Currently reading Khaled Hosseini's "And the Mountains Echoed."
I read "The Kite Runner" and have a copy of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (which will be in the rotation soon). I really like his writing.
This is for a book club I recently joined. We'll be discussing the book next week, so I have to make some progress this weekend.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
On Making Off: Misadventures Off-Off Broadway
I'm fortunate enough to have seen "The Expatriates," an amazing production by The Beggars Group, several years ago. Randy Anderson, the founder of the group, wrote "On Making Off: Misadventures Off-Off Broadway," a memoir about his theatrical adventures in New York that led to the founding of The Beggars Group, the creation of "The Expatriates" and other plays by the group, and his various high and low points in theatre and his personal life.
Anderson's writing style is fresh and funny, and this is an excellent read for anyone who is thinking of moving to New York with the goal of taking the theatrical world by storm. From the constant money woes, to the confrontations between strong, forceful artists, to the pain and loneliness of living in this city, Anderson captures many lessons that young actors should learn before moving here. But he also shows the amazing heights that can be reached, if you dare to take chances.
And he does it all in a remarkably entertaining way.
When I moved to New York, the book I read that prepared me for the theatre scene was Charles Busch's "Whores of Lost Atlantis." More recently, I added Seth Rudetsky's "Broadway Nights" to the list of books that performers should read before moving here. "On Making Off" is definitely on that list as well.
"Whores of Lost Atlantis"
"Broadway Nights"
"On Making Off" Kindle
"On Making Off" paperback
Anderson's writing style is fresh and funny, and this is an excellent read for anyone who is thinking of moving to New York with the goal of taking the theatrical world by storm. From the constant money woes, to the confrontations between strong, forceful artists, to the pain and loneliness of living in this city, Anderson captures many lessons that young actors should learn before moving here. But he also shows the amazing heights that can be reached, if you dare to take chances.
And he does it all in a remarkably entertaining way.
When I moved to New York, the book I read that prepared me for the theatre scene was Charles Busch's "Whores of Lost Atlantis." More recently, I added Seth Rudetsky's "Broadway Nights" to the list of books that performers should read before moving here. "On Making Off" is definitely on that list as well.
"Whores of Lost Atlantis"
"Broadway Nights"
"On Making Off" Kindle
"On Making Off" paperback
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Specimen 313
A mad scientist meets his match in Jeff Strand's short story, "Specimen 313." The scientist in question is a crazed botanist building the perfect killing plant by breeding intelligent (surprisingly so, as it turns out) flytraps.
The story is part horror, part love story, featuring a flytrap suffering from ennui and the female flytrap that changes his life. It's a fun read, especially if you've ever wanted to explore the innermost thoughts of a Venus Flytrap.
There is plenty of murder, mayhem and hobo-eating to make for a good read.
Specimen 313
The story is part horror, part love story, featuring a flytrap suffering from ennui and the female flytrap that changes his life. It's a fun read, especially if you've ever wanted to explore the innermost thoughts of a Venus Flytrap.
There is plenty of murder, mayhem and hobo-eating to make for a good read.
Specimen 313
Saturday, July 27, 2013
The Lake
I recently read one of Tananarive Due's short stories, "Summer," in Nightmare Magazine's December 2012 edition. I was so impressed by her creepy story about a mother at the end of her rope and a baby that gets possessed in a completely unexpected way, that I went out and bought a couple more of her stories.
"The Lake" has much the same feel as "Summer" did. Set in the same small town in Florida during a particularly hot summer. Everything sticky and wet. You can practically feel and smell the town from Due's descriptions.
In "The Lake" Abbie, a Boston English teacher, moves to Florida to get away from her old life and become something new. Little does she know what she is going to become. Her days are spent in school, her afternoons with a couple of boys who are helping her fix up her house. Dips in the lake behind her house become a nightly ritual, a respite from the heat. But none of the locals thought to warn her about the water, and why no one should get in it.
Due's story is creepy and well written. I will definitely be checking out more of her work soon.
Nightmare Magazine - December 2012
The Lake
"The Lake" has much the same feel as "Summer" did. Set in the same small town in Florida during a particularly hot summer. Everything sticky and wet. You can practically feel and smell the town from Due's descriptions.
In "The Lake" Abbie, a Boston English teacher, moves to Florida to get away from her old life and become something new. Little does she know what she is going to become. Her days are spent in school, her afternoons with a couple of boys who are helping her fix up her house. Dips in the lake behind her house become a nightly ritual, a respite from the heat. But none of the locals thought to warn her about the water, and why no one should get in it.
Due's story is creepy and well written. I will definitely be checking out more of her work soon.
Nightmare Magazine - December 2012
The Lake
Friday, July 26, 2013
William Shakespeare's Star Wars
The Force meets the Bard in Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars. In this very funny and well-written book, Doescher bends George Lucas' "Star Wars" into a five-act play full of Shakespeare's language, syntax and meter.
If you're not a Shakespeare fan, fear not. Doescher's language is accessible, and you'll have no trouble following it. If you're a "Star Wars" fan, this is a must read. Want to hear R2-D2 give a soliloquy? It's in there. Want to see Leia go into full-tilt Ophelia mode? It's in there. Want to know if Han or Greedo shot first? Well, that one is still up for debate.
William Shakespeare's Star Wars is a pleasant read for "Star Wars" and Shakespeare fans alike.
Kindle
Paperback
If you're not a Shakespeare fan, fear not. Doescher's language is accessible, and you'll have no trouble following it. If you're a "Star Wars" fan, this is a must read. Want to hear R2-D2 give a soliloquy? It's in there. Want to see Leia go into full-tilt Ophelia mode? It's in there. Want to know if Han or Greedo shot first? Well, that one is still up for debate.
William Shakespeare's Star Wars is a pleasant read for "Star Wars" and Shakespeare fans alike.
Kindle
Paperback
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Let Me Be Your Star
Ever since I got my Kindle, I've been one of those people who highlights particularly well-wrought turns of phrase, vibrant descriptions, or laugh-out-loud funny bits.
I think I highlighted a good quarter of Rachel Shukert's "Let Me Be Your Star," a reflection on her time writing recaps of episodes of "SMASH" for Vulture. It's not a collection of the recaps, though she does offer you peeks, but a look at what brought her here. Her love of theatre, her acting, her playwriting. Sondheim. How she came to be writing recaps. Sondheim. What she really thought of the show (she has a great Us vs. Them discussion in the book about what separates a Hollywood actor from a New York actor). And a little Sondheim.
Mostly, it's a book about finding a place to belong. A really, really hilarious book about finding a place to belong. I caught myself laughing out loud a number of times. You never know where Shukert is going to lead you with her stories, but the journey is the good part, so sit back and relax.
All this, and only $1.99. What a bargain!
Purchase here.
I think I highlighted a good quarter of Rachel Shukert's "Let Me Be Your Star," a reflection on her time writing recaps of episodes of "SMASH" for Vulture. It's not a collection of the recaps, though she does offer you peeks, but a look at what brought her here. Her love of theatre, her acting, her playwriting. Sondheim. How she came to be writing recaps. Sondheim. What she really thought of the show (she has a great Us vs. Them discussion in the book about what separates a Hollywood actor from a New York actor). And a little Sondheim.
Mostly, it's a book about finding a place to belong. A really, really hilarious book about finding a place to belong. I caught myself laughing out loud a number of times. You never know where Shukert is going to lead you with her stories, but the journey is the good part, so sit back and relax.
All this, and only $1.99. What a bargain!
Purchase here.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia
As part of her interview in Nightmare Magazine's January 2013 issue, Ellen Datlow discussed her recent YA anthology, After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia. Based on her description, I decided to check it out, and I'm glad I did.
After isn't just an anthology of end-of-the-world stories. Sure, the world did end in several of them, but in most, it's about what came next. There are a number of good stories in a variety of styles.
One of my favorite stories (and since it is first in the anthology, it got things started with a bang) is Genevieve Valentine's "The Segment." In this story, real news is a thing of the past (the network's motto is "Let Those Who Would Be Fooled, Be Fooled"), and one of the sources of employment for the undesirables is city is becoming an actor on the news, performing in news stories designed by the government and businesses to further their goals. Poppy, the protagonist of the story, gets cast in a news story about a war, but it's her friend Bree who has to teach her everything she needs to know to make it through.
Carrie Ryan has a great zombie story, "After the Cure," that explores what would happened to the former zombies once a cure was found. A similar idea was explored in 21st Century Dead in Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski's "Tender as Teeth."
