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What is Bruce Jacobs Reading?

 

Bruce founded Watermark Books in 1977. And we're so glad that he did.

 

Currently reading:

Hot Springs by Geoffrey Becker.

Becker's new novel provides a cross-country journey into secrets of the past and promises for the future. It is packaged in a nice paperback format from the classy Tin House Books.

 

March 2010

 

Gone 'Til November by Wallace Stroby.

The latest crime novel by the author of that great titled first novel "The Barbed-wire Kiss."

Why Translation Matters Edith Grossman.

Prolific translator Grossman spares few in this well-reasoned analysis of the paltry number of good translations available in the USA.

Father of the Rain by Lily King.

The new novel to be released in July from the talented author of "The English Teacher."

 

February 2010

 

The Routes of Man by Ted Conover.

This is a fascinating collection of travel essays about remote areas of the world connected in the thematic experience of being "on the road."

The Three Weismanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine.

A septuagenarian and her two grown daughters find themselves in Westport, Connecticutt rebuilding their tumbled lives. Schine's fiction is funny, reliable, and always on the money.

The Majestic Twelve by Jack W. Lynch II.

The only good, if any, that comes from the wars we fight is in the stories they produce and the writers they create. Each war is different, each warrior unique. This hands-on book follows a convoy security escort unit that fights and wins at least its dangerous piece of the Iraq war.

Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd.

After the rather predictable opening hook (stranger in chance encounter is killed leaving protagonist with a mysterious file), Boyd's new novel takes off on a fast ride with enough substance to make it worthwhile.

Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S. Hirsch.

Hirsch's new biography of Mays has been blessed and supported by the "say hey kid" himself; unfortunately, that doesn't add a lot to the story, and this book goes on too long with too many game day details.

Gator A-Go-Go by Tim Dorsey.

Dorsey rides his characters Serge and Coleman to the NYT bestseller list in this twelfth novel featuring their whacko travels across Florida.

About a Mountain by John D'Agata.

After moving to Las Vegas, D'Agata pulls the string tying together the federal government plan to store nuclear waste in nearby Yucca Mountain, and a story of suspect science, subterfuge, and even death unravels.

The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse.

A first novel coming in June that explores the Mexican immigrant experience as played out in just one Los Angeles neighborhood.

Just Kids by Patti Smith.

Great title for this excellent memoir. Don't all boomers still think we are just kids?

Point Omega by Don DeLillo.

DeLillo goes minimalist in this short, quiet new novel which has way more reflection than action.

Silencer by James W. Hall.

The latest mystery starring the inimitable Thorn.

Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin.

Godwin's new novel is one of those microcosm books which takes place in a Catholic girl's school in the 50's.

Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom.

The new book of connected stories from the talent behind the novel Away.

 

January 2010

 

The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett.

Burdett, the godfather of Bangkok cop novels, takes his hero Sonchai Jitpleecheep to Kathmandu to mix with the bad guys and contemplate.

I.O.U. by John Lanchester.

One of my favorite novelists (his Mr. Phillips is a masterpiece), Lanchester's new book is a political assessment of the recent financial crisis. Although much of this effort is funny, it is still nothing more than a big whine about how everybody got screwed. I look forward to his return to fiction.

The Privileges by Jonathan Dee.

Dee's new novel tracing the lives of a newly rich family in New York City is as rich in language as it is right on the money about their aspirations and shortcomings.

36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein.

This heady novel of philosophy by a MacArthur "Genius" is plenty heady but is also a plenty funny, perceptive narrative.

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes.

Do we really need another Vietnam novel after all this time? Well, maybe we really do if it is this strong, thirty-years-in-the-writing novel.

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris.

A high profile NYC lawyer develops a strange walking disease ("benign idiopathic perambulation"), and his family struggles to keep it together while he falls apart...strange novel but engaging.

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler.

 

Fun with Problems by Robert Stone.

Refreshingly free of today's seemingly obligatory "acknowledgments" page, Stone's new collection of stories is just plain solid storytelling. Nobody opens and closes stories so well, like this from the end of "The archer:" "And, leaving, he felt much better than when he had arrived."

Tongue: A Novel by Kyung-Ran Jo.

Kyung-Ran Jo's Award-winning first novel, translated from Korean to English, is as much about cooking as about the desperate love of her characters.

A Good Man by Larry Baker.

Baker had good critical response to his first novel "Flamingo Rising," but for some reason this one has had, at best, a quiet reception...perhaps because the publisher, Ice Cube Press, is in Iowa. A pity, since this novel is full of good storytelling and great characters.

Flawless by Adam Barrow.

Another (and last) thriller by Tom Kakonis under this pseudonym. I hope he hasn't put down his pen for good.

Invisible by Paul Auster.

New year, new decade, new Auster novel... same playful shifts in perspective and twists in language as he tells his new tale.

 

December 2009

 

Blind Spot by Adam Barrow.

Tom Kakonis wrote some great crime novels in the late 80's and early 90's (e.g. "Michigan Roll") and then disappeared. It turns out he tried for more commercial success writing under the pseudonym Adam Barrow. These Barrow novels also disappeared. I recently picked up this one since I so liked Kakonis's writing. He doesn't disappoint in this one either. As far as I know, he gave up publishing, and his written nothing since the 90's...a big loss for readers.

Googled by Ken Auletta.

Isn't it nice that it takes an old-fashioned "hard cover" book and a traditional New Yorker writer to really tell the story of the ubiquitous Google?

Devil's Dream by Madison Smartt Bell.

Prolific novelist Bell tackles the United States Civil War in this newest work. As usual history weaves a backdrop to stories of personal struggle.

Dogtown by Elyssa East.

This historical, fiction-like narrative tells the background of a remote area of Cape Ann where artist Marsden Hartley rediscovered both himself and his art.

The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell.

You may not find a more unusual "novel" than this short book consisting only of questions; but then, you may also not find one that so effectively explores the answers about our world and about ourselves. This book is a jewel in publishing's "dungball" ("Are you content to sit in a chair and fret small, or not fret at all? Is exploring not peripatetic dungball rolling?")

"Ulysses" and Us by Declan Kiberd.

Having read Joyce's opus in one of those college lit courses, I am refreshed by Kiberd's fascinating analysis of not just the novel, but also its references to the real life context of Leopold's and Molly's world.

Memoir: A History by Ben Yagoda.

Yagoda seems to touch on them all, from the old to the very new, in this entertaining history of autobiography... and the lies often told in service to a good story.

Under the Dome by Stephen King.

Having never read a Stephen King novel, I am responding to the good reviews and starting with this one.

A Good Fall: Stories by Ha Jin.

Ha Jin continues to mine the life of immigrants in this fine collection. Like Conrad, his English is a pleasure to read, showing how careless many American born writers are with their own native language.

Blues & Chaos by Anthony DeCurtis.

A well-selected collection of the writings of Rock critic and musician Robert Palmer. Opinionated, but knowledgeable, Palmer covered it all.

Risk by Colin Harrison.

A new novella, originally serialized in the Times Magazine, makes a very nice paperback original from Picador.

The Promised World by Lisa Tucker.

A disappointing new novel after her last two good ones.

The Farmer's Daughter by Jim Harrison.

This is another three-novella book like his legendary "Legends of the Fall"... only not as good.

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly.

Like his hero Harry Bosch, Connelly does a workmanlike job in this latest novel... but it seems uninspired.

Crossers by Philip Caputo.

Caputo's new novel is a cross-generational tale of the lives of those who live on both sides of the border with Mexico. Not just about today's drug and immigration issues, "Crossers" is about the difficulty throughout history of creating a fixed border when the roots of the inhabitants are so blended.

Tinsel by Hank Steuver.

From his home base on the Pop Culture Desk of the Washington Post, Steuver ventures deep into shopping territory to record three families' Christmas celebrations over three years in the exurban "megaworld" of Frisco, Texas, outside Dallas. Funny, scary, but still a little sentimental, this is a great portrait of Christmas in America today.

 

November 2009

 

Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers.

Powers's novels are always interesting, always challenging. Many intermingle his interests in science, music, and human behavior. This new novel is no exception as it explores the genetics of happiness.

Abbeville by Jack Fuller.

Retired Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Tribune, Fuller wrote the wonderful jazz novel The Best of Jackson Payne. In this latest novel, he perceptively, and briefly, writes a generational saga of a small Illinois town's fate at the hands of a fickle economic world and the parallel fate of one of its descendants.

The Awakener by Helen Weaver.

It's been fifty years since Weaver, a professional translator, hung with Kerouac and the beats. Perhaps it took this long for her experiences to simmer, but this memoir speaks as if it were just yesterday for her.

Incident Light by H.L. Hix.

Hix's poems make for a strong imagined biography in verse. They are both structurally formal yet fresh...and they tell a story too.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.

While I have struggled with previous Kingsolver work and her earnest prose, this newest novel seems willing to let the writing just tell a story without agenda or conclusions.

Thelonious Monk by Robin D. G. Kelley.

Monk was a complex man. Kelley's biography runs long in recreating the man, the musician, the genius; but his access to Monk's family and to others who know the details makes this a great overview of one of our greatest artists.

Pariah by Dave Zeltserman.

This is the second in a "man just out of prison" trilogy about a real bad dude, a Boston Southie thug. A Boston native, Zeltserman knows the turf and the talk.

Talk Dirty Spanish by Alexis Munier & Laura Martinez.

A pretty funny dictionary of Spanish street slang to help us Nortenos know what everyone is saying about us when shopping the local tiendas.

Painting Below Zero by James Rosenquist.

Rosenquist tells his own story in an ingenuous style which refreshingly covers many artists and friends in both the abstract and pop schools of 20th-century art, and which describes his own journey from the upper Midwest to the upper echelons of the art world.

Where the Money Went by Kevin Canty.

A strong collection of stories about broken relationships by this talented, but sadly little-known, fiction writer from Missoula.

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

Hornby's new novel is still enmeshed in the rock music world as were his previous books, but with maybe a little more of a grown-up's perspective this time around.

Only Milo by Barry Smith.

This short funny novel by a finance professor at Emporia State is just about the right length to read on a road trip to Emporia.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

Nominated for this year's National Book Award, McCann's novel is a great story set in the exciting undercurrents of New York City in the 1970's.

 

October 2009

The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter.

You have to like a novel that opens with an after midnight convenience store purchase of "Reese's Pieces, Pic-6 Lotto, Red Bull, and a cheddar-jack tacquito."

Twisted Tree by Kent Meyers.

Although this novel opens with the cold, stalking plans of a serial killer, it is really the story of a small American town in South Dakota and the mostly sadly connecting lives of its inhabitants.

The Bride of E by Mary Jo Bang.

This new uneven collection of Bang poems has more ups than downs.

When Everything Changed by Gail Collins.

In the same breezy style with which she covered the presidential campaign for the New York Times, Collins tells the story of what she calls "the amazing journey" of American Women from their, at best, second class conditions in 1960 to their present ubiquitous presence throughout the power structure of the country (albeit with plenty of gender gaps still to be closed).

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore.

First rate storyteller writes first rate novel.

Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch.

First novelist Roesch tells his tale of small town Alaska through the eyes of a seventeen year old gang-banger from Los Angeles brought "home" by his part Eskimo mother. It is a good effort, but a little too "same-same" for me.

Swimming by Nicola Keegan.

A very well done first novel about a Kansas girl's journey to the Olympics in swimming. About much more than workouts, grit, and sentimentality; it doesn't shy from the tough questions about what happens after the ribbons are put away in storage to the family, friends, and life left behind in the struggle.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon.

Chaon's strong new novel is a twisting three-character story of young, disconnected people seeking some past they believe they have lost.

The Amateurs by Marcus Sakey.

Sakey's first Chicago mystery, "The Blade Itself," was published in 2007 and already this fourth is on the shelves. Fortunately, he is good enough that quantity hasn't hurt his high quality writing.

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder.

Kidder is one of our finest writers whose books literally span subjects from his first about the making of a computer company to this latest about the extraordinary fortitude of one man.

Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow.

 

 

September 2009

 

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.

Thirteen year old narrators, especially boys, usually don't work (excepting, of course, Huck Finn), but Maynard pulls it off surprisingly well.

Spooner by Pete Dexter.

The always-interesting Dexter writes long (500 pages) in this newest novel -- perhaps too long.

Good Book by David Plotz.

This is sort of an annotated Old Testament but more Monty Python than Abraham Joshua Heschel. Very funny and actually helpful in sorting through all the wars, famines, and lineages.

The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker.

This new novel from the always-challenging Baker may be one of his best.

Finding Frida Kahlo by Barbara Levine with Stephen Jaycox.

This is a beautiful book of photos of previously unknown belongings purported to be stored by Kahlo and recently "found" in an antique shop in central Mexico. Whether they are genuine or not, the book presents a fascinating study of the tormented artist.

Shimmer by Eric Barnes.

First novel, corporate shenanigans, fast rise - big fall, a good read.

The Convalescent by Jessica Anthony.

A thousand years of Hungarian history intertwined with the story of a dwarf butcher living in his meat wagon in Virginia - this is a first novel that takes a little reaching, and then...what do you know...you are up and into it.

While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty.

A novel with a rich ending (I peeked): "There wasn't anything more to say. It was just a house where we used to live, and we didn't live there anymore."

The Badlands Saloon by Jonathan Twingley.

Graphic designer Twingley's illustrations to this novel centered on a small town North Dakota tavern are a great compliment to a good story.

Amigoland by Oscar Casares.

A first novel about two aging Latino brothers and their lives on the Tex-Mex border: Read review

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan.

This first novel of mid-western secrets and mysteries is a good solid thriller.

The Slippery Year by Melanie Gideon.

A light, funny reflection on those middle years of marriage when often everything doesn't seem so funny.

Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle.

McCorkle's name is like her stories which crackle with wit as she explores our little, perfect moments of delusion. This new collection is grounded in shoes...if the shoe fits, etc.

