Mark Stevens's Blog, page 18
August 1, 2021
Patrick McGuinness, “Throw Me To The Wolves”
Almost indescribably rich and loaded with ideas, Throw Me to the Wolves is a flat-out gem. It’s about the media and social media. It’s about rushing to judgment. It’s about language and culture, teachers and students, memory, the past and … Continue reading →
July 20, 2021
Liz Phair, “Horror Stories”
A “Gen X Patti Smith” as the back cover claims? Not quite, not really—and the comparison seems forced. Unnecessary, too. Horror Stories reads like a litany of vulnerable moments from a rock star’s travel journal—17 moments or situations when rock … Continue reading →
July 12, 2021
Francine Prose, “Blue Angel”
From the opening scene in Blue Angel, Ted Swenson is squirming from a self-imposed bit of foolishness. “The students stare at him, appalled. He can’t believe he said that. His pathetic stab at humor sounded precisely like what it was: … Continue reading →
July 3, 2021
Brendan O’Neill, “Meet Mr Sticks”
One of my claims to fame is that I had the opportunity to interview Rory Gallagher twice—the first time after a show at The Ambassador in St. Louis in 1974 and the second time in his hotel room in Los … Continue reading →
June 15, 2021
Pam Houston and Amy Irvine, “Air Mail”
It began as a nifty idea for Orion Magazine in late March of 2020 as the nation entered the first wave of stay-at-home orders in response to the growing pandemic. “Every week under lockdown, we eavesdrop on curious pairs of … Continue reading →
June 2, 2021
Francis Spufford, “Golden Hill”
The book Golden Hill starts with a sentence that is either 178 or 180 words long (sorry, not going to count again) and you might want to take a deep breath before wading in because—and you might know this just … Continue reading →
May 27, 2021
George Saunders, “A Swim in A Pond in the Rain”
Watch and listen as a master writer processes the great prose of others. Watch an analyst analyze. Have your mind blown about how much more was on the page, embedded in the words and artistic techniques, than you ever thought … Continue reading →
May 18, 2021
Tomas Alamilla & Mario Acevedo, “Luther, Wyoming”
Sheriff Nelson Cook is attempting to keep order out on the fringes of civilization in the nowhere, “flea speck” town of Luther, Wyoming. Sheriff Cook is about to come into a nifty little windfall. It’s dirty money. Bribe money. He’s … Continue reading →
May 14, 2021
Jeffrey Fleishman, “My Detective”
Straightforward concept, dynamite execution—My Detective is proof that it’s all in the telling. And characters. Jeffrey Fleishman’s prose is poetic and poignant. The story alternates between a jaded homicide detective and a female killer who is in the process of … Continue reading →
April 21, 2021
Willy Vlautin, “The Night Always Comes”
A review of “The Night Always Comes,” by Willy Vlautin, for The New York Journal of Books.
