A Tale of Flowering Fortunes: Annals of Japanese Aristocratic Life in the Heian Period by William H. McCullough My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read about this book when trying to learn more about The Tale of Genji and … Continue reading →
Katori Hall Plays One: Hoodoo Love; Hurt Village; The Mountaintop; Saturday Night/Sunday Morning by Katori HallMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Katori Hall’s plays are marked by such fierce honesty and incandescent writing that they stand head and shoulders above … Continue reading →
The Major Works by Samuel JohnsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars I have been slowly making my way through this volume for some time now, and devoted a few days to completing the reading while fall settles the leaves and … Continue reading →
Later the Same Day by Grace PaleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars When I first read this collection years ago I must have been going through a period of distraction; the voices of the stories were clear but the stories … Continue reading →
Have taken a month off from Facebook, which, when I use it, wastes my time. I have this vain idea that a social platform will help me if I ever publish a book again. (Same with Twitter. What if I … Continue reading →
The View from Stalin’s Head by Aaron HamburgerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a strong collection of stories, the most impressive aspect of which is the setting and material, Americans, and particularly Jewish Americans, in the Czech Republic, … Continue reading →
To Let by John GalsworthyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the best of the Forsyte saga trilogy, a pleasant surprise, since I found the second installment to be tepid. In this novel it feels to me as though … Continue reading →
In New Orleans a long time ago when drag queens often wore beards and mustaches, when realness was only one way of doing drag, when transgender people were usually called transsexuals, in the bars in the French Quarter we called … Continue reading →
In Chancery by John Galsworthy My rating: 2 of 5 stars In the case of the first book, The Man of Property, I was less certain of my reaction to the novel due to having seen the most recent television … Continue reading →
Lost in the City by Edward P. JonesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars These are powerful stories carved out of real stuff. Everything I respect and love about writing is embodied here. Jones can write a first line that gives … Continue reading →