“Visions of Excess: on Thomas Pynchon’s V.” by Adam Moody
That is the heart of the story, but in his playful and distinctively experimental style, Pynchon for much of the book throws the heart of his story deep into the background.Continue Reading
“The Boring God of Muriel Spark’s The Comforters” by Patrick Preziosi
Although references to Catholicism are replete with typical Sparkian bite…the maintenance of personal faith endures through all the narrative detritus that’d throw a lesser novel off its axis.Continue Reading
“Since Eden Went Wrong” by Scott Nadelson
“The world may be broken now, but it was once whole, or could have been. To me, the real tragedy of human beings as a species is that we are capable of imagining perfection, though we don’t always strive toward it”Continue Reading
“Petty King of the High Country” by Ben Libman
But Giono was not simply a romantic for the sylvan days of yore. His fictions are permeated with a land whose primary characteristic is its sheer, often murky sensuousnessContinue Reading
“Notable Nobels” by Luis Panini
A remarkable list of 130(1) writers who all are worthy of The Nobel Prize in Literature.Continue Reading
“A Plea for A.M. Homes & Making the Familiar Strange Again” by Nick Farriella
With a particular sharpness and wit—to that of Saunders, but without the quirkiness and underbelly of Mr. Rogers-level compassion—Homes portrays the strangeness of normal contemporary America.Continue Reading
“The Wrath of Pierre Guyotat” by Tobias Freeman
I had no idea who Guyotat was, but the image of a shaved muscular presence devouring everything in its path made me feel heroic. In my solitude that’s the kind of monk I’ll be, I thought, bald and slaying demons.Continue Reading
What the Hell Does it Mean? by Nick Farriella
But, while appreciating the style and tactics and sheer artistry of AA, I still can’t help, when watching an Avant-Garde film, or reading something abstract or surreal, or looking at an abstract painting, I can’t help but ask myself, “What the hell does it mean?”Continue Reading
Handke and Time-Travel by Greg Gerke
Another mostly mild winter of herky-jerky temperatures encapsulated New York in January, but Peter Handke—whose literary star has been in eclipse since his 1990’s political statements on Bosnia and Serbia—aided my quest to return to something stern, reminding me of old times and harder winters and the limitless innocence of childhood and its golden days.Continue Reading
The Imprint of Celluloid Ghosts & Ontological Eternalism: Speculations on the Narrator of Infinite Jest (a gothic mystery) by Tex Gresham
Infinite Jest is a novel that is also a compilation of David Foster Wallace’s knowledge of cinematic technique and critique. Like any proper cinematic auteur, Wallace has learned the rules of cinematic storytelling and then abuses them to unsettle the reader (or viewer) and situate them outside the realm of expectation and comfort.Continue Reading