Rick Skwiot's Blog, page 2
February 19, 2025
Revisiting Van der Valk’s Creator
After recently enjoying the PBS series Van der Valk, I thought to...
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February 10, 2025
“Not Heaven But Paradise”–New Fiction from Michael Mewshaw
This accomplished novel by best-selling author Michael Mewshaw encapsulates the contemporary European...
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February 4, 2025
“Conclave” Author’s New Novel “Precipice” Suggests How Lovestruck British PM Asquith Mishandled WWI
While other leaders were striving to avoid a European war in 1914,...
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January 27, 2025
A Neighborhood Vanishes
Over the past few years I’ve spent much time, if only in...
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October 23, 2024
Five of the best literary Christmas books
Here are five of my favorite literary Christmas reads. The last listed,...
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October 20, 2024
Three of my favorite reads of 2024
Just published on the authors’ book-recommendation website Shepherd are three books I’ve...
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December 30, 2014
Recommended: a concise history of Cuba by a noted author
Some three years ago I was asked to edit the English language version of noted Cuban exile author Carlos Alberto Montaner‘s compact history of the Cuban people, The Cubans. The history–ranging from 1492 to possible future scenarios for the island–serves as a good foundation for understanding the island’s politics and people as we debate the U.S. role in its future. You can buy the Kindle version for $2.99
November 29, 2014
Inspector Chen creator Qiu Xiaolong praises the mystery FAIL
Qiu Xiaolong, author, most recently, of Enigma of China: An Inspector Chen Novel and ten other fiction and poetry books, recently read and praised my new St. Louis-based mystery novel Fail:
“A page-turner not to be missed in any circumstances, an eye-and-mind-opener to be held against the backdrop of Ferguson tragedy, Rick Skwiot’s Fail is a compelling crime novel in the cool and crisp language, but also much more than that with convincing insight into the cultural and political problems prevalent in today’s American society.”
Likewise, I am a fan of his work, and was particularly taken with his linked short story collection Years of Red Dust (St. Martin’s Press, 2010). His Shanghai Inspector Chen Cao mysteries show the long shadow that Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution—which rent Qiu’s family—still casts over contemporary China.
I first became acquainted with Qiu and his work two years ago when I interviewed him in St. Louis, where he now lives, for an article in Washington magazine. I spent a chill October morning sipping green tea with Qiu in his living room while he told me of his first published writing, which I described thus:
“In 1966, at age 13, Qiu was forced to write the confession for his capitalist father, who was in the hospital recovering from eye surgery, and then to stand by him at his public humiliation as it was read aloud.
“‘My father had to be mass criticized, to stand on stage as a target, where people denounced him and chanted slogans for hours,’ Qiu says.”
You can read the entire article, "China’s Punitive Past Colors Writer & Work," here:
http://magazine.wustl.edu/2013/Februa....
“A page-turner not to be missed in any circumstances, an eye-and-mind-opener to be held against the backdrop of Ferguson tragedy, Rick Skwiot’s Fail is a compelling crime novel in the cool and crisp language, but also much more than that with convincing insight into the cultural and political problems prevalent in today’s American society.”
Likewise, I am a fan of his work, and was particularly taken with his linked short story collection Years of Red Dust (St. Martin’s Press, 2010). His Shanghai Inspector Chen Cao mysteries show the long shadow that Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution—which rent Qiu’s family—still casts over contemporary China.
I first became acquainted with Qiu and his work two years ago when I interviewed him in St. Louis, where he now lives, for an article in Washington magazine. I spent a chill October morning sipping green tea with Qiu in his living room while he told me of his first published writing, which I described thus:
“In 1966, at age 13, Qiu was forced to write the confession for his capitalist father, who was in the hospital recovering from eye surgery, and then to stand by him at his public humiliation as it was read aloud.
“‘My father had to be mass criticized, to stand on stage as a target, where people denounced him and chanted slogans for hours,’ Qiu says.”
You can read the entire article, "China’s Punitive Past Colors Writer & Work," here:
http://magazine.wustl.edu/2013/Februa....
