Archive for April, 2005
Friday, April 29th, 2005
Tender is the Night
Maud is preparing to reread one of my favorite novels. Tender is the Night and has a little post on it up at her site. I first read this book for a class on Fitzgerald six years ago and reread it three years ago. I don’t think I have read a better book about someone [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books by Rick
Friday, April 29th, 2005
Anyone have reviews from the LA Festival of Books?
I’m looking for reviews of panel discussions from last weekend’s Los Angeles Festival of Books. If anyone has some, please send them over.
No Comments » - Posted in Books by Rick
Friday, April 29th, 2005
The History of Love
I read Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love this week and absolutely loved it. It may be my favorite book published this year. That the TODAY show selected the novel for its book club probably precludes me from recommending it anymore. Nevertheless, here are links to a couple reviews in The Village Voice and the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books by Rick
Friday, April 29th, 2005
Jonathan Safran Foer on Forum
Jonathan Safran Foer was on KQED’s Forum with Michael Krasny on April 18. Here’s a link to the show archive page on which you can listen to the interview in Real Audio format.
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Rick
Monday, April 25th, 2005
Kazuo Ishiguro at Kepler’s
My friend Casey and I saw Kazuo Ishiguro speak at Kepler’s on Monday. He read the first chapter from his new novel, Never Let Me Go, and then took some questions from the audience. Unfortunately, I disproportionate number of the questions asked about his writing process. Questions on craft, when asked at readings, tend to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books by Rick
Wednesday, April 13th, 2005
F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference
The eight F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference begins tomorrow at Hofstra University in New York. As a huge Fitzgerald fan, I wish I could be there. The focus this year is on Fitzgerald’s time out on Long Island, where he conceived and wrote much of The Great Gatsby. (Because of the conference’s location and subject, it [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Books by Rick
Friday, April 8th, 2005
Oh The Glory of It All
Sean Wilsey’s forthcoming memoir was excerpted in the New Yorker this week. Although the excerpt is not available online, an interview with Wilsey is.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a rather long story about Wilsey’s book, focusing on its high society subject matter—Is this part true? Is that true?—which, unfortunately, discounts Wilsey’s writing and storytelling [...]
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Tuesday, April 5th, 2005
Saul Bellow Dead at 89
Derrida, Sontag, Davenport, and now Bellow, who was until today, perhaps, my favorite living novelist. Here are links to obits in the Washington Post and New York Times.
Also, check out Ian McEwan’s appreciation of Bellow in the Times.
No Comments » - Posted in Books by Rick
Saturday, April 2nd, 2005
Back From Boston
I flew out to Boston on Wednesday and returned to San Francisco on Thursday. I stayed across the street from the Citgo sign at the Hotel Commonwealth. In a perfect touch, a picture of the ‘41 Red Sox hovered above the desk in my room, which also contained a copy of Roger Angell’s Game Time. [...]
