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Category Archives: books
On Neil Genzlinger's "The Problem With Memoirs," a Witty Look at Bogus Memoirs in NY Times, or a Book Review With Balls, plus a ShoutOut to Karen Russell's "Swamplandia!"
I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’m caught in a vortex of Academic Hell, coping with various problems brought on by our sickly economy, and here’s to hoping it will end soon: the bad economy, that is. Academic Hell … Continue reading
Posted in books, writing
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"My Father's Guns," an essay remembered in response to the Tucson Shooting
Tim Egan had another good piece in the NY Times about the Tucson shooting and the gun control debate, here: He mentions his family as gun owners and users. I have a similar history, though with more tragedy than I … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics, The West
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The Classic Library v. Kindle Disposability of eBooks
Over the holidays something struck me (as all wrong) about the rise of ebooks and “Kindle editions”: In Colorado I have a kind of classic library, not a zillion crappy paperbacks, but a good number (around a thousand, I would … Continue reading
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Review of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology, and a Nod to Holiday Pleasures, of the Guilty Variety
I’m on holiday vacation, offline for the most part, doing all those things one does on holiday, like witness TV programs I generally wouldn’t be caught dead watching, such as anything involving “. . . With the Stars!” in the … Continue reading
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On the New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology: Attack of the Dinner Party Zombies!
So I’ve been swamped with work the last few days, not to mention trying to decide what Christmas presents to give family members who fall into the Seriously Irritating category (Ah, festive cheer!), but I have managed to review The … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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The Coral Is Dying and Don't Let Anyone Say "No One Saw It Coming": With a Nod to Warren Brussee's "The Second Great Depression"
One of the convenient lies about the financial crisis is the oft-stated excuse, “No one saw it coming,” usually referring to the real estate bust that triggered the credit crunch that ate the mouse that scurried away from the house … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change
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On Dave Eggers's "Zeitoun" & the Odd Feel of Finishing a Book via Kindle: the Latex Comes Between Us
So I’ve just finished reading Dave Eggers’s Zeitoun, and here’s an easy reaction: It’s certainly a good addition to the many books written about the Katrina disaster. It makes you feel ashamed of our government’s disaster preparedness and, in particular, … Continue reading
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On Leslie Kean's "UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record": We Are Not Alone, and the Visitors Have Some Awesome Toys
So I’m a sucker for UFO stories, though I remain a fairly strong skeptic. For instance, the more I’ve learned about the much-vaunted Roswell Incident the more I lean toward it being a rather complicated story of interstellar hooey. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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Stephen Graham Jones's "It Came From Del Rio"—Is that Jack Nicholson or a Chupacabra?
So Stephen Graham Jones is at it again, offering us a new, seriously weird novel with the kickass title of It Came From Del Rio. I just started it and don’t want to give too much away, but it’s not … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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Kent Haruf in the House and Thomas McGuane in the News
For the last two days I’ve had the good fortune of a visit from novelist Kent Haruf, who gave a reading on our campus last night. Kent’s a natural raconteur (I’ve been waiting years to use that word) and told … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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