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January 17th, 2013
Not nearly as refined as the residents of Downton Abby, the Southern California elite portrayed in Katie Arnoldi’s The Wentworths (Overlook, 2008) provides an equally fascinating look into the lives of the very rich, very duplicitous, very distorted (unfortunately in this milieu, the distortion appears to be the new normal) Wentworth clan and their friends, servants, paramours and nemeses. Read more »
Book Jacket
MacArthur Fellow’s short-story collection is funny, sad and ... genius
January 17th, 2013
If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to read higher quality fiction, consider curling up with Tenth of December (Random House, $26), the new short-story collection from George Saunders. If you don’t know Saunders’ previous work, shame on you. Scores of fine writers publish thoughtful, well-crafted short stories but Saunders sits mostly alone at the top of the heap. It’s not just that Saunders is bright—the MacArthur Foundation awarded him a “Genius Grant” in 2006—it’s that Saunders is doing more than just entertaining. Read more »
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Librarian Loves
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
December 20th, 2012
Do we need (or want) another celebrity memoir about substance abuse and subsequent redemption? Surprisingly, Kristen Johnson’s Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster (Gallery Books, $25) provides fresh insights, raw self-exposure and acute comedy. Read more »
Reading
Prostitution Provocateur
With Lust to Dust, an artist finds a fresh way to explore a controversial topic— all he needed was a venue
December 6th, 2012
Michael Ogilvie is making a habit out of exploring grown-up themes through comics. In 2009, the 35-year-old writer and illustrator self-published Drunk, a comic anthology that meditated on barroom and drinking culture, and the book drew plenty of attention locally and nationally. Read more »
Book Jacket
A Working Theory of Love shows innate and wholly human intelligence
December 6th, 2012
Scott Hutchins’ A Working Theory of Love is all about artificial intelligence, but virtually everything in this novel rings true. The characters are rich and fully drawn, the premise feels timely and plausible, and the plot is layered and emotionally satisfying. Read more »
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Desert Resurrection
For author Donald Revell, poetry is like prayer, and the Mojave is his sanctuary
November 15th, 2012
Donald Revell’s poetry is testament to “the good news” that ordinary life is miraculous. The renowned poet, translator, critic, essayist, editor and UNLV professor is the author of more than 12 books of poetry. Read more »
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Librarian Loves
November 8th, 2012
Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol (Gotham, 2009) by Iain Gately is a veritable jeroboam of cultural and social history related to humankind’s use and abuse of alcohol and all the ingredients (including slaves) required for its production and distribution. Read more »
Book Jacket
Look back to the future with classic sci-fi
November 8th, 2012
Is it possible that one of my favorite books of 2012 is actually a two-volume anthology of classic science fiction novels from the 1950s, compiled by sci-fi scholar Gary K. Wolfe? Read more »
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Goon Squad Leader
Meet Jennifer Egan, Book Fest headliner, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Virgo-style perfectionist
November 1st, 2012
Jennifer Egan considers herself a late bloomer, partly because she was working as a typist to pay bills while other future authors were getting advanced degrees in creative writing. At 50, the Brooklynite with a “real Catholic schoolgirl personality” feels behind in terms of prolific output, having only written four novels, a short story collection, journalism for The New York Times Magazine and short fiction for magazines such as The New Yorker, Harper’s and McSweeney’s. Read more »
