From time to time I review books and interview authors, musicians, and other creative people. I'll be using this page to spotlight their books, CDs, and other works and to recommend books, music, and films I've enjoyed. And if I write a humor column that has something to do with books, I'll post it here too.
Fun With Classic Book Titles "In New York Magazine’s Competition 15, we’re asked to “submit the title of an almost familiar literary classic.” Here are the fake titles I submitted..."
Escapist Limerick "When I need to escape and relax,
I read thrillers — fictitious attacks..."
Life With Mark Kane "(All dialogue guaranteed true)
Mark: “Now that I’ve won, I can go to sleep.” (gazing down, admiringly, at his laptop’s “free cell” screen at 10 pm)
Me: “Remember that Walter Kirn book I mentioned the other day?”
Mark: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” (still looking down)
Me: “The one about the impostor…”
Mark: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” (still looking down)..."
Well-Read Limerick "A gal who was very well-read
Felt stymied in getting ahead..."
Fight Firewalls With Kindle "My humorist pal Rose Valenta recently created a Kindle version of her blog and inspired me to do the same. Why? Because many employers are getting strict about web access, blocking employees from reading their favorite blogs and sites ..."
Kindle Swindle? E-book repossession via electronic invasion of privacy. If it isn’t a crime, it sure as hell ought to be.
Fox On Bush "In his new book, Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President, former Mexican President Vicente Fox had this to say about George W. Bush: ..."
Curb Your Age Of Turbulence Enthusiasm "Poor little innocent Alan Greenspan is shocked, SHOCKED, I TELL YOU, by the Bush administration’s budget deficits and loss of fiscal discipline. ..."
Publishing Suffers Another Blow "In the wake of Oprah's announcement that she's terminating her popular book club, the publishing industry has sustained yet another crushing blow: Mad Kane, Dubya Channeler & host of MadKane.com, has announced that she will not launch a book club. 'I thought long and hard about this,' Mad Kane said, 'because public figures have a responsibility to encourage reading. Plus President Bush seems to think reading is good, and failing to support any Bush mission is, arguably, a terrorist act...'"
Life's a Stitch: The Best of Contemporary Women's Humor A terrific, new Random House humor anthology, whose contributors include Wendy Wasserstein, Delia Ephron, Anna Quindlen, Kathy Najimy, Christine Lavin, Erma Bombeck, Julie Gold, Cathy Guisewite, Merrill Markoe, Patricia Volk, Signe Wilkinson, Jane Wagner, Judith Viorst, Fran Capo, Molly Ivins, Lynn Johnston, Julie Haslton, Roz Chast, and many other terrific writers, cartoonists, and singer/songwriters. I'm proud to say that one of my humor columns is in the book too.
Mystery Novelist CAROLYN HART: Widely hailed as America's heir to Agatha Christie, mystery novelist Carolyn Hart is the winner of two Agatha Awards, two Anthony Awards, and two Macavity Awards. She is best known for her Annie Laurance and Max Darling novels and her mystery series featuring Henrie O, a retired foreign corespondent and a sleuth with "a taste for adventure, a gift for laughter, and a zest for life."
When I interviewed Ms. Hart from her Oklahoma City home, Ms. Hart talked about Death On The River Walk, A Henrie O Mystery. She also spoke about her struggle to make it as an American female mystery writer, age discrimination, and the hard choices women have to make balancing career and family.
Novelist BARBARA SHAFFERMAN, Author of the President's Astrologer: Are you ever too old for success? Not according to author and astrologer Barbara Shafferman, whose first novel was published shortly after she turned 70. The President's Astrologer, published to enthusiastic reviews, was named one of three finalists for the Benjamin Franklin Award for fiction/drama, given by the Publishers Marketing Association.
In my interview with her, Ms. Shafferman talked about her early life challenges and her late-in-life literary success.
Not only did I have a good time interviewing Barbara Shafferman, but I also loved the President's Astrologer. It's the best political novel I've read in a long time. It's a fast read, exciting and suspense filled, and you don't have to know anything about astrology to enjoy it.
Jenna Bush, Author? "In a move sure to aggravate unagented (and poorly agented) authors, Jenna Bush has scored a high-powered literary agent — Robert Barnett. ..."
