Category: book review

thoughts on mckinley’s deerskin

Robin McKinley's novel, Deerskin, is loosely based on the Charles Perrault fairytale, Donkey Skin. In both stories, a beloved king wants to marry his daughter. His daughter runs away, works menial labor in disguise, and finds love with a prince from another kingdom. Perrault's Donkey Skin contains key elements found in other fairy tales. In … Continue reading thoughts on mckinley’s deerskin →

thoughts on vonnegut’s slaughterhouse-five

This is a long time coming. I read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five over the weekend of Thanksgiving. The climactic setting, which is the namesake of the novel, and the time of year I read the novel made me think about the many turkeys pushed through slaughterhouses in order to meet the demands of American consumers hungry … Continue reading thoughts on vonnegut’s slaughterhouse-five →

thoughts on rice’s the claiming of sleeping beauty

Ever since I devoured Anne Rice's vampire and witch stories in my twenties, I've been curious to read her erotica, written under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure. I finally got around to it with The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. I assumed Rice had eschewed Disney's version of Sleeping Beauty in favor of something more like … Continue reading thoughts on rice’s the claiming of sleeping beauty →

thoughts on fante’s ask the dust

Ask the Dust is John Fante's 1939 novel. The story follows Arturo Bandini, a young struggling Italian-American writer in Los Angeles, who tries to gain the life experiences he thinks he needs to write the great American novel. He falls in love with a Mexican-American waitress who is in love with a bartender who despises … Continue reading thoughts on fante’s ask the dust →

thoughts on vonnegut’s the sirens of titan

So much for reading one book every week. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut took over one month for me to get through. Not because it was a difficult read. I just kept getting distracted by other projects. Developing consistent, productive routines has proven to be much more difficult for me than I imagined … Continue reading thoughts on vonnegut’s the sirens of titan →

thoughts on moore’s a dirty job

Just finished reading Christopher Moore's novel, A Dirty Job. A friend recommended the novel knowing I'd enjoy the story and Moore's humor. The characters were quirky and fantastic. They all felt strong and bounced off each other to great comedic effect. I was especially satisfied watching the protagonist change from a neurotically paranoid anxious worrywart … Continue reading thoughts on moore’s a dirty job →