Sorry for the absence of posting recently. I’ve been swamped with a number of things, including sending off a flock of short stories to literary journals, as well as trying to look for career opportunities for Fall, 2008, since I’m finishing my MFA degree at USC in May of 08. It looks like I’ll land […]
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- Reflections on Madeleine L’Engle
So Madeleine L’Engle, the writer of children’s books, died last week. All I’ve been thinking about is how much I liked reading A Wrinkle in Time, how I thought the sequel – A Wind in the Door – wasn’t nearly as good, and how I could tell you virtually nothing about the plot of either. […]
- Latest E-book Push
So Amazon and Google are wading into the rather stagnant waters of the E-book, hoping to get something roiling. New York Times has the article, which chronicles a bit of the history of the E-book, which everyone keeps on saying will take off but it hasn’t quite yet. The obvious comparison is to the success […]
- New Quarterly Conversation
I’ll make this brief and direct: Go visit the Fall issue of The Quarterly Conversation – I believe that it’s issue number nine – where you can find wonderful essays on things ranging from James Wood to prisons to a whole slate of book reviews.
- Upcoming Literary Books
Here is an eclectic selection of forthcoming literary novels, completely limited by my own tastes and knowledge, for which I am unapologetic. Most of these are coming out in the next month or two, so ice up your poor, blurry, tired eyes and get to work. Other Colors: Essays and a Story by Orhan Pamuk […]
- “Blindness” Made Visible
One of my favorite novels, “Blindness” by the Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, is being made into a movie. The director is one I respect – the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, who’s created both “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener.” IMDB lists the shooting date for “Blindness” in 2008. What is interesting and particularly fascinating […]
- Diary of a Bad Year
So J.M. Coetzee’s new novel is out – but only in Holland. They’ve had it for the last few weeks while we poor slobs here in the U.S. have to sit on our hands for another few months, until October 23rd. The Literary Saloon alerted me to the first English language review of Diary of […]
- Blogger Wars
In the ongoing saga that is the debate over whether blog writers are parasitical hacks or legitimate voices, there’s a new article in the LA Times that sides with the bloggers. Jay Rosen, a professor at NYU (as an alumnus, I cheer), has taken issue with Michael Skube’s assertion that all blogs are useless attempts […]
- Orhan Pamuk in Harper’s
In the September issue of Harper’s magazine there’s an excellent article on the recent Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk, written by Christopher de Bellaigue (also check out the photo essay of Turkey on the pages preceding it). Alas, it’s not available online or I would link. The article, “There is no East” is less about […]