Reviews

Ten Years Later, We Still Love 'The Dirt' by Neil Strauss

February 13th, 2012

It's been ten years since journalist and world-famous pick-up artist Neil Strauss unleashed his biographical masterpiece, The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band on an unsuspecting world.

Read Review →

'The Mirage' by Matt Ruff

February 7th, 2012

Remember those 'What If' comics that Marvel used to put out? There was the one that asked what would have happened if the black costume had possessed Spider-Man, and another that posited what things would have been like if Dr. Doom was viewed as a hero. I couldn't help but be reminded of these while reading Matt Ruff's new novel 'The Mirage,' considering the story plays off that same 'what if' premise. What if America was a third world country?

Read Review →

'Raylan' by Elmore Leonard

January 30th, 2012

U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is back, juggling three cases with his laconic ease and typical shoot-first-ask-questions-never approach to law-making. Elmore Leonard’s in fine form here, with a breezy novel that effortlessly weaves together three plot lines originally planned as separate short stories for his beloved character.

Read Review →

'As a Machine and Parts' by Caleb J. Ross

January 17th, 2012

Caleb J. Ross’ newest novella As a Machine and Parts is one part Max Barry and one part typography experiment a la Mark Z. Danielewski.

Read Review →

"Wild Abandon" by Joe Dunthorne

January 10th, 2012

After the success of Submarine as both a book and a movie, Welsh author Joe Dunthorne continues to carve out a niche for himself in whimsical relationship comedy with his sophomore effort, Wild Abandon.  It’s very much a novel of our times, addressing dinner party chattering points from wind power to recycling to legalizing dope to education.  Even the briefest plot summary establishes its quirky, here-and-now credentials: in essence, it charts the progress of a spring awakening at a Welsh commune.  How very twenty-teens.

Read Review →

'Distrust That Particular Flavor' by William Gibson

January 4th, 2012

William Gibson is a man out of time.

Read Review →

'This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl' by Paul Brannigan

December 13th, 2011

2011 could easily be called “The Year of Dave Grohl" because these 365 days have been all his. The founder and frontman of arena rock titans the Foo Fighters, Grohl began the year watching his band’s seventh studio album, Wasting Light, easily saunter into the number one slot of the Billboard 200 chart. That tends to happen when you sell over two hundred thousand copies in the first week.

Read Review →

'Murder In Mount Holly' by Paul Theroux

December 6th, 2011

I tend to be the type of reader who prefers the “minor” works of major authors. Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carroll Oates, etc. I’m a far bigger fan of their short stuff as opposed to their novelistic endeavors. (Okay, I’m bullshitting a little when it comes to King. What can I say, I’m a crackhead for the guy’s books.) I don’t know why. All three of the aforementioned novelists have written more than a few classics, but for one reason or another I gravitate towards the stuff that you can chow down in one sitting.

Read Review →

"Harbor" by John Ajvide Lindqvist

November 30th, 2011

Dubbed "The Swedish Stephen King" by lazy writers everywhere, John Ajvide Lindqvist is a bit of an oddity. Prior to becoming a wordmonger, he spent time in the trenches as both a conjurer (that's "magician" to you A-merkins) and a stand-up comic. Thankless professions, both. Sick of having his occupation marginalized, he decided to try his hand at something infinitely more respectable—writing scary stories.

Read Review →

"The Angel Esmeralda" by Don Delillo

November 22nd, 2011

You might find this hard to believe, but The Angel Esmeralda is 75 year-old author Don Delillo's first ever collection of short stories. How can that be, you ask? According to THIS article, it's because he hasn't written very many of them. In fact, Scribner editor-in-chief Nan Graham says she's been mulling a Delillo collection for over ten years now, there's just never been enough material to warrant one.

Read Review →