Amateur Barbarians by Robert Cohen.

Cohen is one of those talented "mid-list" novelists whose well-written books need help finding an audience. I've enjoyed them all and am optimistic that this new work may find more readers and lead them to his earlier books.

Rhino Ranch by Larry McMurtry.

Nobody is better than McMurtry when he is on...which he very much is in this, the last, of his Duane Moore novels.
 

August 2009

Rebels Wit Attitude by Iain Ellis.

A "study" of the humor in rock acts and music since the 50's. Unfortunately, it takes itself pretty seriously.

Ink for an Odd Cartography by Michele Battiste.

These poems from WSU MFA graduate Battiste are entertaining in both their joy and despair; you can tell when this is a big day: "I bought new stockings and the evening ended / at the Nifty Kitchen on South Broadway."

Imperial by William T. Vollmann.

With over a thousand pages of the history, narrative, fear, hope, and complexity of the Mexican/American experience, this book takes a commitment and dedication - but the reward is understanding and empathy.

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo.

I've been saving this one. You can't beat Russo, and this new novel doesn't disappoint.

One Ring Circus by Katherine Dunn.

Dunn is most well-known for her novel Geek Love, but she has also written occasional pieces about her fetish for boxing. This collection of boxing articles doesn't particularly work as a book, but several passages are excellent.

In The Kitchen by Monica Ali.

From the author of Brick Lane, this new novel takes place, well, in a kitchen where the clash of cultures and class have no place to hide.

Important Artifacts and Personal Property... by Leanne Shapton.

A unique and very cool book masked as an auction catalog of the detritus of a relationship. From the polaroid booth photo strips to the mix-tapes and inscribed "Les Miserables" playbill, Shapton gets it down right.

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon.

Don't pass up a short Pynchon novel, even if the reviews are only so-so.

Right of Thirst by Frank Huyler.

A first novel by a physician-writer about the challenges in an Islamic refugee camp.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.

I'm finally catching up with everyone else in reading this strong novel.

Keep Your Head Down by Doug Anderson.

As some celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, poet Anderson's memoir of his version is a poignant counterpoint. Death, addiction, and despair are not quite the peace and love of the "age of aquarius."

Glover's Mistake by Nick Laird.

Laird's first novel Utterly Monkey was one of those Brit first novels about growing up in an urbane quirky way, but this second is deeper and better.

How to Sell by Clancy Martin.

This first novel by a Nietzsche scholar about the jewelry trade (and really all "trade") is both funny and smart.

Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy.

More great stories from the talented Meloy...collected under what may be the best title of the year.

Satchel: The and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye: Read review

It is the August run up to the close of the 2009 baseball season. A flurry of last minute trades marks club positioning for the finish. But the timeless Satchel Paige transcends all this current hustle and bustle. Tye's biography has more than enough real baseball by a real player and showman to last several seasons.

 

 

July 2009

An Expensive Education by Nick McDonell.

This international thriller is the third novel by the still young, still very talented author of Twelve.

Cafe Society by Barney Josephson.

This is a memoir packaged with quotations from others which tells the story of the first really integrated jazz venue in New York where Billie Holiday held court.

Jericho's Fall by Stephen L. Carter.

Yale law Professor Carter's new thriller is a departure from his first trilogy of mysteries set among the social milieu and black families of academia, but it is equally good.

The Letters of Samuel Beckett: 1929-1940 edited by Fehsenfeld and Overbeck.

For a guy known for being of few words, Beckett sure wrote a lot of letters. This 700-page tome is just the first of a projected four-volume set. Of course, Beckett and Joyce basically defined 20th century literature, so one must read at least some of them.

Some Dream for Fools by Faiza Guene.

A follow-up to her globally bestselling Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, this new novel also humorously works the immigrant suburbs of Paris and their young denizens.

This Wicked World by Richard Lange: Read review

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

This is a very funny novel about a caustic and conflicted family brought together (much to their dismay) to sit shiva after their father's death.

Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr.

In his oddly structured second novel, Currie creates an apocalyptic vision, coming of age story, and surprisingly successful, funny, and satisfying book.

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene.

This first novel (in translation) has been the rage in France. Guene is young (19) and tells of life in the Paris suburban housing ghettos with snarky humor - sort of Holden Caulfield without the prep school and money.

The American Painter Emma Dial by Samantha Peale.

A first novel about a young New York artist working as an apprentice to a "star" artist with lots of inside bits about the contemporary art market.

We Did Porn by Zak Smith.

Zak Smith is pretty incredible. He has become so "mainstream" that literary publisher Tin House books has published this "memoir" of surprisingly good writing and even better drawings and paintings. His illustrations of each page of Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow made the Whitney. He can draw and paint with the best of them. Where will he take us next?

Trouble by Kate Christensen.

Three college roommates wonder where their lives have gone and what to do about it in this newest novel from Christensen where New York leads to Mexico City.

A Trance After Breakfast by Alan Cheuse.

A great collection, inspired by travel rather than about travel. Cheuse quotes Joyce at his own father's funeral to emphasize that life itself means travel: "He rests. He is weary. He has traveled."

Below Zero by C. J. Box: Read review

After straying into "stand alone" fiction, Box returns, thankfully, to his excellent Joe Pickett ranger noir series. Pickett's still got legs.

 

June 2009

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin.

This first novel starts fast and funny in the Union Square Greenmarket, opens interesting botanical doors, and then kind of bogs down in the jungles of the Yucatan. Nonetheless, Berwin can write.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton.

In these days when so many are happy to have any paying work at all, it may be inappropriate to read a book like this. However, de Botton's musings are always interesting, and this newest illustrated personal study of why we work is no exception.

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke.

Sarah recommended this first novel, and it lives up to her recommendation. Locke weaves an underlying layer of American racial division in a thriller set among Houston's wealthy.

In Search of Small Gods by Jim Harrison.

This newest collection of verse and prose poems, is another attractive Copper Canyon Press book with a Russell Chatham work on the cover. Harrison is pretty good, too.

Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just: Read review

It's hard to beat a Ward Just novel, and this one is no exception, especially when it opens with: "Alec had the usual habits of one who lived alone: a fixed diet, a weekly visit to the bookstore, a scrupulously balanced checkbook, and a devotion to major league baseball and the PGA tour."

Ultimatum by Matthew Glass: Read review

This is a first novel by an Australian physician living in London and writing under a pseudonym. Perhaps its grim prognostication of our future prompts him to keep a low profile. Nonetheless, although it lacks any innovative projections about life in 2032, when it takes place, this is an exciting thriller about politicians trying to cope with the human toll exacted by a radically changing climate.

The Photographer by Emmauel Guibert, Didier Lefevre, & Frederic Lemercier.

This is a rather incredible book combining graphic storytelling, photo proof sheets, and traditional narrative to present a "documentary" of a French photographer's journey with a Doctors Without Borders team into the pre-9/11 northern Afghanistan fighting between the Soviets and the Mujahideen. Fascinating!

Light Years by James Salter.

I don't usually re-read books, but I'm a little short of new ones right now and this Salter novel is one of my all-time favorites.

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly.

The Signal by Ron Carlson.

The very talented short story writer and novelist Carlson is producing some of his best work with this new novel and his last two, "At the Jim Bridger" and "Five Skies" - don't miss any of them.

Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn.

A funny novel of love...and not love...in New York City. Happiness is hard to find, but secrets are everywhere.

Catching Fire by Richard Wrangham.

Don't let the ~80 pages of footnotes and index fool you; this anthropologist's discussion of the importance of cooking to the evolution of human ascension is both interesting and entertaining. Get out your grills, folks, and perpetuate the species.

Shop Class As Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford.

At times a bit too cerebral, but still an interesting ramble about the education elite's decision to "end shop class and get every warm body into college, thence into a cubicle."

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea.

The irony of this novel's title hints at the tone of its story of Mexican immigrants and their discovery that perhaps where they have left is truly better than where they have arrived. Mexico is getting a bad rap these days, and Urrea's novel somewhat mitigates this.

Miracle Ball by Brian Biegel.

Biegel travels the country trying to pin down the authenticity of the supposed Bobby Thomson home run ball from his miracle home run in 1951.

Causing a Scene by Charlie Todd and Alex Scordelis.

This collection describing the "pranks" of Improv Everywhere over the last several years is interesting but nearly as funny the pranks themselves, most of them saved in video on their website.

The Way Home by George Pelecanos.

A new Pelecanos is always a pleasure...even if it is a bit too much of a polemic like this one. Just tell the story, George.

The Hunger by John DeLucie.

This is another behind the swinging doors chef's memoir, but more interesting than others, perhaps, because DeLucie is a bit salty and he got to the tony Greenwich Village Waverly Inn the hard way.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.

A first novel recommended by Beth Golay with an historical twist.

The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott.

A soon to be published first novel from small, independent publisher Unbridled Books.

 

May 2009

The Imposter by Damon Galgut.

Like Coetzee's best work, this novel of South Africa tackles the unique cultural and personal challenges of life in a historically troubled land.

Best Intentions by Emily Listfield.

What could have been a ho-hum novel about wealthy mid-life Upper East Siders on the skids is much more in the hands of the accomplished writer Listfield.

The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards by Robert Boswell.

It is hard to put a label on Boswell's fiction; he can and does go everywhere. This great new collection of stories reinforces his well-deserved but under-recognized reputation.

The Last Child by John Hart: Read review

Hart continues to expand his talent beyond the simple thriller in this third novel.

Usher by B. H. Fairchild.

In this new collection one of our finest poets about the Midwest shows his range of time and place.

Sanctuary by Ken Bruen.

Like Parker's Spenser novels, Bruen's Jack Taylor books seem to be getting shorter and shorter. This new one is a mere 200 pages, half of which seem to be white space. As much as I like the Taylor character, Macmillan's Minotaur imprint and Bruen should give us more value than one hour of reading for $25.

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen.

This unusual (in book design AND story) first novel has been praised by everyone from Stephen King to Rebekah Rine... and it deserves the praise. It is a trove of character, humor, and cartographic arcana.

The Sky Below by Stacey D'Erasmo.

This quiet new novel is about the loss of youthful imagination and finding it again.

The Spare Room by Helen Garner.

Several reviews led me to this novel by an unfamiliar Australian writer. It is a short narrative about how a woman can and cannot help a friend deal with impending death from cancer... and it is much more uplifting than that sounds.

Nobody Move by Denis Johnson.

After the challenging but rewarding (and award-winning) "Tree of Smoke," this new novel seems lightweight...but Johnson is never completely lightweight. Short, funny, tight...this is another winner.

Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton.

Another short, amusing summer novel even if rushinig the season a bit.

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead.

Whitehead continues to surprise. After several very different novels, he now turns his talent to a "classic" novel of growing up.

The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels.

A difficult novel by a thoughtful poet, "The Winter Vault" asks much of the reader as its stories of two engineering projects (the Aswan dam and St. Lawrence seaway), two creative men, and one loving woman intertwine; but it also rewards the patient reader.

Rogue Males by Craig McDonald.

Ohio noir writer himself and aficionado of others, McDonald has collected sixteen 20 page interviews with all my favorites from James Sallis to Daniel Woodrell with stops in between for Pete Dexter, James Crumley, Ken Bruen, et. al.

Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg.

It's warming up, and there may be no more reliable summer-reading novelist than Berg, whose domestic dramas are always thoughtful and bring as much shade as sunshine.

Lowboy by John Wray.

This much-discussed novel is the quintessential subway book.

Either You're In Or You're In The Way by Logan and Noah Miller.

Identical twin actors, sensitive sons, and now movie producers, directors, and very funny writers; the Millers tell the tale of the origin, making, and distribution of their film "Touching Home."

 

April 2009

Conversations with Frank Gehry by Barbara Isenberg.

During interviews with this former LA Times reporter, Gehry talks interestingly about his past, his buildings, and the future.

Waveland by Frederick Barthelme.

I enjoy Barthelme's ruminations on mostly older men's proclivities toward sex and family stress just as I like Bob Dylan's ruminations on life and landscape. This new novel has his usual irony and slightly disconnected characters set in the context of Katrina's devastation.

The Song is You by Arthur Phillips.

The author of "Prague" tackles the iPod generation: love, laughs, tunes.

But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz by Geoff Dyer.

So taken with Dyer's latest novel, I found this 1996 book of his in which he mostly riffs on the great jazz players of the 20th century including Monk, Mingus, Baker, Powell, Webster, and others. It is wonderful.

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower.

What's not to like about a first collection of stories with such a title by a writer with two last names? The stories--part Barry Hannah, part Jay McInerney--ive up to early reviews.

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer.

Dyer's new novel in two parts moves from the glitzy Venice Biennale to the filth of Varanasi with both great humor and sobering enlightenment. While 2009 has just begun, this may be the novel of the year.

The Long Fall by Walter Mosley.

Mosley sets the stage for a new crime series featuring PI Leonid McGill and switching coasts from LA to the Naked City.

Wonderful World by Javier Calvo.

This is Calvo's first novel in English and reflects the stylistic influences of film and Dickens. It is a picaresque sort of mashup of family saga and mystery. (It also is translated by Calvo's wife Mara Faye Lethem, sister of Jonathan Lethem, so he is clearly entrenched in the hip New York book world - complete with author panels at McNally Jackson Books.)

Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan.

O'Nan weighs in with his own novel in what may be a genre all by itself: the "missing/runaway/lost/dead child tale;" and because of his talent, he moves to the top of the heap.

The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber.

Unlike some other Faber novels, this satire of the book world and the artifact world is short and entertaining.

Life Sentences by Laura Lippman.

Again, Lippman brings us a strong novel without the help of Tess Monaghan the protagonist of her successful crime series.

The Women by T. C. Boyle.

Novelist Boyle who has fictionalized other eccentric lives like those of Kellogg and Kinsey puts his lively wit and language to exploring the life of Frank Lloyd Wright and his women.

As They See 'Em by Bruce Weber.

Opening Day is just around the corner, and this is my baseball book pick for the year. In a time when everyone seems to want to tell everyone else how to run his business, a book about umpiring may be just the thing.

Book of Clouds by Chloe Aridjis.

A truly fine first novel set in modern Berlin but focused on the ghosts of Berlin past.

March 2009

A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century by Jane Vandenburgh.

In spite of the unwieldy and provocative title, this memoir by novelist Vandenburgh rises above the many (alas, too many) recent troubled upbringing memoirs because of her deft touch with words, her humor, and her nutty family. Just pretend it is fiction (which Vandenburgh admits provides the book's structure for her real memories.)

Miles on Miles ed. by Paul Maher Jr. and Michael K. Dorr.

While much has been written about the great Miles, this selection of interviews from 1957 to 1998 provides a comprehensive sense of the man with his own words, prejudices, profanities, and wisdom.

Land Of Marvels by Barry Unsworth.
 

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel.

This forthcoming first novel has heady themes of identity and loss but struggles to support the ideas with plot and character.

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley.

This first novel is a mystery of sorts, but also an interesting tale of life in northern lower Michigan...all hockey and small town meanness.

Time and the Tilting Earth by Miller Williams.

A new collection by Williams is always a treat (even if now his bio highlights his daugher Lucinda Williams as much as his own credentials.) Here's a short one called "Separatio in Loco": "He lives all alone now, in the home they bought,/and finally seems to be managing, more or less./Not the way he was, of course, with her,/who lives alone now, too, at the same address." Sweet.

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos.

Lots of writing in this second novel, but the character, humor, and
setting sustain the length of the book, and the writing itself is very good.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell.

This first novel is a pretty light weight romp through the halls of a
poorly run teaching hospital in the company of a protagonist part irreverent resident and part "retired" wiseguy hit man.

American Rust by Phillip Meyer.

This is Meyer's first novel although he apparently has already had something of a career on Wall Street. "Rust" takes place a long way from Wall Street as Meyer's young protagonist battles to escape not only a dying Pennsylvania steel town, but also himself and choices he made. Leaving the Street, however, seems to have been a good decision for Meyer who clearly can write.

Nuclear Jellyfish by Tim Dorsey.

The success of a "series" lies in good writing and memorable characters. Like a twisted version of Hawk and Spenser in Parker's series, Serge and Coleman reluctantly remain the heroes of Dorsey's.

Border Songs by Jim Lynch.

Sometimes we forget that the USA has an even longer border with Canada than we do with Mexico, but Lynch's second novel exposes our naïveté. With thoughtful characterizations and a slow but measured plot, Border Songs shows us that drugs, illegal immigrants, and other border stuff happens at our north as well as at our south.

Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis.

Suggested by Rebekah and Mark, this noir yarn with a Chinese protagonist certainly has a great title.

Out of My Skin by John Haskell.

This is a disappointing little novel about a lost soul who moves to LA, practices acting like Steve Martin, and sort of finds himself.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

Having enjoyed Verghese's non-fiction and needing a long narrative novel for a long trip, I'm finding this first novel to be just the thing.

 

February 2009

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin.

A first collection of connected stories taking place in Pakistan, a place we know more for its strife than the everyday life Mueenuddin captures so well.

Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips.

This is one of those novels whose story-telling and language force a slow and pleasant reading.

Nothing Right by Antonya Nelson.

Nelson's stories find every crack in every family and home...and then she finds the patches we use to try to hold them together.

Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames.

Ames' first novel wears a great title. If you've driven through Buffalo, "lockjaw" seems about right. If you have had to deal with early Alzheimer dementia in your parents, it is perhaps also apt. This is a strong debut for Ames (now, no surprise, living in Brooklyn.)

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely.

Due to be published in July, this first novel by Letterman writer Hely is too much a one-joke satire on the "bestseller" syndrome rather than an interesting novel.

One More Year by Sana Krasikov.

This first book by a Tbilisi, Georgia immigrant is a quite well-written collection of stories about immigrant life in New York.

Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward.

A first novel with a rich taste of the Mississippi Gulf Coast as seen in the lives of two young black twins struggling to become independent without having to leave their generational home county even though jobs are scarce and the odds are against them.

This is the Life by Joseph O'Neill.

O'Neill hit the big time with his recent novel "Netherland" about a Brit cricketer in New York. This is his first novel which is much lighter fare about the travails of a second rate lawyer in London.

Tinkers by Paul Harding.

This well-reviewed first novel was disappointing; too slow, too serious for me.

 

January 2009

The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg by Geoff Herbach.

A great little book in an interesting structure. Read Rebekah's and Shelly's review. I can only add that reading the interviews reminds me of Carnack where one gets the answers and has to figure out the questions himself.

NoVa by James Boice.

This is a long second novel in long paragraphs without much dialogue about not very pleasant suburban characters including the dead teenager found hanging from an outdoor basketball hoop in the opening lines...not sure I can make it through this one.

Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill.

Nonagenarian editor Athill continues her collection of memoirs with this latest short, but fascinating reflection on old age - from sex to tree ferns. "Book after book has been written about being young, and even more of them about the elaborate and testing experiences that cluster round procreation, but there is not much on record about falling away."

What Goes On: Selected and New Poems 1995-2009 by Stephen Dunn.

While I have read many of these poems before, Dunn is poet well worth re-reading making even the "selected" poems "new."

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J. Box.

This is the first Box novel without the always troubled Game Warden Joe Pickett, and I miss him. A bit mawkish and suburban, this is more a big box novel than a box canyon thriller.

This Clumsy Living by Bob Hicok.

A 2007 collection of Hicok poems whose title hints of what's
inside: surprisingly described accuracies.

Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont.

Beth Golay liked this first novel, and she is right. While the privileged world of prep schools and summer estates may not reflect the real world, the propensity of the young to take risks and push the edges of mortality is universal. de Gramont writes well of the pains and joys of this kind of education by crossing lines.

Goldengrove by Francine Prose.

A new novel by this versatile and always interesting and challenging writer. Prose is one of our best.

O The Clear Moment by Ed McClanahan.

McClanahan hung with Kesey and the Stanford Stegner bunch in the early 60's, was "on the bus," and wrote a few things over the years between teaching and marrying three times. For some reason (perhaps nostalgia) this latest "memoir" makes me smile.

Deaf Sentence by David Lodge.

Lodge is one of those under-read writers from the West Midlands in the
UK whose academic credentials and many books of criticism and literary essays perhaps scare readers from his excellent novels. This new one is a humorous, sympathetic portrait of a retired Professor of Linguistics who has lost much of his hearing. As much as this is a story of living with this handicap, it is also a fascinating representation of how discourse, or the lack of it, drives civilization.
 

December 2008

Out Loud by Anthony Varallo.

Some story collections tell a story (e.g. "The Boat" by Nam Le,) but unfortunately this award-winning collection does not.

Being Prez by Dave Gelly.

The great saxophonist Lester "Prez" Young got his start in Salina, Ks, of all places. Since he rarely recorded on his own (being mostly a side man to Basie, Henderson, and others,) his fame is mostly among other saxophonists. Gelly does a good job of showing how his influence actually exceeded that of Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins.

The White Mary by Kira Salak.

In her first novel, Salak draws on her experience as a journalist covering the world's troubled places to create a picture not only of physical geographies we likely won't ever see, but also of the geography of complex relationships where careers, obsessions, and travel make relationships hard to maintain.

Lonely Avenue by Alex Halberstadt.

This is the first biography of legendary songwriter Doc Pomus who is mostly unknown to those of us who loved his songs from "Lonely Avenue" to "Viva Las Vegas." For a short, fat, Jewish, white guy on crutches all his life due to childhood polio; Pomus lived large indeed.

The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson.

Novelist Nicholson here turns to a sprightly, rambling sort of reflection on walks walked and walks yet to be walked.  He notes "walking remains resolutely simple, basic, and analog" ...as so much in out lives today resolutely is not.

Animal Soul by Bob Hicok.

This is my last collection of Hicok poems until a new one appears - an event to which I look forward.  Are you listening, you publishers out there?

Stories Done by Mikal Gilmore.

Gilmore is a long time "Rolling Stone" writer who has been there, done that with the big names of the sixties. There is plenty of sex, drugs, and rock and roll here; but fortunately I can skip the 75 pages of Beatles stuff since they weren't part of the real sixties in my book.

Slumberland by Paul Beatty.

Continuing the humor exhibited in his earlier novel "The White Boy
Shuffle," Beatty strings language and incident into a global riff on being Black (among many other things) in this new book.

Flamingo Watching by Kay Ryan.

More poems, these by our Poet Laureate; short ones, but hardly sweet. Here's one titled "Force":

Nothing forced works.

The Gordian knot just worsens

if it's jerked at by a person.

One of the main stations of the cross is patience.

Another, of course, is impatience.

There is such a thing as

too much tolerance

for unpleasant situations,

a time when the gentle

teasing out of threads

ceases to be pleasing

to a woman born for conquest.

Instead she must assault

the knot or alp or everest

with something sharp,

and take upon herself

the moral warp of sudden progress.

Insomnia Diary by Bob Hicok.

More good Hicok poems with lines like this opener from the first poem in this collection: "At least once you should live with someone/more medicated than yourself."

Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman.

A very funny novel about small (very small) town Owl, North Dakota. "...when people say nothing changes, they usually mean it FIGURATIVELY. But in Owl the truth is that nothing changes LITERALLY: it's always the same people, doing all the same things."

The Legend of Light by Bob Hicok.

I saw a Hicok poem in a recent New Yorker and was hooked, so I am now working through several of his earlier works. With a die designer job in Detroit's Automotive business for a day job, it may be that poetry is now his only money-making job.

Blue Lash by James Armstrong.

From the Watermark poetry shelves I picked this slim book of poems centered on the world along the shores of Lake Superior because it had a "Mark Bradshaw Recommends" bookmark peeking from its top. Mark is right, these are fine poems.

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly.

There's no getting around it: Connelly is just plain good. In this latest, defense attorney Mickey Haller crosses paths with aging detective Harry Bosch. Great reading!

Lulu in Marrakech by Diane Johnson.

The Size of the World by Joan Silber.

This novel is a timely tapestry of global travelers, immigrants, and ex-pats reminding us that home is not necessarily home, and Coke or Benetton ads are not the whole picture.

 

November 2008

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.

It is refreshing to find that this novel which has been so touted for its fictional "look" at Laura Bush is really more about the titular "American wife" as she might be in many marriages rather than just as she might be as "first spouse."

The World Is What It Is by Patrick French.

As biographies of literary figures go (and there are plenty that don't go,) this new study of V.S. Naipaul is a real keeper. Partly it is because of Naipaul's controversial life, partly it is because of his improbable path to a Nobel Prize, but mostly it is because of French's refreshing writing and telling selection of Naipaul's candid comments over the years.

Everything But the Squeal by John Barlow.

British-bred novelist Barlow now domiciled in northwest Spain writes with humor, passion, and warmth about the culture and food of the Galicia region of Spain. He gives Calvin Trillin a run for his money in the donde-esta-the-best-pork-joint genre of food literature. In Barlow I have a discovered a new voice I need to keep an eye on.

The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey.

This is the second Harvey detective novel showcasing PI Michael Kelly who now finds himself unraveling an historic crime trail that leads, as they often do in Chicago, to the Mayor's office on the fifth floor of City Hall.

Three Wishes by Pannonica de Koenigswarter.

This is a very cool compilation of candid pictures and comments from all the great jazz artists of the 50's and 60's. Nica was a wealthy white heiress who befriended all of them when needed, and so they were open to these polaroids and answering her question as to their three greatest wishes - none of which is particularly startling except maybe Ron Carter's who just wanted a "groovy apartment."

The Heaven-Sent Leaf by Katy Lederer.

A collection of poems that sounded good and interesting, but that in fact aren't so interesting...although they may be good.

Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby.

A not bad first novel because the story and characters carry it. What is an author without a video - go see Ann Jacoby on youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Aleb_Jvfc)

My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru.

A new Kunzru novel where what seemed so right in the 60's makes one's life in the 90's more complicated.

The English Major by Jim Harrison.

City of Refuge by Tom Piazza.

The prolific Piazza has crossed genres with books of jazz criticism, biography, stories, and novels. This is a new novel about his home town New Orleans and its people suffering from the presence of an attacking Katrina and the absence of a protecting government.

Perfect Family by Pam Lewis.

Lewis's second novel is one of suspense but also one of compassion for the ways families hoard their secrets.

How the Soldier Repairs the Gramaphone by Sasa Stanisic.

A first novel in transalation as much about youth as it is about war and exile.

Home Girl by Judith Matloff.

World-weary journalist Matloff decides she wants to settle down with her husband and son, choosing a handyman's-delight brownstone in West Harlem. This is her story. Who needs Rwanda to find adventure?

 

October 2008

 

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: Read review.

 

America America by Ethan Canin.

 

The Thing Itself by Richard Todd.

Best known for his magazine work, Todd here muses on our endless search for "authenticity," and how to some extent, the search itself and the wanting diminish the authentic and leave us dissatisfied.

The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt.

This strong novel delves into the history, memory, and habits which shape family generations with a focus on the American immigrant experience...an experience we seem to be doing our damnnedest to halt.

We Are Soldiers Still by Hal Moore and Joe Galloway.

The authors of the Vietnam War classic We Were Soldiers Once...and Young return to the Ia Drang battlefield today, meet their former enemy commanders, and reflect on war and the world as it was and as it is. Like their first extraordinary book, this new one transcends the military experience to provide much wisdom for us as we prepare for another election to replace leaders who missed the lessons of Vietnam and war and instead put the USA in another hopeless, expensive, and painful quagmire. As Moore and Galloway point out, war is the result of failed leadership and the absolute last resort... not the "pre-emptive" first choice. Would that we all had Moores and Galloways in our lives to teach - by example and literature.

