Look what I found in Bookforum

In the February/March issue, the late, great Texas writer, Donald Barthelme receives an excellent appreciation by James Wolcott (whom book/daddy often finds irritatingly self-important, but when he's on a roll, he can do some fine horn-tooting). The hallowed occasion: With Flying to America: 45 More Stories, all of Don B's short works finally seem to be in print.

Also in Bookforum, an excerpt from David Hajdu's book, The 10-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. The book won't be out until March, but I can say, halfway through it, that it's a terrific cultural history.

Initially, book/daddy thought, who needed another recounting of Dr. Frederick Wertham's fearmongering with his infamous 1954 diatribe, The Seduction of the Innocent? The book linked comics to juvenile delinquency and just about anything else wrong with teens, including acne and bad posture. Read any history of comics, and you'll find the story repeated; it's the McCarthyite Red Scare of the superhero world. It nearly killed the industry. But Hajdu has found a much wider, more interesting tale -- practically the entire history of comics is tied up with attempted censorhip -- and with some truly eccentric characters along the way.

Richard Locke has written a review of Pat Barker's new novel, Life Class, which includes an excellent overview of the Booker Prize-winning novelist's work. Professor Locke thinks the new book doesn't hold a candle to Barker's superb Regeneration trilogy. In my New York Sun review (see below), I don't think it's as good, but still well worth reading, a superb piece of fiction.

January 25, 2008 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

2 Comments

By sally on May 7, 2009 11:22 AM

Decent - someone from the parenting site gurgle recommended this blog and I really like it!

By BookLover on March 16, 2009 9:40 AM

That is an awesome cover picture you've got there! I aree with Locke's analysis of Barker's latest work, it's not a patch on the Regeneration books but even not in comparison to those books I don't it too highly individually. Checked up it's reviews on this book review site and people seem to agree!

THE REVIEWS:

Pat Barker, Frankenstein, Cass Sunstein on the internet, Samuel Johnson, Thrillers, Denis Johnson, Alan Furst, Caryl Phillips, Richard Flanagan, George Saunders, Michael Harvey, Larry McMurtry, Harry Potter and more ...

ESSAY:

Big D between the sheets -- Dallas in fiction

ESSAY:

Reviewing the state of reviewing

ESSAY:

9/11 as a novel: Why?

ESSAY:

How can critics say the things they do? And why does anyone pay attention? It's the issue of authority.

The disappearing book pages:

Papers are cutting book coverage for little reason

Thrillers and Lists:

Noir favorites, who makes the cut and why