"Sometimes books act like events, like edifices, or like they can tell it like it is. Telling it like it is is always also a lie, but it feels total," said poet Ariana Reines, describing her reasons for writing her first book 'The Cow.' "People will always thank you for your extremity." Ariana

Feminine, Gritty, Self-reflection, Wise assy

If American drama was to recognize one fictional clan as first family, the Tyrones would win the title. (Granted, it would be a neck-and-neck race with the Lomans of "Death of a Salesman.") Eugene O'Neill's 1956 masterpiece, "Long Day's Journey into Night," established them as the dark alter ego of t

Dark, Depressive, Domestic, Gritty, Intense, Intimate, Realist theater

Sean O'Casey stormed the citadel of English cultural imperialism in his native Ireland with powerhouse plays promoting Irish nationalism. Born and bred in the Dublin slums, illiterate until the age of 14, and a self-taught reader, writer, and theater-goer, O'Casey maintained a strong bias towards the

Dark, Feminist, Gritty, Irish renaissance, Lyrical, Political