A Small Flaubertian Moment: A Review of Julian Barnes’ Something to Declare Barnes’ latest work, Something to Declare is non-fiction, a series of eighteen essays collected over twenty years, covering a range of (mainly gallic) subjects from Richard Cobb’s love and disappointment…
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A review of Elizabeth Jolley’s An Innocent Gentleman
Is this Nothing: Elizabeth Jolley’s An Innocent Gentleman As a comedy of manners, An Innocent Gentleman makes for a mildly humorous, and easy to read novel; a brief play which is a kind of light farce. As a commentary on…
An interview with Elizabeth Jolley
Elizabeth Jolley, the author of An Innocent Gentleman, talks about her reader, changes in writing over the years, on innocence, themes, and labelling, and characters in her latest novel, An Innocent Gentleman. Interview by Magdalena Ball Magdalena: Tell me about the…
A Review of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
When a novelist wins a prestigious literary prize like the Pulitzer, the National Book Award, the Pen/Faulkner, it is interesting to glance back at his first novel–first novels, even those praised, so regularly ignored by the public at large–to discover…
Interview with Michael Chabon
The author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay talks about the making of his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, writing for Hollywood, the upcoming film version of his book, and gives us a tiny hint on what his next project will…
A review of Siren Singing by Suzanne Nixon
Suzanne Nixon’s poems are written in free verse, a description often indicating no more than extreme laxity. But she is scrupulous and has a tense, almost quivering, regard for felicities of sounds. The result is exquisitely crafted work that rides…
A Review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
If you are interested in the ‘golden age’ of comic books, are of Jewish, Eastern European origin, have some interest in WWII, or are a New Yorker, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay will have a particular resonance for you. Even…
A Review of Alice Munro’s Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
And there is much in Munro about temporary victories, a sensitive adjustment to the fact that facts, although facts, are not necessarily the last answer. Munro uses her own experiences as child and young woman. In this world her mother…
A review of A Word in Your Ear: How & Why to Read James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake by Eric Rosenbloom
This is a stunning performance and of exemplary clarity contrasted to the many books on the Wake that are almost as difficult to read as the Wake itself and much less fun. The generosity of the author in making this…
An Interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson The author of This is the Place talks about the inspiration for her book, her characters, the difficulties involved in getting a first book published, her free e-book Cooking by the Book, and her upcoming projects. Interview by Magdalena…