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Tag Archives: Book Reviewing
Goodbye, Colorado, With a Great Horned Owl Sendoff
So it’s not exactly Phillip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus, but yesterday, after a summer of writing/backpacking/river-rafting, I had to leave my beloved Colorado home to head back East, and it was a hectic packing morning. I was rushing about, filling bags … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books/film, The West
Tagged Birding, Book Reviewing, Good Fiction, Owls, The Bird Saviors, The West, Wildlife photos
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On Morris Collins's Knockout Debut Novel, "Horse Latitudes," and the Anxiety of Influence, Part 2
So in my review/comments about Kent Wascom’s debut novel The Blood of Heaven I mentioned how the press release hyped it as being similar to Cormac McCarthy, which it is, stylistically, but how I don’t think his feet should be … Continue reading
Posted in books, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Morris Collins
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Review of Kent Wascom's "The Blood of Heaven," Plus a Mission Debrief
So my review of Kent Wascom’s impressive debut novel, The Blood of Heaven, appears today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a rollicking book, and I have to say I keep thinking of that Hatfields & McCoys miniseries whenever … Continue reading
On Kent Haruf's "Benediction," Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" and the Colorado Fires, Again
So this post should be a candidate for some kind of parlor game like “Try to pinpoint the logical connection (though there may not be one)”: I finished Kent Haruf’s Benediction, which includes a scare at the end (I won’t … Continue reading
On Kent Haruf's new novel, "Benediction," and Anticipation for the Upcoming New Coen Brothers' Film, "Inside Llewyn Davis"
So Kent Haruf’s new novel, Benediction, came out last February, but I waited until I came to Colorado to buy it, because I know Kent. He lives near Salida, about fifty miles from where my summer (writing) home is, and … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Coen Brothers, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, The West
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On Reading Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code": Is It Really as Bad as They Say?
So in The Writer’s World (imagine an alternate universe of eggheads, wannabes, dreamers, drinkers, and too-often-self-obsessed thinkers) Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code (2003) has a reputation about on par with Ed Wood movies or, for a more … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, The Da Vinci Code
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On What We Learn from Birds, as "The Bird Saviors" Appears in Paperback Next Month
So in yesterday’s New York Times there’s a good piece about what birds can tell us about climate, here. I’m definitely a birder, though I prefer the term “birdist,” and have my own style in BirdWorld: I don’t join herds … Continue reading
Sandra Cisneros in Person, Complete With Reboso, as in Her Novel "Caramelo"
So I’ve been swamped with end-of-the-semester work lately, with no time to stop and think or write, but this week at Penn State we’ve had Sandra Cisneros as a Writer-in-Residence, and she’s been fantastic—gracious, kind, and inspiring. On Monday night … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Santa Fe, The West
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Brace Yourself for Weird Weather: On Reading "The Year Without Summer" in the Year Without a Spring
So one of the reasons books like William and Nicholas Klingaman’s The Year Without Summer: 1816 have much resonance at the moment is that scientists are warning we’re at the cusp of a period of chaotic and unpredictable weather, due … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West, Weird Weather
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, The West, Water Crisis
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