Rebecca Rasmussen came to Columbia to give a reading at PS Gallery at the start of May this year, just after her wonderful debut novel was published. I had been speaking with Rebecca for some time on twitter and invited her to make the trip down I-70 from St. Louis to visit. Her reading was exquisite – understated, funny, and …
My Wife’s Affair
This isn’t a book review, not really. I just want to tell you about a novel I enjoyed a lot. Besides, I think you’re supposed to be icily impartial when it comes to reviews, and I’m not, not this time. The author, Nancy Woodruff, is a friend of mine. We were in a writers’ group together in London, and I actually …
New Reading: Emily St. John Mandel and Jennifer Egan
In Monday’s post I mentioned two exciting novelists whose work I had just discovered and was devouring in huge, quietly ecstatic chunks. Here’s more on them both. I’ll try and write more about the stuff I’m reading in future. Since, you know, this is a blog about books. Emily St. John Mandel is published by Unbridled Books, a small publisher …
Accentuate the Positive?
I have just finished a hugely enjoyable book by the brilliant and very funny Barbara Ehrenreich. It’s called Bright-Sided, and is a much-needed puncturing of the “positive thinking” epidemic that has been slowly creeping over all elements of American society. With a wonderfully deft touch, Ehrenreich neatly skewers several juicy targets who have come to rely on vacuous optimistic mantras and …