J.A. Clemens's Blog
November 30, 2009
Here we have another novel about New York City, also written by an acclaimed author of Irish origin, also about an immigrant trying to find her place in the world. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín takes place long before 9/11 and I read it prior to reading Netherland, but I am deliberately posting my reviews out-of-sequence. I was interested in the premise of this novel, a young woman departing her native Ireland for New York in the early 1950s. I was less interested in Eilis Lacey, the young woman...
November 25, 2009
I don't live in New York City. I don't play cricket. Why then do I keep picking up books about the disorientation of living in post 9/11 New York (see Chronic City) and the civility of cricket (see Psmith in the City)? Joseph O'Neill came to Salt Lake City and signed copies of Netherland at Winter Institute prior to receiving the PEN/Faulkner Award, so I did have two valid reasons for reading this book. Which leaves the question of timing. Why did I wait until now to read it? I had picked it...
October 31, 2009
I've been struggling to find a frame of reference for my review of Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem. One of the themes of the book is the very transmutability of frames of reference, which makes it all the more difficult to apply one to the story. I even attempted to read Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse, an author who is repeatedly cited in the text, but did not profit from it. I was able to identify a suitable song by U2:
I was lost between the midnight and the dawning
In a place of no...
October 16, 2009
Congratulations to Daniyal Mueenuddin, author of the short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (see review posted 2/18/09), which was named one of the five National Book Award Finalists in Fiction. Winners will be announced on November 18.
October 6, 2009
With my renewed focus on time spent writing I have recently completed a new mythological poem entitled Then came Thor, beard aflame. It can be found on the Poems by J.A. Clemens page, a new addition to the blog!
September 16, 2009
Recently I made a conscious decision to redistribute the amount of time I spend reading versus the amount of time spent writing. I have felt somewhat stymied in my writing lately and find it necessary to commit more time to that pursuit. Unfortunately devoting more time to writing entails reducing reading time. That decision is evident in the lapse between posted reviews. Bottom line: less reading, fewer reviews, more writing. Time to test the formula.
August 27, 2009
I've been on a major deal-with-a-demon reading kick lately – from new release The Angel's Game to the book that defined the genre, Goethe's Faust, to the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. I'm on the second book, The Golem's Eye, and so far I like it better than the first book, The Amulet of Samarkand.
July 31, 2009
I have not yet had the pleasure of reading The Shadow of the Wind, the sensational antecedent to The Angel's Game, so I am unable to use that particular yardstick to take the measure of the second book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Great expectations have been placed on this long-awaited follow up, and they factor into the story as well. The events of The Angel's Game precede those of The Shadow of the Wind, so there is no harm in reading the second book first. If The Shadow of the Wind is superior to T
July 2, 2009
The iPod plays such a prominent role in The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips that I kept mine on while I read (it's on at the moment). Like the main character, Julian Donahue, I set it to shuffle, leaving the song selection up to the digital wheel of fate, allowing it to offer up songs to fit the moment. Picking a U2 song to fit this book was a cinch; the inevitable choice being "Angel of Harlem."
Lady Day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Billie Holiday, Irish singers in New Yor
June 17, 2009
The long-awaited release of Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (see review posted 01/09) finally arrived last week! It is the #1 Indie Next Pick for June, and is presently #4 on the Indie Bound Bestsellers List for hardcover fiction! We set our display in a prominent location using a subtle pentagram formation. Along with the hard cover and audio versions of the book we are promoting I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde (University of Virginia Press, $16.50), Grimoi
