For Febuary’s podcast, no, wait, March’s podcast, John Paul discusses On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Deborah discusses On the Road The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac. They both discuss Toad from The Wind in the Willows and the importance of long and rambling novels. They also have some fun reading one-star reviews fromContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 10”
Tag Archives: novel
quick review of daniel chacon’s hotel juarez
A few months back I wrote a quick review of Daniel Chacon’s book Unending Rooms. I admire Chacon’s aesthetic and overall writerly choices. I look forward to picking up his novel and his other work Chicano Chicanery. His work at times is surreal and also thought provoking. I find his work here playful and intelligent. AndContinue reading “quick review of daniel chacon’s hotel juarez”
margaret atwood’s the handmaid’s tale
Prepping to discuss Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale tomorrow in my Lit 111 course. We’ll discuss more dystopian elements, feminism and watch some scenes from the film adaptation.
quick review: orwell’s down and out in paris and london
Drafting and revising semi-orphaned novel project but had some time to finish reading Orwell’s memoir/nonfiction/autobiographical novel about a young writer’s time in the ghettos of Paris and London. He works in restaurants and sleeps in homeless hostels. Pawns his clothes for food and also closely observes the down and out people he encounters. What strikesContinue reading “quick review: orwell’s down and out in paris and london”
quick review: luis alberto urrea’s the hummingbird’s daughter and queen of america
I first read the short fiction of Luis Alberto Urrea in graduate school. The discovery of a prolific Latino author whose work moves so adeptly from English to Spanish was important to my development as a writer. I enjoyed his collection of short stories Six Kinds of Sky and the keen worlds and characters drawn,Continue reading “quick review: luis alberto urrea’s the hummingbird’s daughter and queen of america”
gardner’s fat city
Spending time today rereading Fat City by Leonard Gardner. Hope I can find the detail and the nuance in my Huerfanos/Semi-orphaned novel project: “Yeah, I was in a bar yesterday, this guy’s calling everybody a son-of-a-bitch. So I go out and wait for him. He come out and I ask did that include me. Says yeah.Continue reading “gardner’s fat city”
“so it goes”–staying up late with kurt vonnegut
Some nights when I’m supposed to be working on my big fat failed novel. When I am supposed to be sleeping. Or grading. I can’t and so I sit and listen to books on tape. A few months back it was Jesus’ Son. Something about Will Patton’s voice that grabbed me. This time out I have beenContinue reading ““so it goes”–staying up late with kurt vonnegut”
quick note on troncoso’s from this wicked patch of dust
Last week–despite mountains of grading and student conferences–I spent time with Troncoso’s sweeping novel From This Wicked Patch of Dust and found so much to admire. I admired the form as well as the content. Told in a third person limited omniscient narration the story drops into the thoughts, feelings and questions of each member of a MexicanContinue reading “quick note on troncoso’s from this wicked patch of dust”