Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Five Skies, Ron Carlson



One Idaho summer envelops the lives of three men in her broad skies, flat plains, high plateaus and dramatic silences. It is one season in the lives of the huge, silent Arthur Key; the internally raging Darwin Gallegos; and the ex-criminal but earnest young pupil Ronnie Panelli. They bond in the steely, emotionless, simple ways that men do, as they work on a contracted big-money building project in the middle of nowhere. All three men come from harsh, but not dissimilar places in life and get to know each other over dirt, plans, tools, hard work and coffee.

It is an oh-so-quiet novel loaded with a building intensity that makes like a slow-moving summer thunderstorm bound for a spectacular, wrenching finish. Ron Carlson has brought us a strong, beautiful novel of love, hope, and just doing what comes next.

Wow.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

Literary legend Kurt Vonnegut has died at 84 years old. There comes a time when great authors will all leave us, but it is always a sad day and fills us with great loss.

Two great pieces:

KURT VONNEGUT: 1922-2007
Darkly comic novelist a counterculture hero

San Francisco Chronicle

Novelist Vonnegut Remembered for His Black Humor
NPR

Writer Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84
BBC News

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Writers Rooms

Ever wanted to take a peek into the offices/writing spaces of beloved authors? Check out the UK Guardian's page featuring various writers' rooms with commentary by each author. I am a little surprised at how neat nearly all of them seem to be, but it could be they just tidied up before the photographer came.