I'm liking Ron Charles more and more and more, and
this video review of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom makes just makes me giddy.
Over at Critical Mass, the blog for the NBCC, Wyatt Mason
writes about Roth's "tenth, short, and perfect novel, The Ghost Writer." I agree with Mason; this is one great novel, and a great place to start if you're looking to get to know Roth. Here is
my review. It wasn't my first Roth, but it is the book that made him one of my favorite writers of all time (if not my favorite).
This promises to get interesting. Anis Shivani of
The Huffington Post has posted his list of the
fifteen most overrated contemporary American authors. As usual, he makes some great points. Often when I see these, though, I think, "Okay, so they are bad. Now, tell me who is good -- and why the difference." Shivani promises to follow-up with the most
underrated contemporary American writers. Followed with similar lists for American writers of the past century, and going further to include lists for the global writers.
Patricia Zohn interviews Jennifer Egan at
The Huffington Post. I still think
A Visit from the Goon Squad is one of the best books of the year.
New York Magazine has a nice
look at independent bookstores in the City, which are rising "against all odds."
At Reading Matters, Kim has featured my blog on her
Triple Choice Tuesday. My choices?
The Ghost Writer,
So Long, See You Tomorrow, and
Butcher's Crossing. Pop on over and see my fresh, brief write-up of each title.
For Independence Day, the Huffington Post has a slide show of
fifteen great independent publishers, featuring a few of my favorites --
Open Letter,
Archipelago -- and a few I didn't know about.
New Directions is a model of perfection, and I agree. I have stacks and stacks of books from these three presses, and I'm anxious to see what the others have to offer.
Michiko Kakutani's
review of Jacob de Zoet is surprising in its lack of substance. It's mostly just a plot rehash (which I think gives away a bit too much). It's boring to read and insightless, where I usually enjoy her reviews even if I disagree (as I do here). I'm not saying my reviews are better, surely, but this is pretty poor for
The New York Times daily and from a Pulitzer-winning critic.
In the new issue of
The New Yorker, James Wood
takes a look at The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: "This is to argue not that David Mitchell should be more like Tolstoy or Conrad or Beckett but, curiously, that he might be more Mitchellian—that the reader wants a kind of moral or metaphysical pressure that is absent, and that has ceded all the ground to pure storytelling."
The Paris Review blog has a
Q&A with Jennifer Egan, author of
The Goon Squad, a piece of which was published in
The New Yorker and discussed
here.
Click
here for the
Never Let Me Go trailer. I didn't like the book as much as I hoped I would, but the trailer makes the film look good.
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Click 
How cool!
I am glad that you can take a little time to go to listen to the talk.
And that Mrs. B. understands that you need to “go out” sometimes.
What a nice story! I wish I lived in a city that authors visited more frequently. What a perfect way to make a special book even more personal!
Mrs. B wouldn’t mind more opportunities to “go out.”
I have always been with you on Netherland and believe it would have been a worthy Booker winner. In the end I put it neck and neck with Sebastian Barry on the longlist.
I was lucky enough to see the 6 short-listed nominees speaking in London the day before the announcement. It is a great experience to see them in the flesh and listen to what they have to say. So I enjoyed this post very much and hope that you will continue to take advantage of the possibilities in New York and let us all know about the experience. Kate Grenville is in London next month – I am tempted to go along and get my copy of The Secret River signed.
I can’t help but thinking that more replies from sherryberrett would be welcome on this blog. She adds another dimension to a very good analysis.
Alright, alright. Let’s set the record straight ;) . Mrs. B and the boys came along for the ride. I held the baby, while she read a book. The older boy played with the Thomas the Tank Engine wooden train set they have set up in the Barnes & Noble. So all in all, a good night for everyone!
And, Kevin, it’s possible that that sherryberrett character could distort the picture!
And Andy and Steph, it was a wonderful opportunity that I hope to take advantage of again – with Mrs. B, again :).
Picture distortions are always welcome.
Kevin-
I’d love to distort (as Trevor did when he “set the record straight”), but Trevor is less accomodating and doesn’t want the blog to turn into a “domestic dispute.” So sorry to disappoint.
Hopes raised, hopes dashed.
Edith Wharton would whup Trevor’s you-know-what, given the chance. He should be lashed.
Oh, I am a ‘late’ reader for all sort of things. Most things, really, because I really didn’t read much but light fiction up until a few years ago.
A world has opened up.
I like that you mentioned pacing: I felt as if I were racing through the book, the words piling up, one after the other. Is this an effect of French to English, or authorial?
oops, that was suppose to go under the Madame Bovary post, obviously…
For those of you who’d like to listen to what I heard in Tribeca, here is the podcast from the New York Times. Not sure if it’ll be there, but if you listen closely you might be able to hear my son, the only baby in the group.