Trevor Berrett I believe many of you have noticed that over the past week my site has been hit and miss. I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate that many of you have contacted me about your problems, expressing encouragement rather than ire. As I’ve suspected all along, the problem is my host and not my site. … Read more
Click here to read the story in its entirety on The New Yorker webpage. Romesh Gunesekera’s “Roadkill” was originally published in the December 2, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Betsy Romesh Gunesekera, in both his story, “Roadkill,” and in his interview with Deborah Treisman, speaks of the effects of a long war, and of the … Read more
Last night, the National Book Award winners were announced: Fiction: The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride Nonfiction: The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, by George Packer Poetry: Incarnadine, by Mary Szybist Young People’s Literature: The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia Kadohata Essentially, I know nothing about these titles. Any favorites?
Muriel Spark is in my Pantheon, my list of favorite authors (which you can see here). One of these days, I’ll have read all of her books — that’s my goal at least. I love her slick observations. She’s the very definition of “biting wit.” Her stories are usually just a bit off kilter, and thus all … Read more
Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Lionel Shriver’s “Kilifi Creek” was originally published in the November 25, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Betsy “Kilifi Creek,” by Lionel Shriver, is something of a dead-pan thriller, and I liked it very … Read more
Trevor is joining The Eclipse Viewer podcast and its host David Blakeslee! Read the full post to find out about the podcast and for a link to my introductory episode.
Click here to read the story in its entirety on The New Yorker webpage. Jeffrey Eugenides’s “Find the Bad Guy” was originally published in the November 18, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Trevor I consider myself a big fan of Jeffrey Eugenides, though most of that is on the strength of his first novel The … Read more
Toi Derricotte’s “Weekend Guests from Chicago, 1945” was first published in the November 4, 2013 issue of The New Yorker and is available here for subscribers. Betsy “Weekend Guests from Chicago, 1945,” by Toi Derricotte, explores memory, beauty, women’s physicality, and coming of age. It also is a lovely mix of elegy, admiration, and affection. Derricotte’s … Read more
Trevor reviews Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film, Wild Strawberries, a film that keeps him up at nights.
Tonight they announced that this year’s winner of the Giller Prize is: Hellgoing, by Lynn Coady I reviewed it here. As I said in that review, I didn’t really like this short story collection. I much preferred her novel The Antagonist, which was a finalist for the Giller Prize in 2011 (and which I reviewed … Read more