Gilbert Adair: The Act Of Roger Murgatroyd
Having fallen into a reading slump recently, which is somewhat criminal of me, I decided to look for something light, fun, and potentially enjoyable. So, who better an author to…
Quim Monzó: The Enormity Of The Tragedy
There’s probably a lot of jokes than can be made about an author named Quim translated by someone called Bush and, with that in mind, I’ll try and give them…
Noel Virtue: The Redemption Of Elsdon Bird
When a novel centres around child who has a hard life, I can’t help thinking that it’s a fictional take on the author’s own upbringing. I could find scant information…
Italo Calvino: The Castle Of Crossed Destinies
It has been a couple of years since I first read Italo Calvino, picking up his wonderful if on a winter’s night a traveler on a whim and being captivated…
Ron Hansen: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
I‘ve always enjoyed the occasional western although racking my brains it would seem that my whole experience of the genre is limited to cinema, so it felt right, especially with…
Dan Fante: Corksucker
Having read a novel by John Fante a couple of years back I was interested in reading something by his son, Dan. From what I understand, Fante fils is more…
Tarjei Vesaas: The Ice Palace
There’s a common misconception that Eskimos have an inflated number of words for snow. Probably because there’s various Eskimo tribes, all speaking their own languages. I have no idea how…
Joyce Carol Oates: Black Water
Joyce Carol Oates is one of those authors who seem to have a book out every year and, with forty years’ worth of output spanning novels, short stories, plays, essays,…
Don DeLillo: The Body Artist
Don DeLillo is an author I’ve been wanting to read for some time but have never got round to, for two reasons. The first, stupidly, is that his novel Underworld…
Alan Bennett: The Uncommon Reader
There seems to be a trend for slim pocket volumes coming with exorbitant prices. First there was André Brink‘s The Blue Door and now it’s Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader.…