Other People’s Dreams Barnes, Julian. (2011). The Sense of An Ending. New York: Vintage The title is apt. The ending is not fully resolved. It’s only the sense of an ending, and not even well-integrated into the story. Part one … Continue reading
I’m ready to start my next fiction project, a novel, which I’ve been thinking about for a year. I’d like to address two main ideas. One is the bifurcation of American Society, into reactionary conservatives and experimental progressives, but I … Continue reading
Project 1: I have put my most recent novel, “Being Ruby,” to bed for a while. It will rest until July, when I will take it to the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference (http://www.unm.edu/~taosconf/). I hope to find out if the … Continue reading
Could’ve Used A Bit More Tinkering Harding, Paul. (2009). Tinkers. New York: Bellevue Literary Press. This short (191 pp) Pulitzer Prize-winner has a great opening line: “George Washington Crosby began to hallucinate eight days before he died.” Much of the … Continue reading
Farewell to Religion? Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 874 pp. $40, ISBN 9780674026766 Charles Taylor, eminent, prize-winning philosopher, asks this question: “…Why was it virtually impossible not to believe in God … Continue reading
We’re All Storytellers Llosa, Mario Vargas (1989). The Storyteller. Helen Lane (trans.) New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux An unnamed first-person narrator, traveling in Florence, tells two stories. One is about his lifelong fascination with the pre-industrial, unacculturated tribes of the Amazon … Continue reading
I got to “The End” of the first draft of my latest novel without a car chase, drug bust, or explosion and only one murder, which occurs off-stage. I think I stayed focused on my character. I went back through … Continue reading
A Phenomenology of Love Winterson, Jeanette (1992) Written on the Body. New York: Vintage This is a love story, a poetic tale about an unnamed, first-person narrator and a married woman, Louise. Much has been made by reviewers about the … Continue reading
The Spy Who Went Into the Cold Steinhauer, Olen (2009). The Tourist. New York: Minotaur/St.Martins. This is a well-written spy novel, which measures up to some of Le Carre’s lesser works, such as The Mission Song or Single & Single. As with Le Carre, … Continue reading
For the rewrite of my latest novel, I’ve decided to cut several wonderful themes and plot points that involve cartoony physical action, which I love. It’s lights, camera, action! Not lights, camera, brooding introspection. I’m trying to change. Action scenes … Continue reading