'The Second Plane' by Martin Amis Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700 September 11: Terror and Boredom
IT would be too easy to read Martin Amis' slim book on Sept. 11 in a day and to dismiss it with a politically correct glare. The dozen essays, columns and reviews and two short stories in "The Second Plane: September 11, Terror and Boredom" are more illuminating than that, though deeply, sometimes self-indulgently flawed.
'The House of Widows' by Askold Melnyczuk Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700 Family secrets lie at the end of a dark and twisted path
FROM its puzzling opening line ("The most common grammatical error is the lie"), there's an ominous vibe to Askold Melnyczuk's third novel, "The House of Widows," and the sense of unease lingers until the final sentence. It's a mysterious, masterfully taut story in which dread plays a prominent role.
'Marco Polo' by Laurence Bergreen Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700 An account of the adventures of the celebrated 13th century world traveler.
MARCO POLO was only 17 when he departed for China in 1271 with his father, Niccolò, and his uncle, Maffeo. Those two merchants of Venice were known to the boy primarily as storytellers of their fabulous exploits, writes award-winning biographer and historian Laurence Bergreen, for they had been absent more than 16 years, Marco's entire childhood. The pair had followed trade routes east, encountered exotic countries and customs and survived many perils; they had even lived for a time at the court of Kublai Khan, the leader of the Mongol Empire. Eventually they agreed to accompany his emissary west to the pope, vowing to return to Cambulac (Beijing) with several items the Great Khan had requested.
NYT > Books
Books of The Times: Musical Odyssey: Circus Marches as a Boy, Grand, Topical Operas as a Man Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:41:14 -0000 John Adams’s absorbing new book at times reads like a quest narrative that travels through the whole landscape of 20th-century music.
Editor of Note, Perched Online Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:15:34 -0000 Tina Brown’s new Web site, The Daily Beast, is aiming to be a smaller, less chaotic version of the World Wide Web itself.
Charles Wright, Novelist, Dies at 76 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:08:28 -0000 Mr. Wright wrote three autobiographical novels about black street life in New York City that seemed to herald the rise of an important literary talent, then vanished into alcoholism and despair.
Fiction & Poetry
Yiyun Li: "Gold Boy, Emerald Girl" Yiyun Li Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000 He was raised by his mother alone, as she was by her father. She wondered if his mother, who had set up their date, had told him about that.
Siyu was thirty-eight, and the man, Hanfeng, was forty-four. Siyu’s father, after supporting her through college, had remarried, choosing . . . Spencer Reece: "Eclogue" Spencer Reece Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000 In Juno Beach, on Pelican Lake,
Joseph Saul ate potato chips off a paper plate
and fed the broken bits to a duck.
He was accompanied by Laurie McGraw,
whom he met at the Alzheimer’s Support Group--
she had been a caregiver, he had a diagnosis,
and together their eyes . . . Albert Goldbarth: "The Way" Albert Goldbarth Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000 The sky is random. Even calling it “sky”
is an attempt to make a meaning, say,
a shape, from the humanly visible part
of shapelessness in endlessness. It’s what
we do, in some ways it’s entirely what
we do--and so the devastating rose
of a galaxy’s being born, the . . .
London Review of Books
Don't Ask Henry · Alan Hollinghurst: Sissiness The story of Belchamber's publication is probably better known than the book itself, which, like its author, has suffered the ambiguous fate of becoming an accessory to the life of a more important writer. It is his friend Henry James who keeps Sturgis's novel distantly in view, at the same time as casting a long shadow over it. James read it in proof, and wrote a characteristic sequence of letters to Sturgis about it, beginning with neat praise and mild demurrals, but quickly building up to such fundamental criticisms of the book that the demoralised author said he would withdraw it altogether; at which James protested and pleaded, successfully though not with any retraction of the criticisms he had made. Cut, Kill, Dig, Drill · Jonathan Raban: Sarah Palin's Cunning Sarah Palin has put a new face and voice to the long-standing, powerful, but inchoate movement in US political life that one might see as a mutant strain of Poujadism, inflected with a modern American accent. There are echoes of the Poujadist agenda of 1950s France in its contempt for metropolitan elites, fuelling the resentment of the provinces towards the capital and the countryside towards the city, in its xenophobic strain of nationalism, sturdy, paysan resistance to taxation, hostility to big business, and conviction that politicians are out to exploit the common man. Why Not Eat an Eclair? · David Runciman: Why Vote? Why would anyone vote for Barack Obama? Not why would anyone want to see Obama elected president rather than John McCain (or Hillary Clinton for that matter), but why would anyone who desired that outcome think that his or her individual vote could make the slightest difference in helping to bring it about? General elections are never decided by a single vote, so no one's vote is ever going to be missed. If you want Obama to win, and plan to vote for him, but you forget, or find yourself otherwise detained, don't worry - the final result will be unaffected by your failure to show up, even if you happen to live in a swing state like Ohio or Florida. If Obama is winning the state, he will do perfectly well without you; if he is losing, there is nothing you can do to help him get over the line, because the winning line will always be further away than your paltry individual vote. Either way, you are not needed, so why bother to vote at all?
