Category Archives: Uncategorized
This review* for Shelf Awareness for Readers was challenging to write, both for the need to capture complex ideas in 250 words and for required refresher on the many interpretations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is widely accepted that the core of … Continue reading
Shelf Awareness for Readers Review: Love Among the Particles: Stories, by Norman Lock
My review of Norman Lock‘s story collection Love Among the Particles (Bellevue Literary Press, $14.95, paperback, 9781934137642) was published in the current Shelf Awareness for Readers. I loved this collection. Kirkus gave it a starred review, and it was an Atlantic Wire Spring Book … Continue reading
Review: Gish Jen, Tiger Writing
Here and below is my review of Gish Jen”s Tiger Writing: Art, Culture and the Interdependent Self, published by Harvard University Press in March; it ran in today’s Shelf Awareness for Readers. Gish Jen’s elegant and wide-ranging Tiger Writing–a collection … Continue reading
Writers and Writing: George Saunders does not tweet
Nor does he own a Kindle. He lugged Infinite Jest along when he travelled to Asia, preferring the pleasure of carrying an actual “book.” He does not spend leisure time browsing online; it cuts into his reading time, as he … Continue reading
Notes on the Craft of Writing: From story to novel in Anthony Marra’s CHECHNYA and A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA
That headline is a bit of misdirection, since this post will focus on Anthony Marra’s short story, Chechnya, which was my first introduction to Marra. Chechnya was initially published in Narrative Magazine’s Fall 2009 issue, having won their Spring story … Continue reading
Review and congratulations for Indie’s Choice Adult Fiction Book of the Year: Louise Erdrich, Round House
Congratulations to Louise Erdrich, whose recognition for ROUND HOUSE includes the 2012 National Book Award (citation here) and now, the American Booksellers Association’s 2013 Adult Fiction Book of the Year (an Indies Choice Book Award, as selected by independent bookstores nationwide). … Continue reading
Review: Peggy Riley, Amity and Sorrow: What makes fiction work
This past Sunday’s New York Times Book Review featured Dylan Landis’ wonderfully positive review of Peggy Riley’s debut novel Amity and Sorrow (312 pp. Little, Brown & Company $25.99). It’s the story of a woman named Amaranth and her two … Continue reading
Reviewing Reviews: Adam Johnson’s Orphan Master’s Son Wins the Pulitzer
Congratulations to Adam Johnson whose Orphan Master’s Son won the Pulitzer yesterday. It was published a month after North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il’s death, with the unforgettable image of millions of people mourning a monomaniacal strongman. Since the novel takes North … Continue reading
Future of the Book: Is the e-book the new scroll?
Another wonderful image that came up in conversation with a friend last week. We were talking, of course, of books and e-books. Read the comments on LinkedIn groups and it’s easy to think the only options are mutually exclusive: – … Continue reading
The Future of Books: An Anecdote
The other day, a friend who is an editor at a large publisher and the parent of a small child came over for coffee. Of course, the talk ran to books. “How many did you get rid of when you … Continue reading
The Second Word 