Category Archives: Book and film reviews

I’ve been doing a lot of light reading since the massively disappointing The Goldfinch.  Here are the short assessments. The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman.  I had heard of these graphic novels for years, but didn’t like Gaiman much so never … Continue reading →

Chibundu Onuzo is a young university student in London.  I am not going to say she is the Francoise Sagan or the Amadou Koné of Nigeria… but the novel The Spider King’s Daughter is an interesting young adult book with … Continue reading →

Before I went off to Puerto Rico for a too-short winter vacation, I randomly grabbed a couple of African novels at in my university library.  As usual my criteria was shorter novels.  No point investing a lot of time… so … Continue reading →

I do not normally link to the Amazon page for buying books, but I do think it worth promoting Boxers and Saints (not just because Gene and I shared a panel, and coffee, last year at a conference).  it is … Continue reading →

This book has gotten a tremendous amount of good word of mouth, and after reading it I can see why.  It is a contemporary sprawling family saga, with a little bit of magical realism sprinkled in.  Full of nostalgia, melancholy, … Continue reading →

Wow… Lynda Barry, one of my favorite cartoonists when I was a young adult, like totally agrees with me.  It’s like I’m in Duplex right now, reading this, because Lynda Barry could be standing inside me. When I finished “Duplex” … Continue reading →

Decidedly 1% upper-crust, this graphic novel of life growing up in Beirut during the 1980s civil war is nevertheless quite moving and is beautifully designed, graphically speaking, though a little repetitious.  If graphic novels like this were cheap, I would … Continue reading →

A very long story by Brodkey, “State of Grace” that I listened to while on a long run.  Interesting and precocious.  I am sure it is a fine story to teach in undergraduate classes.  Almost the same key as Catcher … Continue reading →

Another story to add to “literature about poverty.”  I found it pretty powerful, but I knew what the story was about by the third paragraph.  So it reinforces a sense of injustice and outrage at the petty abuse of authority … Continue reading →

Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress, The New Yorker, December 2011.  Just one word: Fun.  Here’s the review of the story at Mookse.  And here is excerpt from good review by Reader’s Quest: … I think that a possible key can be found … Continue reading →

I read/skimmed Kim Stanley Robinson’s Pacific Edge, one of the “Three Californias” trilogy.  I don’t know if these were written before or after Red Mars, his most famous book, but Pacific Edge deals with a favorite theme, nature and human’s … Continue reading →

Tessa Hadley’s “Experience” is an entertainment, and I enjoyed it. Recently divorced Laura takes “friend of a friend” Hanna up on her offer to house-sit. Laura tells herself “that this house was a good place for me, temporarily: this nowhere … Continue reading →