AltWeeklies Wire
'AM/PM' Gives Us 120 Impeccably Compact Stories of Love, Discomfort & Concert Souvenirsnew
These single-page stories were written, one in the morning and one in the evening, over the course of two months. This timeline, and their brevity, may make it sound like this is a simple little book, but it's not.
Eugene Weekly |
Molly Templeton |
09-11-2009 |
Fiction
Matt Prior's Life is in the Toilet ... Jess Walter Put Him Therenew
Matt Prior is the protagonist of The Financial Lives of the Poets and a complete figment of Walter's imagination. Walter has taken pains to ensure Matt Prior's life is as shitty as a well-educated white American male's can be.
The Inlander |
Luke Baumgarten |
09-10-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
In 'Scorch Atlas,' Blake Butler Rains Gravel and Glassnew
Blake Butler aims his telescope at the future, and if what he finds there and shows us in Scorch Atlas even approaches the truth, we can all only hope we won't be around to see it.
Boston Phoenix |
Nina Maclaughlin |
09-10-2009 |
Fiction
'How to Make Friends With Demons' Ranks as One of the Year's Best Novelsnew
Leaping forward and backward through time, Graham Joyce expertly weaves a cohesive novel that essentially chronicles a mid-life crisis.
San Antonio Current |
Rick Klaw |
09-10-2009 |
Fiction
'Big Machine' is a Big, Mean Story by Victor LaVallenew
Far from a standard dry examination of doubt and faith, Lavalle's allegorical approach is sweeping and swashbuckling. Big Machine takes us from Ricky's idyllic childhood -- sweet as saccharine, with a black tar of burn -- to his romantic nadir, dying in a puddle of piss and shit in the basement of a house owned by a man named Murder.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
09-02-2009 |
Fiction
In 'The Sower,' Sex With a Certain Guy Can Cure Everythingnew
Kemble Scott considers his new novel, The Sower -- whose title alludes to the Bible's Parable of the Sower, because Bill broadcasts seed -- Sex and the City crossed with The Da Vinci Code.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
09-02-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Lisbeth Salander Makes a Blazing Return in 'The Girl Who Played With Fire'new
The late Stieg Larsson's follow-up to the sprawling, expertly plotted crime novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is in most ways as gripping as the previous one.
The Georgia Straight |
Brian Lynch |
08-31-2009 |
Fiction
John Hoerr Returns to the Steel-Making McKeesport of His Youth in His First Novelnew
Unlike his first three books, Monongahela Dusk is a work of fiction. But readers will find plenty of familiar ground, from Hoerr's thoughts on how workers -- not just managers -- can make steel better; the ubiquity of gambling rackets in mill towns; and the red-baiting.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Kate Giammarise |
08-31-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
In 'Inherent Vice,' a Dope-Buzzed PI Watches the '70s California Dream Unravelnew
In his zany new novel, Thomas Pynchon goes back to the Golden State to paint a nostalgic portrait of a fictional beach town near LA in the '70s -- when the counterculture finally lost the battle to the forces of control, governmental power and sobriety.
Las Vegas Weekly |
John Freeman |
08-27-2009 |
Fiction
Magic Mixes With Mayhem in the Latest from Rock Star/Novelist 'Dr. Frank'new
Although Frank Portman already knew how to write songs, learning to write books was, at first, "like watching grass grow while hitting your head against a rock." But it was a natural career move for the lifelong book lover.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
08-26-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Thomas Pynchon's 'Inherent Vice' is an Endlessly Entertaining Variation on the Detective Yarnnew
Unlike any previous Pynchon work, Vice fully embraces genre. And in doing so it's difficult to tell if the genre is merely pliable enough to accommodate all of Pynchon's literary whims or if the now 72-year-old author has basically been riffing on this form his entire career.
Baltimore City Paper |
Bret McCabe |
08-25-2009 |
Fiction
'That Old Cape Magic' is Incrementally Less Magical Than Richard Russo's Previous Worknew
Cape Magic lacks the expansive, roomy quality of Russo's best work, but his trademark warmth makes it a worthwhile read all the same -- after all, it's only 261 pages.
The Portland Mercury |
Allison Hallett |
08-20-2009 |
Fiction
Thriller Writer (And Former CIA Recruit) Joseph Finder Shares Trade Secretsnew
Truth can be stranger than fiction. When Boston thriller writer Joseph Finder discovered how easy it would be for someone to sneak into this country with a fake passport, he didn't put that into his 1995 book Zero Hour. But the one-time CIA recruit hasn't held back on other trade secrets.
Boston Phoenix |
Clea Simon |
08-19-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Amphibian' is a Sweet and Smart Book for Optimists of Any Agenew
Nine-year-old Phineas Walsh, the narrator of Carla Gunn's Amphibian, makes you feel like you've been cornered on the playground by a sensitive and intelligent young boy who's going to tell you his observations about the world. Hilarious and affecting, he's something special.
NOW Magazine |
Zoe Whittall |
08-17-2009 |
Fiction
Richard Russo's New Novel is a Beach Read With a Grit of Sandnew
Despite its flaws, That Old Cape Magic succeeds as a funny, forgiving profile of a man crawling his way towards self-knowledge just in time to make things right.
New Haven Advocate |
Jolisa Gracewood |
08-11-2009 |
Fiction
