21 April 2012

The Pulitzer Board's Word Problem




Since the Pulitzer Board won't tell you what you should read, here are some suggestions: The Pulitzer Board's Word Problem
The Pulitzer committee caused quite a stir this week by deciding not to award a proize for fiction in 2012. But if you look closely at the three finalists (Denis Johnson's "Train Dreams," Karen Russell's "Swamplandia!" and David Foster Wallace's "The Pale King"), you'll see that they all have one thing in common that virtually disqualified them from winning anything this year: Too many words.

20 April 2012

Moving, kinda.


Moving to the more elegant web address: www.bottomshelfbooks.net.

(Note: Also, switched to a new template which may mess up the formatting for old posts.)

07 April 2012

Back in the saddle again?



It's been almost 2 years, but I've started writing again. I still have a lot of rust to knock off, but so far I've contributed 2 short pieces to Page Views, the new NY Daily News book blog:

"To help new parents get started in the brave new world of children’s literature, here are some complementary book pairings: a “grown-up” book and its picture book counterpart. These pairings offer a bridge between reading worlds by featuring recognizable characters, similar styles, and parallel themes. And most importantly, none of these pairs feature any (overt) messages about the joys of pooping."
"Dartmouth College announced this morning that its medical school will be named after Audrey and Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss, who graduated from there in 1925).
Since it does not inspire confidence to have a doctor who refers to body parts as "Thing 1" and "Thing 2", we thought it would be useful to prepare a new recommended reading list for incoming medical students."
I've missed writing, so hopefully this will help me get back on track. If not, I'll be sure to post again in another 2 years.