Thomas McGuane: “The Driver”
This week’s New Yorker story is Thomas McGuane’s “The Driver.” Read the full post.
Trevor Berrett
Alice Munro: “Spelling”
Trevor and Betsy return to West Hanratty and to Flo in Alice Munro’s “Spelling,” the penultimate story in The Beggar Maid.
2015 National Book Award Longlists
The longlists for the National Book Award — in Fiction, in Nonfiction, in Poetry, and in Young People’s Literature — have all been announced. Read the full post.
The 2015 Man Booker Prize Shortlist
This morning, the shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize was revealed. Read the full post.
Krzysztof Kieslowski: Blind Chance
In 1981 Krzysztof Kieslowski created one of his first films about how chance, rather than choice, directs our lives: Blind Chance. The film was finished just before Poland declared marshal law, and the film was ultimately shelved until 1987, when it came out in a censored version. Today, The Criterion Collection is releasing the uncensored version on Blu-ray and DVD. Trevor takes a look at the film and the Criterion release itself. Read the full post.
CriterionCast Episode 163: Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive
Once again, I had the great pleasure of joining in on a conversation with The CriterionCast, this time to discuss Victor Erice’s film about a child’s first inklings of life and death in the first years of Franco’s regime, The Spirit of the Beehive. Read the full post and find a link to the podcast.
Amos Oz: “My Curls Have Blown All the Way to China”
This week’s New Yorker story is Amos Oz’s “My Curls Have Blown All the Way to China,” translated from the Hebrew by Maggie Goldberg Bar-Tura. This is a nice prelude to Nobel season since Oz is in the conversation each year when folks are speculating about the new laureate. Read the full post.
Alice Munro: “Simon’s Luck”
Trevor and Betsy continue their exploration of the complete works of Alice Munro with “Simon’s Luck” from The Beggar Maid.
Leonard Gardner: Fat City
Today, NYRB Classics is publishing their edition of Leonard Gardner’s only novel, 1969’s Fat City. Read the full post.