A Wild Sheep Chase
It’s clear that this is the same man who wrote The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The pervasive themes of isolation, loneliness and disenfranchisement in a weird…
Books
This much ignorance about literature can only lead to hurt feelings and a whole lot of nonsense.
White Teeth
For some reason I was under the impression Zadie Smith was of Indian descent. I’m not sure what possessed me to think that, but I…
What Is the What
I knew about as much about Sudan prior to reading this book as I know about Euclidian geometry. Sure, I had a vague recollection of…
Wake Up, Sir!
It’s like Bored to Death meets Fight Club. Okay, maybe not, but Jonathan Ames’ character, Alan Blair, is clearly the neurotic, bumbling alcoholic once-author that…
Visit From the Goon Squad
I’m always a little skeptical of books about the music biz. Not because I peripherally work in it, and have on and off since the…
Vernon God Little
Now, I don’t claim to know great literature. I’ll read anything that looks remotely interesting and isn’t written by John Grisham. A friend recommended this…
Under the Volcano
I seriously had to fight not to put this one down. It has to be called a ”classic” for a reason. Maybe I’m missing the…
Ubik
Philip K. Dick is whacked. The guy has one mind fuck idea after another–and fortunately for us, he writes them down. Sure, they’re all essentially…
The Twenty-Seventh City
This is one of those books that I resisted for a while. I’m not sure exactly why, other than the fact that Franzen’s second novel,…
Tuff
I guess I missed the point here, but I haven’t been this depressed after reading a book in a while. I suppose that’s what I…
True History of the Kelly Gang
I must admit that I knew very little about the Kelly Gang before reading this book. I’m not sure I know all that much after…
Tinkers
Tinkers is what they (or I) call a small book. In stature. In scope. In just about everything. From the very first sentence it feels…
Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance
You wouldn’t think a book about farmers would be interesting. You’d only be half right. This book is half fictional account of a trio of…
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
I am an unabashed fan of David Mitchell. At least I was an unabashed fan of David Mitchell. I loved his mixture of fantasy and…
This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It
I have had it with these motherfuckin’ spiders in this motherfuckin’ brain! Yeah, you’re almost waiting for one of the characters in this “horror” book…
The Things They Carried
Having been born during the tail end of the Vietnam “conflict,” there are certainly elements that have touched my life—a life that almost wasn’t (or…
A Thing (Or Two) About Curtis and Camilla
Trendy usually makes for bad books. They’re dated before they even come out. Authors mention name brand clothing and I’m instantly turned off. There’s no…
Theft
Peter Carey is quickly becoming one of my favorite storytellers. The guy can spin a yarn with the best of them, without stooping to the…
That Old Ace In the Hole
There are surprisingly few grisly deaths in this, Annie Proulx’s fourth novel. I only say that because in her past works, people have been drowned,…
Telegraph Avenue
I realize thinking back on Michael Chabon’s books that I’m less of a fan than I thought I was. Or more like I’m a fan…
Sunset Park
Yet another Brooklyn book from Paul Auster. Yet another reason why I ask myself after finishing one of his books why I insist on reading…
Strong Motion
I think I went one book too deep into Franzen’s catalog. Granted, this is the second of his three novels, but it certainly felt like…
Stet
I’m so not smart enough to write a review of this thing. I can’t even begin to describe the story or words I encountered within…
The Sportswriter
I should have known after reading the sequel to this book, Independence Day, that this book was going to be nearly as much of a…