Category: semi-autobiographical

#ShortStorySunday – Rough Rides.

Book Review for “Short Dog: Cab Driver Stories from the L.A. Streets” by Dan Fante. According to the blurbs about this book: “Dan Fante lived the stories he wrote. His voice has the immediacy of a stranger of the next barstool, of a friend who lives on the edge. As he writes in Short Dog … Continue reading #ShortStorySunday – Rough Rides. →

In Their Own Skins.

Book Review for “Quicksand & Passing” by Nella Larsen. Summary: “Quicksand, written in 1928, is an autobiographical novel about Helga Crane, a mixed-race woman caught between fulfilling her desires and gaining respectability in her middle-class neighborhood. Written a year later, Passing tells the story of two childhood friends, Clare and Irene, both light-skinned enough to … Continue reading In Their Own Skins. →

… Or a woman

Book Review for “To be a Man: Stories” by Nicole Krauss. Summary: “In one of her strongest works of fiction yet, Nicole Krauss plunges fearlessly into the struggle to understand what it is to be a man and what it is to be a woman, and the arising tensions that have existed from the very … Continue reading … Or a woman →

Living in a White Elephant.

Book Review for “A House in the Country” by Ruth Adam. Summary: “Six friends have spent the dark, deprived years of World War II fantasizing – in air raid shelters and food queues – about an idyllic life in a massive country house. With the coming of peace, they seize on a seductive newspaper ad … Continue reading Living in a White Elephant. →

My “Hello” to Philip Roth!

Book Review of “Goodbye Columbus” a novella and five short stories by Philip Roth. When I heard of Roth’s passing, I realized that while I knew the name well, and I’d seen some films based on his writings, I never read any of his books. In an attempt to correct that situation, I immediately went … Continue reading My “Hello” to Philip Roth! →

My Top Five (or more) Books of 2017

2017: The Year of Women - Good and Bad!   Those of my readers who have been following this blog for a while, know that I had to stuff seven novels into my favorites of 2016 list, and eight books ended up on list for 2015. This year, I have nine books that deserved a … Continue reading My Top Five (or more) Books of 2017 →

21 days on an Ocean Liner with an 11-year-old boy

Book Review of "The Cat's Table" by Michael Ondaatje. Michael Ondaatje (author of "The English Patient"), has a distinctively unique style to his writing. His literary voice is poetic and fluid, yet also highly accessible. This comes through in all his writing, giving his work a deceptively simplistic feel, while remaining evocatively beautiful. However, he … Continue reading 21 days on an Ocean Liner with an 11-year-old boy →