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Rating: 
Summary: Some Things to Think About
Review: Duane's back . . . and he still has plenty to say (even under the guise of asking questions, he can't stop giving away the answers). There are plenty of new poems here, but the best thing about the book is that it features more of his signature series. Telling stories with these series has been and remains Duane Michals strong point.
Rating:
Summary: Mysterious/Obvious, Profound/Vapid, Etc., Like Life Itself
Review: Michals has produced a work that is full of contrasts, ranging from mysterious to obvious, from profound to vapid, from sad to funny, much like life itself. The "questions" of the title are (without the question marks): What is/are beauty, the universe, magic, trust, language, luck, happiness, pleasure, consciousness, the mystery of the Sphinx, dreams, memory, youth, old age, time, humor, grief, desire, love, music, God, life, death, nothing? and Who am I?. In the middle of these is a section on "the seven ages of man." Each concept is explored with black & white photograph(s) and poetry. For example, for "grief" there is a series of six photos showing a man reading a letter, looking at a picture, and then holding his head in his hands, and the sentence "grief is the unconsolable melancholy of loss." I do not feel that the photography is Michal's best, and the poetry sometimes borders on bathetic. Nevertheless, I recommend this book as a strong example of one of the most original artists of our time.
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