Monthly Archives: January 2010

Consider Phlebas

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you’re looking for some hard-edged, well-written science fiction, you’ll like Iain M. Banks. This was my first Banks novel. He showed up on my radar when I read a particularly favorable cover blurb on his latest book, Transition, from William Gibson. So

Filling in the Blank Spaces on the Map

Succubus Last night I woke up at about 12:30, and I wasn’t wearing any pants. This is curious because I was wearing pants when I went to bed. After that, I did not sleep well. I just kept waking up. And so this morning when the alarm spun up at ten past six, I actually

The Blind Side – A Review

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis My rating: 4 of 5 stars Michael Lewis is one of my favorite non-fiction writers: a great storyteller and a great “explainer.” He’s written several books about the business world (Liar’s Poker), and he’s also written about sports. The Blind Side is obviously in the

Recently Read Short Fiction

I’m on one of my occasional short fiction kicks. I’ve discovered a great podcast, the New Yorker fiction podcast in which one of the magazine’s current fiction contributors reads one of their favorite stories from the archives. It’s a great way to sample some of the classics. I’ve also been dipping into Richard Ford’s A

Who Has Time to Be Literary?

Or, to put it another way, who has time to pay significant attention to the staggering amount of “serious” writing effervescing into the ether from the brains and fingers of Writers? To put it still another way, who has time to pay all that significant attention and still write? Because I pay a lot of