Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: The After Hours Weekend Update

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.

First up is my newest LA Times column, pretty much devoted to all things Jo Walton. Her work is classified as SF (being published by Tor and all) but mystery readers would do well to pick up FARTHING and HA'PENNY.

Also, my review of Caryl Phillips' FOREIGNERS ran in Time Out New York a few days ago.

NYTBR: Geoff Dyer feels the music of Alex Ross's THE REST IS NOISE; Stephen King is a rather inspired choice to review Eric Clapton's autobiography; Kevin Bazzana's tale of a failed musical prodigy wins the approval of Michael Kimmelmann; and Joseph Kanon looks at two similar but different takes on "Agent Zigzag".

WaPo Book World: Elizabeth Hand is enthralled with Joe Hill's short story collection; Louis Bayard finds Susan Tyler Hitchcock's cultural history makes Frankenstein more universal than necessary; and David Montgomery is sucked into Joyce Carol Oates' suspenseful world depicted in THE MUSEUM OF DR. MOSES.

LA Times: James Marcus is impressed with the breadth of John Updike's curiosity; R.J. Smith finds Gram Parsons remains out of focus even after a lovingly rendered 650-page biography; and Jon Meacham takes great pleasure in Studs Terkel's unique version of autobiography.

G&M: Michelle Berry admires the emotional detail of Gail Tsukiyama's sixth novel; Jack Whyte's new installment of his historical trilogy is more cliche than nuance, John Burns finds; and Andrew Cohen hosts a virtual symposium of presidential and prime ministerial memoirs.

Guardian Review: Matthew Sweet pays tribute to Christopher Lee's version of Dracula; Paul Laity finds out why Ronan Bennett still maintains his political edge; Kate Mosse details her love affair with a neglected horror master; and Ursula LeGuin finds favor with Lian Hearn's TALES OF THE OTORI and its newest prequel installment.

Observer: Jason Burke doesn't find much truth in Fidel Castro's memoir; Morwenna Ferrier wishes Ken Follett's new novel would just end already; and Kirsty Gunn approves of the newest additions to Canongate's Myths series;

The Times: William Nicholson explains why writers shouldn't shy away from any storytelling format; Erica Wagner wishes book culture had a more female-centric view than it currently does; Susan Hill successfully channels M.R. James in her new ghost story; and Marcel Berlins reviews new crime offerings from French writers.

The Scotsman: Stuart Kelly tallies the results of a poll on what future Scotland may look like; Kelly also talks with Adam Thirlwell about his newest novel; and Michael Pye approves of a book detailing how New York lost its soul.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill thinks John Hart's second novel is even better than his first - an opinion I happen to agree with.

Hallie Ephron reviews new crime novels by John Hart, Sophie Hannah and Gordon Campbell for her latest crime fiction column in the Boston Globe.

David Montgomery is also in the Philly Inquirer this week with his take on Walter Mosley's BLONDE FAITH. A shorter review of the book appears in Montogmery's Sun-TImes column along with verdicts on books by Jennifer Lee Carrell, John Hart, Gordon Campbell and I.J. Parker.

The Inquirer also profiles the Abbey Grangers, a group of local Sherlockians.

Tom & Enid Schantz dedicate their Denver Post crime column to new mysteries by Simon Beckett, Colin Cotterill and Barbara Cleverly.

Craig Johnson answers questions about his Walt Longmire series for Oregonian readers.

Susan Page Davis describes her writing life to the Kennebec Journal.

Jim Bawden has the scoop on filming of the TV version of Maureen Jennings' series set in Victorian Toronto.

Noted French literary agent Boris Hoffman has died at the age of 61. (thanks to CB for the link.)

Comments

I found your column in the L.A.Times (congratulations, by the way)very thought provoking. I'm fond of the "what-might-have-been-genre," but hadn't really thought of a name for the sub-genre. While I've read a lot in this specific area, I haven't read Jo Walton, and I look forward to Farthing. And, she has a series! That's even better. Thanks for bringing these books to the attention of the reading public. Great to know that books are still being reviewed in the print media.

Posted by: Janet Rudolph | October 31, 2007 at 10:09 PM

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October 28, 2007

The After Hours Weekend Update

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