The Columbus Anthology

Columbus Ohio is a place whose identity centers on its supposed lack of identity-an American every place that has launched countless chain dining concepts. Enter the contributors to this wide-ranging volume who are all too happy to fight back against that reputation even as they recognize it as an inevitable facet of the ever-growing city they call home. Maybe we're not having trouble designing a definitive identity writes Amanda Page in her introduction. Maybe we are a city that is constantly considering what it will become.<br> Race sports the endless squeeze of gentrification the city's booming literary and comics scenes its reputation as a haven for queer life the sometimes devastating differences in perspective among black and white native and transplant residents-and more than one tribute to Buckeye Donuts-make this anthology a challenging and an energizing read. From Hanif Abdurraqib's sparkling and urgent portrait of Columbus's vital immigrant culture as experienced through Crew games to Nick Dekker's insights into breakfast as a vehicle for getting to know a city to the poetry of Maggie Smith and Ruth Awad the pieces gathered here show us a Columbus <a name=Editing id=Editing>far more textured than any test marketer could dream up.<br>