Dear Darkness by Kevin Young.

The prolific Young continues to publish poems that startle as they trace and touch the points of his life. This collection is about place, death, food, and what-all with each finding just the right spot.
 

From "Ode to Gumbo":

Like God

Gumbo is hard

to get right

& I don't bother

asking for it outside

my mother's house.

Like life, there's no one

way to do it,

& a hundred ways,

from here to Sunday,

to get it dead wrong.

 

Indignation by Phillip Roth.

 

Revolver by Robyn Schiff.

Iowan Schiff bounces all over the place in this second collection of poems; history and industry all bound up in lyric and touch.

Last Last Chance by Fiona Maazel.

Ya gotta love the title of this slightly whacky and off-the-beam first novel: Read review

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti.

A solid first novel from the well-regarded author of the story collection Animal Crackers.

 

September 2008

 

Envy the Night by Michael Koryta.

Murder and mayhem come in spades to quiet Tomahawk, Wisconsin.

Fresh Kills by Bill Loehfelm.

A disappointing Staten Island "thriller."

It's a Crime by Jacqueline Carey.

A mostly well-done, light novel of the lost Lexus punishment for the crimes of creative accounting.

The Book of Getting Even by Benjamin Taylor.

A well-blurbed but not so hot novel.

More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss.

A novel of family drama and Munchausen Syndrome by the author of Chang and Eng - not as grim as it sounds.

Macnolia by A. Van Jordan.

After enjoying the newest collection of this previously unfamiliar poet, I have gone back to this earlier collection more or less about a young black girl who wins the Akron Spelling Bee. Good stuff.

The Legal Limit by Martin Clark.

The "Mobile Home Living" guy is back with an even better novel set in the court rooms and crime scenes of the amusing but always serious, morally complicated American South.

The Boat by Nam Le.

As many have already said, Nam Le is extraordinary. These accomplished stories vary in language, location, and character but all touch the universal place where man discovers he is finally and essentially alone wherever he is.

The Turnaround by George Pelecanos.

Always good, always Pelecanos, always Washington D.C. and the Mid-Atlantic. You don't mess with success, but I wonder what Pelecanos could pull from other towns.

Milton by Anna Beer.

Milton was not only the greatest English language poet, but also one of the great political and philosophical commentators of his time. Beer's new biography is an excellent overview of this fascinating man.

Quantum Lyrics by A. Van Jordan.

Jordan's strong new poems range from relatively formal musings on personal place to DC Comics superheroes as counterpoints to the serious depth of Einstein, Feynman, or Eistenstein.

Requiem, Mass. by John Dufresne.

A new novel from this "writer's writer."

A Splintered History of Wood by Spike Carlsen.

Everything one would want to know about this versatile "material" that comes from "nature's most perfect design," a tree. Pencil, paper, table, chair, shelf -- there would be no books without trees, nor baseball bats.

 

August 2008

 

Mexican High by Liza Monroy.

This first novel tells of the wealthy elite teens of Mexico City, for whom drugs and money and crime and chaos commingle... probably not unlike the teens of any large metropolis of the world. Monroy creates a scene worth visiting -- by teenage readers as well as adults.

Exiles by Ron Hansen.

Hansen never fails to surprise as this new novel proves with its depiction of the life, struggles, and poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

The Reserve by Russell Banks.

A new historical novel from Banks that doesn't stray much from his typical track of well-wrought, flawed, mostly male characters.

South of Shiloh by Chuck Logan.

From the Twin Cities, Logan has written a successful series of thrillers featuring Minnesota ex-cop investigator Phil Broker. This new novel creates a new protagonist, John Rane, who ventures south to Mississippi to solve a Civil War re-enactment murder.

Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter.

Carter's novels are driven by plot and character which is more than enough. This new one makes for a good end of summer transition: Read review

A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living by Michael Dahlie.

This first novel risks an early yawn as yet another New York rich man finds himself lost after divorce, but the hero Arthur Camden is not the total oaf he appears, and Dahlie nicely writes him into a well-deserved place of wisdom and success at the end.

The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz.

Enough about China... it is good to read again about Japan in Schwartz's new novel about the Royal Family.

Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost.

The Beijing Olympics are underway, and with all eyes on China, China books are stacking up. This one is funny and a pleasant respite from all the talk about pollution, repression, terrorism, and Tibet.

Blood Trail by C. J. Box.

A new Joe Pickett novel of "game warden noir" is always welcome.

How Fiction Works by James Wood.

This is a great companion piece to Thirlwell's "Delighted States." Both ramble episodically across modern fiction with insight and opinion. Read both for all you need in order to have an inexpensive equivalent to a degree in Comparative Literature.

 

July 2008

 

Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt.

Even with gas at four bucks a gallon, we love to drive. And so, we make traffic. And so, we lament traffic. And so, we drive differently to avoid traffic. And so on, and so on -- this fascinating book is part history, part behavioral science, part sociology: Read review

The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III.

This is Dubus's follow-up novel to the very successful House of Sand and Fog. It broadens his exploration of the Dark Side, and it's long, but I think he pulls it off.

Man in the Dark by Paul Auster.

It's nice to see Auster back in the mode of his stunning "New York Trilogy."

Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff.

A collection of stories, some old, some new.

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles.

I'm sure I am not the first to call this an "airplane read," but at only 200 pages and with a very funny opening, what else could it be? Of course, it is also ABOUT air travel -- or AIRPORT travel as it were, since it takes place between outside smokes and bad magazines during an unplanned all-day layover at O'Hare. This is a great little novel.

The Delighted States by Adam Thirlwell.

A British novelist and critic, Thirlwell rambles through a long course on the novel. It's like one of those comparative literature courses where the professor's weekly lectures are fascinating, but the books themselves somehow never get read. Take this one in bites and don't give up and shelve it; it's summer reading for the reader, but will likely last well into winter.

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel.

While much of the history of libraries in this memoir has appeared elsewhere, it is Manguel's reflections on our personal libraries that make this so interesting. We are what we read and save (or, perhaps, what we choose not to read.)

The Prodigal Tongue by Mark Abley.

Abley peaks into the future of English as technology, music, slang, and culture knead it.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.

I'm not much of a "dog book" guy, but the reviews of this first novel have been too good to pass it up.

How Perfect Is That by Sarah Bird.

Bird's latest novel is funny take on a Texas girl's problems with money: she once had it, but now she doesn't--and having it is better than not having it.

Sing Me Back Home by Dana Jennings.

Jennings (no relation) is a New England, New Jersey, New York lover of country music who here chronicles its history and importance to all Americans regardless of origin: "Just because I like Coltrane and cabernet doesn't mean, at heart, that I'm not a beer and Hank guy."

Save the Last Dance by Gerald Stern.

Stern's latest book of poems has a beautiful cover, an amusing little poem called "Before Eating," and a wonderful, long, and lightly serious meditation on the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Judas Horse by April Smith.

Smith, a wild horse and baseball-loving "MFA grad" and TV writer, adds to her Agent Ana Grey series with a deep undercover dive into a whacko Oregon terrorist group.

 

June 2008

 

First Stop in the New World by David Lida.

 

Bottlemania by Elizabeth Royte.

While everyone moans about high gas prices looks for villains in Texas, Washington, or some other foreign place, few complain about their daily $3 bottle of water. Journalist Royte takes on the bottled water industry with a study focused on the impact of Poland Springs operations in Maine and others in the industry. As we like gasoline, so we Americans like our bottled water; we use it every day, and only a major lifestyle shift will change anything.

Hospital by Julie Salamon.

Salamon writes well of the world where we go to be healed discovering in her year of on-site research that hospitals can succeed in spite of their inherent impossible chaotic organization and bureaucracy because, in the end, healers are driven to heal.

Rising, Falling, Hovering by C. D. Wright.

Her new book of poems is both personal and political, but all poetry; Wright is one of our best contemporary poets.

City of Thieves by David Benioff.

 

Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow.

More Winslow and more "surf noir." Nobody is doing SoCal better these days.

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill.

Cricket as a metaphor for life in New York City...and it works!

Hell's Bay by James W. Hall.

A new Thorn mystery by this South Florida master.

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer.

In her new novel, perceptive novelist Wolitzer asks what happens when smart women take a "ten year nap" from their careers to raise children.

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews.

Toews is a Canadian novelist, and this new novel is of the weird family "road trip" genre featuring an aunt and her eleven-year-old niece and fifteen year old nephew as they search the USA for their father.

American Savior by Roland Merullo.

Author of the pretty good novel "Breakfast with Buddha," Merullo has followed with this soon to be released novel which envisions Jesus running for President with a band of not so capable disciples - one which asks questions of us which we would perhaps prefer not be asked.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

 

 

May 2008

 

The Finder by Colin Harrison.

Harrison has hit good wood with each novel, and this new one is no exception. One of these books will clear the fences... maybe it's this one, in which Chapter Two promisingly takes place at strike zone level behind home plate at Yankee Stadium.

We Are Now Beginning Our Descent by James Meek.

Another strong novel by the author of "The People's Act of Love."

The Cure for Modern Life by Lisa Tucker.

 

Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace.

An historical novel of Japan which is not as engaging as I had hoped.

A Welcome Grave by Michael Koryta.

A somewhat weak detective novel taking place in Cleveland of all places.

The Soul Thief by Charles Baxter.

 

Hubert's Freaks by Gregory Gibson.

An interesting book by a book dealer/collector about another book dealer/collector; but also about Howard Nemerov's sister Diane Arbus, the American fascination with the weird, and the history of photography's elevation to an art.

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey.

Dorsey is not for everyone, but I always find something in the nuttiness of each of his Florida Serge Storms books that is not just funny, but also poignant.

Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche.

Marche's first novel Raymond and Hannah was quite good, with clever use of e-mail as dialogue. This new one is way more clever as it invents an entirely fictional island country with its own history and crises -- but it's way too clever for my taste.

The Soloist by Steve Lopez.

A veteran journalist with three good Philadelphia novels to his credit, Lopez turns here to telling the story of a homeless musician on the streets of Los Angeles. Their lives became connected for the better and worse of each.

Cross by Ken Bruen.

It is a comfort to have a new Jack Taylor by my side although there is nothing comforting about Bruen's world. Taylor is still fighting his demons, still fighting evil, still fighting...and losing. Bruen is the best.

Gas Light & Coke by Fergus Allen.

A poetry collection by octogenarian Allen whose first collection came in his 70's, but whose verse has a youthful, colloquial feel.

City of the Sun by David Levien.

A kidnapped Indy paperboy leads ex-cop Frank Behr and the boy's father to a very bad crime boss working between Mexico and the USA.

Peace by Richard Bausch.

This taut, spare novel speaks of war and the men of war and the horror of war in the way "Heart of Darkness" speaks of the soul and "A Farewell to Arms" speaks of love. Nothing is wasted and everything builds to something. It is a remarkable book.

 

April 2008

 

Amy, Amy, Amy by Nick Johnstone.

The first biography of Amy Winehouse in a sort of tabloid style complete with early pre-tattoo, pre-rehab pictures.

The Craftsman by Richard Sennett.

Sennett is a serious guy who writes serious philosophical inquiries, often with a political slant. This is the first of three texts on humankind's acts of making, organizing, and consuming things. He often cites preceding teachers like Heidegger and Arendt, and like them, he writes in a somewhat ponderous, difficult style - one that's not for me.

Same Old Sun, Same Old Moon by Howard Haden.
 

The End of Baseball by Peter Schilling.

The season is underway and the Royals are fading already; it's time for a baseball novel, and this is my choice for 2008.

Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker.

A great novelist of the big picture as seen in the little picture, Baker here brings this same approach to the "great war" by collecting brief newspaper clips and other "primary" tidbits to support his point that no war is one of which we can be proud.

A Person of Interest by Susan Choi.

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock.

A first book of stories featuring hicks in Ohio in the manner of early Larry Brown.

Now You See Him by Eli Gottlieb.

Smile When You're Lying by Chuck Thompson.

Travel articles mostly about other travel articles - the kind that are enhanced to sell hotel and restaurant advertising. Pretty funny and useful reminders that travel is neither easy nor romantic.

Lush Life by Richard Price.

Beginner's Greek by James Collins.

God's Middle Finger by Richard Grant.

A slightly crazy white dude finds trouble on his own in the Mexican Sierra Madres...and lives to tell about it. This could be a Tarentino film.

Sleeping It Off in Rapid City by August Kleinzahler.

A new collection of old and new poems with a great title. Here is Kleinzahler in a poem about his aging mother: "Afternoons are the most difficult. / They seem to have no end, / no end and no one there."

Field Folly Snow by Cecily Parks.

This second collection of poems is brief, but has its moments: "If only you could teach me / survival without sustenance, unworried / love, how to find oneself at a window / one morning and think nothing of what happens next."

Rowdy in Paris by Tim Sandlin.

Like his Florida namesake Tim Dorsey, Sandlin keeps telling the same amusing tales with each new novel; but just because they all sound a bit the same, doesn't mean they aren't worth the ride.
 

All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well by Tod Wodicka.

A first novel about a medieval re-enactor who goes on the lam to Germany at age sixty and looks back and back.
 

March 2008

The Memory of Pablo Escobar by James Mollison.

The life and death of this notorious Columbian drug dealer has already been well told by Mark Bowden in "Killing Pablo" (soon to be a movie), but Mollison provides significant background to the story with this extensive collection of photos, documents, and interviews with those involved.

Architecture of the Absurd by John Silber.

Former president of Boston University and the son of a Texas architect, Silber takes on some of today's "starchitects" such as Libeskind and Gehry. For we amateurs, who marvel at what man can build, this is a fascinating book.

The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields.

A quick-read compilation of data and quotations regarding the effects of passing time on the human body, many centered on the author's ninety-seven-year-old father.

