Johann Thorsson
Neil Gaiman told me to read Harlan Ellison, and if Mr. Gaiman says something, I obey. (This is also why I read Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) I come relatively late to Harlan Ellison but am not sorry for it; I'm glad there's something this good out there still left for me to… Continue reading The Best Writing of The Week | Harlan Ellison
I'm reading one of those books that I kept hearing about, again and again, but never really wanted to read. Then I bought and read the very excellent Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor. He puts the book in question in his "Literature Masterclass", with three other works of staggering genius:… Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week | Toni Morrison
So, every now and then I come across writing that is so good that I feel an urge to share (see for instance here, here, here and here). This time, however, I have something a little different. The author's name is Poppy Z. Brite and the book is The Living Dead. The Living Dead is an… Continue reading The Most Disturbing Writing of the Week
I'm just finishing up Elmore Leonard's short story collection, Fire in the Hole. The book has nine stories that are all of the very highest quality and I bought it for two main reasons: I wanted to get a taste for Mr. Leonard, whom I had not read before and... it contains a short story, Fire… Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week | Elmore Leonard
I'm currently reading a number of books, as is often the case. I'm sure there's a word for it. These include but are not limited to, UnMarketing, Trust Me I'm Lying, A Tale of Two Cities, Fire in the Hole and The Half-Made World. The following is a passage from The Half-Made World, a steampunk… Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week
I started reading A Tale of Two Cities last week, and in chapter five I found an amazing passage. The passage describes a voice. Many writers, lesser writers than Dickens, might use a single adjective. "Raspy", perhaps, or "feint". But Charles Dickens, who is now my favorite author, goes all in when describing a voice,… Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week
