I’ve been reading Head Butler, Jesse Kornbluth’s web site/blog/sage life advice since at least 2011. Actually longer, but that’s as far back as I can document, from extracts I’ve added to my massive library of 50,000 (or so) Evernote posts…. Continue Reading →
Four teen-age boys whose long friendship is turned upside down when an exotic girl comes to town. The results are tragic.
Red Riviera, by David Downie If you’re a fan of Italy, mysteries, or well-drawn characters, don’t miss David Downie’s new novel Red Riviera. It sits on my virtual bookshelf right next to Commissario Brunetti (Donna Leon) and Inspector Gamache (Louise… Continue Reading →
When I started to write my third novel, Finding Pegasus, I was looking for some specific plot points — I wanted a strong woman as at least one of the protagonists, and I wanted her to be a techie, and… Continue Reading →
Peter Steiner’s The Good Cop is a pitch-perfect aria in the chaotic opera that was Weimar. It illustrates the corruption of the politicians and police, the violence of the extremist freikorps ruffians, and the general fear and loathing that led… Continue Reading →
Highly recommended for Francophiles and WWII history buffs 5/5 Anyone who has followed the tragedy of the German occupation has heard of the young bicycle couriers who fearlessly bluffed their way past checkpoints while carrying secret messages for the… Continue Reading →
Once a month, Adrian Leeds holds a two-hour book presentation and social gathering upstairs at a café near her home in the Marais, in Paris. I went this week because I wanted to hear Timothy J. Smith talk about his… Continue Reading →
Five stars – beautifully written, imaginative, a delight to read This book will appeal to three kinds of readers: those who admire good writing, those who love baseball and want to see more of it from the inside, and fans… Continue Reading →
Anyone who has lived in a small town may have seen Carverville, Downie’s fictional Cannery Row, which is now an economic desert whose salmon fishery and lumber industries were sacrificed to clearcutting and environmental plunder.
My most indelible memory of the holiday we Americans call Veterans Day happened 46 years ago when Jan and I passed through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin. We were journalists in Frankfurt at the time but had business in Berlin… Continue Reading →