November 7, 2014
Poor grammar and poverty go hand-in-hand
When an idiosyncratic book on English grammar becomes a bestseller in the United Kingdom, it makes one wonder who is buying it. English-as-a-second language immigrants? Schoolteachers? Students who feel their current instruction deficient? Adults who got short shrift in grammar when back in school? If so, then perhaps Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English will become a bestseller here in the colonies as well. It should. Heaven knows we need it.
Recently released here, the opinionated and delightful dip into the wonderfully complex and logical world of English grammar was an eye-opener for me. Not because I learned much I didn’t already know—I did not. But it alerted me to how good an education in the rules of grammar I got in public school in the 50’s and 60’s. And these were not well-funded schools in toney neighborhoods but, first, a rural southern Illinois grade school where farm kids came to class barefoot in September and, secondly, a working-class suburban St. Louis school district that has now lost accreditation.
My grammar education differed sharply from that received by the 18 African American students in a remedial grammar class I taught in the mid 90’s at St. Louis’ Forest Park Community College. I was stunned when I looked at the results of the first diagnostic writing assignment I had given them. All had gone through 12 years in St. Louis Public Schools, all had graduated from high school, and none—through no fault of their own—could write a grammatically correct sentence except by accident.
On the second day of class I gave them the bad news first: You have been screwed by repeated educational malpractice perpetrated by teachers and administrators who abdicated their main responsibility: to teach you the rudiments of the language you need to succeed in life. Then the good news: You have me as teacher, and I’ll correct that.
That promise was overly optimistic. After some stumbling about I obtained grade school workbooks for everyone and together we all went back to where the problem started—first grade. We worked on the parts of speech (diagramming sentences, helped, something they had never been exposed to), spelling rules and structure, verb-noun agreement, etc. By semester’s end most of them got it, and a few had turned into pretty competent writers. Three or four failed—their poor reading skills, which I couldn’t myself address, held them down. (The experience was the seed that led to my writing my new novel, Fail, a St. Louis-based mystery that dramatizes the city’s educational ills and its violent results.)
As Gwynne’s Grammar author N.M. Gwynne argues, “[G]rammar is the science of using words rightly, leading to thinking rightly, leading to deciding rightly, without which…happiness is impossible.”
I am unsure if I agree with that syllogism, although there is ample evidence everywhere you look that suggests poor grammar and unhappiness often go hand-in-hand. If you can’t use the language correctly these days, expect some hard times.
Recently released here, the opinionated and delightful dip into the wonderfully complex and logical world of English grammar was an eye-opener for me. Not because I learned much I didn’t already know—I did not. But it alerted me to how good an education in the rules of grammar I got in public school in the 50’s and 60’s. And these were not well-funded schools in toney neighborhoods but, first, a rural southern Illinois grade school where farm kids came to class barefoot in September and, secondly, a working-class suburban St. Louis school district that has now lost accreditation.
My grammar education differed sharply from that received by the 18 African American students in a remedial grammar class I taught in the mid 90’s at St. Louis’ Forest Park Community College. I was stunned when I looked at the results of the first diagnostic writing assignment I had given them. All had gone through 12 years in St. Louis Public Schools, all had graduated from high school, and none—through no fault of their own—could write a grammatically correct sentence except by accident.
On the second day of class I gave them the bad news first: You have been screwed by repeated educational malpractice perpetrated by teachers and administrators who abdicated their main responsibility: to teach you the rudiments of the language you need to succeed in life. Then the good news: You have me as teacher, and I’ll correct that.
That promise was overly optimistic. After some stumbling about I obtained grade school workbooks for everyone and together we all went back to where the problem started—first grade. We worked on the parts of speech (diagramming sentences, helped, something they had never been exposed to), spelling rules and structure, verb-noun agreement, etc. By semester’s end most of them got it, and a few had turned into pretty competent writers. Three or four failed—their poor reading skills, which I couldn’t myself address, held them down. (The experience was the seed that led to my writing my new novel, Fail, a St. Louis-based mystery that dramatizes the city’s educational ills and its violent results.)