Grief — And Growing Up — In 'Goldengrove' Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:05:00 -0400 When her sister drowns, 13-year-old Nico must navigate grief and growing up at the same time. Francine Prose's Goldengrove captures the confusion of adolescence tenderly and without condescension. Le Carre Tackles Terror In 'A Most Wanted Man' Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:23:00 -0400 John le Carre, a one-time British intelligence officer, has been writing spy stories for more than 40 years. In his latest novel, he explores the complexities of the war on terror. Kenya Detains Author Promoting Anti-Obama Book Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:34:00 -0400 Kenyan authorities have deported Jerome Corsi, the author of The Obama Nation: Leftists Politics and the Cult of Personality. Immigration officials said he didn't have a work permit. Corsi was detained at his hotel and ordered to leave the country.
Slashdot: Book Reviews
OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide samzenpus Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:05:00 -0000 Martin Ecker writes "Mobile phones and other embedded devices are getting more and more powerful each year. The availability of dedicated hardware for 3D rendering is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and the latest mobile phones come with 3D hardware acceleration that rivals the power of desktop graphics hardware. OpenGL ES 2.0 is the latest version of a cross-platform, low-level graphics API to utilize these new resources available in embedded devices. The OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide published by Addison-Wesley Publishing aims to help the reader make use of the full power of OpenGL ES 2.0 to create interesting 3D applications." Keep reading for the rest of Martin's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Advanced Excel for Scientific Data Analysis samzenpus Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:02:00 -0000 cgjherr writes "If the recent financial meltdown has left you wondering, 'When does exponential decay function stop?' then I have the book for you. Advanced Excel for Scientific Data Analysis is the kind of book that only comes along every twenty years. A tome so densely packed with scientific and mathematical formulas that it almost dares you to try and understand it all. A "For Dummies" book starts with a gentle introduction to the technology. This is more like a "for Mentats" book. It assumes that you know Excel very well. The first chapter alone will have you in awe as you see the author turn the lowly Excel into something that rivals Mathematica using VBA, brains, and a heaping helping of fortitude." Read on for the rest of Jack's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Working Effectively with Legacy Code samzenpus Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:17:00 -0000 Merlin42 writes "I recently took a Test-Driven-Development (TDD) training course and the teacher recommended that I read "Working Effectively with Legacy Code" by Michael Feathers. First things first, a note about the title. Feathers defines "Legacy Code" a bit different than you may expect, especially if you are not into the XP/Agile/TDD world. I have heard (and used) a number of definitions for "legacy code" over the years. Most of these definitions have to do with code that is old, inherited, difficult to maintain, or interfaces with other 'legacy' hardware/software. Feathers' definition is 'code without tests.' For those not into TDD this may seem odd, but in the TDD world, tests are what make code easy to maintain. When good unit tests are in place, then code can be changed at will and the tests will tell automatically you if you broke anything." Read on for the rest of Kevin's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
500 Sheridan Aural Performance Library - Free streaming, downloadable audio performances of Contemporary and Classic Works by Poe, Shakesphere, Frost, Marlowe, Yancy . . .enhanced by music, sound effects and professional actors.
Amelia Earhart - The Salvaging of NR16020 - An intriguing story about a sailor onboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation when in 1979 they come across some aircraft wreckage on an island in the south pacific they thought belonged to the lost aviatrix Amelia Earhart.
