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Tag Archives: The West
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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"Dr. WarmLove or: How I Stopped Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Heat"
So I had the odd Flashback Experience of being visited last week by a college roommate I had not seen in twenty years (and we were roomies much longer ago than that, at the University of Texas, in Austin, circa … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Water Crisis
Tagged Climate Change, Drought, The Bird Saviors, 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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On the Bear-Attack Film "Backcountry": Generation D Goes for a Hike
So I’m a sucker for a good bear-attack movie, having backpacked many times in the gorgeous/treacherous wilds of grizzly country (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming), where it’s often said that humans are not the top of the food chain, which can certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Bad TV, Bears, Horror Films, The West
Tagged Backcountry film, Film, Horror Movies, Millennials, 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
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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The Heat Is On: Melting Santas and Family Values in the Era of Climate Change
So I haven’t blogged in—oh, just about forever (over two months)—but I’ve been fine and dandy, thank you very much, and trying to keep my ducks in a row: Besides being a professor, and all that entails, mainly I’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West
Tagged Climate Change, Drought, Photography, The Bird Saviors, The West, Water Crisis, Wildfires
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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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