Katherine Langrish creates an eerie post-global warming London, with buildings ravaged by floods and people by drugs and gang warfare, in her "Visiting Nelson." Richard Bowes draws a similar bead on New York, describing a city destroyed by war and environmental damage, with the ultra-rich and ultra-poor picking over the remains.
The most daring story in the anthology is Matthew Kressel's "The Great Game at the End of the World." In this story, God decides he's gone about as far with this world as he can, and in the middle of the day destroys it, leaving behind fragments of the world, on one of which, a brother and sister play a final game of baseball against of team monsters, the left over inhabitants of previous worlds God destroyed.
Sci-fi is well represented in the anthology with Beth Revis' "The Other Elder," set in a generation ship that was nearly wiped out by internal rebellion, Richard Bowes' "How Th'irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.guv" about survivors left after an accident at the Hadron Collider, "The Marker" by Cecil Castellucci set in a future where GMO crops became poisonous to humans, Garth Nix's "You Won't Feel a Thing" featuring humans who have been reengineered by aliens to better suit their purposes, Carolyn Dunn's "Before," where a genetically engineered virus has decimated European Americans, leaving the Western hemisphere back in the hands of its indigenous people, and N.K. Jemisin's excellent story about conformity in a world hemmed in by the unknown, "Valedictorian."
There's even a werewolf story; Nalo Hopkinson's "The Easthound" about a violent change that spares children until puberty.
For the more politically inclined, there is "Blood Drive," a look at an American high school after the government gets rid of gun restrictions and child labor laws.
I was a huge fan of dystopian literature when I was a kid (books like The Stand, Alas, Babylon, and Lucifer's Hammer still rank among my favorites and are frequently reread). I only wish I had had an opportunity to read stories written for young adults and featuring young characters when I was still a teen.
After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia is an excellent anthology and has a little something for everyone.
Kindle
Paperback
After isn't just an anthology of end-of-the-world stories. Sure, the world did end in several of them, but in most, it's about what came next. There are a number of good stories in a variety of styles.
One of my favorite stories (and since it is first in the anthology, it got things started with a bang) is Genevieve Valentine's "The Segment." In this story, real news is a thing of the past (the network's motto is "Let Those Who Would Be Fooled, Be Fooled"), and one of the sources of employment for the undesirables is city is becoming an actor on the news, performing in news stories designed by the government and businesses to further their goals. Poppy, the protagonist of the story, gets cast in a news story about a war, but it's her friend Bree who has to teach her everything she needs to know to make it through.
Carrie Ryan has a great zombie story, "After the Cure," that explores what would happened to the former zombies once a cure was found. A similar idea was explored in 21st Century Dead in Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski's "Tender as Teeth."
Katherine Langrish creates an eerie post-global warming London, with buildings ravaged by floods and people by drugs and gang warfare, in her "Visiting Nelson." Richard Bowes draws a similar bead on New York, describing a city destroyed by war and environmental damage, with the ultra-rich and ultra-poor picking over the remains.
The most daring story in the anthology is Matthew Kressel's "The Great Game at the End of the World." In this story, God decides he's gone about as far with this world as he can, and in the middle of the day destroys it, leaving behind fragments of the world, on one of which, a brother and sister play a final game of baseball against of team monsters, the left over inhabitants of previous worlds God destroyed.
Sci-fi is well represented in the anthology with Beth Revis' "The Other Elder," set in a generation ship that was nearly wiped out by internal rebellion, Richard Bowes' "How Th'irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.guv" about survivors left after an accident at the Hadron Collider, "The Marker" by Cecil Castellucci set in a future where GMO crops became poisonous to humans, Garth Nix's "You Won't Feel a Thing" featuring humans who have been reengineered by aliens to better suit their purposes, Carolyn Dunn's "Before," where a genetically engineered virus has decimated European Americans, leaving the Western hemisphere back in the hands of its indigenous people, and N.K. Jemisin's excellent story about conformity in a world hemmed in by the unknown, "Valedictorian."
There's even a werewolf story; Nalo Hopkinson's "The Easthound" about a violent change that spares children until puberty.
For the more politically inclined, there is "Blood Drive," a look at an American high school after the government gets rid of gun restrictions and child labor laws.
I was a huge fan of dystopian literature when I was a kid (books like The Stand, Alas, Babylon, and Lucifer's Hammer still rank among my favorites and are frequently reread). I only wish I had had an opportunity to read stories written for young adults and featuring young characters when I was still a teen.
