BillF Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Half-way through this. Great writing skills and intriguing plot! Quote
jazzbo Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Glad you're enjoying that! That is one of my favorite of his novels. Quote
alankin Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Half-way through this. Great writing skills and intriguing plot! I'm in the middle of this one too! Some funny bits in it -- I laughed at the though of black-market halvah. Mine has this cover: Quote
jazzbo Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 I first read this in the early seventies. . . I have the version you've pictured Alan, and also my first copy, with this cover: Quote
fasstrack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Just picked up Nica's Dream, David Kastin's new biography of the good Baroness. Will report back presently. Anyone who has already read it by all means weigh in. But spoil the ending and I'll moiderlize ya. Wait, wait, er, I forgot. It's not fiction ! Damn, gotta read those pill bottle labels more careful-like..... Also writings, book excerpts, audio interviews and speeches by Josef Skvorecky. If you haven't read him or don't know him, go to where they live, here: http://www.skvorecky.com/ The Bass Saxophone, a novella, is a great place to start, but you can't really go wrong with anything. Great man of conscience also, who moved to Canada after the bitter ending of the Prague Spring, and has been there ever since inveighing about and lampooning totalitarianism. Edited July 21, 2011 by fasstrack Quote
BruceH Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Half-way through this. Great writing skills and intriguing plot! I'm in the middle of this one too! Some funny bits in it -- I laughed at the though of black-market halvah. Mine has this cover: That last is the cover I had, though with mine the writing at the top was not encased in a red stripe. Ted Gioia's revised edition of THE HISTORY OF JAZZ. Much difference from the first edition? Quote
Van Basten II Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 With work being quiet, going thjrough a few ones the last few weeks. Interesting stories but this biography falls into the category where it tells more about the guy writing it than the main subject, a bit gossipy for its own good sometimes . The MR X stories were fun though but a definitive story about this man is still needed. Powerful fiction book, quite haunting, it reminded me a bit of Agota Kristoff's writings (The Notebook, Le Grand Cahier) in the way it tells horrible story in such a delicate and casual fashion, well crafted. For the record I read the French translation Finally going through this right now. As knowing very little about him, finding this book very informative, insightful gives the man his dues without falling into the trap of an hagiography. Another solid one by Giddins. Quote
jazzbo Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 "A Pocketful of Dreams" is a great book. Quote
jazzbo Posted July 26, 2011 Report Posted July 26, 2011 Decided I needed a "B. Cool and Lam Detective Agency" fix. Love these A. A. Fair novels from Gardner. The bickering between Bertha and Donald remind me of that of my other favorite detective duo, Archie and Nero. And I wonder if that isn't intended, even if Bertha and Donald are sort of an inversion as far as brain power goes. Quote
jlhoots Posted July 26, 2011 Report Posted July 26, 2011 Daniel Silva: The Confessor I'm "hooked" on the Gabriel Allon series. Quote
Head Man Posted July 28, 2011 Report Posted July 28, 2011 Robert Palmer - Blues & Chaos Boy, he was a good writer! Quote
Van Basten II Posted August 2, 2011 Report Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) At home reading this. Read two stories so far , quite compelling, now searching for books written by Ricky Jay . By the way I know I picked the cover of the audio book, just could not find a big enough image of the book version. Edited August 2, 2011 by Van Basten II Quote
ejp626 Posted August 3, 2011 Report Posted August 3, 2011 Just wrapped up Macho Camacho's Beat Not really my cuppa. But it definitely made me nostalgic for the old days when Avon/Bard had a substantial line of Latin American (and Brazilian) fiction. That's where I went for Vargas Llosa, Garcia Marquez and Amado. Quote
ejp626 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Posted August 4, 2011 Some interesting things coming from Library of America -- the first in a three volume set of Vonnegut: Vonnegut on Amazon. Oddly, they are publishing the middle works first, then apparently will be publishing a volume with his first three novels (and more stories). Not sure what the last volume will contain, as it probably couldn't be all his novels post 1973. I could see it going through 1985, which would be 4 novels and a bunch of stories and maybe some of the essays. Or it could focus more heavily on stories and essays. I've actually only read two or three Vonnegut novels. I might be in the market for this set, but I think I'll hold off until some used copies start circulating. Anyway, then they have 2 collections of Harlem Renaissance fiction. As it happens, I have read nearly all of the material, since I took a course on the Harlem Renaissance in college. Some of it was quite interesting, but I won't be buying these volumes as my shelves are pretty full at the moment! Quote
T.D. Posted August 6, 2011 Report Posted August 6, 2011 Just read Henning Mankell's The Troubled Man, the last in his Kurt Wallander series. Very good (though more than a little depressing), maybe the best in the series. I had gotten a bit tired of Mankell's style, and had been avoiding his books for a while, but this was definitely worthwhile. Quote
BruceH Posted August 7, 2011 Report Posted August 7, 2011 I first read this in eighth grade. It had a big impact on me then. Quote
BillF Posted August 7, 2011 Report Posted August 7, 2011 I first read this in eighth grade. It had a big impact on me then. Less impact in your eighth decade! Quote
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