spinetingler
Boston Noir reviewed in Spinetingler magazine.
de botton's hoffman moment
Alain de Botton, whose work I enjoy and whose new book I've just bought, lashes out at a critic. Maybe some writers should not be allowed to Twitter.
author behaving badly
Roberta Silman wrote a so-so review of Alice Hoffman's new novel for the Boston Globe, which included the following: "But this new novel lacks the spark of the earlier work. Its vision, characters, and even the prose seem tired. Too much of it is told rather than shown . . ." Twitter critter Hoffman, who has, we might guess, a laughably inflated sense of her literary worth, then went ballistic with her infantile tweets. She called Silman a "moron" and published the reviewer's phone numer, so irate fans could express their hostility in person. You can read some of the insane tweets here at Gawker. Her Twitter page has since been erased. In her "apology," which you can read here at MobyLives, she says she didn't want to hurt anyone, but she also did not apologize to Ms Silman.
requiem, mass.
Betsy Williford's review in the Miami Herald. My favorite Latina rock star and critic Emma Trelles comments in the Sun-Sentinel. Requiem is a People magazine four-star pick of the week this week. Get your copy before I buy them all. It's not online yet, so I can't link to it. When it is, I will. Requiem will be an August Indie Notable Selection. Here's a mention in Bookcourt. My pal Wayne Maugans has something to say at Theater Arts Network. Tina Koening in MiamiArtZine gets personal. And here's John Hood, who may end up as a character in one of my stories if he's not careful, in the Miami Sun Post. In the interest of fairness and full disclosure and because my Catholic self needs a taste of humble pie, I present this scathing review by the book editor in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He runs the country's thirty-fifth best book page. (Sorry, I couldn't help it. But I'm sure he's trying.) This Hoover fellow hated my darlings and my sentences. I was so upset that I went out and wrestled the bougainvilla and cut up my arms and legs, but now I feel better and the front yard looks a little neater. Some folks like their plots applied with trowels, I guess. I'm thankful that other people have a more sensitive and nuanced understanding of storytelling. From Book Page. And here from Monroe, Louisiana. Hoover, I learned, doesn't like blogs either, by the way. He promises in his rant, you'll note ". . . to stick to the traditional standards of accuracy, proper grammar, attribution, but I'll leave out my phone number." (Emphasis added.) Maybe then he can see the two grammatical errors in this single sentence from his review: To which I add, "Why do we need to read 'Requiem, Mass?'"
all or nothing
A New York Times review of Preston Allen's new novel. Preston's an FIU MFA alum and a former Friday Night Writer.