BoD: A Separate Peace
An oldie-but-goodie… I know, it’s not Joyce, it’s not Pynchon. It’s a kids book and all that. But A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a classic. Plus, it’s hot as hell right now, and A Separate Peace always makes me think of cool fall nights, changing leaves, and clanking radiators as the heat begins…
continue readingImpressive Showing from Cormac
It’s easy to get overlooked in all the Harry hoopla, but an encouraging note is that Cormac McCarthy’s new novel, No Country for Old Men actually has a sales rank of #21 this morning. Officially released tomorrow, McCarthy’s novel is lagging behind 7 different Harry Potter entries, the ubiquitous Da Vinci Code, and a handful…
continue readingHarry Impacts
Now that merchants have had some time to sift through the empty boxes, vacuum the floors from foot traffic, and figure out just what Hurricane Harry did to book sales, the numbers are staggering. The Associated Press is reporting that the New Harry Potter novel sold an astonishing 6.9 million copies in its first 24…
continue readingSorting Through the Red Pencil Marks
Australian Max Barry, author of Syrup and Jennifer Government has a great blog where he ruminates on writerly matters as well as other topics such as his impending fatherhood. On this site, he has an interesting bit about getting comments back from his editor and having to decipher all the editor-speak. Several weeks ago, Barry…
continue readingBoD: Controlled Burn
Drawing rave blurbs from Richard Ford, Anthony Sofford, and George Pelecanos, Controlled Burn: Stories of Prison, Crime, and Men by Scott Wolvern straddles the line between the best of mystery/noir writing and literary fiction. Publishers Weekly conjured up the ubiquitous Hemingway reference for Wolven’s spare, unadorned prose and his boxing characters; but he’s also been…
continue reading