Tag Archives: Good Fiction

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in books, books/film, The West | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

"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 →

Posted in books, books/film, Cormac McCarthy, Horror Films | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in books, Climate Change | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" & a Christmas Without the Internet

So I happened to see the awesome/sad/hilarious film Nebraska, another classic by Alexander Payne, at a swanky art house theater (the Plaza Frontenac) in St. Louis before Christmas, but was unable to post anything about it, as I left the … Continue reading →

Posted in Birding, books/film, Film, The West | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment