Monthly Archives: July 2017

Evans, Harold. Do I Make Myself Clear? Little, Brown, New York, 2017. NF;7/17. Authors of books on writing take on two things: telling us how to write well, and showing how it’s done. Sir Harold Evans at nearly 90 is one of … Continue reading →

Orringer, Julie. How to Breathe Underwater. Vintage, New York, 2003. F;7/17. Another great collection of short stories. This author paints chaotic canvases that command attention to their primary emotional colours. Family conflict, disorder, guilt, revenge, spiritual responsibility, and sly threats … Continue reading →

Everett, Percival. So Much Blue. Greywolf, Minneapolis, 2017. NF; 7/17. This is a charming story, and it changed me. Percival Everett is quite a guy: 61 years old, distinguished English lit professor at USC, author of over a dozen novels … Continue reading →

July 2017. My friend Henry and I have a tradition we call “carnivore’s dinner” around Christmas. So far we have always gone to Hy’s here in town because we are being conservative (in my case trying it on, in his … Continue reading →

Millard, Candice. Hero of the Empire. Doubleday, New York, 2016. NF; 7/17. This history of the early adult life of Winston Churchill didn’t have what I took to be its expected effect on me. I wasn’t (as some of the … Continue reading →