On the Ground

This spare, yearning new book by one of America's boldest lyricists, Fanny Howe, responds with moving clarity to the contrast between American imperialist goals and the realities of life lived "on the ground." While our minds are preoccupied with the war games we watch on television, we go on living among our ordinary joys and appetites, according to our daily desires, our routine plans. How can we live under these dissonant conditions and reconcile our existence with our longings?