After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia is an excellent anthology and has a little something for everyone.
Kindle
Paperback
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
21st Century Dead: A Zombie Anthology
In the January 2013 issue of Nightmare Magazine, E.C. Myers interviewed award-winning editor Ellen Datlow about horror writing.
The interview is worth a read, not only because Datlow has some really interesting things to say about horror and sci-fi, but because she gives some examples of books and anthologies that she has worked on or that should be read.
At one point, she was discussing horror tropes, and found that despite finding certain tropes worn out, there were always stories that could make them fresh for her again. She gave the example of zombie stories, and gave Dan Chaon's "How We Escaped Our Certain Fate" in the anthology 21st Century Dead as a prime example, calling it "a fantastic, wonderful zombie story."
Well, that was good enough for me. I've been on a bit of a zombie kick recently, so I checked out the collection.
Dan Chaon's story was indeed wonderful, a meditation on loss and what happens when someone comes back. But this was just one of the outstanding stories in this anthology.
S.G. Browne's "Reality Bites," is a humorous look at the ambiguous morality of Hollywood and the reality television craze. It explores what a TV executive is willing to do when he meets the perfect reality star.
Actress Amber Benson (from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") has a story, "Antiparallelogram," that touches on zombies, but is really about the lengths an orphan will go to in order to raise his state.
Among the creepier and more traditional zombie stories are John McIlveen's "A Mother's Love," about the lengths a mother will go to save her child, Jonathan Maberry's "Jack and Jill," which along with Ken Bruen's "The Dead of Droore" will probably appeal the best to Romero zombie fans (I recently discovered Maberry's work and have read 4 or 5 of his novels and several anthologies featuring his work), and "All the Comforts of Home," a story about post-zombie apocalypse San Francisco by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow.
Other favorites of mine in this anthology include the Kurt Sutter's creepy "Tic Boom: A Slice of Life" and the sci-fi zombie story, "Parasite" by Daniel H. Wilson. There is even a zombie tale about homelessness, Simon R. Green's "Down and Out in Dead Town."
21st Century Dead is a strong, well-crafted anthology (and the introduction by editor Christopher Golden should not be skipped). If the zombies don't keep you awake at night, the desire to know what the next story holds will.
Nightmare Magazine - January 2013
21st Century Dead - Kindle
21st Century Dead - Paperback
The interview is worth a read, not only because Datlow has some really interesting things to say about horror and sci-fi, but because she gives some examples of books and anthologies that she has worked on or that should be read.
At one point, she was discussing horror tropes, and found that despite finding certain tropes worn out, there were always stories that could make them fresh for her again. She gave the example of zombie stories, and gave Dan Chaon's "How We Escaped Our Certain Fate" in the anthology 21st Century Dead as a prime example, calling it "a fantastic, wonderful zombie story."
Well, that was good enough for me. I've been on a bit of a zombie kick recently, so I checked out the collection.
Dan Chaon's story was indeed wonderful, a meditation on loss and what happens when someone comes back. But this was just one of the outstanding stories in this anthology.
S.G. Browne's "Reality Bites," is a humorous look at the ambiguous morality of Hollywood and the reality television craze. It explores what a TV executive is willing to do when he meets the perfect reality star.
Actress Amber Benson (from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") has a story, "Antiparallelogram," that touches on zombies, but is really about the lengths an orphan will go to in order to raise his state.
Among the creepier and more traditional zombie stories are John McIlveen's "A Mother's Love," about the lengths a mother will go to save her child, Jonathan Maberry's "Jack and Jill," which along with Ken Bruen's "The Dead of Droore" will probably appeal the best to Romero zombie fans (I recently discovered Maberry's work and have read 4 or 5 of his novels and several anthologies featuring his work), and "All the Comforts of Home," a story about post-zombie apocalypse San Francisco by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow.
Other favorites of mine in this anthology include the Kurt Sutter's creepy "Tic Boom: A Slice of Life" and the sci-fi zombie story, "Parasite" by Daniel H. Wilson. There is even a zombie tale about homelessness, Simon R. Green's "Down and Out in Dead Town."
21st Century Dead is a strong, well-crafted anthology (and the introduction by editor Christopher Golden should not be skipped). If the zombies don't keep you awake at night, the desire to know what the next story holds will.
Nightmare Magazine - January 2013
21st Century Dead - Kindle
21st Century Dead - Paperback
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