Book reviews
In Pursuit of Silence
My review of IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE by George Prochnik is now up on the Globe & Mail website. Recommended, especially for those of us who spend a good deal of time with our fingers in our ears.
Read MoreThe Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
My review of Chang-Rae Lee’s latest novel, THE SURRENDERED is up on the Globe and Mail website. Hope it persuades you to buy this important book.
Read More"If you're at the cutting edge, then you're going to bleed."
Reading the Times last weekend was a curious exercise in juxtapositions. First, I read an article called “On Top of the Happiness Racket” about Gretchen Rubin’s book, “The Happiness Project.” Then I turned to the magazine section and found an article by Jonah Lehrer, entitled “Depression’s Upside.” The title of this essay was a quote…
Read MoreWhy some critics drive writers to a cabin in the woods
I’m fascinated by curious juxtapositions, which always get me thinking, and this week presented an intriguing one. First, and most sadly, J.D. Salinger passed away, a man as famous for hating being famous as he was for writing “The Catcher in the Rye.” Second, Martin Levin, Books Editor for The Globe and Mail, wrote an…
Read MoreWhere the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom
The sad fact is that I read more mediocre, or even bad books, than I do good books; so when I read a terrific book I can’t help but want to pass along a recommendation. So here it is: get out there and order a copy of Amy Bloom’s new collection of short stories, Where…
Read MoreThe Truth Has A Price
A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE GLOBE & MAIL: In the New York Times recently, there was a review of a new memoir which is probably going to cause some controversy — Julie Myerson’s Lost Child: A Mother’s Story. In case you missed the firestorm in England when this…
Read MorePerfect books for magpies
I recently got back from a teaching trip to the Tennessee mountains, where I was teaching a course on keeping a spiritual journal. It was lovely, and more on that later, probably… on my return, however, I discovered a crashed computer and have spent the last 48 hours working on it, with about five hours…
Read MoreBetrayal of the Inuit
I have just finished reading Melanie McGrath’s excellent book, The Long Exile, and I was so moved by it I thought I’d write about it here. Beautifully written, poignant and engaging, McGrath’s book is at once horrifying and hopeful. Her descriptions of the Inuit relationship to place and their fierce will to survive, first, the…
Read MoreOriginal inspiration – James Agee
I was, I think, fourteen, perhaps fifteen when someone I can’t recall handed me a book, called Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. The ‘someone’ was a woman, older than I, and I vaguely recall we were sitting in a kitchen, drinking tea. I have an image of wooden floors, a pot-bellied stove, sagging bookshelves,…
Read MoreChet Raymo's work
Last night, round about 11:30, I finished reading Climbing Brandon, by Chet Raymo. There aren’t many books that keep me up past my bedtime, but Raymo never disappoints and I thought I’d mention his work here in the hopes of persuading a few of you to discover him, if you haven’t already. Author Chet Raymo…
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