Realistic Absurdity in a Compelling Read
In My Date with Neanderthal Woman by David Galef, there’s an intriguing amount of absurdity and fantasy that remains rooted in reality. Winner of the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Competition, the book plants outlandish situations into normal, mundane circumstances to which we can all relate. [Disclosure: Galef sat on my thesis committee in graduate…
continue readingBook Review: It’s So Easy by Duff McKagan
When the house lights go down and the crowd jumps to its feet and the spotlight operators squint through the dry ice, seeking musicians on the stage, the bass player is often the last rocker they highlight. Singers and guitarists generally get most of the attention. So perhaps it’s fitting that Duff McKagan released It’s…
continue readingLarry Brown Bio Reviewed in WSJ
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Carl Rollyson examines Larry Brown: A Writer’s Life by Jean W. Cash. The late, great Southern literary icon’s strengths and weaknesses as a writer and a man are described in this book. I’ll have my own comments on Larry Brown: A Writer’s Life shortly. But in the meantime, it’s simply…
continue readingAnother Ho Hum: Surprise! The New York Times Hates Bret Easton Ellis
It seems like every other day, someone in our bookish blogging world offers a theory for why major media book coverage is shrinking. Generally, these concepts involve the economy, the proliferation of blogs, the short attention spans of today’s consumers, and a few little green martians. But today, I’m going to offer another, admittedly outlandish,…
continue readingWhy AC/DC Matters, Matters
In bestselling author Anthony Bozza’s new book, Why AC/DC Matters we get the kind of impassioned art criticism that is normally relegated to websites, fanzines, and independent publishers. Now, in the sake of full disclosure, Bozza is a friend and business colleague of mine. So take these comments with a grain of salt if you…
continue reading