Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: Smatterings

Picks of the Week

Diana Spechler: Who by Fire: A Novel (P.S.)
Spechler's unfliching, beautifully written debut strikes at the heart of how one catastrophic event creates a fissure so deep it breaks a small family into fragmented pieces. A little girl is kidnapped, presumed dead, and over a decade later her mother is still searching for answers, her older sister seeks solace in meaningless sex and her brother - who blames himself for the crime's commission - finds his life's solution among ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Spechler uses the inciting event to show the ways in which family members cling to and turn away from each other, do terrible things with the best intentions and show the comforts and prejudices of religiosity with a compassionate eye and voice.
Iain Levison: Dog Eats Dog
First published in France a few years ago, Bitter Lemon press finally makes this darkly comic gem available in English. When a bank robber, bleeding profusely from his last and very botched job, lands in a sleepy New Hampshire college town, disaster is pretty much inevitable. Never is that more true than for Elias White, roped into being the robber's accomplice as a result of an ill-fated dalliance glimpsed through an open window, and for FBI agent Denise Lupo, whose ability is less dogged and more fragmented. Levison nails the academic atmosphere and its jarring juxtaposition with the criminal underworld, but most of all he's clearly having fun with his given premise.
Matthew Hall: The Art of Breaking Glass
If this debut were published in 2008 instead of 1997, I suspect it would have been greeted with the same acclaim and the same sense that this is a major talent with a great deal in store for his career. Because holy hell, this has tremendous pacing, wonderful characters and an offbeat and very unique voice. But since its original publication, the book is all but out of print and there's no new novel from Hall in sight, as he's concentrated on TV and screenwriting duties. So read this book and hope that a) some publisher decides to reissue it b) Hall follows it up someday.
Victor Gischler: Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel
After four crime novels, Gischler turns to something a little different - and a lot more unclassifiable - with this incredibly funny, violent, panoramic and pulpy apocalyptic novel. The world Mortimer Tate left behind was about to go into ruins but what he returns to nine years later is littered with machine guns, strip clubs and people looking out for their best interests (both literally and carnivorously.) With the help of an eclectic crew of sidekicks and gun-toting babes, Mortimer prepares to save the world at the lost city of Atlanta - whether he likes it or not.
Zoe Sharp: Third Strike: A Thriller
Once again, Zoe Sharp finds a way to make the thriller genre her own by focusing on the psychological toll that violence takes upon a person. By the end of THIRD STRIKE, Charlie Fox is at a very dark place, fully cognizant of the consequences her actions have taken upon those she's been asked to guard and those she loves, and I was profoundly disturbed in a way I haven't been after reading a thriller in quite some time. This is a long, long way from mindless fluff, and if you're prepared to travel some very dark and thoughtful corners, this is the book (and series) to read.

The Boston Globe meets William Landay, who relates why he left prosecution behind for full time writing of such wonderful books as THE STRANGLER.

Steve Allan has a couple of excellent interviews up with Jenny Siler and Keith Dixon.

At Things I'd Rather Be Doing, Charles Ardai is this week's interview guest.

Every day brings a new awards shortlist, and today's is the Gumshoe Awards, courtesy Mystery Ink. The nominees are a diverse and eclectic bunch, to be sure.

Patrick Anderson had never reviewed Laura Lippman's work before, but something tells me he has some major catching up to do after his thoughts on WHAT THE DEAD KNOW.

Peter Osnos has some great thoughts on the future of book reviews in newspapers, and Warren Buffett has brilliant insights into the future of newspapers.

The Brown Daily Herald has a great writeup of the university's recent "Pulp Uncovered" Festival (link via.)

USA Today talks to Harry Bernstein, the 96 year old author of a memoir of his past and the divide between Christians and Jews.

UK SF Book News has a lengthy interview with Richard Morgan on the eve of publication of his newest novel, BLACK MAN.

The Bat Segundo show went a bit crazy with content over the weekend, supplying interviews of Martin Amis, Jane Ganahl, Ron Jeremy and Annalee Newitz & Charlie Anders.

The Independent picks up on Muriel Gray's comments after the Orange Broadband Prize was longlisted.

And finally, Dana Kaye has some great points about the complexities of reviewing. Which is also why I hope she reviews more widely.

Comments

A big WOW for Patrick Anderson's review of Laura Lippman's brilliant new novel. That review absolutely blew me away. He praises the book so much that it would almost seem extreme, if it weren't all so well-deserved.

Anderson drives me up the wall sometimes, but when he's on his game, he can really do some damn fine work.

Posted by:David J. Montgomery | March 20, 2007 at 10:38 AM

Why do you continue to offer credence to that despicable Ed Champion fellow? Yes, I realize he pays my bills. And I thank you for pointing out my podcasts, even though I am generally quite inebriated when I record these foolish intros. It has been proven without a shadow of a doubt that Champion is a fundamentally worthless writer. As Mary Dell has indicated, he is incapable of irony. As King Wenclas and May Barber had proven, he cannot write to an audience.

I don't know why you're so obsessed with Ed Champion's efforts, although I'm pleased to see that the blogosphere is now ignoring him. Because it's about time that this douchebag be revealed for the charlatan he is.

Posted by:Bat Segundo | March 20, 2007 at 02:31 PM

Patrick Anderson's review of Laura's book dovetails beautifully into the discussion of respect for wonderful work.

Posted by:David Thayer | March 20, 2007 at 08:10 PM

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March 20, 2007

Smatterings

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