Reviews
February 8, 2006
The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder: A Review 0
by C. Max Magee
The “Machine” in the title of Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book from 1982 is a minicomputer, but for anyone reading it now, it might as well be a time machine. The Soul of a New Machine takes the reader back 27 years, but in terms of the technology that is central to the book, [...]
February 3, 2006
The Corey Vilhauer Book of the Month Club: February 2006 0
by Corey Vilhauer
One of the most harrowing things about reading is having to finish a book in order to start another. It’s a necessary evil, to use a cliche, because in order to start a book we have already perceived as being worthy of reading we must first finish the one we are currently on. [...]
February 2, 2006
Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux: A Review 0
by C. Max Magee
Though I’ve heard great things about Paul Theroux, Dark Star Safari was the first by him that I’ve read – well, listened to actually. Thanks to our current location in Chicago and the locations of our respective families, the holidays involve a lot of driving for Mrs. Millions and me – 36 hours worth [...]
January 30, 2006
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow: A Review 0
by C. Max Magee
I love finding old pocket paperbacks in thrift stores. That’s how I ended up with a 1960s-era British pocket Penguin edition of Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day. On the cover, the price is listed as “3′6″ which, though I’ve been to England, I can’t decipher. On the first page, in pencil is [...]
January 23, 2006
Wade Rubenstein’s Gullboy: A Review 1
by Andrew Saikali
It’s a balancing act. How do you express yourself within a rich tradition without resorting to cliche? The deeper you go into the tradition, into the familiar, the more blindingly original your own expression really needs to be.
Take, for example, the songs of Will Oldham. A staggeringly good songwriter, his understated records resonate long after [...]
January 23, 2006
The White Earth by Andrew McGahan: A Review 0
by C. Max Magee
Andrew McGahan’s The White Earth was a big deal when it came out in Australia in 2004. His previous novels had given him a following, but The White Earth was the winner of the Miles Franklin Prize, Australia’s richest literary award, catapulting him to a new level of recognition. The book is a [...]