Meta Description: [ In 1937 Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared on their round the world attempt. But did they really? In 1979 while a secret covert operation was underway in the south pacific to remove Earhart's wrecakge from a tiny pacific atoll a foriegn government stepped in to claim the wreckage for th... ]
Aprilchick.com - Essays, poems, short fiction pieces and photography by a San Francisco writer.
Meta Description: [ San Francisco writer's website ]
AwesomeStories.com - A link site that allows you to source information about films, famous trials, disasters, history and biography.
Christian Clarity Review - New fiction, short stories and commentary on current affairs as seen through the light of God as Word.
Classic Short Stories - Short stories by Isaac Asimov, Anton Chekhov, O.Henry, H.H.Munro and James Thurber, among others.
Common Scents Stardusterzine - A mostly humorous anthology of prose, poetry, plays, and pictures featuring satire, science fiction, fantasy, commentary, cartoons, children's literature, and trivia.
Meta Description: [ a mostly humorous collection of prose, poetry, plays, and pictures featuring: satire, science fiction,
fantasy, cartoons, commentary, children's literature, parodies, and trivia ]
Cuban Stories and other Tales - Collection of short stories by Joel Font about the Cuban and Cuban-American experience.
Daniel R. Snyder: Writer - The home page of Daniel R. Snyder, an award winning writer of short fiction and essays.
Defeating Silence: a free novel/opera to download - A free novel you can really get into: readers take on a role-be it active or passive. Either way, it's a new experience in reading.
Meta Description: [ A free novel you can really get into: readers take on a role-be it active or passive, either way, it's a new experience in reading ]
Demelza's Web - A journey of romantic, mysterious and poetic moods through the realms of art, music, lyrics, poetry and quotations.
Dreams In A Backwater - An amalgamation of fiction, journal writing, and poetry reflecting on the life experiences of a gay man living in a small town.
Meta Description: [ An amalgamation of fiction, journal writing, and poetry reflecting on the life experiences of a gay man living in a small town. ]
Free eBooks by Globusz Publishing - An extensive collection of free eBooks, fiction and non-fiction, a wide variety of new releases as well as many classics and local publications.
Meta Description: [ Free ebooks and paperbacks by Globusz Publishing ]
Great Books Collection - Contains over 200 classic books that can be read online. Also includes resources to learn more about literature, and find famous quotations.
Meta Description: [ Collection of over 300 of world's greatest books that you can read online. ]
Great Society - Great Society, formerly Dirtyfreaks.com, features satire, rants and fiction from multiple authors. Updated frequently, we have a little of everything. Features adult content.
Meta Description: [ Great Society, BCC students speak out against Peace Studies ]
Guy Stuff--a novel, published in blog style - I wrote the first chapter of Guy Stuff last year, and decided to publish it online. Its an ongoing online novel updated every Tuesday and Thursday.
Happy Thoughts - An online version of the autobiography by Dennis Diana Nickell.
Hydra Comics - A collection of textfiles written by a bunch of idiots from Pennsylvania who's writing style goes unmatched. Site also includes other crap to do. You have been warned.
Meta Description: [ A brief history of the Academy Awards and listings of the nominees and Oscar winners in recent years. ]
I Smell Bear - A personal blogsite that contains blogs, flash fiction, lists, and links to other short fiction sites.
If Tomorrow Never Comes - A beautiful poem dedicated to all fathers, whether they are deceased or living in the hopes of mending broken relationships between children and their fathers. Truely thought provoking!
Meta Description: [ A tribute, memorial to all fathers, passed and present with a beautiful poem and a link back to the main site, which speaks about how the death of one daughters father impacted her life! ]
Literature Is Not Dead - The interactive home of the Michael Lee Cook writing empire, with short stories, merchandise, and his fascinating on-line journal.
no-sword.com - Action, comedy, research papers, and the expanding fantasy world of Radius.
Pitfall Read Wiki - This site is a Wiki where various authors can or have posted poetry, short stories and scripts. We hope to specialize in collaborative stories between more than one author.
