Fictionalized biographies of famous people seem to me a risky endeavor. One could drown herself in years of research and still be at a loss when it comes to telling their story first-hand. But I can understand the fascination—especially with the legendary Fitzgeralds. Told from Zelda’s perspective, Z gives readers an up-close re-imagining of this [...]
I’m a sucker for stories of unlikely pairs. Especially ones that turn out to be unlikely heroes, and in this case, better because of the other. But not in that predictable teeny-bop way. Far from it: Eleanor and Park are two of the best-drawn characters lifted from teen book pages. I believed them. They’re unique, [...]
Job perk: getting to write book reviews on the clock. My recent review of Sheila Heti’s How Should A Person Be? is currently up on the library’s Staff Picks page. While you’re there, scroll down a bit to check out a review by my fellow friend and AG, Austin, who makes a convincing sell for [...]
Hazel Grace, 16, likes watching ridiculous TV, reading the book An Imperial Affliction, and being around Augustus Waters. Augustus Waters, 17, likes Hazel Grace, video games, and really good metaphors. They both dislike cancer. In fact, they would tell you it sucks. Hazel’s lung cancer, diagnosed at age 13, became more manageable after a medical [...]
You know you’ve made it as a writer when Thomas Freaking Pynchon leaves his endorsement on your book’s cover jacket. Which is the case for George Saunders and his latest collection of stories, Tenth of December. Pynchon says Saunders has an “astoundingly tuned voice.” Indeed: Tuned into the layers and intonations of culture and social [...]
The subtitle of Sheila Heti’s How Should A Person Be? caught my eye: “A Novel from Life.” Perhaps a fictional memoir could be expected, yet within a few pages I knew that identifying the precise type of this book would not be possible. Sheila, a young creative and aspiring playwright, offers a story of self, [...]
After a long month of “replacing my normal life with word docs, thesaurus apps, inner dialogue, pinterest boards created for fictional people, and more coffee consumption than usual,” I finally earned my nano badge! 30 days, 50,000 words, hundreds of pages, thousands of notes, two macbooks, lots of lattes, two labyrinths (one metaphorical), one jungle [...]
–in the spirit of Thanksgiving, an excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel, WHAT WE WOULD BE: “The meal is fairly painless, and the food fairly satisfying. Aunt Gwen made some mean casserole thing, and Mom is pleased that Remi’s eating the seven-layer salad, once she’s adequately removed three layers. Phillip inhales some of everything. When he [...]
–from the nano-files: Getting ready in the morning is the worst part of my day. I’ve never been a morning person, but as I finally do roll out of bed, it feels as though I’m taking with me all of the burdens that have amassed subconsciously in those sleeping hours. They collect in the folds [...]
–another nano-clip for you: Paul leans forward. “If the Alpha Librarian is the White Witch of Library Narnia, then we’re those damn beavers just trying to live.” I suppress laughter. “Wow. Sounds intense.” “That’s why we limit our time Upstairs. We always get that even-the-shelves-are-spies kind of feeling.” “I see.” “I think her name might [...]