He Said, He Said: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at MASS MoCA

woman-in-the-window-robin-catalano-book-review-cropped
March 2, 2019

Book Review: The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

  Popular debut novels are an intriguing phenomenon, often the book equivalent of an ingénue who notches a surprising win at the Oscars every decade or so. Some are deserving—think Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God—and some are, to put it nicely, puzzling (Anna Paquin in The Piano, anyone?).  The Woman in the…

i-am-the-messenger-markus-zusak-book-review-robin-catalano-writer
February 5, 2019

Book Review: I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

  On some level, it must suck to create a work of great innovation or genius. Though you’re forever lauded for and associated with that work, everything else you do is also compared to it in perpetuity, and generally found lacking. Such is the case for Markus Zusak, Australian YA writer, whose 2005 novel The…

Rachel_Reuben_higher_ed_marketing_Q&A_Robin_Catalano_content_marketer_cropped
January 22, 2019

Women in Business Q&A: Rachel Reuben of Rachel Reuben Consulting

  Some people know a lot about a few things. Others know a little about a lot of things. Rachel Reuben, a higher ed marketing consultant, is one of those rare professionals who knows a lot about dozens of topics, and is able to handle them all with equal skill.   I met Rachel through…

mass-moca-jan-2019-galleries-robin-catalano-culture-writer
January 16, 2019

Best of the MASS MoCA Galleries, January 2019: An Inexpert Opinion

  I feel for folks who don’t live in proximity to world-class museums—I really do. Even in my remote little neck of the woods, I’m 40 minutes or less from a few biggies, including MASS MoCA in North Adams. Since I have a strong preference for contemporary art—generally, the more offbeat and provocative, the better—I…

Everything+I+Never+Told+You+-+Celeste+Ng
November 13, 2018

Book Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

  Rare is a murder mystery that’s less gripping than a psychodrama about a middle-class family. But the whodunit at the center of Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You plays a much-lower-key second fiddle to the twists and turns of mixed-race familial relationships, as they evolve—or refuse to—over the decades. Packed with secrets, lies, and…

robin-catalano-writing-teacher-coach-speaker-how-to-create-distinctive-voice-wits19-portland-me
November 8, 2018

Speak Up, Speak Out Loud at the 2019 Women in Travel Summit

  What are you doing next May? If you’re a travel writer, a blogger (especially of the travel variety), or you want to be part of the travel industry, I’ve got your answer: going to the 2019 Women in Travel Summit, aka WITS19, in Portland, Maine, May 3 through 5. Hands-down, WITS is the best…

Ann_WAM_Theatre_review_2
October 23, 2018

Theater Review: Ann at WAM Theatre

It’s no easy feat to pull off a vibrant, riveting theatrical performance almost entirely on an office stage set, either in one-way “chats” with a phone receiver or in conversations with a disembodied voice on an intercom. But Ann, a WAM Theatre production playing now through October 28 at Shakespeare & Company, and starring Jayne…