Tonight the Publishing Triangle Awards will be announced in New York City. Let me say in advance: congratulations to the winners. And also to all the nominees. This year there was a bit of controversy as Band of Thebes’ Stephen
Colm Toibin’s The Empty Family is Great. Read More »
Classic is not a word that generally should be used about contemporary fiction. It’s probably best not to use the word until at least fifty years after publication–when the critical reception has at last been settled. Nevertheless, Alan Bennett’s new
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Edmund White’s new novel, Jack Holmes and his Friend tells the stories of two men–one straight and one gay–in the nineteen sixties and seventies. It isn’t surprising that Mr. White brilliantly describes the story of Jack Holmes–the gay character. (He
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What is it about time travel that is so attractive to us? Is it nostalgia? Or is it the existential desire to free ourselves from time–the one element that defines our life experience as finite? For Bob Smith, author of
Bob Smith’s Remembrance of Things I Forgot is Superb. Read More »
One of the few bright spots in the book world–aside from cookbooks–is youth fiction. Youth fiction–or YAF–hasn’t always gotten the respect that it deserves. But the publishing world’s attitude has changed significantly with the phenomenal success of the Stephenie Meyer
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After twenty-one years, Armistead Maupin has finally released another Tales of the City book. The result is more literary, more serious and–for me–more emotionally moving than any of Mr. Maupin’s previous books.
Mr. Maupin answers my first question early on:
Armistead Maupin’s New Tales of the City Book is His Best Yet. Read More »
I love Stephen McCauley’s new novel, Insignificant Others. It is frequently humorous and for this reason, some are referring to it as a “comic novel.” But this term does not do justice to this book. Because it implies a surface
Stephen McCauley’s Insignificant Others is Delightful. Read More »
As you probably have read by now, Sebastian Stuart’s The Hour Between won the Publishing Triangle Award for Fiction. The best thing about this news for me was that I discovered a book that I had somehow missed when it
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I’m delighted to report that David McConnell’s new novel The Silver Hearted is excellent. The Silver Hearted is a suspenseful adventure story that is clearly influenced by Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad and Edgar Alan Poe. This unfortunately implies a
David McConnell’s The Silver Hearted is Excellent. Read More »
If you haven’t read it yet, now is the time to read Armistead Maupin’s latest novel, Michael Tolliver Lives. It is arguably Mr. Maupin’s best novel and it is now available in paperback.
It’s okay to get excited about