Thomas E. Ricks ~ The Generals
just finished reading Thomas E. Ricks’ latest: The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today, a comprehensive history of the evolution and adaptation of our Armed Forces over the last 70 years. i’d been astonished by Ricks’ chronicle of the latest Iraq War, Fiasco, and this one is as authoritative as his…
Lucius Shepard ~ The Jaguar Hunter
just having finished Lucius Shepard‘s collection, The Jaguar Hunter, i come to the end of line as far as the most readily available of his work. Guess i’ll have to shell out the big bucks for Floater and Dagger Key. even though this 500-page compendium was comprised of a majority of stories i’d previously read,…
Herman Koch ~ The Dinner
Just finished reading (thanks to Ann and Stona Fitch) The Dinner by Herman Koch, two couples-in-law at an upscale Dutch restaurant studiously avoiding talk about their children who’ve been up to no good. A dangerously unreliable narrator is the best part of this very dark domestic novel. Highly recommended.
Lucius Shepard ~ Kalimantan
just finished reading Lucius Shepard‘s 1993 novella, Kalimantan, set in the eponymous Borneo jungle, a tale of deception, perception, illusion become power; with the most viscerally-wrought alternate reality prose portrayal with an equally hallucinatory and utterly compelling battle scene, probably the best of their kind, by anyone; coupled with shorter fables of lush jungle mystery,…
Mark Z. Danielewski ~ Only Revolutions (re-reading)
just finished reading (been about a half dozen times now) Mark Z. Danielewski’s masterful and imaginatively unsurpassed Moebius-strip prose poem, Only Revolutions. Sam and Hailey are the culmination of Tristan und Isolde archetypes through all ages. Forever 16, they conquer the world. they are the world i’ll be composing music for the eBook of OR,…
George Saunders ~ The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil
just finished, topping off my George Saunders binge, his novella/fable The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, a geo-political parable peopled by misfit toys bickering over their microcosmic boundaries. as always, instantly compelling textual landscape, a style unique to the needs of the piece, satire of the darkest stripe. a great voice of our time.
George Saunders ~ Civilwarland
just finished reading George Saunders’ first published story collection, Civilwarland in Bad Decline, including the novellette, Bounty, a post-apocalyptic road-novel of which Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD (not that i don’t admire all his work)is a faint shadow. where The Road was a philosophic work on par with his Blood Meridian, the mise end scene of…
George Saunders ~ In Persuasion Nation
in the midst of my George Saunders binge, having reconnected with him after years ago reading his essay collection, The Braindead Megaphone and his more recent story collection Tenth of December, i just finished reading another of his darkly comedic tales of a not-so-distant dystopia, In Persuasion Nation, this one a bit more media/advertising-centred. i…
Stephen Graham Jones ~ The Last Final Girl
just finished Stephen Graham Jones‘ superb paper-view slasher, THE LAST FINAL GIRL. can’t imagine anyone else coming up with the perfect balance of pacing, rapid-fire references only a horror devotee of world class could muster, homage and send-up, and pushing all the perfect slasher buttons along the way. a labour of love. a joy to…
Stephen Graham Jones ~ Zombie Bake-Off
just finished reading Stephen Graham Jones‘s antic paper-view wrestling event, ZOMBIE BAKE-OFF. the title says it all; though it doesn’t credit SGJ’s infallible comic/cinematic timing and his caricature/characterizations left me indelibly hearing the voice of wrangler/promoter Johnny T. as none other than Christoph Waltz. a very enjoyable and bloody romp