Quotes Matrix - A site that acts as a hyperlinked commonplace book, offering a lattice of recurring ideas drawn from ancient and modern literature.
Meta Description: [ The Quotes Matrix: a lattice of ideas and an interactive Commonplace Book. ]
Reason to Rock: Rock Music as Art Form - An online book being published as it's written, on the aesthetics of rock music.
Meta Description: [ An online book on the aesthetics of Rock music. Good introduction for newcomers, and interesting analysis for veterans. Lists recommended CDs. ]
500Rick Raider Online - Online boys mystery-adventure books in the tradition of the Hardy Boys, Rick Brant, and Nancy Drew.
Rivertrout.com - A selection of thoughtful and artistic letters exploring life and love.
Meta Description: [ Rivertrout.com, a collaborative site, is a library of letters. We are dedicated to bringing art to the web by giving an old craft a new meaning: the writing of literary letters enhanced by powerful images, great design and the ubiquity of the Internet ]
Self-Publishing 2000 J. Carlton Ross Publications - An online publishing site featuring serial novels, fiction, short stories, poetry with tips and resources for aspiring writers.
Meta Description: [ Ebook Novels Readers and Writers coming together in appreciation of each other and the joy of reading, e-publishing, webzoid stories Writer's Tips and resources e-books Authors Design ]
Shameless Creations - Writer and Cartoonist, Kevin Shamel, presents writing, art, and film. Interactive site for writers and readers. Online store with humorous t-shirts, mugs, and more.
Short Stories from my life in Mental Health and from my personal life - A site containing short stories based upon the writers experiences in psychiatry, and in his personal life.
Meta Description: [ Dr. Bronsky lives, (and will die) only in the Here and Now. In other words - what is is, and what isn't - isn't. ]
Skyefairy.net - A site containing poetry, stories, art, and photography from a variety of people.
Meta Description: [ Skyefairy.net is Skye's Creative Arts site containing poems, stories, art, photography, blends, colorizations, designs, articles, reads, and more. ]
StoriesMania - Publishes short stories, poems, essays, and scripts sorted by genre.
Meta Description: [ Stories, poems, essays, scripts and more online fiction. Story, poetry, essay and script submissions accepted. ]
The Adventures of a Sci-Phi Pilot - A collection of theories, anecdotes, prose and photos, interwoven through a language based on the metaphor. Examine the many meanings of life from a perspective straddling science and philosophy.
Meta Description: [ A fun and informative e-book full of
thoughts and theories about the many meanings of life. Rich with anecdotes,
stories, poetry, prose and lessons., A fun and informative collection of thoughts and theories about the many meanings of life. ]
The Compass and the Rose - A site containing poetry, writing and illustrations from a number of aspiring authors and artists.
404The Creative Centre - A family-friendly website with short stories and poetry as well as a picture gallery of my childhood pet Puffer and my current kitty Charlie.
Meta Description: [ Cats, Kittens, Feline Paradise! If you love cats and kittens, visit I-Love-Cats.com now! You can get, free cat email, send a free cat postcard, learn about the different cat breeds and so much more! ]
The Journal - A magazine site with diary, poems and short stories. Not for the faint hearted.
Meta Description: [ well-acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand. ]
The Life and Times of David Crockett - A free online book about David Crockett. David (never Davy) Crockett was known to millions in his lifetime and this book celebrates his life.
Meta Description: [ B ]
The Song of the Coyote - Free ebooks, sayings, and other stuff.
Meta Description: [ "The Song of the Coyote" is an ebook that is free in its ebook format. ]
The WeedGarden - This is a place where disparate characters abound and visitors choose paths to create journeys based on their interests.
Meta Description: [ The WeedGarden is partially random and partially organized. May you find whatever satisfaction you seek in the WeedGarden. ]
The Write Stuff Just For You - A site featuring poetry, short stories and art work, including free-hand and computer graphics, that will be seasonally updated, as seen through the eyes of a young lady.
Wildegeest - A site that features a book intended to urge people to be gutsie and imaginative enough to seek a new lifestyle, at whatever age, and thereby regain the pleasure and adventure of life.
Meta Description: [ Combat AGEISM and achieve rewarding old age through mental and physical exercise, and eating
the right stuff. ]
