Monthly Archives: April 2013

Egan, Jennifer. A Visit From the Goon Squad. Anchor New York 2010. F;09/11 This is a grand slam for me. Egan has a beautiful colloquial ear that rarely misses the mark across a big range of characters, and this solves … Continue reading →

Vargas Llosa, Mario. The War of the End of the World. Picador New York 1981 (English translation 1984). F;10/11. Oh me Lard Jasus! (I’ve just been to Prince Edward Island close to Newfoundland where the preceding is the superlative on … Continue reading →

Warren, Dianne. Cool Water. HarperCollins Toronto 2010. F;10/11. A lovely but light book, coincidentally read at about the same time we spent a couple of days in Kindersley Saskatchewan. It’s definitely in a traditional Canadian (and American too) bucolic genre: … Continue reading →

Baker, Nicholson. Vox. Random House New York 1992. F;11/11. I remembered having seen this on my own bookshelf when I started to read an interview with the author in the Paris Review, so I pulled it out. I hadn’t read … Continue reading →

Gartner, Zsuzsi. Better Living Through Plastic Explosives. Hamish Hamilton Canada (Penguin) Toronto 2011. F:12/11. It’s short stories. I’ve been aware of this author who writes for local papers, and lives, in Vancouver. I wondered if she was the daughter of … Continue reading →

Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Marriage Plot. Knopf Canada 2011. F:12/11. Like some wines, it’s a bit hard for me to be certain I’m not impressed with the reviews, and also that my taste isn’t just for things that are flashy and … Continue reading →

Kurlansky, Mark. Edible Stories. Riverhead New York. 2010. F;12/11. I think I hooked onto this one along a line started by Anthony Bourdain, running through Jim Harrison. Food-content reprobates, in other words. This guy fits right in. I put the … Continue reading →

Murakami, Haruki. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Vintage New York 2006. F;01/12. Twenty-four short stories that redefine short fiction for me. There’s no (and no need for) trendy popping up of the same characters to tie the stories together, just dazzling significance … Continue reading →

Edugyan, Esi. Half-Blood Blues. Thomas Allen Toronto. 2011. F; 1/12. This was a finalist for several big fiction awards, and I think it won the Canadian one. I remember seeing the author on TV, with the journalist commenting that Canadian … Continue reading →

Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall. Fourth Estate/Harper Collins 2009. F; 2/12. Mixed feelings. Everybody is familiar with the English 16th century because of multiple movies and books, all centering around the immovably rectangular figure of Henry VIII. And his wives, and … Continue reading →