Eric Sanderson wakes up with no memory of who he is — all he has is a note from himself telling him to contact Dr. Randle, who tells him that his memory loss stems from a severe associative disorder caused by the loss of his love, Clio. Over the course of many months, he receives [...]
Archive for the ‘book review’ Category
The Raw Shark Texts
Posted in book review on April 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Intoxicated
Posted in book review on June 1, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
The full name of John Barlow’s novel is Intoxicated: A Novel of Money, Madness, and the Invention of the World’s Favorite Soft Drink, lest you think I selected the book due to an association with beer. Barlow’s book is set in 1860s Leeds, where Isaac Brookes, wool manufacturer, is retiring to his home. Brookes has [...]
As Simple As Snow
Posted in book review on May 2, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Gregory Galloway’s debut novel is part mystery, part coming-of-age story, telling of Anna Cayne, a quirky new girl in town who disappears in the middle of the school year (and the middle of the story). The narrator is Anna’s boyfriend, someone whose life was enriched by her presence and who becomes nearly obsessed with finding [...]
The March
Posted in book review on March 14, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Stumbling across the announcement that E.L. Doctorow’s fictional depiction of General William Sherman’s March had won this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award (in addition to being a finalist for the National Book Award), I realized that I hadn’t read much other than fluff lately, and so I decided to read this award-winning novel. The story begins just [...]
Anansi Boys, etc.
Posted in book review on February 25, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Neil Gaiman and Christopher Moore occupy a narrow universe of fiction that’s focused on adding fantasy elements into everyday life. Recently Gaiman has moved even closer into Moore’s milieu and decided to place old myths in the modern world, something he did full-scale with the wonderful American Gods. Here he tells of straitlaced Fat Charlie [...]
Environmental Inactivist
Posted in book review, Environmentalism, reflection on February 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
When we came back from Costa Rica, Kathy and I were enthusiastic about doing more for the environment. As is sadly typical of us, however, we made a couple of changes and then otherwise went back to our usual routine. Recently a friend sent me as a gift Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon [...]
Singularity Sky
Posted in book review on February 2, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
When I wrote about Altered Carbon, I observed that much of science fiction is more concerned with creating an interesting setting than it is with plot and character. Unfortunately, Charles Stross’ Singularity Sky is a fine example of such a story. It’s set in the future, hundred years after an Artificial Intelligence named Eschaton has [...]
Flotsam
Posted in book review, dogs, Life on January 25, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
This is the month — the plan is to use the embryos we had frozen in June. Figure we should find out in about a month whether Kathy’s pregnant (though as we found out the hard way last time, that’s only the beginning), so wish us luck. After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve [...]
Altered Carbon
Posted in book review on January 19, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
A couple of years ago, a friend recommended this book as one he thought I might enjoy. Only after he reminded me of this recommendation a few months ago, however, did I take the time to copy it to my Wish List (it wasn’t at my library), where it sat until Kathy got it for [...]
The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole
Posted in book review on January 2, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Stephanie Doyon’s Cedar Hole is a town where, “when a person rose above the lot, everyone else looked around and thought they were sinking. Balance had to be restored, and if fate didn’t see to it, the citizens of Cedar Hole took it upon themselves to make sure that victory and defeat were served up [...]
