Great Reviews of the Past
The Scanning Electron Microscope
"Scientists can put those dull-bulb
astronauts on the moon, get a
$4,000,000,000 trash-bucket out there
next to Antares, but they have yet
to invent a whine-free mosquito ...
one with mufflers and noise-controllers.
I don't care if it wants
to sup on my blood,
I just don't want it singing
love-songs in my ear
at 2 A.M."

BRIEF REVIEWS
Moe Praege and Alexander Kluge
Vítezslav Nezval and Jindrich Styrsky
"The Street Law Handbook"
Mary McGarry Morris'
The Lost Mother

LETTERS
The Last of Lady Dyer
Nasdijj Fan Letter

MORE LETTERS
The Gumbo-Limbo Tree
RALPH to Receive $1,500,000.00

ARTICLES
My Winter Vacation
Part I
"I rented a tiny little car
from the local Bargain Rent-A-Wreck.
I think it was called a Ford Amoeba,
assembled by a Ford subsidiary in Paraguay,
and it ran noisily but reliably, at least
after the garage had replaced all the parts which
the previous renter had stolen."

Part II
"I haven't actually seen
Mr. and Mrs. Jurkiewicz,
but I picture them as an elderly couple
with courtly old-world manners and
impenetrable Slavic accents, floating
through the walls and perhaps materializing briefly
on Christmas, Shrove Tuesday, St. Andrzej's Day,
and Paderewski's birthday."

READINGS
Finding a Lion in Your Bedroom
"At this moment
Huebner was suddenly awakened by a loud cry,
and on looking down from his berth
was horrified to see an enormous lion
standing with his hind feet on Parenti's body,
while his forepaws rested on poor Ryall.
Small wonder that he was panic-stricken
at the sight."

Great Readings of the Past
Surviving Birkenau
"There was a separate detachment in the camp
for segregating and transporting these Jewish treasures.
It was officially called the Aufräumungskommando
(cleaning-up detachment),
but its members gave it
the slang expression "Canada" ---
symbol of abundance and plenty ---
a name that was quickly accepted among
the Häftlinge and in the official
terminology of the administration."

POETRY
The Whole Sky
"No, I'll not take the half of anything!
Give me the whole sky! The far-flung earth!
Seas and rivers and mountain avalanches ---
All these are mine! I'll accept no less!"

I Fly Through Voices
"I like
to defy an enemy to his face,
and bear a woman across a stream.
I bite into books, and carry firewood,
pine,
seek something vague,
and in the August heat I love to crunch
cool scarlet slices of watermelon."

THE OFFICIAL RALPH
Paradox-of-the-Month

GENERAL INDEX
A complete list of all books reviewed in RALPH,
arranged by title, including author, subject, and publisher,
plus a listing of all readings, articles and poems
that have appeared since 1994.

A PITHY SAMPLE
of our most notorious reviews
as collected in the hard-copy
"FOLIO"

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