Muriel Spark: The Public Image

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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

Lionel Shriver: “Kilifi Creek”

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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

Toi Derricotte: “Weekend Guests from Chicago, 1945”

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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

2013 Giller Prize Winner

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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

2013 Shadow Giller Winner

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If you go on over to KevinfromCanada’s blog, you’ll see what we picked as this year’s Shadow Giller winner. We actually have two winners, because our winner is not on the Real Jury’s shortlist (what were they thinking?!). Of the two winners, I have got around to reviewing neither, but I hope to fix that … Read more

Chinelo Okparanta: “Benji”

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Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Chinelo Okparanta’s “Benji” was originally published in the November 11, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Update: When the following post was written, neither Chinelo Okparanta nor The New Yorker had acknowledged any relationship … Read more

Episode 10: Jeremias Gotthelf’s The Black Spider

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The-Black-SpiderNYRB Classics published their edition of The Black Spider in October of 2013, and it is the book we’ll be talking about in Episode 10 of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast.

Vainglorious people, doomed children, a black spider — the green man is coming, and through the ages enough people have made pacts with him that we are all in his debt. So clean your homes, folks, and your souls. We are about to learn our lesson from Jeremias Gotthelf’s 1843 novella The Black Spider.

In Episode 11 we will be talking about J.L. Carr’s A Month in the Country. Please send us your thoughts and we’ll share them on the show.