The ''Ruminator Review'', originally the ''Hungry Mind Review'', was a quarterly

book review A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view. B ...

magazine founded by David Unowsky and published in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

from 1986 to 2005. It included reviews of all genres, as well as literary interviews, focusing on work published by smaller presses. It was distributed freely through independent bookstores in the United States. The review was part of a "creative partnership" centered on the Ruminator Books bookstore at

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

, including the bookstore and its independent press, Ruminator Press.Ruminator Bookstore Closed
Independent Publisher, 2004.

History

Hungry Mind Bookstore and Review

The Hungry Mind Bookstore was opened in 1970 in St. Paul by Unowsky. In 1972 it moved onto Macalester College campus to become the university bookstore. By the 1980s, the bookstore had become well known in the region, and was becoming a hub for literary activity. Unowsky helped start a regional booksellers' association. In 1986 he launched the Hungry Mind Review as a critical literary journal, with founding editor Bart Schneider. The review attracted some high-profile writers and reviewers, such as

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

Andrei Codrescu Andrei Codrescu (; born December 20, 1946) is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He is the winner of the Peabody Award for his film ''Road Scholar'' and the Ovid Prize for ...

Jane Hamilton Jane Hamilton (born July 13, 1957) is an American novelist. Early life Jane Hamilton was born and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois (U.S.), the youngest of five children. She won prizes for poetry and short stories throughout high school and colle ...

and

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...

Hungry Minds Press

In 1995, in response to the disappearance of backlists from the catalogs of traditional publishers' catalogs, Unowsky and his wife started their own independent press, with three partners. Over the next nine years they published 50 titles, calling them "Hungry Mind Finds" or "Ruminator Finds".Neglected Books writes about the Ruminator Press
/ref> These included: * '' Black Tents of Arabia'', Carl R. Raswan * '' A Book of Own's Own: People and Their Diaries'',

Thomas Mallon Thomas Mallon (born November 2, 1951) is an American novelist, essayist, and critic. His novels are renowned for their attention to historical detail and context and for the author's crisp wit and interest in the "bystanders" to larger historic ...

* '' Days and Nights in Calcutta'',

Clark Blaise Clark Blaise, OC (born April 10, 1940) is a Canadian-American author. He was a professor of creative writing at York University, and a writer of short fiction. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. Early life and education ...

and

Bharati Mukherjee Bharati Mukherjee (July 27, 1940 – January 28, 2017) was an Indian American-Canadian writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the author of a number of novels and short story ...

* '' A False Spring'',

Pat Jordan Pat Jordan (17 July 1928 – 1 September 2001) was a British Trotskyist who was central to founding the International Marxist Group. Jordan was born in Chelsea, London,Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 p ...

* '' The Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage'',

Chet Raymo Chet Raymo (born September 17, 1936, in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column "Science Musings" appeare ...

* '' Laughing in the Hills'', Bill Barich * '' Moonshine: A Life in Pursuit of White Liquor'',

Alec Wilkinson Alec Wilkinson (born March 29, 1952) is an American writer who has been on the staff of ''The New Yorker'' since 1980. According to ''The Philadelphia Inquirer '' he is among the "first rank of" contemporary American (20th and early 21st century ...

* '' Our Like Will Not Be There Again: Notes from the West of Ireland'',

Lawrence Millman Lawrence Millman (born January 13, 1946, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an adventure travel writer and mycologist from Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the author of eighteen books, including ''Goodbye, Ice: Arctic Poems'', ''Fungipedia'', ''Our L ...

* ''

A Passage to Ararat A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

'', Michael J. Arlen * '' The Tree Farm: Replanting a Life'', Robert Treuer

Ruminator name change

In 2000, the ''Hungry Mind'' sold its name to Hungry Minds, Inc. (see the paragraph about IDG Books/Hungry Minds at Hungry Minds#Business), publisher of the

For Dummies ''For Dummies'' is an extensive series of instructional reference books that strive to present non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered. The series has been a worldwide success, with editions in numerous languages. ...

books. After soliciting ideas from its patrons, it became ''Ruminator Books, Review, and Press''. In 2001 Margaret Maitland became editor of the ''Review''. In 2004, behind on its rent to the university, the bookstore went out of business. The ''Ruminator Review'' continued for another year, but published its last issue in Fall 2005.

References

{{Reflist Book review magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1986 Magazines disestablished in 2005 Magazines published in Minnesota 1986 establishments in Minnesota 2005 disestablishments in Minnesota