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An illustration by Michael Mazur from “I’ll Tell What I Saw: Images from Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy.’ ’’ |
Shelf Life
Mazur’s passion
Michael Mazur was a painter and printmaker whose life was entwined with the literary world.
His paintings graced the covers of poetry books by his wife, Gail Mazur, and he contributed works to Agni and Ploughshares literary journals.
Mazur’s fascination with the works of Dante Alighieri dated back to his college days when he lived in Dante’s native city of Florence and read “The Divine Comedy’’ in Italian. He considered illustrating Dante’s “Inferno’’ for his senior thesis at Amherst College, but his adviser thought the project too ambitious.
Mazur, who lived in Cambridge and Provincetown, collaborated on a number of Dante projects with poet and translator Robert Pinsky, starting with “Inferno.’’
Before Mazur died this summer at the age of 73, he had created a fourth series of images inspired by Dante, this one for “I’ll Tell What I Saw: Select Translations and Illustrations from ‘The Divine Comedy’ ’’ published this month by Sarabande.
In the introduction, Pinsky pays tribute to his collaborator: “Entering Dante’s creation entirely, not standing outside it, nor in a modern world apart from it, enables Mazur to imagine the poetry’s images with a tremendous, radical freshness, stemming from a lifelong passion.’’
Trying to be good
James Houghton, by most accounts, had it all. He was on the fast track at Reality came crashing down when he was promoted to a post in Hong Kong, and his wife, Connie Coburn, questioned the wisdom of moving so far for a job he didn’t want. He resigned.
Houghton started talking to friends about his questions, not the least of which was “What is a good man?’’ With Tom Matlack and Larry Bean, Houghton created the nonprofit Good Men Foundation. The trio edited a collection of no-holds-barred essays called “The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood,’’ published by the foundation.
Heavy drinking, divorce, and the desperate quest to be a good father figure heavily in the book.
The three co-editors and contributor Rolf Gates will kick off a discussion at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Brookline Booksmith.
Uncustomary guide
In one of the most moving essays in “Good Men,’’ Steve Almond ponders why the news that his wife was pregnant with a boy terrified him.Given his own history of throwing punches and getting beaten up, Almond worries that he won’t be able to protect his son from male violence.
The prolific Almond is out with a new book, “This Won’t Take but a Minute, Honey,’’ an unorthodox guide to writing. Steering clear of the publishing world, Almond has taken matters into his own hands. Copies will be printed on Harvard Book Store’s Espresso Book Machine while he talks about it at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Coming out
■ “U is for Undertow’’ by Sue Grafton (Putnam)■ “Original Sinners: A New Interpretation of Genesis’’ by John R. Coats (Free Press)
■ “Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story’’ by Wally Lamb (Harper)
Pick of the week
Mary Cotton of Newtonville Books in Newton recommends “A Friend of the Family’’ by Lauren Grodstein (Algonquin): “The story of Pete Dizinoff, a successful suburban doctor, and his son, Alec, takes a decidedly Shakespearean turn in a brilliant literary thriller about the lengths to which a father will go to protect his child.’’ Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
