“There’s no other place around here like this, so–this must be the place. ” Card at Durham’s Ivy Room Restaurant, circa 1966
I’m not especially interested in relating the details of my daily life, so I’m not interested in a conventional blog. But I am interested in writing about books, and about some of the movies I see, and about writing and literature in general. I have a habit of writing, but no wish to show all of it—even most of it—to the world. What I’ll publish here is pieces that have a shape, because that’s what I like in other websites. I don’t want to hear from people everyday, just when they have something to say.
I do love to hear about good books to read, and movies to see. That’s what I’ll mostly write about.
And Is He Pissed posted on 11-19-2024
Valdez Is Coming a novel by Elmore Leonard. From Elmore Leonard: Westerns. Library of America. pp. 279-414. ***** I shouldn’t make too much of Elmore Leonard. I probably already have. He was a genre writer who didn’t care what genre he wasRead MoreLooks Pretty Good to Me posted on 11-14-2024
My Old Ass a movie by Megan Park. With Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maria Dizzia. Streaming on Amazon Prime. ***** I tend not to like movies about time travel. I don’t like gimmicky movies in general (a contemporary teenagerRead MoreShe Wasn’t Crazy. The World Was. posted on 11-04-2024
The Known World a novel by Edward P. Jones. Harper Perennial. 388 pp. ***** It isn’t often that I read a novel, then sit down immediately and read it again. I wasn’t planning to do that this time. But as I pondered my previous review of TheRead MoreElmore the Great posted on 10-17-2024
Last Stand at Saber River and Hombre from Westerns by Elmore Leonard. Library of America. pp. 1-278. ***** I love the story of Elmore Leonard’s formation as a writer that Greg Sutter tells in his excellent chronology at the back of the LibraryRead MoreWriting Like God posted on 10-08-2024
The Known World a novel by Edward P. Jones. Harper Perennial. 388 pp. ***** I have a friend who, when he wants to compliment a writer’s style, says, He (or she) writes like a god. He’s said that a few too many times at this point, but I knowRead MoreFacing Death posted on 10-07-2024
His Three Daughters a film by Azazel Jacobs. With Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Jovan Adepo, Jay O. Sanders. Streaming on Netflix. ***** His Three Daughters is a sleeper, a Netflix original that we watched because we were fishing Read MoreRoll Out the Oldsters posted on 09-19-2024
Thelma a film by Josh Margolis. With June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Richard Roundtree. Streaming (for a fee) on Apple+. **** Thelma is an oldster movie, a genre I haven’t written about for some time but which has notRead MorePlain Truth posted on 09-12-2024
All Aunt Hagar’s Children stories by Edward P. Jones. Harper Perennial. 399 pp. ***** Edward P. Jones, it would seem, can write about anything, and anybody. He published his first book of stories, Lost in the City, in 1992 (otherwise known asRead MoreAcademics as a Blood Sport posted on 08-29-2024
Stoner a novel by John Williams. From John Williams: Collected Novels. Daniel Mendelsohn, editor. Library of America. pp. 257-486 **** William Stoner, after growing up on a hardscrabble farm in rural Missouri, has two major epiphanies in hisRead MoreI’d Call Them Battlefields posted on 08-21-2024
The Groves of Academe a novel by Mary McCarthy. From Mary McCarthy Novels & Stories 1942-1963. Library of America. pp. 289-508. ***** I’ve always loved novels of academic life. I love the academy, as bonkers as it often is, and loveRead MorePerennial Wisdom posted on 08-19-2024
Open Secrets: The Letters of Reb Yerachmiel ben Yisrael by Rami M. Shapiro. Monkfish. 128 pp. .36 ***** Rabbi Rami Shapiro is one of the great reconcilers of spiritual traditions in the world today. In books like Judaism Without Tribalism,Read MoreDrag Queen to Bodhisattva posted on 08-14-2024
Street Zen: The Life & Works of Issan Dorsey by David Schneider. Shambhala. 246 pp. ***** I resisted reading this book for a long time. Back in the early nineties, when my wife was in divinity school and we began meditating, she worked oneRead MoreHe Debuted as a Master posted on 08-06-2024
Lost in the City stories by Edward P. Jones. Amisted. 243 pp. .99. ***** There was a time when I read book reviews the way, as a kid, I used to read the sports pages. At my house we got the Sunday New York Times and Saturday Review, also the Read MoreThe Future of American Zen posted on 08-05-2024
Zen in America: Five Teachers and the Search for an American Buddhism by Helen Tworkov. Kodansha International. 271 pp. **** Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America by Helen Tworkov. St. Martin’s Essentials. 336 pp.Read MoreTrump’s Fist posted on 08-05-2024
That Ubiquitous Gesture You would think that a bullet whistling by your head so closely that it nicked your ear might be a wake-up call, the kind of thing that could turn you around permanently, as if to say, Whoa, I dodged a bullet that time (soRead MoreThe Vanity of Human Wishes posted on 07-23-2024
Butcher’s Crossing a novel by John Williams. Library of America. John Williams, Collected Novels. Daniel Mendelsohn, editor. pp. 1-255. ***** There was a moment in Butcher’s Crossing when I was strongly tempted to stop reading. OurRead MoreThe Alice Munro Conundrum posted on 07-18-2024
A Disturbing Truth I regard Alice Munro as an almost unparalleled short story writer. I can’t think of anyone whose stories I admire and enjoy more. A major part of what she writes about is the odd byways of the female psyche, women who think inRead MoreThe Critic as Artist posted on 07-10-2024
The Company She Keeps and The Oasis from Mary McCarthy Novels & Stories 1942-1963. The Library of America. pp. 1-287 **** In everything I’ve read by Mary McCarthy so far, it seems that a social critic/satirist is in charge and an artist isRead MoreMy Life Is Disappearing Before My Eyes II posted on 07-09-2024
Jerry West (1938-2024) The woman on the phone spoke with a throaty, cultivated, Southern accent. She had called to speak to my father. But when I answered, she said, “David. This is your Aunt Georgia Wade.” She wasn’t really my aunt. She was Read MoreMy Life Is Disappearing Before My Eyes posted on 06-28-2024
Rick Davison 1948-2023 The first thing you noticed about him was his appearance. He had a large, oblong-shaped head, which he kept closely cropped, small ears, severe heavy eyebrows. I believe I heard that he still had some of his baby teeth,Read More
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