Lundgren’s Book Lounge: “The Maid’s Version,” by Daniel Woodrell
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: Comments Off on Lundgren’s Book Lounge: “The Maid’s Version,” by Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell is a writer’s writer, the kind of literary artist that too frequently in a culture driven by the whims of publishers interested only in the next big thing, might quietly churn out unnoticed masterpieces. Fortunately Woodrell was rescued from a lifetime of being praised mostly by his fellow writers and literary juries, when his novel Winter’s Bone was adapted for the screen and won widespread praise at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for four Academy Awards. And now he has shared with us another small masterpiece, The Maid’s Version. Continue reading →
Lundgren’s Lounge: “A House in the Sky,” by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 2 comments
Life in the United States can be like living in a cocoon, a carefully constructed illusion built upon the false sense of security that we are immune from the chaos and anarchy that prevails in other parts of the world. It is why an event like 9/11 rattled our collective national psyche so deeply, with emotional reverberations that continue to this day. It is also why a book like A House in the Sky, by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett, is so timely. Continue reading →
Lundgren’s Lounge: “I’m Losing You,” by Bruce Wagner
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: Comments Off on Lundgren’s Lounge: “I’m Losing You,” by Bruce Wagner
Lundgren’s Book Lounge: “Life Among Giants,” by Bill Roorbach (Paperback Pub Day!)
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 2 comments
Paperback Pub Day August 20, 2013–great new package!
On the occasion of the paperback publication of Life Among Giants:
Given the profusion of extraordinary writers that live amongst us in Portland and in Maine, there can be a tendency to overlook or take for granted some of the literary treasures penned by our friends and neighbors. Keeping one’s literary ear to the ground always yields hidden treasures and for some time I had been hearing accolades about the work of Bill Roorbach, creator of an impressive oeuvre that encompasses memoir (Summers With Juliet), short stories (Big Bend) and essays (Temple Stream and Writing Life Stories). And now this versatile writer has graced us with his big book, his masterpiece, Life Among Giants, which just been released in paperback. Continue reading →
From Blogger to Author: Learning the Blogging Genre & Blogging a Book
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 10 comments
Summer 2012 at the Guinness Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
Five years ago, in July 2008, my blog was born with its first post. Those first uploads for Draft No. 4, then named Narrative, gave me fits. How I slaved over them. Obsessively I rewrote them and made my wife read them, or listen to me read them. What I was learning—am learning still—was that blogging is its own genre.
When I began, I was writing the second version of my memoir. I was full of insights about writing I wanted to share. But my persona perplexed me. Who was speaking? And to whom? Was my stance full of pride of accomplishment, or humbled by the work, or somewhere in between? Unlike the essays I was quarrying from my chapters and sending out to editors, at least I was publishing my posts. Blogging offers such gratification that way. Continue reading →
Lundgren’s Lounge: “My Education,” by Susan Choi
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 1 comment
Over the years I have developed a great fondness for the work of Susan Choi. She writes the most exquisitely graceful sentences (Michael Cunningham says “… she has written lines that could be framed and displayed at a sentence festival”), and she seems always to tackle subject matter that is captivating. An American Woman (finalist for the Pulitzer) was a fictional account of the Patty Hearst extravaganza that focused on the victim/heroine/revolutionary’s life on the lam. Choi followed with A Person of Interest (finalist for the PEN/Faulkner) about an academic who becomes a suspect after his colleague is blown to pieces by a Unabomber-like character. Continue reading →
Lundgren’s Book Lounge: “Massacre Pond,” by Paul Doiron
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 1 comment
Paul Doiron at Camp Van Otterloo (photo Kristen Lindquist)
Observing the course of Maine game warden Mike Bowditch’s career, as depicted in author Paul Doiron’s award-winning series, has been endlessly entertaining because of the strong current of authenticity driving the narrative. In the first three award-winning novels (The Poacher’s Son, Trespasser and Bad Little Falls) we meet young Bowditch, headstrong, intelligent and impetuous. Bowditch has always been an interloper, an unwelcome guest to the party of policing an immense tract of what passes as wilderness in the 20th century, while trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to ‘fit in’ amongst his game warden colleagues. It does not help that he is the son of the northwoods’ most notorious and legendary poacher and a Colby grad to boot. Continue reading →
A Couple of Writers who Teach Talk About the Common Core and the Fate of the Essay
categories: Cocktail Hour / Don't Talk About Politics / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 2 comments
Sonya Huber
Ioanna Opidee
Sonya Huber and Ioanna Opidee have been meeting for over a year to plot and draft b\ook chapters and essays about teaching the essay—to little kids! to teenagers! to everyone!–and we sat down to try to sum up what we’re doing and how you can help. Our conversations themselves often feel like meandering, experimental essays, so we decided to record ourselves talking, to try to capture the chaos and share it with you today . . . Continue reading →
Lundgren’s Book Lounge: “Drinking with Men,” by Rosie Schaap
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 5 comments
Rosie Schaap
.
Rosie Schaap’s memoir, Drinking With Men, turns a number of social conventions topsy turvy, the most prominent being the reassuring (for some) perception that people who spend time in bars are social degenerates and quite possibly, alcoholics. Schaap is unabashed in her praise for the unique sense of community that can be found in the neighborhood tavern and unapologetic for the role that a pint and the warming effects of Irish whiskey can play in fostering that elusive sense of conviviality. Continue reading →
Independent Bookstore Tuesday: Run Like Hell!
categories: Cocktail Hour / Reading Under the Influence
comments: 3 comments
Jonathan Evison
For years, here on Bainbridge Island, there was this great little record store called the Glass Onion. The dude who owned it was named Jeff, and he loved his job. Basically, by buying a record store, he bought himself into a low paying job for life. Or so he thought. He was smart, passionate, and informed in a dizzyingly wide array of musical genres, and always managed to be on the cutting edge, without necessarily looking like a guy who lived on the cutting edge. Is this sounding familiar yet? Continue reading →
