Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: The Weekend Update in Earnest

Picks of the Week

Harry Dolan: Bad Things Happen
BAD THINGS HAPPEN is a nifty debut, cleverly told and unfurled from the very first line: "The shovel has to meet certain requirements" on through meeting "the man who calls himself David Loogan." There are reasons for concealment, just as there are reasons the editor of a mystery magazine bearing little resemblance to EQMM or AHMM might bring him into the fold, thus catalyzing a series of murderous events. The twists come quickly and the dialogue is sharp and if it falls apart slightly at the end, no matter - I want to read much more from Dolan from now on.
Ian MacKenzie: City of Strangers: A Novel
MacKenzie's debut novel reminded me a lot of Paul Auster's NEW YORK TRILOGY, whether it was intended or not, in terms of his choice of words, the thrust of the narrative and the existential nature of the main character (whose first name, incidentally, is Paul) caught up in a snowballing sequence of strange and violent events in and around New York City. MacKenzie straddles the line between thriller and internal examination of a man's failings, and his ability to do so establishes him as a young writer of serious talent and future.
Megan Abbott: Bury Me Deep
In a word: amazing. In more words: Megan Abbott, who has never delivered anything less than an excellent novel, exceeds expectations and takes a very bold and very necessary step forward both in the quality of the prose, the development of her characters and especially in portraying how obsession seeps into the very soul of people, transforming them into their worst nightmares all too easily. Just read this book. And then tell many others to do so as well.
Ninni Holmqvist: The Unit
Understandably, echoes of THE HANDMAID'S TALE are hard to ignore in this dystopic examination of a society where fertility is so high a priority that older, single, marginal women are shut away in secret locales to live out the rest of their lives in seemingly perfect harmony - at least, until the "donations" begin. But Holmqvist's marvelous book doesn't browbeat her thesis into the reader and smartly expands her ideas to look at the plight of all marginalized folk, women and men alike, and how the promise of comforts can be the most horrifying of all. Prepare to be disturbed, but prepare further to think about the ramifications.
Paula Froelich: Mercury in Retrograde
This is possibly the most perfect novel for today's economically challenged times. Why? Because it has plenty of glitz and glamor and blind items, as befitting a narrative by the deputy editor of Page Six, but Froelich isn't arch or snarky or acid-tongued in the slightest. Her trio of protagonists land in all manner of embarrassing situations but they aren't played for mean-spirited laughs. The New York here is something of a fantasy-land, but not so far off the mark that it's completely unbelievable. Most of all it's clear Froelich remains sincere and optimistic about her chosen city, and has retained her sense of fun. So no need to check your brain at the door, but sometimes it just needs to chill out and relax.

NYTBR: David Margolick finds Jeffrey Toobin's examination of the nine who comprise America's Supreme Court to be a much-needed tome; Liesl Schillinger (who is waaaaaaaaaay better looking than that caricature, if this is the best the NYTBR can do on the pictorial front, well, let's say I am not impressed) is caught up in the lively tale that Nancy Horan spins in LOVING FRANK; Dale Peck remains haunted by THE OUTSIDERS, 40 years after its first publication; and Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime books by Dick Francis, Jennifer Lee Carrell, Jeff Lindsay and Parnell Hall.

WaPo Book World: The Section gives us a taste of what's coming up at the National Book Festival next weekend; Jonathan Yardley is moved by Ann Patchett's latest novel RUN; and Ron Charles totally convinces me to read Millard Kaufman's debut novel - published at the age of ninety.

LA Times: Francisco Goldman reveals the pain hidden underneath his writerly guise; a new Michener novel appears 10 years after the author's death; and Heller McAlpin finds herself strangely engaged by another recently discovered Nemirovsky masterwork.

G&M: Candice Fertile is impressed with TURTLE VALLEY, the Giller-longlisted novel from Gail Anderson-Dargatz; Michael Smith maps out a few good books on all things genetic code-related; and Margaret Cannon's crime column focuses on new books by Chelsea Cain, Michael Harvey, Ake Edwardson, Mark Billingham, Jeffrey Miller, Barbara Fradkin, Charlie Huston and Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. And since she's correcting the previous column, here's one for the next: Cain's book ain't no debut.

Guardian Review: David Margolick explains the global appeal of Boris Akunin; Val McDermid explains her approach to writing; Oliver Burkeman sits down with Steven Pinker, the enfant terrible of cognitive neuroscience; and Matthew Lewin has his say on recent thrillers by Elmore Leonard, Gianrico Carofiglio, Robert B. Parker and James Barrington.

Observer: After reading a biography about Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Conrad finds the dancer to be "a deeply unattractive man"; Francesca Segal is taken with David Thewlis's first crack at novel-writing; and Peter Guttridge reviews the latest in crime by Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Nick Stone, Alex Scarrow and Kolton Lee.

The Times: Stephen Amidon presents a comprehensive guide to all things Philip Roth; Helena Frith Powell gets a voyeuristic thrill from reading proto-supermodel Marie Helvin's autobiography; and Marcel Berlins takes on new crime efforts from Minette Walters, Henning Mankell, Chelsea Cain and Kathy Reichs.

The Scotsman: Claire Black reads through a cultural history of virginity; Yann Martel offers Jackie McGlone a preview of his next novel; and Samuel Fuller wrote a thriller? Oh, I so have to read this.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill finds hidden depths in Jeff Lindsay's latest outing with his peculiar serial killing creation.

David Montgomery has good things to say about William Lashner's A KILLER'S KISS at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Susanna Yager reviews the latest crime novels from Peter Robinson and Jon Talton.

Tom & Enid Schantz review new mystery offerings from Marcia Muller, James R. Benn and R.T. Raichev.

Anthony Rainone raves about Megan Abbott's QUEENPIN in the Lincoln Journal-Star.

Boyd Tonkin profiles Tom McCarthy, whose work will probably outlast and be read by more folk than most of the usual contemporary literary suspects, I reckon.

Danuta Kean wonders why Lynda LaPlante is so angry, as evident by the profile piece that follows in the Independent on Sunday.

And finally, two different RIPs to two men in France: Marcel Marceau and Marc Behm.

Comments

Wow, a NYT review for Parnell Hall. As Gerald So might say, "Excelsior!"

Posted by: Graham | September 24, 2007 at 11:58 AM

Re: Tom McCarthy...Hoping you're right. Best new author I've come across in a long, long time.

Posted by: marydell | September 24, 2007 at 04:05 PM

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September 24, 2007

The Weekend Update in Earnest

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