Some Assembly Required: Two Novels Fill the Gaps

2014-05-13T14:25:03-04:00

This is from Gabriel's neighbour, Giuditta. "One day Gabriel opened up more than usual and told me he had four sons. From four different women. In four different countries." The reader wonders if perhaps he opened up more to her than to anyone; Gabriel is a cipher, someone the reader knows

Some Assembly Required: Two Novels Fill the Gaps2014-05-13T14:25:03-04:00

“Vandals” Alice Munro

2014-03-20T21:02:03-04:00

"But you better not cross him or he’ll skin you alive....Like he does with his other stuff." 1994; Penguin, 2007 Liza's father warned her about Ladner, who made his living as a taxidermist, working for museums. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Indeed, after that, Liza and

“Vandals” Alice Munro2014-03-20T21:02:03-04:00

“A Wilderness Station” Alice Munro

2014-03-20T21:00:42-04:00

What a complicated tale. Though perhaps less so than "Open Secrets" and "The Albanian Virgin", for readers have a much broader sense of understanding what "really happened". The possibility of honest understanding, in this case, settles in the last letter that Annie wrote to Sadie. [NOTE: There are some spoilers

“A Wilderness Station” Alice Munro2014-03-20T21:00:42-04:00

Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game (2006)

2020-05-21T16:06:48-04:00

Rawi Hage has said that De Niro's Game began as a short story. A short story that continued to grow. "I finally, out of nowhere, had a novel on my hands and I sent it to a few places and I got a few responses." The scenic construction does remind

Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game (2006)2020-05-21T16:06:48-04:00

Rawi Hage’s Cockroach (2008)

2014-03-20T15:54:10-04:00

Some readers will be unsettled by the title alone. (I had early exposure as a young reader to Don Marquis' archy and mehitabel, so it didn't work that way for me.) Most readers will be unsettled by the story. (As activist and artist Banksy has said: “Art should comfort

Rawi Hage’s Cockroach (2008)2014-03-20T15:54:10-04:00
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