Which may not be far from the mark, figuratively or literally. As noted by Michael Orthofer at The Literary Saloon, Alain Robbe-Grillet just released a new novel, Un Roman Sentimental, but I would vouch that it’s anything but sentimental. In fact, Orthofer calls it “(young teen) porn”, but knowing Robbe-Grillet’s penchant for lasciviousness in his […]
Dumbledore was gay. Who knew? And what terrible timing and awful mechanism to reveal it: after the series, and without a shred of evidence actually inside the books. There’s a battle brewing between Raymond Carver’s widow, who wants to publish the bulkier original texts of her late husband’s short stories, and Knopf, who believes the […]
V.S. Naipaul, in Among the Believers, takes a whistlestop tour through the Middle East, writing about the tension between the dynamic societies of the West, embracing new and revolutionary technology, and the static Islamic societies, holding onto tradition. That basic tension is present in Gina Nahai’s new novel, Caspain Rain, only in sociological form. The […]
So after months and months of trying to get the Barry building designated as a historical landmark so that Dutton’s Bookstore, one of the key independent bookstores of Los Angeles, doesn’t get demolished, I’m happy to report that we’ve succeeded. Last night the City Council passed the final vote. The Barry Building can’t be demolished […]
Nobody incites more hatred on a university campus than Camille Paglia. Just try walking around with a copy of Sexual Persona under your arm and see how long it takes before you are confronted. She’s hated because she’s provocative and respects no sacred idol, but also because she runs counter to mainstream theories about gender […]
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 […]
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. […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
