If it were not for the New YorkTimes’s critic’s resounding advocacy of Ron Rash’s writing, I would most certainly be quibbling with the opening statement: “Ron Rash was the seasoned author of nine books of fiction and poetry before his 10th, the stunning 2008 Serena, [apparently the
You are probably not as confused about the literary legacy of the great Ralph Ellison as I was—when it was published 10 years ago,I thought Juneteenth was the unfinished novel that Ellison had been struggling with for the 40 years between the publication of his magnum opus (Invisible
The outpouring of concern and aid for the victims of benighted Haiti’s most recent disaster is, I suppose, some measure of comfort for the victims who inhabit one of the poorest geographies on this planet. And it’s better than the rabid utterances of that heinous Christian clergyman Pat
As usual, it is the best of times and the worst of times, which is as good a time as any to spin a tale of two novels. Ron Carlson, a masterful writer of a number of story collections and books, has published The Signal (Viking), a compact, 200-page novel
Though well represented in print, most recently with Jay Parini's edit of The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal, the oracular Vidal seems glaringly overlooked by the buzzing, blooming noise/newsmakers bleating for our attention. Which makes his 2009 conversation with Parini (Vidal's designated literary executor) all
Given the current overheated media climate, it would be normal to call Nicholson Baker's very thoughtful piece on the Kindle a takedown or bashing--which would be a disservice to journalism (at least that variety still practiced by temperate and diligent reporters), Nick Baker, and even to the subject
If it were possible to embarrass corporations such as Amazon, the recent snafu over Amazon's recall (that would be the kind word for it) of Kindle versions of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm should be at least an embarrassment--though litigation would seem a more appropriate
Accepting writing as one’s profession allows one to indulge all manner of aberrant and/or unorthodox behavior (sometimes to or with other writers). Along with the expected impecuniosities, the great unwashed associate peculiarity with affection for the written word. Now this is not a wild habit in the scheme
