“The wisdom of skin is underappreciated.” ––The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell, pg. 485 “If you’ve heard voices in your head once, you’re never sure again if a random thought is just a random thought, or something more.” ––The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell, pg. 549
“For the Vinny Costellos of the world, love is bullshit they murmur into your ear to get sex. For girls––me, anyway––sex is what you do on page one to get to the love that’s later on in the book.” ––The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell, pg. 70 “‘Power is lost or won, never created […]
Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life is a superlative novel in every respect. It is also the most emotionally challenging book I’ve ever read. Even after being forewarned by a friend, I was still completely unprepared for the onslaught of sensations and reactions this story elicited from me. Reading it was like being caught in a […]
“What’s with all the sentimentality about nature anyway, and the kowtowing to it, as though adhering to the ‘natural’ had some sort of ethical force? It’s not like nature is such a friend to womankind, not like nature doesn’t just blithely kill women off on a random basis during childbirth or anything. No one who faces […]
“I think the future of something we may no longer call feminism must include a deeper inquiry into men,” writes Rebecca Solnit in the closing pages of Men Explain Things to Me. “Feminism sought and seeks to change the whole human world; many men are on board with the project, but how it benefits men, […]
“As he wandered about the place, he had three different chance encounters with the same elementary school teacher, one Ms. Hinojosa, and fell in love with her. This was unusual. He had not been in love with anyone in twelve years. He had been divorced for nine. He found it nearly as shocking in its […]
“In Ravna’s opinion, sex in zero-gee was not the experience some people bragged it up to be; but really sleeping with someone…that was much nicer in free fall. An embrace could be light and enduring and effortless.” ––A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge, loc. 5424 “When people say, ‘It can’t go on […]
“The mind’s a weird piece of business,” Alice Munro observes toward the end of this magnificent collection of stories (308). Munro is certainly right about that; her perspicacious and adroit writing shows that she understands human quirks and foibles better than most writers, even the exceptional ones. My initial reaction to many of the stories […]
“The mind’s a weird piece of business.” ––Runaway: Stories, by Alice Munro, pg. 308 “If you can accept that a person without a penis can peaceably live life as they please (including as a man), then you should be able to accept that a person without a physical form can peaceably live life as […]
This fiendish novel dug its claws into me and didn’t let go until the very last page. Alissa Nutting’s Tampa is rich in imagery and metaphor, teeming with keen observations about the dark sides of American culture, and saturated in seduction. It’s a book that would have overflowed with its own verve if Nutting hadn’t […]