L.S. Popovich's Blog, page 5

Review of Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Didion’s clear and poignant reportage is always thrilling. Here, perhaps, her most famous pieces evoke a now-distant time when America was defined by resistance to war, and droves were trying out the Hippie lifestyle, spawning great protest music and a whole body of literature. Ranging from California, to New York, to Mexico, to Hawaii, the […]

Review of The Blood-Guzzler and Other Stories by Rachilde

An interesting introduction to Decadent literature. Or a good choice for those already familiar with the genre.Rachilde is apparently a big deal in the genre, having sparked much controversy in her time. I wonder why I hadn’t heard of her until recently.Bravo to Snuggly books for making readily available, a few of her choice productions.This […]

Review of The Troika by Stepan Chapman

The first Philip K. Dick Award to go to a small press. Jeff Vandermeer published this when 120 other publishers declined it. Chapman was a very accomplished author with hundreds of short stories in high profile magazines way back in the days of what I consider the most entertaining science fiction boom, and boasting, I […]

Review of The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright

A posthumously published novel by Wright, who told this story in his collection Eight Men. The expanded version is full of pathos and rage. Injustice in America was nowhere better elaborated than this author’s poignant works.This makes for a great shorter foray into the awful relations between races at this time. Like his protagonists in […]

Review of Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates

My experience with JCO books is that sometimes she gets into this mode of extreme, frenetic pessimism. Near-continual verbal abuse. Characters spouting off like they have a compulsive speech disorder. Extreme levels of repetition. She continues circling the topics she often reverts to, without moving the plot forward. That is the case here. Thousands of […]

Review of The Boy Who Lost Fairyland (Fairyland, #4) by Catherynne M. Valente

Gorgeous beyond belief. Her diction and vocabulary rarely misstep. She ensorcells with glittering scoops of wordplay piled high. It’s a rodeo show of intriguing imagery starring absurdly well-read children.We start out with the changeling scenario. A troll boy’s feeble attempt to pass as a human child. When he meets a similar classmate, we are launched […]

Review of Review of Evening in Paradise: More Stories by Lucia Berlin

Hard living. Child rearing. Drug use. Wild desert landscapes. New Mexico, Paris, Mexico. Small town dramas, rocky relationships. Kids playing in dangerous locales. “Hillbillies.” “Gaunt” people. A young girl’s coming of age. Violent men. The tyranny of life without money. With her signature gorgeous prose, Berlin’s stories remain gloriously readable. In the same mode as […]

Review of 2024 on Goodreads by Various

This year I gave away around 200 books but bought around the same number.  My room overflows with cheap paperbacks. The public library was helpful, though they have been removing an alarming number of audiobooks from Hoopla, Libby, and Boundless. Still, when I walk in, they get my holds out for me like I’m royalty. […]

Review of The Beggar Student by Osamu Dazai

Dazai stays in character with this autobiographical short novel about a sad author attempting to reconnect with his lost youth by hanging out with (or harassing) schoolboys. By sharing in their game, he attempts to recapture the sense of adventure and perhaps the inspiration he has lost in his dissolute middle age. The main character […]

Review of Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

Strange and unsettling lightly speculative fiction from a provocative author. Like with her previously Englished novels and story collections, Murata returns with a surprising novel of pointed social commentary. Though this one was too heavy-handed for my taste, it included enough nuance to captivate me most of the way through. I could have done without […]