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Tag Archives: Book Reviewing
Review of Patrick DeWitt's novel "Undermajordomo Minor" in the Dallas Morning News
So I know I should feel badly for neglecting my stepchild blog, for never coming to visit, for not giving enough love—”No sticky handfuls of chocolate for you, Kid!” But I plead a busy life, and slaving away (is it … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Patrick DeWitt, The West
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Review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’m a delayed/recalcitrant blogger at best, but I did review Kent Haruf’s final novel, Our Souls at Night, for the Dallas Morning News recently, and it can be found here. In my defense I can say I’m busy working … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, The West
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On Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night": The Last Waltz in Holt, Colorado
So I felt a mixture of sadness and readerly pleasure upon opening Kent Haruf’s final, posthumous novel, Our Souls at Night, to be published by Knopf this month. I first encountered Haruf’s fiction in 1999, when I was assigned his … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West, Uncategorized, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, The West
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Chris Nolan's "Interstellar" as Half-Baked Cli-Fi, or What Does Matthew McConaughey Eat in Outer Space? Pretzel Ions?
So I must first confess I’ve never been seduced by the eye-candy of Christopher Nolan’s films: Yes, they’re imaginative, clever, outlandish and topical. I’m all for that. But at some point they tend to turn so “Hollywood” that you have … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, Interstellar, The Bird Saviors, The West
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Review of Reif Larsen's "I Am Radar" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’ve neglected this lonely little blog so often I should seriously feel guilty, but . . . I have my reasons. Note that I say I should feel guilty. But I don’t. (Well, maybe just a tad scrap of guilt is swirling around the door … Continue reading
"Necrophilia, Anyone?" On the Horror-Show That Is James Franco's Film Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God"
So I’d heard that James Franco had made a film version of Cormac McCarthy’s powerful-and-disturbing novel Child of God (1974), and I casually wondered why I hadn’t heard anything about it. A year ago Franco also did a film version … Continue reading
On the Death of Kent Haruf: One of Our Finest Novelists, and a Friend
So on this snowy morning it’s a sad day to hear of the passing of Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong (1999), Eventide (2004), and Benediction (2013), among others. (For more details, see a piece in the Washington Post, here.) Although I … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, Photography, The Bird Saviors, The West
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Review of "The Lousy Adult" Alongside Stephen Graham Jones's "Not For Nothing"
So the Dallas Morning News published this last Sunday a review of several books by (ex or present) Texas writers and my book of stories The Lousy Adult was one of those mentioned, but the cooler thing is that it’s … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, Uncategorized, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Stephen Graham Jones, The Lousy Adult
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Review of Malcolm Brooks's debut novel "Painted Horses," and What I've Been Up to All This Time
So I feel bad for my uncared-for little blog here, languishing away as I rush about in my busy life, never finding time to nurture, as they say. It’s like the freckled orphan in the corner, who you notice now … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, The West
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Review of Peter Heller's "The Painter" in the Dallas Morning News
So here’s my review of Peter Heller’s new novel, The Painter, today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a good book, and I’ll have more to say about it this week, but for now I’ll let this review speak. … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Peter Heller, The West
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