Fiction
Best of the bunch, in rough chronological order:
Umbrella, by Will Self
Thoroughly Modern Self…
Tenth of December, by George Saunders
A master’s class in short fiction.
A Delicate Truth, by John LeCarre
His umpteenth novel…so good.
TransAtlantic, by Colum McCann
Such lovely writing. Time travel, deep links of ordinary lives.
Joyland, by Stephen King
Pretty good beach read. Not the scary King, just charming and fun in a retro sort of way.
Bleeding Edge, by Thomas Pynchon
Makes you sad, makes you laugh. You’re bored, exasperated, enthralled, enchanted, paranoid. And with all the NSA revelations this year, scary timely.
The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
After all these years, I finally read it. What a lovely, humane book. But nobody has a nice day – dark, dour and grim 13th century.
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
A reread after 40 years. Wow.
Fiction (meh)
Er, uh, not so good. Is it just me?
A Hologram For the King, by Dave Eggers
Fiction
Forget it…
Non-fiction
Letters, by Kurt Vonnegut
I just love collections of the letters of great writers.
The Event of Literature, by Terry Eagleton
The Fun Stuff, by James Wood
In which Keith Moon (of The Who) makes it into a wonderful book of Lit Crit
Neil Young – Waging Heavy Peace, by Neil Young
Mania, by Ronald Collins & David Skover
How Literature Saved My Life, by David Shields
We’re all bozos on this fiction bus.
Karl Marx, by Jonathan Sperber
Letters, Vol. 2, by Samuel Beckett
Wisdom.
The Dark Side of the Enlightenment, by John W. Fleming
Quack This Way, by David Foster Wallace & Bryan A. Garner
A little gem at the end of the year. DFW and BAG chat about language and writing.
Poetry
Quick Question, by John Ashbery
Trances of the Blast, by Mary Ruefle
Time of Useful Consciousness, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Emily Dickinson – The Gorgeous Nothings, Marta Werner, Jan Bevin
A beautiful presentation of Dickinson’s little poems, carefully written on envelopes, inside and out. Gorgeous indeed.
Unclassifiable
The Red Book – Liber Novus, A Reader’s Edition, by C. K. Jung
A strange communication from the early 20th century. Mystical visions on being and, more importantly, becoming. Transformative.
Madness, Rack and Honey, by Mary Ruefle
Drama
Tags: 2013, Fiction, literary criticism, literary fiction, poetry
