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HoW8 - Galveston

Joe Brainard - 25 Years Gone

Joe Brainard 3/11/41 - 5/25/94

Double or Nothing

Double or Nothing

by

Michael D. Brown

New beginnings are all very fine, but what happens when one starts having double vision? How does a traveler reconcile his past and his future when his present appears so muddied?

Available now on amazon.com

The Light in Loreto

The Light in Loreto

by

Álvaro Zúñiga

Scott, nearing middle-age, loses his job.Thinking a little time away might help him decide his future, he journeys to Mexico with his divorced father. Both find new paths to follow and the trip may bring them more than they had in mind in the first place.

Available soon on amazon.com.

Mack's Kids

Mack's Kids

Wildest Political Moments of 2018

Lucia Berlin

So Long: Stories, 1987-1992 by Lucia Berlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cannot say enough about how good these stories are. This collection starts with a contemplative little tale about an old woman Luna Nueva, moves into Sombra, which will probably bring tears to your eyes, then it's on to Friends, which may have you thinking it's moving in a familiar direction until it takes a sudden turn. The stories that fill the rest of the collection go up and down from greatness to merely good, but I found none that I would complain about. Lucia Berlin is a hidden treasure these days, having sadly passed away, on her birthday no less, several years ago, but whose work is recently making a comeback. Therefore, some of it may seem dated, but no less brilliant than when first written. Do whatever you can to find her books and indulge in some of the finest short-story telling available.

Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-1998 by Lucia Berlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you've read So Long, you'll find more of the same kind of stories in this collection. An equally excellent group of tales that seem so real and authentic you will have to believe they are based closely on events in the author's life. The saddest thing for me is to realize we cannot have a novel or two from Lucia Berlin, although her collections with repeated use of characters, especially sister Sally, read almost like novels told in stories. Her style and tone (and characterizations of people from varied strata) are probing and addictive. Her books are something I'd want with me on a desert isle if I was limited in what I could wash ashore with in my survival chest.

NaNoWriMo 2018

Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine

Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine by Diane Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A bunch of stories(?) thrown together, 40, and you choose if they make sense to you individually or in juxtaposition. These are as brief as a short paragraph or as long as 2 1/2 to 3 pages. In each one, you're walking in in the middle, so you listen closely to see if you understand 'the bigger picture'. In any case, Williams' prose is exactingly written to evoke some sentiment and whether the reader sees a whole painting or 'just enough' detail is entirely up to her. I enjoyed many of the pieces, but never felt grounded in the work.
Maybe, in the editing, she cut away too much, but the author strikes me as the type who would never admit to such. She stated somewhere that some critic complained, "These are not stories," and sounded offended that there are readers out there who might not get her intentions. To each, his own.
Fine, fine, fine, maybe not so fine...

Fear

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book came with so much PR, I felt like it was going to blow the lid off Trump's presidency. In the end, he doesn't come off much different than others who've come before him. Maybe a little slower on the uptake than the President of the U.S. should be or should at least appear to be. If you've watched a few episodes of Veep on cable, you know the drill. Everyone swears a lot. Everyone is stepping on the toes of others. People drop out when they feel they've taken enough guff, while others remain faithful (though unsure). All in all, it doesn't feel as though this one will bring down a presidency in the way All the President's Men is claimed to have done.
I won't say it's a storm in a teacup. Some of the "revelations" are shocking, but I think it's being made more of, even by the Tweeter himself, than the content deserves.
It reads like a novel, and that's what makes it worthwhile. Woodward is a good writer and knows how to hold a reader's interest.

The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book took me forever to read.
In the middle of working backwards through the the most recent winners of the Pulitzer for Fiction, I had read various reviews of The Goldfinch, some saying it was amazing and several putting it down as being writing for young adults not deserving of its prestigious win.
It starts off with a bang (no pun intended) but then it slogs through for many long chapters describing in the minutest detail the most unsavory actions of young people, whom I came to think I did not like as protagonists. It is only in the last 150 pages or so that one comes to understand how a book like this could win the Pulitzer. Don't get me wrong. There are many interesting scenes interspersed throughout, but it's so-o-o long.
Near the end, Tartt asks, "Who said, 'Coincidence is God remaining anonymous.'?" A quote often attributed (erroneously, I think) to Albert Einstein, but in its way descriptive of much of what takes place in the story. There is another passage that describes the zone where art and love exist, and this is award-winning writing.
If you start on this don't give up too easily, realize you're in for the long haul, and that you're also in for a memorable experience. I look forward to the movie to see how they cram all of this into two hours.

Loreto

Monterrey

Pareidolia 02