The narrator in John Fante’s The Road to Los Angeles kept reminding me of Ignatius J. Riley in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. But without the heart. Both characters are really incapable of functioning in the world. Both live at the bottom of society, relying on the good graces of their mother for support. Both are convinced of their own genius and not … Continue reading The Road to Los Angeles by John Fante
Cleanness by Garth Greenwell is a very dirty book. I confess, I was a bit shocked. Maybe more surprised than shocked, but still. Mr. Greenwell’s depiction of sex is probably more detailed than what most of us expect to find in a random book from the public library. Which is what Cleanness was for me. Cleanness is not a new book, so I must have … Continue reading Cleanness by Garth Greenwell
The greatest American crime novelist you’ve never heard of is Dorothy Hughes. Unless, of course, you’ve already heard of her. Ms. Hughes wrote some 14 crime novels in the 1950’s and 60’s, then retired from the scene to become a leading critic of the genre. She’s something of a writer’s writer, long admired by those working in crime fiction but not widely known. You may … Continue reading The Expendable Man by Dorothy Hughes
On May 8, 1945, the day Nazi Germany surrendered, the French government began a massacre of Muslim nationalists in Algeria that ended with the deaths of 15,000 to 20,000 civilians. There were soldiers who fought for France in Germany who returned to Algeria only to find the families dead, and their homes destroyed. Not something I expected to learn in a gritty, noir detective novel … Continue reading Nazis in the Metro by Didier Daeninckx, translated from the French by Anna Moschovakis
May first, 1919. New York City. The first World War has ended. Soldiers of all ranks are returning home via a stop in the big city. Sons of privilege, Yale students all, hold a party in a hotel not too far from a socialist workers printshop and hall. Chaos ensues. Our two main characters, former college pals, meet before the big night. Gordon and Phillip. … Continue reading May Day by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra is a lot of fun. I can’t say that it’s great literature, or that it has changed my life, but I had a terrific time reading it and I highly recommend it. The story concerns the behind-the-scenes workers at a poverty row film studio in 1940’s Hollywood. Before the war the studio survives on money made from making Italian … Continue reading Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
Glory is my third book from this year’s Booker Prize shortlist. I’ve read and reviewed two others so far: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout. Spoiler alert! My favorite is still Small Things Like These. In fact, as far as Glory goes, you’re own your own. It was too much for me. I didn’t get very far at … Continue reading Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo
So, I thought this book was going to be about Olive Kitteridge. I had it in my head that it was a sequel to one of Ms. Strout’s earlier books, but it turns out this one is another book about Lucy Barton whom we met in 2016’s My Name is Lucy Barton. You don’t need to know anything about the earlier book to enjoy Oh, … Continue reading I Digress: Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout — Booker Prize Short List, Book Two
Small things can contain worlds. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is literally small. 114 pages of a fairly large font, you’d be right to call this a novella. I read it cover to cover in a sitting. The lives Ms. Keegan portrays here are also small. The central character, Bill Furlong, goes about his days running the small coal distributor that keeps his … Continue reading I Almost Cried Three Times. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
First an admission. This book opens with the life of a 12th century cleric who spends his days copying the books in the monastery’s library reading them in his spare time. This is something of an escapist fantasy for me. That’s my confession. I’m betting that I’m not alone. It’s not something I would want to do for life, but for a long weekend… Sounds … Continue reading Murder and Glass in Medieval Venice. “The Eye Stone” by Roberto Tiraboschi, Translated by Katherine Gregor
Classification can be a challenge. The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is clearly a western. The hero travels from Utah through Nevada to California in the 1860’s riding a horse. So, clearly a western. He’s doing this to get revenge on the five men who separated him from his wife. So, revenge fantasy plot. Think The Revenant. But throw in a healthy dose of magical … Continue reading Enough Already: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
I started this book with no preconceptions. It was just the next book on the Camp TOB reading list. I ended with a new favorite book–one that I could see rereading someday which I don’t say very often. The story concerns a wealthy man who becomes even more wealthy through inventive financial creativity. Along the way, he marries a woman intent on producing an heir. … Continue reading Everything you think you know is wrong. Trust by Hernan Diaz
May Contain Spoilers 