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The Logan Topographies by Alena Hairston

SmoveTipp, July 25, 2012

I didn't know what to expect when my copy of The Logan Topographies came. I had ordered it originally because a dear friend specifically recommended the book to me. However it is a genre which, frankly, I know next to nothing about. But I trusted my friend and as it turns out, well... Please read on.

I am not at all gifted in writing, however I do have the ability to recognize merit in things usually before others do. So it's ironic that a non-writer is writing the first review here of a book which was clearly written by an exceptionally gifted one! My background is acting, and of studying the human condition in general. Rarely am I afforded the privilege to experience such genuine, touching material. I can't call it a narrative, because it's poetry. Yet it paints a relatively cohesive picture. I'm at a loss to properly express the fact that this book touched my soul. Chalk it up to my writing shortcomings.

I found myself empathizing with the prose in an odd way--because my life experience is quite different from that reflected in the book, and that did not create a buffer or any defensiveness. I was just hooked and on a journey. I gained insight and felt things which are indescribable, but I know are wholly valid. In a similar way, I can tell when a script has a soul. I can't explain exactly how, but I know. Well, without doubt this book has that very same effect. Great literature--great art does that. It reaches right to one's heart.

This book is precious. It is modest in size, stature, and style, but it is powerful. I truly hope that the author, Alena Hairston, continues to share her gift with the world. Humanity needs it. I recommend this book most highly, but I don't think I'll ever part with my own copy. Somehow that's a contradiction, but that's part of being human, right?

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