Posts - Page 4 of 22 - seanvansickel.com

Another Straight White Guy Writer-type in New York featuring Cocaine, or Bright Lights, Big City

By seanvansickel September 9, 2016Reading Journal

Jay McInerney’s 1984 novel Bright Lights, Big City has a lot stacked against it. It’s not only a very “New York” story, it’s about a sensitive and artistic yet somehow…

A Wizard of Earthsea, and why books for young people don’t have to be shit

By seanvansickel September 5, 2016Reading Journal2 Comments

After a few lukewarm readings of her short stories, I hadn't really bothered with Le Guin for a few years, but I'm trying to rectify that. The Lathe of Heaven…

Coin Locker Babies by Ryū Murakami

By seanvansickel August 17, 2016Reading Journal

Ryū Murakami’s novel Coin Locker Babies was published in 1980, a fact that surprised me when I learned it just a few moments ago. It is certainly not timestamped -I…

bone -Yrsa Daley-Ward

By seanvansickel August 13, 2016Reading, Reading Journal

My fiancee found this particular collection on Amazon, and recommended it highly. I’ve been reading a lot more contemporary poetry in the last few years, but it’s still very much…

A Book of Uncommon Prayer

By seanvansickel August 10, 2016Reading Journal

Reading Log favorite Matthew Vollmer edited this particular anthology, an artifact that began as a personal writing project and expanded to include the work of many writers. Everything in here…

Dostoyevsky, The Gambler, and all the Big Important Russian Novels

By seanvansickel August 8, 2016Reading Journal

I still have not read any of the Russian behemoths, but my experiences with the novellas of Tolstoy and now Dostoyevsky are making that a rather untenable position. The Gambler…

Flooded Announcment

By seanvansickel July 31, 2016Reading, Writing

I recently came across an editor and writer who is in the process of putting together an anthology that I find particularly interesting. Flooded will deal specifically with brain injury…

Susan Sontag’s Alice in a Bed

By seanvansickel July 29, 2016Reading, Reading Journal

Alice in Bed is a wonderful concept play, a fantastic idea written deftly. A fantastic off-jumping from the real biographical details of Henry and William James’ sister, the play is…

Tina Fey’s Bossypants

By seanvansickel July 25, 2016Reading Journal

Tina Fey’s wonderful show 30 Rock is one of my favorite TV comedies of all time, and her work on Weekend Update is also a favorite. Since her writing chops…

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

By seanvansickel July 1, 2016Reading Journal

While I haven’t particularly been a fan of any of the Le Guin short stories I’ve read, I certainly enjoyed this short novel. Briefly, the novel follows a man who’s…