Archive | May 2009
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Jetlag – A Review
Jetlag by Etgar Keret is a short but fascinating collection of five short stories set to drawings by five different Israeli artists: Mira Friedman, Batia Kolton, Rutu Modan, Yirmi Pinkus, Itzik Rennert. Keret, one of Israel’s best writers, creates what might be better called fables. His stories are brief and always have an element of [...]
Chef’s Special – A Review
Big Night meets the Bird Cage might be the best way to describe this gay cooking comedy. It was funny in the way that slapstick and exaggerated characters can be: fun for a while, but not good for a repeat viewing. It was an at times funny movie filled with stereotypes that were played well: [...]
The Anarchist’s Wife – A Review
Every war once it begins to be committed to film has its own cliches. The Anarchist’s Wife from film makers Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr is full of those from the Spanish Civil War as it attempts to tell the sweeping love story of a young wife who stands valiantly by her husband’s side. Really [...]
Manga, Genre and Osamu Tezuka in Words Without Borders
Yani Mentzas makes some interesting points about how one should view the work of Manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka, and how in general the graphic novel should be approached when trying to make it more serious. Narrative comics can mature in two diverging ways: either by jettisoning the juvenile framework in favor of standards borrowed from [...]
Mario Benedetti Has Passed Away
Uruguayan author Mario Benedetti has passed away at age 88. As El Pais said Muere Mario Benedetti después de una larga vida de lucha contra la adversidad y en defensa de la alegría Mario Benedetti died after a long life fighting against adversity and defending joy Jose Sarmago has a short reflection in El Pais. [...]
News from the Empire – A Brief Review
I just finished Fernando del Paso’s News from the Empire which I will be reviewing for The Quarterly Conversation in the fall. However, I do have some brief thoughts. It is a sprawling novel that is worth the read. It may help if you know something about Mexican history. A quick read of a few [...]
When a Blogger Dies, What to Do with the Blog?
When a blogger dies what should you do with the blog, and more importantly do you owe the readers of the blog something, such as a time or a place to grieve like you would with friends and family? A friend, elswinger, and avid blogger died a month ago after a series of long illnesses. [...]
New Urban British Fiction in the TLS
The TLS has a good write up of some interesting first fiction from Britain. It sounds interesting, perhaps because the themes and settings resonate with an image on Britain I have from the 80s. Coventry, the setting for Mez Packer’s witty, fast-paced thriller, Among Thieves, was settled by Jamaicans in great numbers in the 1950s [...]
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith In Seattle 5/12/09
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, the Chicano author of the Klail City Death Trip Series including Kali City y sus alrededores, will be in seattle on 5/12/09. He will be speaking at the Physics-Astronomy building Auditorium on the University of Washington Campus from 5:30-7:00PM.
