Category Archives: Uncategorized

You or help you Cohen, Joshua. Moving Kings. Random House, New York, 2017. F;8/17. I ran across Cohen for the first time reading the New Yorker review of this novel. Critic James Wood called him a prodigious stylist, and concluded … Continue reading →

Orringer, Julie. The Invisible Bridge. Alfred A Knopf, New York, 2010. F;8/17 Impressed by Orringer’s short stories, I tackled this wonderful Second World War novel. I wasn’t disappointed. The short stories’ tight solo emotional riffs seemed to grow in this … Continue reading →

Kalanithi, Paul. When Breath Becomes Air. Random House, New York. 2016. NF;7/17. I had a few mixed feelings about this very popular, and very good, book. I hope my swimming against the streams of sickness/death and the American physician isn’t … Continue reading →

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 us. Sir Harold Evans at nearly 90 is one of the most … 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 →