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     |  Things happen very quickly in this book and to gloss over Finn and his point of view, you tend to miss certain things. I think that this book is a sequel to Republic, a new world can be discovered if you leave the world you know behind. But who has the tools to build this new world? I thought that this narrative showed just how mature and confident a writer Sam Taylor has become since writing Republic. Continue reading The Island at the End of the World by Sam Taylor  The very good JC mentioned James’ exploration of the house that he is renovating, There is a wonderful scene towards the end of the book where James proceeds to the lowest level of the house. I had a philosophy teacher who liked to say that, on a moral and spiritual level, we are sometimes like the owner of a magnificent house who chooses nonetheless to live in the cellar. Sam Taylor has taken us on an open house tour of a basement or two in our minds. No wonder I feel uneasy about this story. Continue reading The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor My original idea was very ambitious, but I didn’t know it at the time, I just thought I was discovering a new writer and giving him some space on our blog. I had no idea what was involved with getting to know Sam Taylor as a writer, and reading his books one after the other. My wife picked up Republic of Trees right before I had this idea for us to talk to him, and then she walked around with the book in front of her face for three days, reading it, quoting it, and I could see this writer’s power pouring out of this book. Continue reading The Republic of Trees by Sam Taylor We will give a signed copy of This One Is Mine (it comes with temporary tattoos, read the book, you’ll get the drift) to the the first three people who email us here at the blog.  Ms. Semple must have grown up with the writer Seth Greenland, and probably did a little afternoon babysitting for James Frey’s parents. Big Jim’s debut novel is also post-marked from LA, but Bright Shiny Morning is about a lot of people. This One Is Mine is only about a few emotionally disconnected music business fat cats; not as fat around the middle as they could be, but there are no “have-nots” at the top of this book’s food chain. Continue reading Maria Semple, This One Is Mine The Amnesiac is the most autobiographical novel I’ve written – or will ever write. It was a novel I had to write, and I have very mixed feelings about it now. In terms of the basic idea that James had forgotten three years of his life… that has an autobiographical seed. I too suffered a kind of amnesia when I was a student – there are six months of my life (aged 18) of which I can recall almost nothing. And yet I don’t think I realised this till I was in my late twenties. Or if I did realise it before, I forgot it – consciously or unconsciously. Continue reading Sam Taylor Interview Part 2. |  | ||
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