Season of Gene by Dallas Hudgens.

A baseball novel that begins: "I had always been fond of the bat man's wife" which, of course, leads pretty much anywhere.

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.

A rather incredible first novel which I am enjoying very much: Read review

Night of Flames by Douglas Jacobson.

Historical fiction about the German occupation of Poland.

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan.

Beautiful Children by Charles Bock.

A much talked about first novel by a native of Las Vegas where "what happens in Vegas..." rarely finds its way into literature.

Military Men by Ward Just.

I recently found a copy of this book at Watermark West and read it for the first time. It was published in 1970 at the end of the Vietnam War and shows the journalist side of Ward Just writing non-fiction about the waning self-confidence of many US Army professionals following America's first defeat in war. One can see from this early book the roots of many of the later themes in Just's excellent fiction.

 

February 2008

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke.

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box.

Box leaves behind his previous series featuring world-weary Game Warden Joe Pickett for this fine stand-alone novel.

Matala by Craig Holden.

I've been reading Holden over the years enjoying the variety of his five novels. This new one is a dark tale of Americans abroad.

Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky.

The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty.

I'm finally getting around to and enjoying Moriarty's second novel set in Kansas.

The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa.

Edith Grossman's translation of Vargas Llosa's somewhat lightweight latest novel.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

A bit heavy going with historical rare book arcana sometimes getting in the way of the story.

Sway by Zachary Lazar.

The 60's were all music and fun, right? ...or maybe not. Lazar's new novel weaves the Stones, Manson, and Scorpio Rising into something of a nightmare vision of what was happening on the dark side while everyone else was all peace, love, and understanding.

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller.

As always, Miller entertains (and entertains well) with dialogue and character more than plot.

January 2008

Swimming in a Sea of Death by David Rieff.

Susan Sontag's son David Rieff, a talented and respected writer in his own right, has crafted a short commentary on the final months of Sontag's life. Refreshingly frank about everything from pompous doctors to filial guilt, he brings a universality to the contemplation of mortality in the very specificity of his mother's words and thoughts and physical degradation.

Gas City by Loren Estleman.

This is not one of Estleman's Amos Walker mysteries but rather one of his historical novels. While not as good as the Walker books, they are still good.

Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds by Gregory Rodriquez.

This unfortunately titled history of Mexican immigration is in fact an excellent primer on all of Mexico's 'mestizaje' history. Much more racially tolerant and mixed than the United States, Mexicans with their growing presence in the United States may do more to save us than to harm us.

Failure by Phillip Schultz.

Schultz's poems although perhaps too much about dogs and family nonetheless touch knowingly on how and why things go south. Here's a sample: "...he's still the boy running/all out to first base, believing/getting there means everything..."

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta.

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh.

Venkatesh apparently lived the life for this study of rogue street sociology in Chicago. I suspect it is easier to be in the gangs as an undercover professor for "a day" than as a real, low-life-expectancy member.

White Heat by Wayne Johnson.

Novelist Johnson spent some time in Wichita as a fiction writer-in-residence, but this latest book is a non-fiction overview of "extreme skiing" and the crazies who do it. Johnson works ski patrol at Park City, Utah, part time and has picked up his share of broken bodies. If you anxiously await the release of the new documentary "Steep" about this same subject, this book may be an antidote look at the consequences.

The Big Girls by Susanna Moore.

What You Have Left by Will Allison.

A solid first novel.

Letter From Point Clear by Dennis McFarland.

Diary of a Bad Year by J. M. Coetzee.

A more difficult novel from this Nobel Prize winner which asks much of the reader, but gives also. I am now half-finished and am coming to the conclusion that this is an extraordinary book - one I wholeheartedly recommend.
 

December  2007

Carrying the Torch by Brock Clarke.

Stories from 2005 which won the Prairie Schooner Prize in fiction by this talented author of An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England.

Salt River by James Sallis.

What can I say; I wish I were James Sallis (well... maybe not the living in Phoenix part.) He writes in many ways of many things, but especially of regular folks in their regular worlds. He also knows all about jazz and blues and race and rednecks and whiskey and humor and love and loss and memory and grief. Nobody packs more into a small package than Sallis.

Songs Without Words by Ann Packer.

More rambling and chatty than her Dive from Clausen's Pier, Packer's new novel needs more heft. I look forward to where she goes with her next one.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin.

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo.

Not a translation, this fascinating novel is as much about language as about love - and the sad realization that neither is of much use in learning about the other.

Children of Jihad by Jared Cohen.

Cohen has the stuff. A Stanford grad then Oxford Rhodes Scholar then an employee at the State Department, he went to the Middle East and actually talked with the youth of the countries we are supposed to fear and hate. This book tells his and their story and reinforces what we all should know: people, particularly young people, are much the same everywhere and share the same aspirations, thoughts, and interests.

Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo.

In the manner of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," this road trip novel tells of a "regular guy's" enlightening cross-country drive with his daughter's Guru.

Paying the Tab: The Economics of Alcohol Policy by Phillip J. Cook.

An interesting analysis of why prohibition and restrictive laws are less effective than price (eg. high excise taxes) in reducing alcohol (and drug) abuse.

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley.

The Follower by Jason Starr.

Red Rover by Deirdre McNamer.

Free Fire by C. J. Box.

More travails and detecting from Box's hero Joe Pickett, Wyoming's best take no prisoners Game Warden.

 

November  2007

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan.

Like The Old Man and the Sea, this short novel is about a man facing a doomed situation with dignity and perseverance.

Them by Nathan McCall.

The Makes Me Wanna Holler author tries his hand at fiction; he is still hollerin' and we should be listenin'.

Down River by John Hart.

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron.

When my eighteen year old son gave this a big thumbs-up, I figured I better take a look. He's right.

The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey.

This first novel creates a new PI to navigate the streets and neighborhoods of Chicago. Harvey is one to watch.

Run by Ann Patchett.
 

Now and Then by Robert B. Parker.

 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

 

Options by Fake Steve Jobs (AKA Daniel Lyons).

A funny novel about trouble in Silicon Valley at Apple, written in the style of Lucy Kellaway but with more cursing and more behavior of the male towel-snapping sort.

The Farther Shore by Matthew Eck.

This Kansan's first novel takes the setting of Black Hawk Down
and adds sensitivity to a few soldiers caught by their small "mission"
within an historically big conflict.

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo.

A new novel by Russo is cause for the pleasure of anticipation
followed by the pleasure of satiety. Even when he is not great (E.G. "The Straight Man"), he is great.

 

October  2007

 

Night Work by Steve Hamilton.

Leaving Upper Peninsula Michigan and his ex-Detroit cop protagonist Alex Mcnight, Hamilton shifts the scene to small-town New York and a new hero, Joe Trumbull.

Samedi the Deafness by Jesse Ball.

A little too out there for me.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

Volk's Game by Brent Ghelfi.

This first novel pushes into Arkady Renko's turf featuring a "peg-legged" Chechnyan war veteran named Volkovoy who works all sides of the streets of Moscow in a stolen art scam.

The Great Man by Kate Christensen.

 

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson.

Apocalypse Now comes to the page - without the soundtrack.
While perhaps the penultimate 'Nam book, Johnson's latest also echoes our contemporary angst.

Right Livelihoods by Rick Moody.

While not exactly a "throwaway", this oddly titled collection
of three novellas is not Moody's best.

 

September  2007

Coltrane by Ben Ratliff.

"Be my lover don't play no game/Just play me John Coltrane." Lucinda Williams

Freud at Work by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson.

This great book includes a fascinating interview with perhaps
today's greatest living portrait artist as well as extraordinary photographs of him at easel in his studio.

Male of the Species by Alex Mindt.

A first book collecting stories focused on fathers... and, therefore, on sons and daughters, too.

Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler.

Getting a little long in the tooth, John Rain takes on the
world to save his buddy Dox.

The Light within the Light by Jeanne Braham.

A pretty Godine book with Barry Moser engravings containing short portraits of four "old school" New England poets: Hall, Kumin, Wilbur, and Kunitz.

The Line by Jennifer Moxley.

These well-reviewed poems are more meditations than actual poems, and they rely too much on words like somatic, mimetic, and entropic -- who cares?

Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer.

It's hard not to like a novel about a "summer cottage" in the Hamptons that begins: "Lissy Snyder hated nature, especially its lavish variety on the eastern end of Long Island."

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer.

Traveling abroad and out of books, I found this in the pocket
of the airplane seat in front of me. It is not very good.

Blue Screen by Robert B. Parker.

Sunny Randall hooks up with fellow Parker character Jesse Stone to right the world.

 

August  2007

Flower Children by Maxine Swann.

A novel about Hippie kids growing up trying not to be as
weird as their parents.

Later, at the Bar by Rebecca Barry.

This is the book that should have received all the raves that J. R. Moehringer's The Tender Bar got. Barry's book of connected stories is much better written and conceived.

Throw Like a Girl by Jean Thompson.

Stories - good ones.

Jubilee City by Joe Andoe.

A dust jacket-defined "car crash," Andoe's life was (and maybe
still is) a mess; but the telling of his story is a trip.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis.

Falling Man by Don DeLillo.

Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him by Danielle Ganek.

A light novel about a "gallerina" with the inside scoop on the bumpin' Chelsea gallery scene.

The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke.

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard.

F5 by Mark Levine.

Human Resources by Josh Goldfaden.

A first book-length collection of stories by a real new talent
with a novel on the way.

Potscrubber Lullabies by Eric McHenry.

This is a first collection of poems by a Topeka High graduate,
who celebrates the ironies of Kansas, music, cemeteries, etc. in playfully formal lyrics.

 

July  2007

Dr. Rice in the House edited Amy Scholder.

A rather nasty compilation of criticism, poems, and images of
the Secretary of State.

Filibuster to Delay a Kiss by Courtney Queeney.

A first collection of poems which is, perhaps, a bit self-centered, but it is the sort of "self" worth hearing. Queeney often dwells on problems with men: "There were x number of men;/I couldn't solve for x."

Grammar Lessons by Michele Morano.

An interesting collection of essays on life, language, and love
during the author's year in Spain.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Crystal Zevon.

A pastiche of quotations assembled by Warren Zevon's former wife by the likes of Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bob Thornton, Carl Hiaasen, and other notables. This isn't so much a book as it is a tribute, a well-deserved one; it led me to download his last cd "The Wind," which is a knockout.

New England White by Stephen Carter.

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child.

Potato Tree by James Sallis.

A collection of very good old stories with even better cover art.

Guadalajara de Noche by Leon Leiva Gallardo.

This first novel in Spanish about a young man on the loose in Guadalajara will take awhile; my high school/travel language skills need some work.

The Sushi Economy by Sasha Issenberg.

The history of the speed and breadth of our global economy in
a microcosm view of sushi - from nowhere to everywhere in twenty years, from deep sea tuna swimming off Australia to a fresh red cut on bed of rice on a table in Wichita.

Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett.

The third in Burdett's excellent noir/travelogue/culinary series featuring Sonchai Jitpleecheep, Buddhist Royal Thai cop.

The Long Road Home by Martha Raddatz.

An award-winning journalist's first book exploring a deadly ambush in Sadr City, Iraq, and the anxious families back home in Fort Hood, Texas, who await bad news.

June  2007

 

The Clarks of Cooperstown by Nicholas Fox Weber.

A long look at the heirs of the Singer Sewing fortune and how they fought each other, lived large, but eventually provided several major museums with their core holdings in art and painting.

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan.

The new novel by the Tasmanian novelist best known for Gould's Book of Fish.

Nervous Systems by William Stobb.

A young poet about whom August Kleinzahler says: "Here comes the 5:19 Express out of La Crosse, Wisconsin. And right on time."

Duende by Tracy K. Smith.

This second collection of poems is better than her
award-winning first, The Body's Question.

The Body's Question by Tracy K. Smith.

The House of Mondavi:  the Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler.

Five Skies by Ron Carlson.

Scoring from Second: Writers on Baseball by Philip F. Deaver

Priest by Ken Bruen.

The latest Irish noir story of the continuing struggles of
Jack Taylor: alcoholic ex-Guard detective-philosopher.

Beat by Christopher Felver.

A great picture/scrapbook history of the Beats, which confirms
that if smoking disappears in public bars and cafes, so will art and
literature.

Magic City by James W. Hall.

Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon.

A first novel about the "desaparacidos" lost in endless civil
war in Latin America.

Lights Out by Jason Starr.

Baseball and Brooklyn form the backdrop for this crime novel of childhood rivalry.

Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan.

Flight by Alexie Sherman.

 

May  2007

Black & White by Dani Shapiro.

Still Life with Husband by Lauren Fox.

Last Harvest by Witold Rybczynski.

Heyday by Kurt Andersen.

American Detective by Loren Estleman.

This is number 19 in the consistently intriguing Amos Walker series.

The Second Child by Deborah Garrison.

New poems from the author of the collection A Working Girl Can't Win.

The Human Touch by Michael Frayn.

Playwright and novelist, Michael Frayn tries his hand at philosophy in this attempt to understand insignificant man's role in an insignificant world... yet it is our world nonetheless.

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver.

 

April  2007

The Father of All Things by Tom Bissell.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu.

 

The Birthday Party by Stanley N. Alpert.

 

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman.

 

Life Lessons by Sherry Chayat.

A study of the art of Jerome Witkins: big art, big ideas, big life.

The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Bevnon Rees.
 

When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry.

Nature Girl by Carl Hiassen.
 

Remainder by Tom McCarthy.

A challenging first novel in a manner similar to that in which Paul Auster's New York Trilogy makes us think about memory and consciousness.

Life is Meals by James and Kay Salter.

This writing couple turns out to be as resourceful in contemplating the art of food as in addressing the human condition in fiction and theater.

 

March  2007

 

Blackbird and Wolf by Henri Cole.

New poems from an awarding-winning, somewhat academic, Japanese born poet now living in Boston.

Letters to a Young Artist by Peter Nesbett.

 

Family Romance by John Lanchester.

 

L.A. Rex by Will Beall.

 

House of Meetings by Martin Amis.

 

The Curtain by Milan Kundera.

Reflections on The Novel in the context of its history and mostly from a Euro-centric perspective.

Traveler by Ron McClarty.
 

Valentines by Olaf Olafsson.
 

Paper Trails by Pete Dexter.
 

Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas.

 

Edwin Arlington Robinson: A Poet's Life by Scott Donaldson.

Finally a comprehensive biography of a favorite poet of mine. As the author Introduction begins: "...Edwin Arlington Robinson was a great American poet and an exceptionally fine human being. The story of his life deserves telling and has not been told."

Hurricane Punch by Tim Dorsey.

Serge Storms and Tampa Bay buddy Coleman take on hurricanes and serial killers in Dorsey's eighth rocking novel of madness and delusion in Florida.

 

February  2007

 

Head for Mexico by Don Adams.

A useful and entertaining guide to living a good life in an extraordinary country.

Oil on the Brain by Lisa Margonelli.

What The Omnivore's Dilemma did for the food chain, this fascinating book does for the oil pipeline.

Magic Time by Doug Marlette: Read review.

 

The City is a Rising Tide by Rebecca Lee.

 

Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison.

 

A Trout in the Sea of Cortez by John Salter.

A debut novel, and perhaps one of the few North Dakota novels (how many are there?) that doesn't come off like yet another version of the movie Fargo.

For the Confederate Dead by Kevin Young.

Young's latest is a strong collection of poems. An example:

 

"...No one raises

glasses or hell-

just kids, well-

behaved, who walk

home old ladies

refusing tips.

No thanks. What

are we coming to?"

 

January  2007

Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty by Tim Sandlin.

A fun complement to Stone's rather more earnest memoir of the 60's "Prime Green."

Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties by Robert Stone.

 

Exit A by Anthony Swofford.

Instant Love by Jami Attenberg.

What is the What by Dave Eggers.

Ooga-Booga by Frederick Seidel.

Contemporary poetry with an amusing bite.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

 

Blacktop Cowboys by Ty Phillips.

A wonderful saga of the 2004 rodeo season in which Luke Branquinho finished as top money-winner in steer wrestling, beating out second-place Jason Lahr of Emporia. "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" and all that.

The Notebooks of Robert Frost, ed. by Robert Faggen.

A fascinating look into the thinker behind Frost's thinking, the poet behind his poetry, the teacher behind his teaching, the seer behind his seeing.

 

December 2006

Echo Park by Michael Connelly.

The Cleansing by George Rabasa.

This relatively unkown novelist writes well about the entangled destinies of those whose lives involve cross-border Mexican pasts.

A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton.

The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird.

Echo Maker by Richard Powers.

Four Kinds of Rain by Robert Ward.

Thanksgiving Night by Richard Bausch.

 

November 2006

Spring and Fall by Nicholas Delbanco.

The Eagle's Throne by Carlos Fuentes.

The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow.

What Winslow did for the Mexican carteles narcos in Power of the Dog, he now does for the mobbed-up wise guys in San Diego, especially "retired" Frankie Machine.

Hundred-Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker.

The Book of Samson by David Maine.

Breakable You by Brian Morton.

The Girl With the Gallery by Lindsay Pollock.

A portrait of Edith Halpert and her influential Downtown Gallery.

Exile on Main St. by Robert Greenfield.

One marvels at how the Stones (particularly Keith) are still alive
and rockin' after reading Greenfield's account of their 1971 summer of exile in France.

The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford.

Getting Wet by Eric Talmadge.

The history, culture, and protocol of the Japanese bath.

 

October 2006

A Disorder Peculiar to the Country by Ken Kalfus.

The Mystery Guest by Gregoire Bouillier.

Dead Cat Bounce by Norman Green.

Paperback original New York noir by the author of Shooting Dr. Jack.

The Dissident by Nell Freudenberger.

Atomic Sushi by Simon May.

Life in Japan under Western eyes.

Smonk by Tom Franklin.

Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh.

Everything Else in the World by Stephen Dunn.

His latest book of new poems.

September 2006

Ready, Fire, Aim by John Fennell.

A history of the Milwaukee company Quad/graphics.

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell.

Paint It Black by Janet Fitch.

To a Fault by Nick Laird.

Laird's novel Utterly Monkey was recently published in the United States, and now this first collection of poems has appeared. It is not fair to say, I know, but without his spectacularly successful wife Zadie Smith, I wonder if these poems would have found Norton as a publisher. They are ok and have their moments (and this collection includes "On Beauty" which Smith slipped into her novel of the same title,) but on the whole, they don't move much.

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.

A smart writer and intellectual is always fascinating when she talks about the books in her life and profession. Prose moves in and out of the great books with knowledge and ease.

Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen.

I've been looking for something light and well done; this appears to be it.

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.

Pelecanos' fiction has never failed to deliver. His characters are barely afloat in the streets of Washington D.C., and through them, Pelecanos tells us much about ourselves and our country.  His recent well-earned, boot-strapped success has not pulled his eyes from the truth.

Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid.

As Mark's review pointed out, this collection of profiles of the ordinary people of Iraq tells more about the war than our headlines do. I pick it up for as much as I can take at a sitting and then come back later for more.

Forgetfulness by Ward Just.

A new Ward Just novel; short but dense, as usual...and wonderful. The rest of life will just have to wait while I read it: Read review

5 Kick-ass Strategies Every Business Needs to Explode Sales, Stun the Competition, Wow Customers, and Achieve Exponential Growth by Robert Grede.

This book is written by my mother's cousin's son, so of course I need to give it a try. Once one gets past the title (which, as can be seen, takes some time to get past,) one will find a pretty easy-to-read summary of generally good business ideas. I'm not sure how "kick-ass" they are, but they are sound... and that is more than can be said for many business book ideas.

August 2006

Gallatin Canyon: Stories by Thomas McGuane.

It's been awhile since I last read McGuane, and he hasn't done
stories for twenty years. He's one of those authors whose published work hasn't really lived up to the early hype, but I hope these stories exhibit the old crazy magic.

In Plain Sight by C. J. Box.

This is the next in the Wyoming noir series from Box featuring Warden Joe Pickett - a real straight shooter whose family troubles always seem to complicate the simple poaching and shooting cases he investigates.

The Highly Effective Detective by Rick Yancey.

More end-of-summer-last-vacation light reading. This got a good review or two so maybe it will transcend the awful title.

Try by Lily Burana.

A fun first novel about Cheyenne, rodeo, and the "buckle babes" who follow the stampedes.

The Ruins by Scott Smith.

I enjoyed Smith's first novel A Simple Plan; this one is getting poor reviews but popular support. It is a "thriller" set in the jungles of the Yucatan, and since I am taking a short summer vacation, it may be just the thing with which to sit on the dock of the bay.

Red Weather by Pauls Toutonghi.

Recent Watermark visitor Toutonghi makes a strong effort with
this first novel about an immigrant family and growing up in Milwaukee.
Alas, maybe it is too close to home for me, but i found the book slow and unimaginative.

Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande.

This short, well-done first novel is a touching story of two
Mexican women's stories of family tragedy in the face of all that entices Mexicans to want so desperately to taste the life on el otro lado.

The Driftless Area by Tom Drury: Read review.

The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion by Loren Estleman.

Estleman writes great both contemporary Detroit Noir and historical Cowboy Noir; unfortunately this lightweight fluff of a western isn't one of his best - or even one of his good ones. The annoying voiceover connecting things and the weak character work make this a kind of "Prairie Home Companion" version of the West.
 

July 2006

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

Mark steered me to this graphic novel of growing up in the 70's
and discovering ambiguous sexuality, literature, and family secrets.  While I still think the right word is worth a thousand pictures, Bechdel's story seems to be enriched by the discipline of illustration.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Talk, Talk by T.C. Boyle.

Off to a great start, Boyle's new novel allows him to wander even
wider into the roles of language and identity as he creates the story of a deaf woman busted for a rap sheet of crimes someone else did under the "identity theft" of her name. Boyle can really write.

The Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq: Read review

The Last Assassin by Barry Eisler.

I have liked all Eisler's books featuring the professional assassin John Rain. Once again Rain is globetrotting, and Eisler gives us plenty of urban detail to accompany the killing detail. Fast and well done.

The Book of Joe by Joe Coleman.

This is a full-color exploration of the amazing art world of "outsider" artist Joe Coleman. His work is meticulous, gross, political, outrageous, and fascinating. Owned by collectors from Leonard DiCaprio to Ann
Nathan (well-known Chicago art dealer,) Coleman's paintings are so rich in detail that he paints them wearing a jewelers loupe sort of thing. In addition, he is something of a performance artist, shaman, weirdo whose wedding (pictured in the book) was a piece of work all by itself.

Sequence by Lori Andrews.

Coming after several non-fiction books about genetics, this first novel from an acclaimed science lawyer in Chicago is a surprisingly tight, well-made thriller set in the research laboratories of the National Institutes of Health.

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.

This is another leisurely Doig novel of growing up in Montana.
His first book, the memoir This House of Sky, was stunning and one of my first "handsells" as a bookseller. Doig is a master craftsman but has never quite recaptured the magic of that first book.

The King of Lies by John Hart.

Hart is being thrown into the Turow/Grisham camp with this first
"legal thriller," and I suppose that is where he belongs. It's a very competent first book, but the Southern lawyer with a messed up family past routine gets old.

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler.

A New Yorker correspondent in Beijing, Hessler attempts in 400 pages or so to take us behind today's China Syndrome to the gazillion years of history that make China what it is. While his look at both the big and little pictures of China is fascinating, one can't help but think no one can quite get it all in just one book - no matter how many pages.

Let Me Finish by Roger Angell.

Nobody does baseball quite as well as long-time New Yorker editor/writer Roger Angell. Not surprisingly, nobody does Angell better either. This is a great autobiography that only touches on baseball (there is a fine paragraph on "Neat's foot oil" that only baseball boys of the right age will love) and instead touches on a certain life in a certain time. Without arrogance or exaggeration, Angell talks of his divorced parents, The New Yorker, writers and writing, and of course some baseball.

Clemente by David Maraniss.

Maraniss did Vince Lombardi. He did Bill Clinton. He did Al Gore. Hell, he even did the Vietnam War. Now he has written the full story of the remarkable baseball star Roberto Clemente. Maraniss is thorough, perhaps too thorough. Unless one is a baseball junkie, there are too many statistics and game details in this book. The good stuff about this great player is better found in his thoughts and philosophy... like, the way to beat a hitting slump is to swing at strikes - not take them.

Black Lab by David Young.

Young is an Ohio poet new to me.  Black Lab is his tenth book, and I now want to go back to see what came before. He speaks of mortality and getting on in age, but without melancholy or despair. His structured poetry comes from a tradition of those who find clarity in the moments when nature and man meet, but his moments are contemporary and even suburban. After a stroll through Ohio Christmas decorations, he notes: "We are never going to get God right. But we / learn to love all our failures on the way." 

Live Cargo by Pauls Toutonghi.

A recent visitor to Watermark (to read from his novel Red Weather) Toutonghi cut his teeth on this earlier collection of stories. It is
clear he did a lot of practicing with style and voice before he hit his stride with Red Weather.

Friendship by Joseph Epstein.

Chicago journalist and essayist and editor Epstein beings a
somewhat skeptical eye to the popular concept of TV shows like "Friends" and "Sex in the City," where everyone is just best buddies with everyone else. Friendship is not so easy, not so prevalent, and frankly, not all it's cracked up to be.

Doing Nothing by Tom Lutz.

This 300-page, somewhat whimsical study of slackers from Falstaff
to The Big Lebowski gives "just hanging out" an historical context that makes it all ok. I can dig it.

Perennial Fall by Maggie Dietz.

A first collection of poems with a lyrical melancholy that sometimes hits the mark, like this: "What I had wanted is gone and whom / I loved, and the songs we sang after supper."

June 2006

 

This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes.

Homes has done some strong strong fiction before, but this new novel about a lonely, angst-ridden, Los Angeles stock trader on the brink of collapse may be her best yet.

The Driftless Area by Tom Drury.

A short novel of coincidence, ennui, and mystery following an
existential hero through his travails.  Drury's irony is wry and dry.

Once Upon a Day by Lisa Tucker.

Now I see what everyone at Watermark is talking about: this is a
very good novel.

You're Not You by Michelle Wildgen.

A first novel about a young, somewhat bored woman college student who finds a deep, broadening experience with an older woman suffering from early-onset ALS.  Wildgen's writing takes this book well beyond the usual first-try "coming-of-age" novel.

The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey.

This first novel won't be out until January, but may be worth the
wait.  Ever sense Eugene Izzi was found hanging dead from his Michigan Avenue office, Chicago has been without a writer about its blue collar, street-smart, crime world.  Sakey seems to be his successor, and his book launches with a pawnshop heist gone bad that sends one wannabe tough kid to Stateville for seven years and
scares his childhood partner straight into a condo in Lincoln Park.

Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey.

I didn't much like Carey's throwaway travelogue Wrong About
Japan, but this new novel is a nice bounceback.

Cripple Creek by James Sallis.

Although Sallis ended his excellent Lew Griffin detective series a
few years ago, his new character Turner is back in the second of a series about this deputy sheriff hiding and working in a small town outside Memphis: Read review

Not Enough Indians by Harry Shearer.

Due for publication in October, this is a pretty funny novel about saving a small upstate New York town after all the jobs go to Malaysia, Mexico, and all those other places. This is his first novel, but Shearer is an SNL guy who does several voices on the Simpsons.

 

May 2006

 

Visigoth by Gary Amdahl.

This first collection of stories won the Milkweed national fiction prize, and Amdahl's ambition comes to us warts and all to probe the mostly
masculine world of sports, bars, violence, and inarticulate conversations. I look forward to his first novel, which is apparently underway.

An Imperfect Lens by Anne Roiphe.

Always intellectually challenging but never out of reach for us
readers willing to persist, Roiphe's new novel considers the loves and
challenges of medical researchers in late 19th-century Alexandria, Egypt.

No Good Deeds by Laura Lippman.

Lippman has been working the streets of Baltimore through private
detective Tess Monaghan for several years, but I haven't read any of her books until now. Having recently met Lippman at a lunch, I figure reading her is the least I can do. After starting slowly with some domestic relationship cliches, she hits her stride with the introduction of the street kid who intrudes on her calm domestic life.

The Big Bamboo by Tim Dorsey.

Serge Storms and his doobie-smoking sidekick Coleman are back again for another romp through the insanity of all things Florida - this time
with a balance of Hollywood's own brand of insanity. Dorsey is actually not as nuts as his books, but his books are truly over-the-top.

Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley.

While this newest Mosley (and it is NOT in the Easy Rawlins series) gets off to a somewhat predictable, parable-like start, Mosley has such an eye and ear for the intersections of culture and status that the novel becomes a fine, rich story of individuals finding their own ways but also learning their needs for others.

Smoked by Patrick Quinlan.

Leaving behind Estleman's Nicotine Kiss, I am continuing my tobacco journey with Patrick Quinlan's first novel Smoked. The hero, "Smoke"
Duggan (I don't know why this is the first mystery character I have encountered named "Smoke" - what a great appellation), is a bomb-maker lying low in Portland, Maine when his life gets complicated.  Quinlan is off to a good start with this interesting character.

The Unsettling by Peter Rock.

These short stories by novelist Rock are not bad but not quite good either. Perhaps his novels work better where he has time to develop
characters more.

Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead.

Whitehead is unafraid to reach for something new and slightly off the path in his fiction, and this new novel seems to be no exception. He is always worth the reading.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

Pollan is one of those non-fiction writers who can make one forget one isn't reading fiction. Whether he's building his own little house, discoursing on marijuana and tulips, or hunting and gathering his own meals (as he does in this book), Pollan makes our world refreshingly fresh. Who would have thought corn silk could be so interesting?

Some Fun by Antonya Nelson.

Nelson has very successfully staked out her spot in the literary world with poignant stories about families and relationships. This latest collection may be her best yet.

 

April 2006

 

 

As Long as It's Big by John Bricuth.

This is THE poetry book of the year - a wise, funny narrative set in a divorce judge's chambers. Formal rhythm and well-laced internal rhyme lace through this remarkable work.

Annotations by John Keene.

This not-quite-fiction, not-quite-poetry reflection on growing up African-American in St. Louis was published in the mid-90's and almost seems dated. Still, the compressed language and focused imagery range wide over issues of race, sexuality, jazz, and social class. Keene is going to write something even more significant one of these days - he's got the stuff.

The Nicotine Kiss by Loren Estleman.

Oh boy...a new Amos Walker working the streets and neighborhoods
of the worst city in the U.S.A.

Queen of the Underworld by Gail Godwin.

Godwin has written some stunning novels (e.g. Evenings at Five and Evensong), but this is not one. It is the story of a young woman fresh out of college working at the Miami Star in 1959 when Castro and the influx of Cuban refugees were the news of the day. Unfortunately, this character is so full of herself and her writing fantasies that the interesting parts about Cuban culture don't have much substance.

The Prop by Pete Hautman.

This paperback original novel by the witty Hautman is all about poker and some of the secrets of winning the game. The poker craze may be
diminishing, but Hautman rejuvenates it in this mystery of an inside swindle at a Tucson casino. The lead character is named "peeky" and that should give you a flavor of how Hautman likes to play with the language of the game.

Who Moved My Blackberry by Lucy Kellaway.

Nobody can trash corporate jargon like Kellaway, and this, her first novel, works it to death. She is funny, but corporate-speak in the real
world in real time is even funnier.

Letter to a young mathematician by Ian Stewart.

I have always had an affinity for math and enjoyed how it often illustrates how things work and logically connect. Stewart's new book in the form of brief letters to a student touch on nearly all aspects of math from careers (boring?) to puzzles. I'm going to try it out on my somewhat math-inclined 17-year-old and see what he says.

Music from Big Pink by John Niven.

This short novella based on the history of The Band and their groundbreaking album Music from Big Pink is a must for anyone who was around back then when this diverse back-up band to Dylan launched their brilliant sound... anyone... like me, for instance. It's a gas.

The Amalgamation Polka by Stephen Wright.

Wright's latest novel comes with a Chip Kidd cover and a Marion Ettlinger author photo - and he deserves both of these A-List treatments. Very few fiction writers today have Wright's facility with language and his broad imagination. Even in this loose "historical" novel of the Civil War, the events can only have come from within Wright's fertile head.

 

March 2006

 

 

Intuition by Allegra Goodman.

I liked Goodman's Family Markowitz the best of  her four books published to date, but I'm enjoying this new one even more as it ventures further into the "real world" than her others, which are more focused on a "neighborhood" of characters.

Modigliani: A Life by Jeffrey Meyers.

"Modi" was in the thick of the art world in Paris in the early 20th century. We all know of his "long-necked" portraits and his short,
dissipated (but exuberant) life. Meyers's succinct book about a short life helps fill in the blanks about what we may not know of Modigliani.

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout.

With the same gentle storytelling of her first novel Amy and Isabelle, Strout tells another New England tale of troubled souls with equal
skill as that in her well-received first novel.

Scooter by Mick Foley.

This baseball novel by a former fifteen-year veteran and pro-wrestling champion is chock-a-block with details about the Yankees and Mets
of those glorious 50's - 70's. It is also about three generations of men whose lives stay connected with the glue of baseball. There is more "coming of age" in this book than I usually like, but what an age of baseball it was - including the "hero's" namesake Scooter Rizzuto.

The Doctor's Daughter by Hilma Wolitzer.

This strong novel tracks a woman who has lost her editorial job at a major book publisher, has a difficult marriage, nurtures a difficult son,
nurses a senile father with family secrets, and has a fling with a young
novelist. Set against a background of books and publishing, the novel is really about the tribulations of a woman caught in hard and confusing times.

Success Through Failure by Henry Petroski.

This is my favorite engineer/writer and his latest book (from a series of lectures) notes how improvements in design and function almost always come about through the failure of the original - which in its own time, was a great success.

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I had to see for myself what all the fuss is about, and now I do see:
this is great, funny, touching, and brave work. Gilbert grows with every book.

Hunter's Moon by Chuck Logan.

I have read all of Logan's "Minnesota noir" fiction, but somehow
missed this one - his first. Like in all his books, there is enough snow and ice to drive anyone to Arizona...but the plot and characters are rich.

Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta.

Her first novel, Lightning Field, was a great Los Angeles novel complete with sex, themed restaurants, and a cover picture of "woman with smoking cigarette." This new novel taps the Vietnam protest era where a woman goes underground only to surface again after a life of lies in the 90's. It, too, has a great picture on the cover - well done, Scribner's.

 

February 2006

 

 

The Good Life Jay McInerney.

No one seems to like McInerney any more; however, he embodies a
certain way of life that even though it is "so 80's," still begs to be
understood.

Best People in the World by Justin Tussing.

This first novel is getting much attention. Tussing, no young pup
in his mid-thirties, seems to be doing the usual freshman coming-of-age novel, but I think there's much more control and intent at work here than just a "my life so far" story.

Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty by Horace Silver.

This autobiography is rich in the anecdotal history of modern jazz from 1950 - 2000. Unlike many jazz giants, silver did not lead a life of excess and dissipation, so his memory is sharp and long. In addition, his kind of weird spiritualism (dowsing?) puts a particular skew to his insights. But he played with the best of them and they are all here.

Parallel Play by Stephen Burt.

My poetry book of the month, but a bit uneven and disappointing
and not as good as his first collection Popular Music.

The Courtier and the Heretic by Matthew Stewart.

An interesting study/biography/meditation about the lives and thoughts of Spinoza and Leibniz.

A Family Daughter by Maile Meloy.

This follow-up to Meloy's well done first novel Liars and saints returns us to the weird but fascinating Santerre family. It may be even better
than the Liars.

Letters to Jane by Hayden Carruth.

"The best sections are when he gets out of the house and finds new
things to complain about. 'Here I am on my balcony with a finger or two of cognac, a cigar, and a laptop computer, wearing my black jeans and my Reeboks. God, it's awful.' Now in his eighties, Carruth has become one of our foremost masters of perceiving the minute details of our quotidian lives. Even at his grumpiest, there's genuine wisdom here. 'My New Year's resolution is to write something for myself every day, or at least every day when I don't have a hangover.' Every poet, young or old, would do well to follow suit. And the rest of us may just be tempted to switch off our e-mail programs sometime soon and
pick up pen and paper instead." — The Washington Post

Speak of the Devil by Richard Hawke.

Welcome Fritz Malone to the world of witty and relentless NYC private investigators. Hawke's first outing here is fast and fun.

Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley.

In tough times it is sometimes good to take it easy. Mosley's Easy Rawlins is always engaging; and in this latest adventure, he wanders amused through the 60's hippieland reminding us that even in the open arms of the antiestablishmentarians, people of color were still treated as people of color.

The People's Act of Love by James Meek.

This strong novel feels like Tolstoy or Solzhenitsyn, but in fact it is the work of a British journalist. Now here is where fiction seems way more powerful and real than non-fiction.

 

January 2006

 

The Western Limit of the World by David Masiel.

Blurbed by our friend Scott Phillips, this  follow-up to Masiel's
first novel 2182 kilohertz (which I liked) is another sea novel full of hard characters on the fringes of the civilized world.

Vagrant Grace by David Bottoms.

Ever since his "Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump," I have
been reading Bottoms and enjoying both his poetry and his fiction.  This is another solid collection of new poems.

House of Oracles by Huang Yong Ping.

This is the catalogue to Huang's current exhibit at the Walker in
Minneapolis. A displaced Chinese artist now living in Paris, Huang is on the cutting edge of the challenges of immigration, globalization, and colonialism.

Caravaggio by Francine Prose.

Jonathan Harr's book (The Lost Painting) about Caravaggio is
more interesting and even more enlightening than this piece of biography/criticism.

Utterly Monkey by Nick Laird.

This is a young British chap in the City of London gets entangled with
an old classmate from Northern Ireland novel. While entertaining, it's not a whole lot more than that.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster.

This is relatively light fare from Brooklyn's most famous writer,
but it is warm and friendly, with a plethora of quirky locals and anecdotes.

The Turning by Tim Winton.

A new collection of stories from this well-regarded Australian
writer.

A Primitive Heart by David Rabe.

This collection of stories by Rabe, a  playwright most famous for
his four "Vietnam plays," is dark but compelling. The characters, mostly men, have all lost their way. There is surprisingly little dialogue, the heart of theater, but instead, great descriptive language and internal observations.

Little Star of Bela Lua by Luana Monteiro.

A first collection of stories set in Brazil.

 

December 2005
 

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.

Set in McCarthy's typical "desolation row" landscape, this newnovel is much more accessible than his earlier work. The straight-ahead narrative has the feel of a great modern western flick. "Brokeback Mountain" watch out.

Illicit by Moises Naim.

This as-yet unrecognized gem gives a disquieting but more realistic view of "globalization" than Thomas Friedman's bestseller The World is Flat.

Natural History by Dan Chiasson.

A little poetry is good for you, and Chiasson's new collection is
pretty good.

The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr.

Sarah turned us all on to this book, and it is worth it.
Caravaggio makes today's bad boys of art look like wimps.

Slanky by Mike Doughty.

This 2002 book of poetry by the former front man of Soul Coughing is an odd bit of rock sidebar.  Doughty's new CD Haughty Melodic is
as good as Soul Coughing's best, but his poetry is better sung in his unique way than on the page.

Dying Light by Donald Hays.

Hays's Dixie Association was very good. This collection of
stories is more mature and maybe even better.

Where 3 Roads Meet by John Barth.

A short Barth book is always worth a look as this cult favorite
(largely unread) is often given to long, complicated work. Perhaps this novella is more accessible - stay tuned.

A Blind Eye by G. M. Ford.

This is the third in a series featuring true crime writer Frank
Corso and his associate, friend, lover Meg Dougherty - a photojournalist with full-body tattoos. Unfortunately, it doesn't measure up to the first two but is still a worthwhile way to avoid the latest episode of C.S.I.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.

This seems to be the book of the year (and soon to be a play by
Didion also), and I finally gave it a go. Didion is smart, and this book comprises the meditations of a rather faithless intellectual dealing with personal loss. I like Didion but am a bit disappointed in this book; the magazine interviews, articles, and excerpts pretty much said it all.

 

November 2005

 

Melville: His World and Work by Andrew Delbanco.

Melville's Moby-Dick is always mentioned as one of the pillars of
American literature, but Melville himself was perhaps more interesting.
Delbanco's book is a fresh (to me) look at this complex writer.

The Diviners by Rick Moody.

An odd title, an odd cover, an odd start (ten pages of sunrise
around the world moving west from L.A.) and you know you are in smart aleck Moody country: Read review

Local Knowledge by B. H. Fairchild.

This is a re-issue of Fairchild's 1991 poetry collection of the
same name. After his award-winning, excellent Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower Midwest, these earlier poems by this native of Liberal, Kanas, are a bit disappointing.

The King of Kings County by Whitney Terrell.

A somewhat over-long novel of the real estate business in Kansas
City as the interstate highway system made rich people of the developers of Johnson County, this second novel by Terrell is not as sharp as his earlier The Huntsman;  nonetheless, it is entertaining for those who know Kansas City and its history.

The Downtown Book, edited by Marvin J. Taylor.

The punk decade (1974-1984) of New York art was all about not-art. This book is a useful summary of what was happening and where; it is a companion to the downtown art exhibit at N.Y.U.'s Grey Gallery. Some of these artists actually made it.

Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger.

This is the second novel by the somewhat "cult" author of The Contortionist's Handbook. Like the protagonist who is without memory, a chemist genius, and totally drugged out with his hot street drug "skin", Clevenger writes without much regard for Strunk and White's Elements of Style and yet has moments of brilliance.  He is a writer to watch, and this book leaves that lingering memory hook of good writing.

School Days by Robert Parker.

Parker keeps writing 'em, and I keep reading 'em. Always clever,
always witty, always pretty much the same, Spenser cracks another hard case.

Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

A short little piece (but not the "masterpiece" that some claim)
about a nonagenarian journalist who finds love at last in a chaste relationship with a fourteen year old virgin.

Gone to New York by Ian Frazier.

This Ohio native who gave us The Great Plains is, as we all
know, really a New Yorker, and this collection of pieces for the New Yorker and other magazines proves it nicely.

Out of Season by Robert Bausch.

Bausch is a modestly-known novelist presently teaching at Northern
Virginia Community College (of all places), but he writes some of the finest fiction of family and place currently being published. This new novel is another excellent book.

My Detachment by Tracy Kidder.

Kidder has written remarkably interesting and moving books about
personalities and social projects throughout the world. Alas, this short memoir of his rather uneventful six years at Harvard and in Vietnam is neither interesting nor moving. I hope he's got this personal cross off his back, so he can now write again about someone else.

Mission to America by Walter Kirn.

It is too easy to satirize pseudo-religious sects plying their
evangelical trade in the wasteland of America, but Kirn gives it a whirl
anyhow... with predictable results. Occasionally funny, this book hits the mark, but the target is too large for that achievement to matter much.

Defining the World by Henry Hitchings.

While we didn't particularly need yet another book about dr.
Jonson and his dictionary, this short study focuses on the actual process of writing a dictionary, especially when the ones around in English were pretty pathetic... and of course, Jonson is such a quotable, interesting guy that more is always good.

 

October 2005

God Lives in St. Petersburg by Tom Bissell.

Bissell is a "friend of Dave's" (Dave being the staggering genius David
Eggers). as such, he is in the McSweeney's circle and so has hip hanging all over him. But despite this handicap, he writes well in these hard stories about lives abroad that don't go so well. I look forward to a novel.

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

More good and evil, more decadence, more fascinating lives
intermingling in a community from John Berendt.

Drive by James Sallis.

This tight little noir piece showcases the many talents of James
Sallis, one of our little-known but most versatile men of letters and music. Sallis can pretty much do it all, but it seems only the cognoscenti know of him.

The Summer He Didn't Die by Jim Harrison.

Harrison has mastered the novella, and the three new ones in this
collection show the breadth of his skills in both character and setting.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Great book! Smith has it all.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

No Bosch in this one, but Los Angeles is still here, and Connelly
can sure tell a tale.

Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams by Paul Hemphill.

I have liked all of Hemphill's books (especially his minor league baseball novel Long Gone) and this short biography of poor old Hank is great. The boy could sure write and sing some songs, but living was something he could never get the hang of. 

Physical by James McManus. 

Coming in late December, this new book by the author of Positively Fifth Street is funny and telling for those baby boomers starting to worry that their bodies are falling apart.

Decreation by Anne Carson.

Carson is everyone's favorite academic intellectual these days, and I have appreciated some of her previous work; however, this one mostly lost me. 

The Sugar Mile by Glyn Maxwell. 

In the tradition of E. A. Robinson, this collection of linked narrative poems juxtaposes London during the blitz and New York as 9/11 unfolds. It only partly works for me.

An Atomic Romance: a novel by Bobbie Ann Mason. 

Worth the read, but not Mason's best by any means.

Slow Man by J. M. Coetzee. 

This is another short but thoughtful new novel by Coetzee. Although he somewhat awkwardly drops a character from a former novel into the middle of this one, Coetzee ultimately pulls off this tour de force.

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel. 

This first novel by the latest Easton Ellis, McInerney, et al. wunderkind is clever in a sort of post-slacker way. Dwight, our "hero," can't make up his mind; but relax, a new drug is on its way. He takes it, goes from New York to Ecuador, finds a girl, overcomes his fixation on his sister and divorced parents and Chambers St. roommates, and finally... is still sort of undecided. I can't make up my mind if I like it or not.

 

September 2005

 

The English Teacher by Lily King.

I missed King's first novel but was drawn to this one to see where the title would take her. We've all have had one of those English teachers who opens our minds to literature, and King's protagonist is such a teacher.  But it is the writing and the portrayal of the teacher's 16-year-old son that make this novel so successful. As one reviewer suggested, it should have been called The English Teacher's Son.

A Necessary Spectacle by Selena Roberts.

As Sarah's review notes, this well-written book is as much about the women's movement in the 1960's (particularly in sports) as about the famous Riggs vs. King tennis match. 

The Third Brother, a novel by Nick McDonell.

A follow-up to his hit first novel Twelve, this new novel continues the saga of young people on the make for something to give life meaning.  From what i know of McDonell's life, this is very much based on what he knows and so somewhat limited, but it moves fast and is interesting here and there.

Denison, Iowa by Dale Maharidge.

This is the story of the post 9/11, small-town Midwest writen by a
bi-coastal journalism professor. Denison, Iowa, survives (it seems just barely) because of a growing immigrant population at the packing plant and a Wal-mart to supply everyone's daily needs. I couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh.

More firsthand Grateful Dead stuff. I love it. What a lucky thing to have lived through such a remarkable experience. Phish, eat your hearts out!

Out of Range by C. J. Box.

If you might like "game warden noir," this well-done series about
Wyoming warden Joe Pickett and his troubled marriage is excellent.
 

August 2005

 

Until I Find You by John Irving.

It is John Irving, after all, and I have one last sit-around-at-the-lake week of vacation before the kids' school starts and the usual hell begins; so I'll give this one a go: Read review

What to Keep by Rachel Cline.

A first novel - although it's been sitting on my to-read shelf since 2004 and may soon be in paperback - that is exciting in the writing and in character. Cline is a screenwriter and knows how to set a scene, work the dialogue, and move things along; but this is also not "just" a movie... there is meat here too.

Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett

Not as good as Bangkok 8, Burdett's first in his interesting "detective" series based on Thai culture and Buddhism, but still kind of unique in the genre.

Raymond + Hannah by Stephen Marche: Read review

 

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby.

Even when Hornby is not at his best (which seems to be the case
here,) he is a fun talent to read.

Foreign Babes in Beijing by Rachel Dewoskin.

A useful and entertaining memoir of experiencing the rapid changes
in China through a CCTV soap opera.

Incendiary by Chris Cleave

This first novel, whose release was marred by the bombings in
London, unfolds in the form of a letter to Osama bin Laden from a London woman whose husband and son were killed in a terrorist bombing in a packed soccer stadium. The voice of this woman and her take on this sorry situation are very well done. This is a better book than the sensationalism of its "timeliness" has pigeon-holed it.

The Tender Bar by J . R. Moehringer.

This highly touted memoir - not yet released to stores - is journalist Moehringer's first book. It's not bad, in a Frank McCourt, hard-life-growing-up sort of way, but I find the book a little long and in need of editing... and somehow it is too much about Moehringer and not enough about the cool guys at his neighborhood Long Island bar.

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler.  

I like Eisler's John Rain books mostly because of the Asian locale and Zen musings. This latest one, however, is not quite up to the quality of the first three. My advice to Eisler: send Rain back to Tokyo, and get him back to subtle killing, not the shoot-em-ups of this latest book.

The Good Wife by Stewart O'Nan.

Sarah's recommendation put this one in my hands; O'Nan's deceptively simple language kept it there. 

Tantalus in Love by Alan Shapiro.

I saw some good reviews of this poet, who I had never read before. This collection, his newest, is about love, both lost and found. The title poem is especially strong, with some jarring dialogue within a formalist sort of structure and subject.

 

July 2005

 

Homefront by Chuck Logan.

Logan's protagonists, ex-cop Phil Broker and his Delta Force wife Nina Pryce, are holed up in northwest Minnesota riding out the psychological aftermath of their last caper when his daughter Kit punches out a third-grade bully whose parents put the local criminal sleazebags after them. Logan does the emptiness of Minnesota better than Harrison does the upper peninsula.

The Standoff by Chuck Hogan. 

I very much liked Hogan's third novel, The Prince of Thieves, so I went back to read this, his first, published in 1995 when he was just 26. It is very well done and proves Hogan is no fluke.

Blood of Angels by Reed Arvin. 

Not bad, and entertaining, but others have scrutinized the death penalty with more moral ambiguity (e.g. Scott Turow.)

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman. 

I like Hoffman, and Sarah recommends this, her newest novel... what more reason is needed?

Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk. 

A rather typical memoir of growing up in the 50's, only different because it is as much about the city of Istanbul, the Bosphorus, and the melancholy of place and family than about Pamuk himself. The black and white pictures add a helpful perspective.

Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo.

A long, but rewarding, novel of the character, ideology, naïveté, and despair of those involved in saving (or exploiting) the people of the Sudan and the surrounding "darkest Africa": Read review 

The Determined Days by Philip Stephens.

A fine poetry collection from a young Kansas City poet.

 

The Only Sustainable Edge by John Hagel III and John Seely Brown.

I don't often read business books (usually they are just long magazine articles), but this one seems to grasp better than most the complexity
and integration of today's economic dynamics.

No Smoking by Luc Sante.

A wonderful picture book of smokers with an essay by Sante, an
excerpt of which goes: "It's terribly sad that you can't enjoy a smoke now without tumbling into the whirlpool of perdition... you have breathed fire. You have experienced one of the deepest satisfactions of life: the first cigarette of the day in tandem with the first cup of coffee. You have felt that knee-trembling rush upon taking the first drag after suffering an enforced separation from cigarettes... is it possible that you will never again be able to enjoy the comfort of knowing that you have traded five minutes of life for five minutes of serenity? We may have all stopped smoking, but we continue to
burn."

The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger.

Recommended to me by Watermark reviewer Mark Bradshaw, this is a fine first novel.

Trial by Fire by D. W. Buffa.

Criminal defense attorney Joseph Antonelli is back in Buffa's latest, in which Antonelli'sV client is virtually tried and convicted by the media
before he even gets in the courtroom. Buffa writes the best legal "thrillers" going, and his reflections on the nature of the law add a nice element of caution for those of us who seem to want "suspects" of horrible crimes, e.g. BTK, to be proven guilty in the press.

 

June 2005

The Heartbreak Lounge by Wallace Stroby.

Excellent south-central Jersey noir. Tough situations, nasty
criminals, and a good-hearted, but confused ex-cop.

Little Black Dress by Loren Estleman.

One can't miss with Estleman. After thirty-some books, he is still
good. This one is the sixth about the hit man Peter Macklin. Even "retired" with a new bride in Ohio, his past intrudes, and Macklin must again pack up his assassin's toolkit and go back to "work."

The Honey Wall by Karen Latuchie.

A well-done first novel about love, sacrifice, and following
one's passions.

Follies by Ann Beattie.

Beattie is getting older, and these stories have the ring of a more mature sensibility than some of her earlier work, but the humor and empathy are still here. A nice collection.

The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow.

Winslow wrote a couple of nice, tight California novels to get
started in the trade. This long one is ambitious and traverses thirty years in the drug wars. From California to Hell's Kitchen to Mexico, Winslow gets it all in here. This may be the definitive Anglo narcocorrida: Read a full review

 

May 2005

Rules for Old Men Waiting by Peter Pouncey.

A well-wrought first novel by a "senior" with a life in academia about an octogenarian academic recently widowed and trying to find a pattern by which to live the rest of his life fruitfully. A fine book. Read full review

Drive Like Hell by Dallas Hudgens.

A first novel in the redneck coming-of-age genre, but better than
most; this is not just funny, but also insightful.

Drama City by George Pelecanos.

Nobody today does Washington D.C. like Pelecanos, and really, no one
can touch his feel for the language and stress of the streets.

The Breaking Point by Stephen Koch.

The friendship of Hemingway and Dos Passos in Spain: they had a
falling out, and their lives talk very different paths. Hemingway become a sort of literary god and Dos Passos (arguably a better writer) got lost: Read full review

Honey and Junk by Dana Goodyear.

A first book of poems by a young New Yorker editor with a nice balance between the lyrical and the cynical, e.g., "Is everything defective here? / There are men downstairs who think / that gin's a breakfast drink."

The Insistence of Beauty by Stephen Dunn: Read review

Good poet. Good poetry. Nice cover.

All the Flowers are Dying by Lawrence Block.

Block returns to perhaps his best character, Matt Scudder, to take a case that begins as a favor to one of his Twelve Step acquaintances and turns into a reflection on serial killers and the death penalty. This is one of the best of the Scudders and quite timely in this time of BTK hysteria: Read full review

Suzy Zeus Gets Organized by Maggie Robbins.

Sort of "Sex in the City" told in rhyming couplets... somewhat clever, but also somewhat tiring.

Someplace Like This by Renee Ashley.

Poet Ashley considers the depths of a middle-aged woman's ambivalence towards her marriage and, indeed, her life. This is a novel of plain-spoken observation, some tragedy, and lyrical reflection.

Saturday by Ian McEwan: Read review

 

Last Night by James Salter.

Salter is one of my all time favorites. This is a short new book of short stories; Salter doesn't waste words in getting to the "heart" of
things: Read full review

Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger

The best baseball book of this year (perhaps the best in many
years). Unlike Moneyball, this is really about baseball, not money.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.

 

Like a Rolling Stone by Greil Marcus.

In just one song, Marcus tries to capture all that is the myth and
the reality of our greatest modern songwriter... he almost succeeds.

 

April 2005

 

Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller.

 

Hard Hard City by Jim Fusilli.