Stephen Leary's Blog, page 2

Book Review: The Empty Land By Louis L'Amour

The Wild West in the 1860s. And it was getting pretty wild in Confusion, the brand new town that sprouted up real quick when some promising gold mines were discovered nearby and everybody wanted a piece of the action. Confusion was somewhere between Ely, Nevada and Delta, Utah. Still open country today, long after L’Amour (1908-1988) wrote The Empty Land in 1969.The three miners who founded the town were good men. “We want a church and school. We want law and order.”

What would they name the n...

Press Release for My Novel: Nightmare in the Washington DC Subway

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Book Review: Pale Fire By Vladimir Nabokov

My book review of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire on Amazon:

Pale Fire is a novel in the guise of an academic commentary on a 999-line poem by the same name. The poem was ostensibly written by John Shade and the commentary written by his neighbor and colleague Charles Kinbote after Shade’s death.
But as with most Nabokov novels, things aren’t as simple as that. Kinbote may not be the ex-king of Zembla as he claims but the alter ego of Shade’s insane colleague Professor Botkin. But did either one o...

Book Review: More Matter: Essays and Criticism By John Updike

Here is my review of John Updike's book More Matter: Essays and Criticism. On Amazon:


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Book Review: The Enormous Radio and Other Stories By John Cheever

 
Here is my review of John Cheever's book The Enormous Radio and Other Stories.
On Amazon:


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Book Review: Magic and Mystery: The Incredible Psychic Investigations of Houdini and Dunninger

 
My book review of Magic and Mystery: The Incredible Psychic Investigations of Houdini and Dunninger.
On Amazon:


Harry Houdini (1874-1926) is remembered as the world’s greatest escape artist. Joseph Dunninger (1892-1975) was a mentalist largely forgotten now but who was extremely famous in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a precursor of The Amazing Kreskin. Both were debunkers of fake spirit mediums.
The first half of the book contains articles and letters to and from Houdini concerning “fra...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

My New Novel: Nightmare in the Washington DC Subway

Washington DC
Thousands of passengers travel through the Metro subway system every day. No one really expects anything to go wrong.
Terror Attack
Islamists from the world’s most prominent terror group assault a passenger train. We know what they want. Fear. Blood. Death. 
Victims
The police are on the way. In the meantime, the unlucky passengers in the target train will be the victims of the sadistic terrorists.
Haley Presten
The narrator Haley Presten recounts his actions as the only person on...

Bob Dylan Nobel Opens Up Prize to Genre Authors

Opinion is divided on whether singer/songwriter Bob Dylan deserved the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. Some authors applauded the news; others, such as bestselling author James Patterson, thought it was inappropriate.

The Nobel Prize for Literature has endured a checkered past. It has been awarded to some authors that most commentators agree were unworthy. And the prize was denied to some of the greatest name in 20th Century literature: James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, and Jorge Luis Borges.

Awa...

My New Book: Failed World Order

Failed World Order

Stories of a failed, abusive government and its leaders at war with its citizens. Stories include:The Master Plan to Defeat the DystopiansI, ManikinWhere Is the President?The Flurry AbductionThe Screaming Cry of the ChessbirdAvailable through Amazon Kindle HERE.

My New Book: The Infinite Cafe

The Infinite Café: Memoirs & fantasies of cafés real & illusory
I’ve written dozens of manuscripts in cafés. I found it a matter of convenience at first, and after a while, I realized I did my best writing in cafés, so I continued. Magic happens when I write in cafés. Creative ideas spring to mind—plots, characters, dialog—from out of nowhere and I insert them in my books.

Somehow, cafés facilitate literary inspiration. And many famous authors agree. J.K. Rowling is said to have written...