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Tag Archives: Book Reviewing
Day 25: On David Quammen's "Spillover": Terrific Book That Foretold Our Pandemic, Kind of
So I’ve seen various books mentioned as predicting pandemics, now that the coronavirus time is nigh, but not much mention of one of the best virus books I’ve read: David Quammen’s nonfiction book about the biology behind zoonotic diseases, Spillover: … Continue reading
Posted in books, Covid-19, Spillover, Viruses
Tagged Book Reviewing, Covid-19, David Quammen's Spillover
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Herman Wouk Died at Age 104: His Novel, "The Winds of War," Is Relevant Today
So I keep meaning to get back to my blog, but one thing or another always intrudes: new stories and chapters to write (a new story titled “The Wall” will soon appear in The Antioch Review), grass to mow (Thursday), … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Herman Wouk's The Winds of War
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Imagining Storm & Fire: Hurricane Harvey, "Goodnight Texas," and The Prediction of Fiction
So a year ago, on August 24th-25th, Hurricane Harvey crashed into the Texas coast, roughly equaling, in monetary damage, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Based on my novel Goodnight, Texas, you could say I predicted it: I … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Cormac McCarthy, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Goodnight Texas
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The Waste of Gadgets: a Quick Look at Nicholson Baker's "Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids"
So the first thing I should note about Nicholson Baker’s excellent Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids (2016) is how funny it is. He’s got a keen eye for the absurdities in contemporary education, the unintentional comedy of … Continue reading
Posted in books, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Education, Nicholson Baker's Substitute, Tolstoy's War and Peace
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On Why I Read Dan Brown's "Origin": Or My Adventures as a Consumer of Best-Selling Drivel
So I was recently having dinner with a best-selling writer—a bit of literary socializing before said writer gave a reading on our campus—and we had reached the point of small-talk detailing what books we’d been reading. This is often the … Continue reading
The West Is Burning: On Michael Kodas's "Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame"
So after having owned a home in Custer County, Colorado (Go Wildcats!) for fifteen years and having been a frequent visitor to the Rockies since 1978—the year of my first trip to Yellowstone—I’m both fascinated by and have a fear … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Weird Weather
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, Michael Kodas's Megafire, The West, Wildfires
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Review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night" as Tribute to the New Film Version Starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford
So two years ago Kent Haruf published his last terrific novel, Our Souls at Night, which I reviewed for the Dallas Morning News, and as a tie-in and tribute of sorts, the DMN has republished my review today, which can … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Film, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, Our Souls at Night, The Bird Saviors, The West
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On Alissa Nutting's debut novel "Tampa": So Bad She's Good
So as a decidedly intermittent blogger (occasional blog-poster?) I feel ambivalent to weigh-in on most of the controversial news items and issues of the “day,” such as Harvey Weinstein’s sins, Donald Trump’s daily stupidities, or the blown-out-of-proportion NFL-player protests—but for … Continue reading
Posted in books/film
Tagged Alissa Nutting's novel Tampa, Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction
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Review of Gabriel Tallent's "My Absolute Darling" in the Dallas Morning News
So my review of Gabriel Tallent’s debut novel, My Absolute Darling, appears in the Dallas Morning News today, and can be found here. The marketing of this novel seems odd: The combination of its sweet title, the brightly colored branches … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Gabriel Tallent's My Absolute Darling, The West
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In the Country of "No Country for Old Men" and On the Trail of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian": What I Did for My Summer Vacation
So late July found me (and my family) in (mythical) Cormac McCarthy country, at the Three River Petroglyph site near Three Rivers, New Mexico, which is a cool (and hot) place to be. We camped there for three days, watching … Continue reading