Category Archives: fiction

The Wonderful Wizardry of Ozick

Posted on May 21, 2010 by

Dictation: A Quartet, by Cynthia Ozick Maybe it’s the Gemini energy of May; the maybe-so, maybe-not spring weather, bringing its five-minute hailstorms in bright sun and then sudden gray silences; maybe it’s the chaotic eventfulness of this time of year– … Continue reading →

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100-Word Reviews: West, Spark, Maurer

Posted on May 13, 2010 by

100 Words and Solitude While my love’s away, I’ve been warding off loneliness by taking a few books off my precarious bedside stack. (Okay, I’ve also been enjoying the extra reading time.) In the style of  the talented Mr. Schneider, … Continue reading →

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Bartleby, the Scrivener

Posted on April 8, 2010 by

Who is Bartleby? A chap of misfortune and mystery, for whom scrivener (or scribe) is a misnomer, as bit by bit in Melville’s short novel, he relinquishes responsibility for all duties pertaining to his profession. Will he read through his … Continue reading →

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Reading List, Round 1

Posted on March 31, 2010 by

This weekend my big sister visited from the big city of Los Angeles. Over various cups and glasses of wine, beer, and coffee, we discussed, among other things, what makes a good blog even better. Being a visual person, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, fiction, nonfiction, Reading | 4 Comments

The Dispossessed, by Ursula K Le Guin

Posted on February 10, 2010 by

Anarchists on the moon… The world had fallen out from under him, and he was left alone. He had always feared that this would happen, more than he had ever feared death. To die is to lose the self and … Continue reading →

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Lemures and Manes: Or Three Margaret Atwood Novels

Posted on January 28, 2010 by

It was still dark Friday morning when I read the last page of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale: “We may call Eurydice forth from the world of the dead, but we cannot make her answer; and when we turn to … Continue reading →

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Anarchist Fiction at Powell’s

Posted on January 20, 2010 by

On my reading list for February (or as soon as I move up the library hold-list totem pole) are two titles I learned about last night at Powell’s: Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction, edited by Margaret Killjoy.

Powell’s is one of the top reasons I wanted to live in Portland, and last night I did a little happy dance when I checked their event calendar. Two bucks to ride the bus downtown and hear Ursula K Le Guin?! What is this place, heaven?

Okay, so she lives in Portland and heaven wouldn’t have this many strip clubs (hey, it’s my blog,) but still. I love Portland; I love Powell’s. Continue reading →

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