book review Book Review: “Life and Fate,” by Vasily Grossman 7 Jul 20197 Jul 2019 Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman. It is no surprise that a book with perhaps the most Russian title ever--Life and Fate--weighs in at 871 pages in its English translation.…
book review Mini Review: “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison 13 Jun 201915 Jun 2019 Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison If you threw J. D. Salinger, Oscar Wilde, Jack London, and maybe Gerald Durrell into a blender, added a spoonful of Warhol and a dollop…
book review Mini Review: “Neon in Daylight,” by Hermione Hoby 18 May 201918 May 2019 Neon in Daylight, by Hermione Hoby I'm of two minds about this book. I enjoyed it well enough that I am glad I read it, and I do recommend it.…
Author post Progress Report 2 May 2019 In a recent post, I expressed my relief and amazement at having finished the second draft of my fourth real novel. (I wrote several novels in my twenties, but they…
Announcement Steaming Along 15 Apr 201915 Apr 2019 There is an advantage to habit, or perhaps stubbornness, or perhaps some happy admixture of the two, seasoned with unwarranted optimism: I have finished the second draft of my fourth…
Announcement… Old Wine in a New Bottle…. 28 Mar 20198 Jun 2019 Now my second novel, "Family Ties," bears a cover that does it a bit more justice. Once again, I thank graphic artist Rensi Ke for the design work! If you order…
book review Book Review: Anna Burns’s “Milkman” 28 Jan 201929 Jan 2019 Milkman, by Anna Burns This book shares some characteristics with Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet, which by chance I read just before picking Milkman up at the library: both explore themes…
book review Impression: The Neapolitan Quartet 2 Dec 201820 Jan 2019 The Neapolitan Quartet, by Elena Ferrante I came late to these controversial novels, but the old cliché of "Better late than never" certainly applies. I confess that I have become…
Author post To Lie for Truth’s Sake: the Novelist’s Conundrum 20 Apr 201820 Apr 2018 The job of a fiction writer is to lie. Still, if it were only to lie, you could dedicate yourself to advertising or politics instead, and accept troubled sleep as…
Author post… Quickie Book Review: Salman Rushdie’s “Fury” 24 Mar 201824 Mar 2018 Just finished Salman Rushdie's Fury. This was my first taste of Rushdie, and it disappointed me. The protagonist is the usual brilliant academic undergoing a midlife crisis. (True, he is…
