These two handsome and distinctive paperbacks form part of a series showcasing the work of Russian Master Mikhail Bulgakov. Some of the stories in Notes on a Cuff appear in English for the first time, so this is a real treat for Bulgakovians. In addition, both books include valuable textual apparatus: photographs (Mikhail was quite the dandy), notes and a concluding section on the life and work of Bulgakov. Continue reading Diaboliad and Notes on a Cuff – Book Review
Recently, I mentioned to an author that writing can sometimes seem a trivial and frivolous occupation. She replied that she never thought of it that way. It made me wonder if insecurity about writing is more of a male problem than a female one.
Rather like male film actors who indulge in ‘manly’ excesses to compensate for their lack of self-esteem, there are male writers who embrace a lifestyle based on alcohol or drugs or sex or danger and any combination thereof in order, it seems, to bolster something within themselves that whispers in the night that making up stories is unworthy of real men. Continue reading Raking the Dust – Book Review
Carl Jung’s concept of the Shadow is one of many intertwined and mutually reinforcing themes in Mark Gordon’s complex and absorbing novel.
The Shadow comprises the negative, primitive and morally reprehensible emotions and impulses inaccessible to the conscious mind: among them, lust, greed, envy, rage and the pursuit of power. It is at its most dangerous when habitually repressed and rejected, eventually manifesting itself in mental disturbances such as neurosis, psychosis or irrational hostility.
Fred Pooley has returned to London after six years in Hong Kong. He has worked hard and saved a little money, but something is wrong. He can’t settle down, he avoids visiting his mother, and there’s an emptiness inside him.
Petra, a new girlfriend, tries hard to bring Fred out of himself, yet he is irresistibly drawn to his former partner, Sally, and her young daughter. He grows increasingly certain that children are what he needs to fill the void in his life. When he decides to act on that need, he is led imperceptibly into illegality, obsession and self-destruction. Continue reading Mister Spoonface – Book Review
‘Sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re seeing,’ Megan Kimsey remarks as she prepares to fly from Denver to Bogota at the beginning of Ginger Bensman’s ambitious novel. It’s an appropriate statement from a young woman prone not only to premonitions, but also to visions of a past life lived centuries ago in a different culture.
These episodes are naturally interpreted as symptoms of mental illness by Megan’s mother, a physically attractive woman who instinctively colonizes everything and everybody, and whose need to control extends to hiring a dubious psychiatrist to cure her daughter of her hallucinations.
Megan can depend on her father’s love and support, until his loss precipitates a personal crisis and the start of a quest to find the truth about herself. Continue reading To Swim Beneath the Earth – Book Review
After reading Proud Patrick, I took it into my head to visit Michael O’Reilly’s profile on Goodreads, where I learned that he counts among his main influences, not only writers such as Forster, Hardy, Joyce, Melville, and Shakespeare, but also filmmakers such as Bergman, Cassavetes, Kubrick, Kurosawa, and Lean.
I found this list of luminaries to be intriguing, as I also think of my own writing in terms of film style – not a conscious and deliberate emulation of particular shots and scenes, but the grammar of film and the kinds of dramatic tension that great filmmakers know how to construct.
Title: When We Sleep
Author: Ernesto H. Lee
Genre: Supernatural fiction / Dreams
When We Sleep by Ernesto H. Lee is a supernatural fiction book with a focus on the mysteries that his dreams have to offer. The book blurb promises bizarre truths the reader will encounter.
Title: Thursday’s Child
Author name: Joseph Wurtenbaugh
Genre: Literary Fiction / Romance / Business Intrigue / Legal Thriller
This is an epic story, seasoned with mystery and romance, of how Adele Elizabeth Jansen’s life transforms slowly but irrevocably after meeting author, poet, polymath, and unrecognized genius, Thomas Newcombe.
Title: A Place of Timeless Harmony
Author: Curt Eriksen
Genre: Literary Fiction
A Place of Timeless Harmony is about a couple, Richard and Sofie, who go on a romantic vacation to the African safari. But they are carrying secrets that are weighing heavily on their hearts, and the two realize that no matter how much they hide from each other, not opening up about the darkness within is only hurting their chance at love.
Continue reading Editorial Review – A Place of Timeless Harmony
Title: The Beasts of Electra Drive
Author: Rohan Quine
Genre: Literary Fiction/Magical Realism/Horror
Aptly titled, The Beasts of Electra Drive tells the story of a video game designer’s revenge on the “Dreary Ones,” the corporate leaders at Bang Dead Games, the company where he worked until recently.
They’re about to release a new, glamorous social media software, Ain’t They Freaky!, designed to fuel the tabloid-style view of the world—cutting others down to build oneself up—and Jaymi Peek feels that something is wrong. Despite owning an opulent house on Electra Drive and two nearby rental properties, something is missing…and then he has an epiphany.
Continue reading Editorial Review – The Beasts of Electra Drive
