Three that need to be read: A Sport and A Pastime by James Salter, I know, I know. At least I have a copy, now there is no excuse. Ride A Cockhorse, Raymond Kennedy, NYRB, on sale now. I feel like anything can happen to me with these two, like I might turn into someone else if I actually sit down with them. And Lawrence Osborne’s latest, The Forgiven, Joyce at Three Lives swears by this book, I feel truly left out for not having read it.
& Sons by David Gilbert is the one book you must read, if you read a book in 2013.
Lately I’ve been partial to American realism, specifically Richard Yates, John Cheever and John Updike. I don’t have any first editions from this gang, but different editions of their paperbacks. I keep the Rabbit trilogy handy, as it really keeps my creative juices flowing while writing my own book. In the picture I have here, the four books are watched over by a shadowy Paul Auster. My collection is my own, sort of unique, based in nothing more than my tastes, which I think is how all collections should be.
After stumbling on this story I immediately emailed Tom Rachman and demanded to know if this was the start to his next novel. Tom is an incredibly nice guy and a great writer, so he crushed my hopes and told me it was just a short story. But it could be his next novel, I think, hope, wish, dream.
Rachman’s prose flows like water, and he’s got the gift for creating fascinating characters in spades. While the italicized newspaper history passages informed the story, they felt a little tacked on to me, though if I was a gambling man, I’d venture that Rachman had some outside editorial input on that count—ie, “people don’t buy short stories, we’ve got to tie these things together, etc”. The book doesn’t need them.
It’s rare that good fiction actually gets published, as there is a lack in the attention spans of today’s readers, and the gatekeepers just can’t afford to publish a novel that will give them great reviews, but no sales. Their overhead is too high, they’ve screwed themselves. This year when I got a copy of the phenomenal The Fates Will Find Their Way (on sale 2/11) I nearly lost my mind at just how amazing it was.
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
When We Fell In Love – Elliott The Spy
When We Fell In Love – Elliott The Spy
When We Fell In Love – Elliott The Spy
Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich