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The unexpected Nobel decision has the literary world in a tizzy |
Kerri Miller's Must-Read |
| "The Trespasser" by Tana French Buy this book I’m not sure why I have the patience for Tana French. Although I like crime fiction, I’ve never been a big fan of the police procedural. French is the queen of the cop-shop: Her novels bring you along on every forensic discovery, witness interview and suspect stakeout. It's exactly the kind of thing I thought I didn't like. There’s also the fact that there are times I get hung up on the sheer Irishness of her writing. The words “gaff” and “gaffer” seem to stand in for all kinds of things. Here’s a sentence I had to read more than once: “No gaffer wants this on his squad, wants the sniping in corners and the gray poison smog hanging over the squad room. Any gaffer in the world would be wondering, by now, how he could get rid of me.” Hey, Tana: How about a footnote or two for the Americans here?! But every time Tana French publishes a new novel, I find myself enmeshed in the mystery of who, how and why. Maybe Patrick Anderson of the Washington Post nailed it when he wrote this recently of “The Trespasser”: “...it’s time to recognize that French’s work renders absurd the lingering distinction between genre and literary fiction — the notion that although crime novels might be better plotted and more readable, only literary fiction, supposedly blessed with superior writing, characterizations and intellectual firepower, deserves the respect of serious readers.” Right. I’m a serious reader and “The Trespasser” is simply great literature: compellingly complex characters, sophisticated plotting and a deeply engrossing look at a crime from the inside out. Bottom line? I’ll read anything Tana French writes. -K.M. |
| This Week on The Thread |
| Bob Dylan as literature? Literary Twitter loses its collective mind Bob Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature this week, and the news set off a tidal wave in the literary world. People unleashed their snarky responses over the musician's unexpected honor. More |
| This is the English teacher who mentored Bob Dylan and shaped his career Bob Dylan's literary roots may be as tangled as the Nobel Prize winner's famously enigmatic lyrics, but at some point they invariably end up in the Hibbing High School classroom of B.J. Rolfzen. More |
| Choose a book to read to your barber, he'll take a little money off the top A great way for kids to brush up on reading skills? Why, reading to the barber, of course. That's the idea at one barbershop in Ypsilanti, Mich. Oh, and in Houston, Dubuque, Iowa, and Columbus, Ohio. More |
| What could possibly go wrong at an off-off-off-Broadway children's musical? "Mister Monkey" by Francine Prose Buy this book Francine Prose shares the real-life moritifying inspiration behind her new novel, and gives a list of her favorite funny women novelists. More |
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| Six things not to miss at the Twin Cities Book Festival The festival takes over the state fairgrounds this weekend, with author events from local and national favorites, and an all-day book fair. More |
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| "I hope she writes hundreds and hundreds more books" "The Mothers" by Brit Bennett Buy this book Debut novelists don't always get the respect they deserve, but bookseller Carson Evans is a fan of first-timers. Her fall book pick is "The Mothers" by Brit Bennett. More |
| Listen: Gloria Steinem on "My Life on the Road" Activist, journalist and women's rights leader Gloria Steinem spoke about her wild life and her new memoir at Talking Volumes. More |
| Growing up as a bank robber's daughter "Bandit" by Molly Brodak Buy this book Kids eventually realize their parents are real people, says author Molly Brodak. But in her new memoir, she talks about another sort of realization: That her father was dishonest, and a criminal. More |
| Why English Lit is like death, and other ideas "The Rain in Portugal" by Billy Collins Buy this book If there is such a thing as a rock-star poet, Billy Collins is it. More |
| A cookbook for healthy eating — in prison "Commissary Kitchen" by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson Buy this book Behind bars, it takes ingenuity, other prisoners and a little help from the commissary to approximate a proper diet. That's what rapper Prodigy of hip-hop's Mobb Deep learned after going to prison. More |
| Cuba is a dream that doesn't let go "The Mortifications" by Derek Palacio Buy this book Derek Palacio's new novel follows a family who escape Cuba, leaving their political rebel patriarch behind after he refuses to go with them. When he reappears decades later, their lives come apart. More |
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