Like a Tarantula on an Angel Food Cake Chandler, Raymond (1940/1992). Farewell, My Lovely. New York: Vintage/Random. “Chandleresque” is a writing style that cannot be matched, though many have tried, even me. Tough guy PI, Philip Marlowe, is the definition of … Continue reading
Adams, W. A. (2011). Cognitive Psychology Meets Literary Criticism [Review of the book, Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies]. PsycCRITIQUES – Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, January 5, 2011, Vol. 56, Release 1, Article 8. Cultural studies is an established academic discipline … Continue reading
A How-To on Writing George, Elizabeth. (2004) Write Away. New York: Harper Collins If you haven’t read any writing-how-to books, this one is a good place to start. It’s easy to read, encouraging in tone, covers most of the basics, … Continue reading
Adams, W. A. (2011). Words Matter: The Legacy of Thomas Szasz [Review of the book, The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Personal Theory of Conduct, 50th Anniversary Edition]. PsycCRITIQUES – Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, March 9, 2011 … Continue reading
Is The Search Still Relevant? Percy, Walker (1960). The Moviegoer; New York: Knopf This American existentialist story is set after the Korean war, in the 1950’s. As with many post-war novels (The Sheltering Sky, The Stranger, etc.) it asks what meaning … Continue reading
Impressions of Horror Saterstrom, Selah (2004). The Pink Institution. St. Paul, MN: Coffee House Press. This experimental novel features four generations of Mississippi females from 1940 to the early 2000’s. They are shown in a set of impressions, poems, quotations … Continue reading
Like millions of other Americans, I’ll be on the highways in July. I’m taking a novel manuscript to a writing workshop in Iowa City. A sensible person would fly. Even though driving is far more dangerous than flying, not to speak … Continue reading
Elizabeth Strout is on the cover of the August, 2013 The Writer magazine. She has a new book, Burgess Boys, which I haven’t yet read. I enjoyed Amy & Isabelle, and I rank Olive Kitteredge as one of the greatest-ever collections … Continue reading
How-to for Beginners Frey, James N. (1987). How to Write a Damn Good Novel. New York: St. Martin’s Press.I’m cautious about any how-to book that bills itself as “no-nonsense,” implying that comparable books are full of nonsense. In fact this … Continue reading
Haunting Characters In Search of a Story Duras, Marguerite (1985). The Lover. New York: Random. In Saigon, before the Vietnam war, an impoverished, naive, adolescent French girl acquires an older Chinese lover. Her family is struggling with subsistence, and he … Continue reading