Aug 31, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
“How can we write plausibly from the point of view of the dying, when we have not died ourselves, and have no one around to ask what is it like to die? But we do ask. We ask writers.” In The Art of Death – Writing the Final Story Edwidge Danticat writes...
Jul 7, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
Two early books by a most intriguing and lyrical author, Amitav Ghosh: In an Antique Land (Penguin, 2009) is a spellbinding narrative that combines historical research with personal observations of skeptics and holy men, merchants and sorcerers. It transcends genres...
Jun 30, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier (Grove Press, 2004) I first read this page-turning thriller several years ago. I was attracted to re-read it because of its fine plot, historical setting, and character development. It kept me up several nights and...
Jun 21, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
José Saramago is one of my favorite foreign writers. His vivid writing style, and long sentences which meander sometimes the full length of a paragraph, allow the reader to savor the words and the cadences of the language—poetic prose. In The Stone Raft (English...
Jun 15, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
Madam Bovery: The classical translation by Francis Steegmuller and a current, livelier one by Lydia Davis. Both equally enjoyable.
Jun 12, 2017 | Book Reviews, Currently Reading
Kahlil Gibran—Man and Poet, A New Biography by Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins (One World, 2005) Gibran, noted for his poetic masterpiece, The Prophet, wrote over twenty literary works in both English and Arabic. This new biography penetrates the heart of...
