Fellow bloggers unite!

A list of authors who blog...
...and some others:
Laurie King (author of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery novels)
Jennifer Weiner (of Good in Bed fame)
S.J. Rozan (author of the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery novels set in Chinatown)

An interview with...

...A.M. Homes, author of The Safety of Objects and Jack. Dark and engrossing, Homes' novels are touched with a wicked and morbid sense of humor. Here's another interview...

degrees of separation

Everyone is supposed to be only six degrees separate from any other person in the world. Well, I've never been N degrees close to any writers or authors (except for that one time I got to meet Jill McCorkle at the NYPL), but recently I got a few degrees closer to a writer -- sort of! My sister-in-law Laura, has an ex-boyfriend, Brian, who has a sister, Cristina, who just published her first collection of short stories. Entitled Come Together, Fall Apart, Cristina's debut collection has been reviewed in Booklist and Publishers' Weekly and one of the stories was in The New Yorker last year. Ok, so I'm stretching it a bit -- I've never even met Cristina, but judging by the New Yorker story and the reviews, Ms. Henriquez will be a writer to watch.

Sound good to you?

Do...

Cancer
Dementia
Hospital visits
deaths
funerals
marital infidelity
sexual promiscuity

...all sound good to you? Well, if so -- then I've got a book for you! Antonya Nelson's latest story collection features all of the above. Nelson interests me because she is compared to writers like Lorrie Moore and Ann Beattie -- two of my favorite writers working today. Also, who can beat a collection of stories written about the most dysfunctional of families - the American white middle-class family?

PEN/Faulkner award goes to...

E.L. Doctorow has won the PEN/Faulkner award for his latest novel, The March. Published in 2005, Doctorow's novel is a fictionalized account of Sherman's tumultuous "March to the Sea" during the Civil War, when General William Tecumseh Sherman pillaged and plowed a destructive path through the south, destroying and cutting off the Confederate army's supplies. Doctorow is a celebrated master of historical fiction; his superb novel Ragtime is an account of America at the turn-of-the century that follows real-life historical characters who changed and impacted this country.

remote book signing?

Writer Margaret Atwood claims she is ignorant of technology. However, the Booker prize-winning author has invented a "remote pen" to sign fans' books virtually -- much like the electronic gizmos UPS or FedEx employs for package deliveries. Possibilities await...

Octavia Butler, science fiction writer

It seems as though I am only writing posts about writers dying. I just found out from a librarian friend today that Octavia Butler, science fiction writer extraordinaire, has died at age 58. Writer of novels such as Kindred, Parable of the Sower, and its sequel, Parable of the Talents, Butler was an amazing writer. Her novels have a social conscience, not just pure science fiction, but novels of social commentary, intelligence, spirituality, and meaning. Bob tells me that Wild Seed is on his Top Ten, so I will have to read it as soon as I can.

Reds

My latest foray into nonfiction is a huge, 614 page tome on American anti-communism and the roots of McCarthyism in 1950s America: Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America, by Ted Morgan. It is hefty and dense, but it is also a fascinating dissection of the history of the Communist party in America and the fallout from the Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet espionage before, during, and after World War II. One does get the feeling throughout the book that Morgan may be trying a bit too hard to convince the reader of how dangerous the Soviet threat was during the 1930s and 1940s -- his tone and language convey the idea that Soviet spies surrounded us everywhere. Still, since the release of the code-breaking Venona transcripts and the de-classified McCarthy hearings, it is an important examination of one of the most fearsome times in American history.

Larry Brown, writer, 1951-2004

I was looking for some information on one of my favorite authors recently and found out he passed away in November of 2004. Larry Brown wrote some of the best Southern gritty fiction around and was a self-taught writer who didn't start writing until he was well into his thirties. His novel, Fay, is on my top ten list of all-time favorite novels. Listen to an audio tribute from NPR...

Betty Friedan, 1921-2006

I've really been out of the loop...
Betty Friedan died on February 4th, on her 85th birthday. Such an important and influential woman. The Feminine Mystique radicalized so many women in the '60s and '70s, making it possible for women like me to have all the wonderful opportunities I take for granted. She left her indelible mark...

latest Sue Grafton I've read

I just finished reading "Q" is for Quarry this weekend and I have to admit, I am continually amazed by Grafton's ability to keep writing such engaging, deep and well-written mystery novels. "Q" is much longer than many of the previous alphabet series, and its interesting to note that this novel is rooted in an actual unsolved homicide which took place over thirty-five years ago. Kinsey Millhone is asked by two former Santa Teresa detectives to help with an unsolved investigation going back to 1969 -- a young woman was found stabbed, with her hands bound, and her body in a state of rapid decomposition. The case went nowhere, mostly due to lack of identification of the body and no leads. Eighteen years later and the two detectives are still curious about the girl and want to close the books on the case. Kinsey is asked to step in and help them solve the "cold case".
Coincidences aside, the seventeenth novel in the series is engrossing and revelatory -- the reader is slowly learning more and more of Kinsey's cloudy family history -- at much the same time as Kinsey herself. This novel is much like a jigsaw puzzle. Clues are introduced at the beginning, many of which don't seem like clues until later on in the story. Grafton is a superb storyteller, much of it due to the three-dimensional nature of her characters. Kinsey reveals more of herself in this book than ever before, giving us a glimpse of the soft inside.
Highly recommended and I would add, one of the best in the series so far.

