false 15 60 55 true 5777388 read 2 true 1665763 currently-reading 3 true 1665762 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47748256 to: Sons and Lovers (Modern Library Classics) by D.H. Lawrence
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14051162 The Complete Steelheader: Successful Fly-fishing Tactics (Hardcover) by John Larison
bookshelves: currently-reading
I have a feeling this one's going to rock! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22575071 to: The Bluest Eye (Paperback) by Toni Morrison
If I could recommend only one Toni Morrison book, it would be "The Bluest Eye," not "Beloved." While the events of the novel are startling and unforgettable, what lingers after my reading is the rhythms of Morrison's poetry. In my mind, this is not a book about a certain experience or a certain time or place; this is a book about devastatingly real characters who impel our empathies and self-identification. It's one of the most important books I've read to date not because of what it says about poverty, racism, and gender tropes but because of what it says about loving, hating, and wanting.

For writers, it's worth reading for Morrison's postscript about her processing of putting together the story. Seemingly honestly, she admits that certain sections dissatisfy her now.

I would kill to be able to write half as well. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13312125 to: The Feast of Love (Paperback) by Charles Baxter
Just when you think Baxter's prose can't get any better--it does. A redeeming take on a familiar subject mainly because of the strength of his language. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13312049 to: Women With Men: 3 Stories (Paperback) by Richard Ford
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13311940 to: Kissing in Manhattan (Paperback) by David Schickler
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13311916 to: The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories (Paperback) by Aimee Bender
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13311883 to: My Life in Heavy Metal (Paperback) by Steve Almond
Most often, short story collections are like records: there’s one or two hit singles and lots of snoozers. But hardly a story falls short of fantastic in Almond’s first book. His taut prose crackles with energy, tremendous heart, and lots and lots of sex. But what saves it from bawdiness or gratuitousness is the exploration of what lies beyond the physical, the uncomfortable interior of emotion. In this interior, Almond deals heavily in human error and takes an interesting look at his characters’ flawed, humanistic propensities.

Most notable in the collection is the trifecta of David stories: the titular “My Life in Heavy Metal,” “Run Away, My Pale Love,” and “The Body in Extremis.” In each, David, a retrospective first-person narrator, recalls how his physical desires caused him to stumble into “tender ruin.” But rather than being a man who is ruled by carnality, he’s ruled by desperation for energy and reverberating contact. And the endings, for which sex is the means, come with both sad and hopeful force. He doesn’t attempt atonement for his often very dangerous actions, yet he doesn’t let himself believe he’s emerged unscathed, either. Add to this winning formula some very well-placed details that cast a large net over a host of wrenching emotions and a good dose of humor, and you may find yourself, as I did, wishing the stories didn’t have to end as I whittled down to the last page. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13311858 to: Heat and Other Stories (Contemporary Fiction, Plume) by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is God. ]]>