Kafka in the Green Zone
It’s difficult to make friends in the middle of warfare, but the least you can do is try. Join the existentialist as he rapidly descends through his tour of duty.
Books
A collection of 305 issues
Sincerely Yours LOL!
The recent publication of Robert Lowell's letters makes us wonder, will someday collections of today's scribblers' correspondence include emoticons? A look at the last gasps of letter writing.
Housekeeping
Marilynne Robinson's recent book Gilead wears its acclaim and awards like a hairshirt, but it's her earlier novel Housekeeping that mesmerized me. The story of two girls and a nearby lake that seems to swallow everyone they love is a rich show-stopper of style and
Chronicles
While I don't think I'll ever succumb to listening to books instead of reading them, I am regularly inclined to revisit something I have read by having a go at the audio version. I was amused and fascinated by Bob Dylan's memoir Chronicles but
Chuck Dugan Is AWOL
You've seen his endearing drawings in brother Wes's The Royal Tenenbaums; catch more of Eric Chase Anderson's work in his new "novel with maps," Chuck Dugan Is AWOL. A couple steps up from Lemony Snicket, the novel takes its reader-viewers along
The Portrait
A slender novel that does Robert Browning's dramatic monologues proud, The Portrait by Iain Pears is an unforgettable vengeance scenario. When retired painter Henry MacAlpine lures famed critic (and former patron) William Nasmyth to a lonely isle off the Brittany coast for a final portrait, both men'
The Italian Secretary
Love Sherlock Holmes? Love The Alienest series? Caleb Carr was commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate to write a new Holmes mystery, and so bore The Italian Secretary, a faithful period romp where Holmes and Watson go traipsing off to Scotland to help the queen, with all their antiquated phrasing
The Golden Compass
The first of Philip Pullman's excellent His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy, The Golden Compass is loads of fun. The story centers on young Lyra Silvertongue as she becomes enmeshed in a war between her father, the brooding Lord Asriel, and the sinister legions of the churchly Authority. Filled
The Tour, Chapter Three
A national book tour means many cars, planes, handlers and book-signings. It also means a table of elderly Southern women with specific questions about fertility clinics.
The Tour, Chapter Two
If you make an ass of yourself on the Dennis Miller show, will anyone notice? If you don't acknowledge that Beyoncé is Beyoncé, will she care?