Read the New Klosterman, But Can Remember Nothing
Our reading tastes change as we age. Our writing styles change as we age. Two very ridiculously obvious statements that are hardly groundbreaking. But I kept thinking about those concepts as I read Chuck Klosterman’s The Nineties: A Book. One or two of those simple statements were clearly at work, because yeah, I read it.…
continue reading
Breaker One Nine, Good Book Coming at Ya
The recent news attention on the protesting truck drivers in Canada reminded me of a fantastic book about the contrasting solitude and adventures crisscrossing the nation in a big rig. The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tale of Life on the Road by Finn Murphy documents one man’s moving (yes, the pun is intended) interactions with…
continue reading
How High You Go Depends on You
Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark has made the bestseller lists and received serious praise. The author reportedly started working on the book in its earliest form in 2011, however, the novel about a deadly virus revealed by climate change became more urgent with the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantines? Yup, they’re here. NPR…
continue reading
Fearnside Collection Offers Insight Into a Different Culture
Jeff Fearnside’s new collection A Husband and Wife Are One Satan provides interesting and thoughtful insights into everyday people in Kazakhstan. The cultural setting is a nice change of pace from the usual literary fiction locales and Fearnside is adept at depicting people who must balance the old and the new, tradition and evolution. In…
continue reading
Artistic Photos Capture Locations That Inspired Southern Fiction
The New Yorker’s website recently published a book review of Tema Stauffer’s photography collection Southern Fictions. Stauffer explores some of the places that influenced and shaped the work of William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and more. The article also shares one of the more memorable – if horrible – Faulkner legends. Suffice it to say that…
continue reading