Waiting for Kate Bush is a funny, fast-paced read. The characters are full of interesting Dickensian qualities, quirky parallels, and twists which tease out the theme—that nothing is quite what it seems. Fame is a fleeting and strange thing which…
Tag: fiction
A review of Billie’s Ghost by Chad Hautmann
Despite the grief and sadness, Billie’s Ghost is ultimately a tale of hope and redemption. This slim volume will haunt you long after you have turned the last page and make you want to re-discover the music of Billie Holliday…
A review of Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres
The characters age beautifully, and the reader is eager for more of the quirky and believable Eskibahce characters. de Bernieres has a wonderful sense of character and the delight in the eccentric detail which takes the reader deep into the…
A review of Millard Fillmore, Mon Amour by John Blumenthal
The opening monologue is an ill-tempered attack on romantic love. The author is even cynical about the apparent attachment between a human and the pet dog. The momentary discomfort of having a narrator before one has any characters or a…
A review of The Last Song of Dusk by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
Like all good novels, the book raises plenty of questions: Is love enough, or do we need more–support, friendship, companionship, happiness? Is there really no mercy in life? Or are there indeed mercies in little moments, of story, song and…
A review of Jake with a Snarly Smile on His Chops by Matthew Ward
This is something of a boys own adventure story, billed by the author as a few hours entertainment, and as that, it succeeds admirably. There are plenty of chuckles, and lots of mouth watering detail which bring the setting, both…
A review of Oblivion by David Foster Wallace
Wallace’s fiction forces the reader to look beneath the surface. His characters, like most human beings find it difficult to communicate directly. More often than not what they are really concerned with must be parsed out through indirection, as though…
A review of Bright Planet by Peter Mews
This is a fast moving, enjoyable adventure tale which resolutely refuses to become too serious about its purpose. Instead it is a very visual, funny, historically rich, and occasionally silly trip through an Australia that may or may not have…
A review of Passionate Spectator by Eric Kraft
Here, in short, is another perfect book by an author with few faults and whose works are almost completely unknown. It would seem that there is no appetite for books that are, among other qualities, great intellectual fun. Reviewed by…
A review of What Rough Peace by Josh Davis
But Davis is already impatient of mere imitation and almost every page shows flashes of originality. Usually these are statements so condensed that they are poetic explosions and not sober prose. Reviewed by Bob Williams What Rough Peace by Josh…