Reading Log: Denis Johnson’s Nobody Move
This was a fun one. One of the most frequent complaints about literary fiction is that “nothing happens”. Fair enough. It’s a trope that the best writers either transcend or…
Reading Log: The Paris Review Winter 2004
I’ve never purchased as subscription to The Paris Review, for the following reasons: -I’m broke as hell -They have most of their back interviews and lots of other good…
Reading Log: John Darnielle’s Master of Reality (A 33⅓ Book)
I received three books from Bloomsbury's 33⅓ series for Christmas, and since Master of Reality is the only other published book written by extraordinary human being John Darnielle, it…
Books for Christmas
Books make good presents. These are what I got this year (Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and The French Lieutenant's Woman are first editions). Thanks!
Reading Log: The Unbearable Lightness of Being -Milan Kundera
Franco-Czech novelist Milan Kundera is a man of ideas. His essay Testaments Betrayed (an essay in 9 parts, weighing in at 280 pages) is the most conceptually dense piece of…
Writing, Word Counts, NaNoWriMo and Productivity
First off, I’m not doing NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. I have no problems with it, but it’s not for me, or in line with what I’m trying to…
Used book haul
My latest haul from Bookhounds, all between 0.75 and 1.99. Some gifts, some for me, including a back issue of The Paris Review with some interesting short stories and nonfiction.
John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist
I’m generally extremely shy about craft-based books on writing. I have yet to read Stephen King’s On Writing, and ever Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer was picked up rather…
Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”
I love short story collections. Whenever possible, I try to read a story (or a collection) by any given author before I take on one of their novels. The unique…
Steinbeck, The Pearl, and another rant on the internet about YA lit
The Pearl is a wonderful little novella that is easily devoured in an afternoon. The prose is simple and reads quickly, but surprises with vivid and powerful metaphors. It’s a…