Monthly Archives: September 2014

Handke, Austria’s (arguably the world’s) greatest living writer, will probably never get the Nobel…and maybe he shouldn’t…or should… For some readers of this piece, the name Peter Handke will probably suggest only  controversy. Handke has spent the last two decades … Continue reading →

Do we need a theory of creative writing? Would that save higher education? Uh, nope… (For previous essays in this series, look here, here, here and here.) This essay in the series of essays on Joe David Bellamy’s assessment of American writing ventures into … Continue reading →

An interesting olio of tales, vignettes, and short stories with poetry used as a gloss…Kelley’s collection offers nods to Faulkner, Capote, O’Connor, and other Southern legends…. Saundra Kelley’s new book The Day the Mirror Cried reflects a couple of facets … Continue reading →

It’s not Santa Claus vs. the Martians – it’s Santa Claus (sorta) vs. the DEA – which is, come to think of it, almost as nuts… Sam Staley’s latest book is a Christmas story. It’s not, however, the sort of … Continue reading →

What Joe David Bellamy calls “super fiction” may well have led us to the superfluous… (For previous essays in this series, look here, here and here.) After a week away, we return to Joe David Bellamy’s Literary Luxuries: American Writing at the … Continue reading →

Mercedes Wore Black is either a romantic political thriller or a political thriller romance – that’s for the reader to decide… Andrea Brunais is a highly decorated former investigative reporter in Florida. Her new novel, Mercedes Wore Black, reflects her … Continue reading →

Jansson’s brilliance is her understanding that the world of childhood and the world of adulthood are separated by the thinnest of distances – sort of an “It’s just a jump to the left” thing…. Once again my fellow “mad for … Continue reading →

McEwan’s novel is well written and has a fine plot – except for the gimmicky ending… This essay about a work from my 2014 reading list looks at one of the most successful novelists of the last two decades. Ian McEwan has … Continue reading →