Category Archives: Reviews: Books, Movies, Music, TV

“Leviathan” reverberates in western Judeo-Christian canon first in Job, then in John Hobbes’ early enlightenment tome. The 2014 Russian eponymous movie allows for either connection. Near its end, the Old Testament story is explicitly referenced. But for the first two … Continue reading →

The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown I’m a sucker for a good athletic success story, no matter what the sport. I’ve devoured and drooled over accounts of Seabiscuit’s exploits, the travails along the Iditarod dog sled race, … Continue reading →

Pigeonholing Neal Stephenson might take as long as one of his recent novels. Starting with 1999’s Cryptonomicon, his most recent seven novels have averaged about 900 pages each. And we’re not talking large type versions. His debut effort, the sophomoric … Continue reading →

This is not the best movie you’ll see this year, or even this month. But it is the first, and possibly only screen adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s unique style and viewpoint. Anderson has done a fair job of wringing some semblance of sense from Pynchon, and provided a workmanlike, un-romantic snapshot of that place and time that was the Santa Monica Bay 40 years ago. For that, I thank him for his service. Continue reading →

David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks relies on facile prose and keenly drawn characters to distract the reader from the brief, but recurrent battles between transmigrating, immortal souls who wander in and out of the lives of his six narrators. Holly … Continue reading →

Remember Michael Keaton? Henry Winkler’s manic morgue mate in Night Shift? Mr. Mom? The zany zebra-suited guide to the after life for Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in Beetlejuice (who helped Catherine O’Hara channel Harry Belafonte in a rousing rendition … Continue reading →

Life After Life – a novel by Kate Atkinson What if your mother sent you to a psychiatrist, to help with your recurring sensations of deja vu, and he turned out to be a Buddhist who supported your vague sensations … Continue reading →

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour  –  a novel by Joshua Ferris In his first novel, Then We Came To The End (2007),  Joshua Ferris brought us into the office life of a Manhattan ad agency. Employing a first … Continue reading →