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Recent Posts
- On Randall K. Wilson’s “A Place Called Yellowstone”: Award-Winning History of Yellowstone National Park
- On Candice Millard’s “River of Doubt” and “River of the Gods”: Bugs, Snakes, and Disease Aplenty
- More Alone than “Alone”: On Adam Shoalts’s “Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell” (2025)
- Rachel McAdams film “Send Help” (2026) Makes Comic Gold Out of “Survivor” and “Alone” Audition Videos
- “The Wiggle Room”: A Short Story
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Tag Archives: Book Reviewing
Review of Chang-rae Lee's "On Such a Full Sea" in the Dallas Morning News
So my review of Chang-Rae Lee’s new novel, On Such a Full Sea, appears today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a good book, with a soft-spoken, measured narrative voice. Although some might say, “Not another dystopian novel!” I … Continue reading
Whatever You Do, Don't Diss the Social Media! On Roger Cohen's NY Times Op-Ed "Twitter-Bashing Bores"
So I sometimes read Roger Cohen, a columnist in the New York Times, who (sometimes) writes reasonably well about Israel and Europe, but his recent piece titled “Twitter-Bashing Bores” (here) illustrates a media obsession I’ve come to notice: Rabid and … Continue reading
My Review of Jim Harrison's "Brown Dog" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’ve been woefully out-of-touch with my blog, my misbegotten red-headed stepchild (with apologies to all ginger stepchildren in the world), but I haven’t been woefully out-of-touch with reading & living, which should always trump blogging. My review of Jim … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Film, The West, writing
Tagged Birding, Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Film, Good Fiction, Jim Harrison, Pete Dexter, The West
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A Postmortem on Dan Brown's "Inferno," and What's That Aron Ralston Dude Up to Now?
So apparently Aron Ralston—the solo rock climber who cut his own arm off when trapped by a boulder, as portrayed in James Franco’s 127 Hours (2010)—has run afoul of the law, to the tune of “domestic violence,” which hopefully did … Continue reading
Posted in Art, books/film, Climate Change
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Dan Brown's Inferno, Fiction Writing, The Da Vinci Code, The West
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On Jim Harrison's "Brown Dog" & Park Chan-wook's film "Stoker"
So I feel sorry for my poor blog, to which I don’t give enough attention—like the ignored dog that’s always whimpering to be taken for a walk or the proverbial red-headed stepchild (with apologies to all red heads and stepchildren … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Horror Films, Nicole Kidman, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Jim Harrison, Nicole Kidman, The West
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How Is Dan Brown's "Inferno" Like "Doomsday Preppers"? Hint: Fun Factor
So I’m juggling the reading of about six different books right now, for various reasons, including Stephen D. (I think the “D.” is important here) King’s When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence (which I should really … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Cormac McCarthy
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Dan Brown's Inferno, Fiction Writing
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Cormac McCarthy/Ridley Scott's "The Counselor": No Country for Old Men II, or No Country For Anyone in Love With Penelope Cruz, Either
So on its first weekend in my neck of the woods, I caught Ridley Scott’s new film The Counselor, with the screenplay being by none other than the great Cormac McCarthy, finest novelist of our times: It was a, um, … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Cormac McCarthy, Horror Films, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Fiction Writing, Film, Good Fiction, The West
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On Hanna Rosin's "The End of Men": The End of Men? Maybe Not, But Thanks for Asking
So I’ve been reading Hanna Rosin’s The End of Men (2012)—why? out of sheer obstinacy, no doubt—which is at turns annoying, blockheaded, fascinating, fun, and scary. And for all those responses, it must be doing something right. I would have … Continue reading
Review of Wilton Barnhardt's "Lookaway, Lookaway," Plus My Daugher as a Horse
So I feel like a bad blog Daddy now, neglecting my child for so long, though I’m not neglecting my real daughter, as the photo below will attest—or at least judged by the standard of taking cool pictures of her … Continue reading
"The Lousy Adult" Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (If There's One Left: "Online Shopping, Anyone?")
So I’ve been neglecting this blog of late, working to finish a first draft of a new novel, one that involves a woman holding a teenage boy hostage, some experimental sex-drug studies, and other various mischief, but advance copies of … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, The Lousy Adult, The West
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