There are moments that, in retrospect, mark the beginning, and without a doubt, mark the end of an era in one’s life: the first day of high school, graduating college, a best friend’s wedding, a parent’s funeral. Seated in the last row of an over-sold-out Crest Theater for the final Trash Film Orgy screening of … Continue reading
Author’s note: A few months ago, I received an email from a woman in Nebraska, asking me if I’d send her a few books of my writing for her daughter’s birthday. Aidan was about to turn sixteen and wanted to become a writer, and mom thought that maybe I had work beyond the chapbooks her … Continue reading
Here’s everything I know about Sex in the City: Sarah Jessica Parker plays Carrie Bradshaw (but she was better in Flight of the Navigator), a woman who writes a relationship advice column and has a bunch of middle-aged friends. Done. I can’t name any of the other characters or general plot-lines. I haven’t seen a full episode … Continue reading
Remember that Harry Potter series of books thing that sort of turned into the Inheritance (Eragon) series or the Lemony Snicket series or the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or the Twilight series or the Hunger Game series? William Joyce has the latest in read-these-until-you’re-blue in the face technology: The Guardians series. I first … Continue reading
Sometimes, when kids go to college, they binge drink and have lots of sex. If you didn’t know that, and prefer to get your information through 700+ page novels, then this is your jam: The cover of I am Charlotte Simmons (2004) indicates exactly what is wrong with the book (i.e. it’s terrible and can’t stand on … Continue reading
I’m only four weeks in and already the 52-books-in-52-weeks project is starting to get overwhelming. This beast of a novel didn’t help much. Tom McCarthy’s C (2010) is a doozy: Let’s start off with the hype surrounding this book. Slate Magazine said it was “The Future of Fiction,” and The Guardian said it was “steeped in … Continue reading
Orientation (2011) is an amazing collection and is worth every penny of the absurdly high hardcover price. I was less than 20 pages in before I was convinced it had become my favorite read of the year, which should suggest the general tone of this review (i.e. Sweetbabyjesustakemenow!). Let’s take a moment to acknowledge how … Continue reading
What is this thing? Because it doesn’t quite feel like a “book” in any traditional sense (and certainly doesn’t feel like a typical ham-fisted manifesto – not that I’ve read many manifestos). It doesn’t present an argument in any traditional fashion, and leaves a lot of the intellectual leg work and conclusion-making to the reader … Continue reading
Open City (2011) has been getting a lot of praise in literary circles (i.e., it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the PEN/Hemingway Award), so it seemed a worthy note to begin with. Cole’s novel is probably not a great read while you’re trying to get your sun tan on, … Continue reading
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