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.…
André Brink: The Blue Door
On the back of André Brink’s The Blue Door there’s a quote from Nadine Gordimer referring to it as a novel but, at 122 pages, it has even less of…
Arto Paasilinna: The Howling Miller
When it comes to choosing a book there are all manner of things that can – and do – influence my choices. An interesting cover is one such way to…
Blaise Cendrars: Gold
According to the back of Blaise Cendrars’ Gold (1924), the author spent fifteen years creating this, a fictionalised account of John Augustus Sutter – his debut novel. Given how slim…
Edward Docx: Self Help
With the Man Booker 2007 being over, and Self Help (Pravda, to US readers) long since fallen from the competition I approached Edward Docx’s second novel with indifference. The cover,…
John Steinbeck: Cup Of Gold
It has been my intention, for some time now, to read (and in some cases, reread) the works of John Steinbeck. Amongst his canon there’s a varied mix of fiction,…