Blog Archive

for posterity and whatnot

Literary Agent Whitney Lee

Whitney Lee is head of The Fielding Agency based in Los Angeles. She took time out of her busy schedule to answer questions. Tell us whatever you would like to share about your background, education, previous jobs. I GRADUATED FROM NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AND ATTENDED THE RADCLIFFE PUBLISHING COURSE (NOW THE COLUMBIA PUBLISHING COURSE) AFTER GRADUATION. [...]

Calling Ohio. Will Judy Woodruff Wake Larry King?

Kevin’s post today induced a CNN flashback of Election Eve. I remember thinking as midnight approached that Judy Woodruff might kill her computer guy if he didn’t “call Ohio.” Given the three hour time lag from east to west, it was well past everyone’s bed time before Larry KIng startled Wolf blitzer with a question [...]

Not Never on Sunday

Kevin Holtsberry got under the hood and fixed whatever problem had bedeviled this corner of the blogosphere the past few days. No Friday Review? No Kevin, no Phil, no Jeff. The soul of the new machine indeed. I finished William Lashner’s latest entry in the Victor Carl series, Past Due. For a guy not fond [...]

Sam Tanenhaus Goes Yard

One of the better editions of the Sunday review of books broke through the summer haze this morning. Here are the highlights: Sam Lipsyte, a blogosphere homey, reviewing Canaan’s Tongue, a dead on take on The Historian, and well written essay by Sam Tanenhaus on Daniel Fuchs’ The Golden West. Here’s a gem from the [...]

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Halfway through The Historian I’m fighting a losing battle with the forces of sloth and distraction. Elizabeth Kostova is chugging right along, unveiling her story in the split point of view of father and daughter. As the young protagonist ages, she separates from her father and somewhere around page two hundred breaks the bounds of [...]

Buy the kids a Scrushy

The New York Times ran a front page story today on the acquittal of Richard Scrushy, former CEO of Health South. Despite the testimony of numerous former lieutenants, Scrushy walked. It broke the government’s winning streak against malfeasant executives. The trial was set in Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. Scrushy’s hometown. During his days running Health South, [...]

David Sedaris, MJ Rose, Hillary Clinton

MJ Rose’s The Halo Effect is now available in paperback. As MJ points out on her blog Buzz, Balls, & Hype, the book is $6.99, a reasonable price by any standard. She would like all of you to buy her book, so get out there and grab a copy. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova has [...]

It's Official. Novels by Morons are Here to Stay

I hate to mark my return to these pages on a down note, but I came upon the NYT’s review of the Washingtonienne and almost slipped a disc racing to the keyboard before my reaction became muted by the weekend’s latest Tom Cruise flummox and Pedro’s clear command of the House that Ruth Built Only [...]

A Meme On Me: Response

Okay, Phil tagged me, so I’m tagging Kevin Holtsberry to keep this all in the family. Three screen names that you have had: Rhino. DiPino. These are characters’ names from assorted manuscripts. Three things you like about yourself: I’m still alive. Sense of humor is warped but functional. Trying to chase the dream of writing. [...]

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

Several bloggers have reviewed The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea. Most notably Trevor at Rake’s Progress did one for the Rocky Mountain News. Daniel Olivas interviewed the author at The Elegant Variation. I started reading it last week and have been caught up in it ever since. Bloggers and newspaper reviewers have invoked Marquez [...]