Reviews and reviewers
[ The Modern Word: Book reviews ]
(My previous post was way too much like an infomercial. From now on, it?s gonna be channel surfing: new paragraph, new channel.)
Jeff VanderMeer (a surname to rival Santala), the author of City of Saints and Madmen and the co-editor of The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, is going places. VanderMeer?s Scriptorium page for Angela Carter offers the definitive online introduction to one of his three biggest literary heroes. (The other two being Vladimir Nabokov and Edward Whittemore.)
The short stories covered by The Sideshow make me shudder a little: all those young Americans, all those absolute beginners in the ways of art. Scary monsters ?honing their craft? while studying Creative Writing? I?m afraid of Americans.
Blog trivia: Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation reviewed Mark Haddon?s curious dog book for TMW.
Tim Conley?s admonishment of Roger Lewis? Anthony Burgess: A Life is a good read. Conley?s contributions are always enjoyable (his style is precise and to-the-point). I especially like his piece on John Banville; that opening quote sets the mood right away. Conley?s first book was Joyces Mistakes (see interview), and according to his website, he is currently working on something called The Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages.
