-
Galley Talk
Jeff Waxman, 57th Street Books, Chicago For all of us fed up with Paulo Coelho, Rubem Fonseca's forthcoming collection, The Taker & Other Stories [Univ. of Nebraska/Open Letter, Nov.], is a welcome addition to the body of translated Brazilian literature. Fonseca's characters are mad and sometimes manic, his prose can be compared favorably with Bret Easton Ellis or Norman Lock, but set in th...
-
Galley Talk: Fifty-to-One by Charles Ardai
David Thompson, manager, Murder by the Book, Houston There aren't many books I'd want to read in unbound manuscript form, but when Charles Ardai announced the completion of his new book, Fifty-to-One [Hard Case Crime, Nov.], I immediately pleaded for a copy. Ardai has earned awards and accolades for his writing (two novels as Richard Aleas and numerous short stories), but he's probably best kno...
-
Galley Talk: Serena by Ron Rash
Lyn Roberts, manager, Square Books, Oxford, Miss. Ron Rash's Serena (Ecco, Oct.) opens in 1929 as newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the highlands of North Carolina to oversee their scorched earth logging operation. Equally ruthless, they turn their marriage into a blood pact as much as a civil union.
-
Galley Talk: The Fire by Katherine Neville
I've waited more than 10 years for Katherine Neville's The Fire [Ballantine, Oct. 14]. I've sold hundreds of copies of The Eight (a must-read for anyone who has somehow missed it) in anticipation of its arrival. I am thrilled to say that The Fire has exceeded every one of my expectations. These books defy the restriction of genre classifications and transport you into another book world all to...
-
Galley Talk: Captives
I love dreaming myself into movies, so I was already more than sympathetic to the plight of Daniel Bloom in Todd Hasak-Lowy's witty and hilarious debut novel, Captives [Spiegel & Grau, Oct.]. Bloom is a screenwriter who pens a new screenplay about a sniper who picks off corporate bad guys. Bloom suddenly realizes that the screenplay reflects his real thoughts: he really would like to kill t...
-
Galley Talk: Sweetsmoke by David Fuller
David Fuller's fascinating debut novel, Sweetsmoke [Hyperion, Sept.], is an admirable historical—yet somehow personal—investigation into the horrors of slavery during the American Civil War at a Virginia tobacco plantation called Sweetsmoke. Cassius is a black skilled carpenter slave whose oppressed spirit is shaken by the assassination of his best friend and tutor, propelling him i...
-
Galley Talk: Dewey by Vicky Myron
Vicky Myron's very enjoyable new biography, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World [Grand Central, Sept.] introduces a cat named Dewey Readmore Books. Anyone who is a fan of memoirs, felines, history or simply a good story will enjoy this book. It's amazing how a tiny kitten, abandoned at the Spencer Public Library's book drop on a frigid winter day in 1988, could bring care an...
-
Books & Son
As the editor of this magazine, I get a lot of books sent to me free. (And I'm not complaining, so, please, don't even think about changing your ways.) In fact, free books, sent unbidden, is one of the many great perks of this job—I get books I want and books I never knew I wanted until I had them in my possession.
-
Galley Talk: The Sacred Book of the Werewolf
Reader, beware: Victor Pelevin's The Sacred Book of the Werewolf [Viking, Sept. 4] may liberate you. It's not hard to imagine Russian-born Pelevin as a Zen master of the literary, intent on provoking enlightenment—his own? our own?—through his work. Pelevin is such a skilled and sly writer that readers won't notice it happening.
-
Galley Talk
Another rainy day in Portland provided the perfect setting for reading Brian McGilloway's absorbing debut, Borderlands [St. Martin's, Sept.]. Benedict Devlin is a member of Ireland's police force. When the body of a young girl is found, Devlin and his team must work with officers from Northern Ireland to track down the killer.
-
Galley Talk
Bill Cusumano, Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, Mich. Frances de Pontes Peebles's The Seamstress [Harper, Aug.] is a novel as big, sprawling, lush and exotic as its locale, Brazil in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The stories of the dos Santos sisters, Emilia and Luzia (called Victrola because of a deformed arm) reflect a society caught between feudal mores and rising modernity.
-
Galley Talk: Dumbfounded
I am always on the lookout for quirky coming-of-age memoirs in the tradition of Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris, so I could not resist Matt Rothschild's Dumbfounded [Crown, Aug.]. Rothschild grew up in a luxury Manhattan penthouse raised by his wealthy Jewish grandparents. Matt's cross-dressing and devotion to Judy Garland raises eyebrows.
-
Galley Talk
When I was 19, I joined the Mormon Church because I wanted to marry my high school girlfriend. Predictably, the whole thing went south and I ran away to the East Coast, leaving the Mormons behind. Or so I thought. Warren Jeffs's recent arrest and the FLDS compound raid put Mormonism in the headlines and on everyone's lips.
-
Galley Talk: The Little Book
I'm not usually a fan of either time travel or fantastical fiction but once in a great while a book comes along and completely changes my mind—the last time this happened was in 2004 with Andrew Sean Greer's The Confessions of Max Tivoli—and now it's happening again—Selden Edwards's The Little Book (Dutton, Aug.
-
Galley Talk: Art in America
Ron McLarty's third novel, Art in America (Viking, July), is peopled with a bevy of wonderful characters. His characters are interesting not only for their flaws but also their humanity. Their dialogue is a joy to read. It's been a long time since I've read a book in which the dialogue stuck in my head like this.
-
Galley Talk
I read The Secret Scripture [Viking, June] and I have to say, I'm in love with this author! Novelist, poet, and playwright Sebastian Barry (The Long, Long Way and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty) weaves a brilliant tale of secrets, memory and grief with prose that is both classic and elegant. This is almost a psychological study of two characters: doctor and patient, their lives and minds.
-
Galley Talk: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
I was initially a bit daunted by the size of David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle [Ecco, June 10] and his growing reputation as a tremendous new literary voice, but his prose immediately captured me and his characters called to me as if from personal memory. I actually found myself slowing down my reading, fearing I would gobble it up.
-
Galley Talk: Black Out
I am a big fan of Lisa Unger's work—I chose Beautiful Lies as my favorite paperback of 2006. When I received Black Out [Shaye Areheart, May 27] I admit that I was a bit disappointed that it was billed as a “stand-alone.” But as soon as I started reading, I was hooked by the story told in a strong female voice, and I couldn't wait to see what twists and turns lay ahead.
-
Galley Talk: Sun Going Down
In the sprawling family saga Sun Going Down (Touchstone, May), Jack Todd reminds us that life in the west during the late 1800s was more difficult and unhappy than we'd like to remember. People were hurt (physically and emotionally), and not every ending was happy. Todd draws on personal family history to tell the story of the Paint family, beginning with Ebenezer, who barely escaped the Civil ...
-
Galley Talk: Comfort: A Journey Through Grief
When Ann Hood lost her young daughter, Grace, she also lost her ability to write—and it was her writing that had gotten her through all the difficult times of her life. Needless to say, she's found that ability again, and in Comfort: A Journey Through Grief [W.W. Norton, May] her voice is strong and true.
Browse archive by date:
