends is lamentable, it’s the lack of casual interactions between strangers — shoppers and clerks, bank tellers and customers, people waiting in the lunch line — that presents an immeasurable loss. “The experience of being seen by a chaplain, teacher, or doctor can be quite intense. But research shows that being seen by a passing acquaintance can also make a difference to our well-being” (Hidden Brain). “Small talk” plays a big role in boosting self-esteem and feelings of belonging. Chatter acts as a glue of community.

Casual chatter matters

How Old Were They? Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc, Patron Saint of France, was a 17-year-old peasant girl in 1429 when she defied gender stereotypes and led French troops into battle. Believing she was acting under divine guidance, her victory at the siege of Orléans secured the coronation of Charles VII and turned the tide of the Hundred Years’ War against the British and in favor of France. On May 30, 1431, at Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, she was burned at the stake for heresy. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old peasant girl, was a divinely inspired warrior

How Old Were They? Maurice Hilleman

Maurice Hilleman was 43 when he created the vaccine for mumps after his daughter contracted the illness in 1963. He swabbed the back of her throat, drove to his laboratory in the middle of the night, and turned the sample into the vaccine we use today. Hilleman single-handedly developed more than 40 vaccines, including the eight commonly given to children (measles, mumps, hepatitis A and B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, and Haemophilus influenzae), saving millions of lives and preventing serious complications Unfortunately, those advances are now in danger. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Thank Maurice Hillman for the life-saving vaccines, especially for children, that are now under threat

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

What I’m Reading: This Is Not About Us

My Goodreads and Amazon Review of This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman (Rated 5) – A Sage Family Saga. This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman is the saga of a three-generation Jewish family, told from multiple perspectives. The tale opens when the youngest of three sisters, Jeanne, dies at the age of 74 and her two older sisters, Helen and Sylvia stop speaking to each other. Sylvia, a gifted baker, has the audacity to bring an apple cake to the shiva, using a recipe attributed to Helen, a terrible baker. The sisters’ feud has implications for their children and grandchildren, each of whom is wrestling with their own place in the world, be it marriage, parenthood, career, and/or simply growing up and growing older themselves. Each chapter is a story unto itself, but knitted together, they offer a cohesive view of family dynamics in all their complexity, messiness, and competitiveness, as well as a source of identity, solace, and love. The characters’ small personal epiphanies will make readers think grandly, “Ah, yes! That’s how it is for me, for everyone.” A universal picture emerges from particular details. Goodman writes with a keen eye, a lively sense of humor, and empathy. She has a knack for penetrating the hearts and minds of people as different as a young girl, a divorced middle-aged father, and a dissatisfied but doting grandmother. As a novelist who also writes from several points of view (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admired her skill at linking their tales while respecting the individuality of each. This absorbing book is about all of us.

Goodman writes about us, about all families

Why writers read: “A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” – George R. R. Martin