After a long silence...

What a crazy past couple of weeks! I'm hoping to start posting again with some regularity. My life has been pretty chaotic with my job interview, uncertainty about my position, and a whole lot of teaching and web work -- life should be a little more stable soon! Keep reading...

National Book Critics Circle finalists...

The National Book Critics Circle finalists were announced last week -- Andrea Levy is nominated for Small Island, Mary Gaitskill for Veronica, and William Vollmann for Europe Central are some of the authors included, so it should be an interesting awards competition...

love story?

Just finished reading The Pact: a love story, by Jodi Picoult. I usually love Picoult's books -- big, plot-driven novels usually appealing to women, with some good character development (see Plain Truth or Keeping Faith). So, understandably, I was extremely disappointed after finishing the novel. The novel is a story of two teenagers (Emily and Chris) who grow up next door to each other. Their parents are best friends and naturally, the two are encouraged in their growing romantic relationship. Until something goes horribly wrong and Emily is found dead, from a gunshot wound to the head, with Chris next to her, bleeding and unconscious, but still alive. Thus begins the novel of "what went wrong in Perfectville?". What bothers me are a couple of inconsistencies: one, the reason for the suicide is so vague and clouded in mystery and ultimately, never solved. Although I suppose you could make the argument that this is the case for so many suicides, it just didn't seem to ring true. Second, the mother of Emily reads her daughter's diary, then burns it. It never comes up again, which seems like a huge waste of an interesting plot twist. Third, the actual circumstances surrounding the actual suicide and Chris' attempts to save Emily from killing herself are seriously flawed. The scene and the characters' actions in it, felt false. All in all, it was an highly entertaining novel, but not one of her better ones, plot-wise. I did like the character of Jordan and his private investigator, Selena -- both were interesting and I wanted to find out more, but the parents of both teens seemed contrived. If you have not read Jodi Picoult before, try one of her other novels before this overly melodramatic work.

liar, liar, pants on fire...

James Frey has some explaining to do. Frey's bestseller A Million Little Pieces and an Oprah Book Club pick, is drawing attention for alleged lies he told in the book...

America's most literate cities

Imagine that -- Seattle, WA is considered America's Most Literate City. Well, it doesn't really surprise me considering that it is also the home of Starbucks, and as such, is probably coffee capital of America. 'Cause if you are reading a good book, you also need a good cup of joe...

New Year "books-to-read" resolution

So Alice and I discussed our New Year's resolutions and agreed to post them - mine are a few days late, but here goes...
The books I am determined to read and finish in 2006:

1. Empire Falls and Straight Man by Richard Russo
Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors -- his books are funny, intelligent, and poignant. The first book I read was Nobody's Fool -- the story of Sully was pure pathos, his whole life a failure and his attempts to make some peace with it darkly comical. Russo is a gifted writer.

2. I'm hoping to finish a few mystery novel series this year:
John Rebus novels by Ian Rankin
V.I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky
Kinsey Millhone novels by Sue Grafton
Kathy Mallory novels by Carol O'Connell

3. Some classics on my to read list...
Anything by Thomas Hardy!
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

4. On Beauty by Zadie Smith

5. Godless by Pete Hautman

6. The Rabbit Factory by Larry Brown

7. The Right Nation: How Conservatism Won by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
...because I don't want to believe its true :)

8. The New Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian

9. The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism by Haynes Johnson

10. Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips
Published in 2002, but even more important today. Still at the top of my nonfiction reading list, as soon as I get through those information architecture texts for work...

movie date

Alice and I went to see The Squid and the Whale at the Little Theatre in Rochester last night. Fantastic movie! Who knew writers could be such self-absorbed jerks? Jeff Daniels was terrific in a superbly understated performance as a washed up writer struggling with his wife's own literary success. It was funny and sad at the same time...

new bio

Happy New Year! Today I read an interesting book review for a new biography of Joseph Smith -- founder of the Mormon religion. A few months ago I linked to a blog posting about Jon Krakauer, the author of Under the Banner of Heaven, (a book I listened to on tape) which is about the violence of the fundamentalist Mormon sects. Mormonism has roots in the Rochester area, with Palmyra, NY (Joseph Smith's childhood home) within driving distance of the city. What peaks my interest is the adulation and respect heaped on him -- a man who "found" golden plates and proclaimed he spoke to God and Jesus and was the new Prophet to lead the fallen to the true church. Of course, what is more amazing is the lasting power of his words and deeds -- 200 years later and the church is still thriving with 12 million members worldwide. I'm a skeptic, so I tend to fall on the disbelief side of the fence when it comes to Mormonism...

Summer Reading

Its that time of year again! Geneseo is getting geared up to select a book for the freshman Summer Reading program. Here are the recommended selections so far....
It is also the year SUNY Geneseo marks the centennial of Susan B. Anthony's death, with a college-year celebration, "Susan B. Anthony: Women's Rights, Women's Power" (2006-07). We are looking at reading a book which will integrate with the celebration. Any suggestions?