As Gwynne’s Grammar author N.M. Gwynne argues, “[G]rammar is the science of using words rightly, leading to thinking rightly, leading to deciding rightly, without which…happiness is impossible.”
I am unsure if I agree with that syllogism, although there is ample evidence everywhere you look that suggests poor grammar and unhappiness often go hand-in-hand. If you can’t use the language correctly these days, expect some hard times.
November 1, 2014
My new urban mystery FAIL published
Fail
This week marked the Blank Slate Press launch of my new mystery FAIL, available in paperback and ebook via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers. Here's some advance praise:
“St. Louis noir…The slick prose readily entertains…Well-executed.”
--Kirkus Reviews
“Fail succeeds, and does so with compassion.”
--Michael A. Kahn, award-winning author of Face Value and The Flinch Factor
“…a gritty knockout crime story you won’t soon forget.”
--Brian Wiprud, author of The Clause
“…a sheer success…rendered in crackling prose.”
--Michael Mewshaw, author of Sympathy for the Devil: Four Decades of Friendship with Gore Vidal
“…a riveting spellbinding tale with intricate characters…”
--John Baugh, author of Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice
“…as good as it gets in detective stories.”
--Michael Pearson, author of Reading Life—On Books, Memory, and Travel
“Skwiot's finest…a big, two-hearted yarn of political corruption and moral decay.”
--John Leslie, author of Border Crossing
“The twisting plot and fascinating characters will keep readers turning the pages...”
--Kelly Daniels, author of Cloudbreak, California
“This is detective fiction at its finest.”
--Ryan Stone, author of Best Road Yet
“Both crime fiction and a clarion call to rescue America's underserved schools…”
--Terry Baker Mulligan, author of Afterlife in Harlem
“…an intelligent read that refuses to pass the buck, earning a classy A.”
--Scott L. Miller, author of Counterfeit and Interrogation
“…rapid pace, seamless unfolding and well-crafted plot...”
--Peter H. Green, author of Crimes of Design
“…much more than a story about the haves and the have-nots;
it is a story about good triumphing over evil, greed, and corruption.”
--The Book Diva’s Reads
“…a page-turning mystery thriller.”
--Vic’s Media Room
This week marked the Blank Slate Press launch of my new mystery FAIL, available in paperback and ebook via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers. Here's some advance praise:
“St. Louis noir…The slick prose readily entertains…Well-executed.”
--Kirkus Reviews
“Fail succeeds, and does so with compassion.”
--Michael A. Kahn, award-winning author of Face Value and The Flinch Factor
“…a gritty knockout crime story you won’t soon forget.”
--Brian Wiprud, author of The Clause
“…a sheer success…rendered in crackling prose.”
--Michael Mewshaw, author of Sympathy for the Devil: Four Decades of Friendship with Gore Vidal
“…a riveting spellbinding tale with intricate characters…”
--John Baugh, author of Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice
“…as good as it gets in detective stories.”
--Michael Pearson, author of Reading Life—On Books, Memory, and Travel
“Skwiot's finest…a big, two-hearted yarn of political corruption and moral decay.”
--John Leslie, author of Border Crossing
“The twisting plot and fascinating characters will keep readers turning the pages...”
--Kelly Daniels, author of Cloudbreak, California
“This is detective fiction at its finest.”
--Ryan Stone, author of Best Road Yet
“Both crime fiction and a clarion call to rescue America's underserved schools…”
--Terry Baker Mulligan, author of Afterlife in Harlem
“…an intelligent read that refuses to pass the buck, earning a classy A.”
--Scott L. Miller, author of Counterfeit and Interrogation
“…rapid pace, seamless unfolding and well-crafted plot...”
--Peter H. Green, author of Crimes of Design
“…much more than a story about the haves and the have-nots;
it is a story about good triumphing over evil, greed, and corruption.”
--The Book Diva’s Reads
“…a page-turning mystery thriller.”
--Vic’s Media Room
