Felice Picano (Author of Like People in History)

Felice Picano rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Carry the One
by Carol Anshaw (Goodreads Author)

read in February, 2013

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

A good author learns by their third of fourth book what they're not particularly good at writing and then either 1)learns to hide it effectively from then on or 2)takes on the challenge and learns how to face the deficiency and attack it head on. I l...more A good author learns by their third of fourth book what they're not particularly good at writing and then either 1)learns to hide it effectively from then on or 2)takes on the challenge and learns how to face the deficiency and attack it head on. I like Carol Anshaw's writing and liked her book Aquamarine very much. This newest, Carry the One, has many wonderful things going for it. The portraits of the two sisters are intriguing, varied, surprising, and always real. Ditto many of the other female characters they come into contact with. Not one of them is in any way not unique or credible. The story-- of a family over a period of decades and haunted by an auto accident in which a stranger child was killed --is a good, solid one and for the most part it plays out well. I also like the way Anshaw details how a successful artist becomes aware of how she is successful and goes through the various, often silly, recognizable, if needed stages in this pursuit. Where I've got trouble is the male characters. Not one in this book have anything like the depth, width or interest of the female characters and this is clearly Anshaw's own perceived deficiency too. I write that because while she allows most of the men here to be caricatures or ciphers, she attempts to do an end-run around the problem with her one major male character-- a brother to the wonderful sisters, who thus should be dealt with in as much length and depth. Alas, the end-run is achieved by making him a starry-eyed astronomer and out-of-this-solar system physicist, but also by making him a druggie. As a result while the sisters develop and become more mature he becomes more drugged and out of it, even while becoming famous, until he dies in an alley of an overdose. Really? Really, guys! Ah, Carol, how I wish I'd been one of the people you acknowledged and who had seen this book in an earlier verison. I would have stopped this from happening. I know from drugged out people and I know personally from the pain of dealing with someone very close until s/he ends her/his life in what Shakespeare calls "a waste of shame." But even so. ... It shortchanges the character, the family, the balance of the book, the reader, and as a result all the glamour, really great writing and considerable wit and charm here can't keep this from being a cauldron with only two legs.(less)

Felice Picano rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Absolutist
by John Boyne

read in January, 2013

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The writing here is so wonderfully smooth and intelligent and lovely that I wanted to like this book a great deal. And in fact, I did like those sections that didn't take place during World War 1, and I loved Marian Bancroft as a character. Every sce...more

Felice Picano rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Astray
by Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Felice Picano rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Telling of Lies
by Timothy Findley

read in October, 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The late Timothy Findley is one of Canada's best known and most accomplished authors and its a shame that this delightful and openly gay man didn't write much about GLBT matters or characters. But the novels and stories he did write are excellent. Th...more

Felice Picano made a comment on Twelve O'Clock Tales --why and how I wrote these stories in my new collection!

"That's wonderful, Andre
The original owners were so instrumental in promoting early gay and lesbian books!!!"

Felice Picano rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Confessions of an Empty Purse
by S. McDonald

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Felice Picano rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet
by Robert M. Hazen

read in September, 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

I'm one of those guys who passed high school chemistry comfortably but who was really glad that was over with for good. So imagine my surprise in reading Hazen's amazing book that I was able to easily follow his clear as glass (admittedly not very co...more

Felice Picano rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Wrong Box
by Robert Louis Stevenson

read in September, 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Felice Picano rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Under Western Eyes
by Joseph Conrad

read in August, 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The title refers to the setting/milieu for 4/5 of this great, all but unknown today, Joseph Conrad novel: i.e. Geneva, Switzerland, in 1907. There, Russian conspirators and Russian secret agents are all gathered to either infiltrate and bring down th...more The title refers to the setting/milieu for 4/5 of this great, all but unknown today, Joseph Conrad novel: i.e. Geneva, Switzerland, in 1907. There, Russian conspirators and Russian secret agents are all gathered to either infiltrate and bring down the repressive Tsarist government or infiltrate and bring to grief the conspirators movement. It's one of the ongoing great stupidities of how literature is taught in American universities that people will graduate with honors having read two of Conrad's dopiest and least characteristic stories: Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer, thereby missing most of his great writing, i.e the novels Nostromo, The Secret Agent, Victory, and especially Under Western Eyes. But no one since Conrad has done this subject or kind of story better--John LeCarre coming closest. A young Russian student in Moscow has his flat invaded by another student who has just assassinated the head of the secret police with a bomb and is hiding out. Drawn into the ridiculous situation, the student balks at the role he is being forced to play. He goes to his unacknowledged nobleman father and they meet with a dignitary who arranges for the killer to be captured while attempting to escape. Even though the government knows our student was on its side, still he is put under enough surveillance that his prospects for a career are ruined. We meet him six months later in Geneva among the Russian emigre community. The student is now deemed a Hero of the Revolution, despite his true role. He meets with a rich woman funding the revolt and her protege, who wishes to become what Lenin will eventually be. Also various hangers on, including a slob of an assassin who our hero figures out is a double agent. And the betrayed student's beautiful, intelligent sister and grieving mother. All try to draw the student into their plots and the sister into her life, forever. Their machinations and ideas and ideals are wonderfully done, and each character is gorgeously laid out and developed. I'm only amazed this story hasn't been turned into a play or film, as the inner and outer drama is intense and real. Some critic called this the greatest Russian novel written by someone not Russian and I would agree. It's a masterpiece. Read it.(less)

Felice Picano rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Ponder Heart
by Eudora Welty

read in August, 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

What works in Eudora Welty's short stories also worked for me in this light-hearted, well written novella: the conmfidential voice, the held back explanations, the unique to unbelievable character surrounded by only a bit less individual characters,...more

Felice's Bookshelves

Felice’s Friends (18)

Felice's Fans (39)

Felice Picano

Goodreads author profile

1 post
Felice Picano's Blog

combine editions
Felice Picano's Books

Upcoming Events

rss
Felice's Recent Updates

Felice’s Friend Comments

Flag Abuse

	Like People in History 3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 569 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lure 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 117 ratings — published 1979 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of Lies 3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 avg rating — 65 ratings — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Men Who Loved Me 3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 1989 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Onyx 3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2001 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dryland's End 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ambidextrous 4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 1985 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: A Memoir of Gay Literary Life After Stonewall 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fred in Love 3.26 of 5 stars 3.26 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2005	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A House on the Ocean, a House on the Bay 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Felice's Bookshelves

Felice’s Friends (18)

Felice's Fans (39)

Felice Picano

Goodreads author profile

1 postFelice Picano's Blog

combine editionsFelice Picano's Books

Upcoming Events

rssFelice's Recent Updates

Felice’s Friend Comments

Flag Abuse

1 post
Felice Picano's Blog

combine editions
Felice Picano's Books

rss
Felice's Recent Updates