Writing a good addiction memoir is difficult — or maybe it’s reading an addiction memoir that’s difficult, at least for non-addicts. The line between drug-induced hallucination and psychotic episode is blurry, and sympathizing with the addict in question, while of course eschewed in public, is surprisingly difficult in private, where one is certain that could [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Lit Crit’
Lit Crit: “Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man” by Bill Clegg
Posted in Literature, tagged Addiction Memoirs, Bill Clegg, Lit Crit, Portrait of An Addict as a Young Man on October 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Lit Crit: “Room” by Emma Donoghue
Posted in Literature, tagged Emma Donoghue, Lit Crit, Room on October 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Forbidden Experiment has long tantalized linguists, anthropologists and psychologists for the possible insights into the human mind and sociality it could uncover. The experiment involves raising a child in isolation to study how his or her mind develops in the absence of other people; it is forbidden, of course, because of the moral and [...]
Lit Crit: “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater,” by Frank Bruni
Posted in Food, Literature, tagged Born Round, Frank Bruni, Lit Crit on September 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
These days more and more people are overweight, but most of us don’t like to talk about it. Former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, however, is eager recount being “born round,” a favorite saying of his immigrant Italian grandmother, in his delicious memoir “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater.” Bruni [...]
Lit Crit: “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro
Posted in Literature, tagged Kazuo Ishisguro, Lit Crit, Never Let Me Go on September 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The film version of “Never Let Me Go” is set to premiere soon, and in anticipation I dusted off my hardcover copy of Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel for a reread, reminding me of this book’s provoking conceptuality and striking prose. I have to warn you: “Never Let Me Go” reveals its quietly horrifying secret agonizingly [...]
Lit Crit: “The Emperor’s Children,” by Claire Messud
Posted in Literature, tagged Claire Messud, Lit Crit, The Emperor's Children on September 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In this age of national insecurity and economic malaise, remembering the pre-9/11 days can be a daunting challenge. It’s a delicate mood to recreate, considering the hindsight provided by those terrorist attacks, but certainly there were feelings of overly confident institutionalization and intellectual pretentiousness. Could 9/11 have originated in such superiority, the fated effect to [...]
Lit Crit: “Dear American Airlines” by Jonathan Miles
Posted in Literature, tagged Dear American Airlines, Jonathan Miles, Lit Crit on September 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Most people have been trapped at an airport for at least a few hours. Usually that time is spent playing games on a smart phone, devouring Stieg Larsson novels or stirring an airport bar martini with an olive. But Benjamin R. Ford, the protagonist of Jonathan Miles’ first novel “Dear American Airlines,” hunkers down to [...]
Lit Crit: “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown
Posted in Literature, tagged Dan Brown, Lit Crit, The Lost Symbol on August 23, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Yes, I know that Dan Brown’s follow-up to his immensely popular “Da Vinci Code” came out almost a year ago. But I’ve only just gotten around to it, and I’m not the only one; the librarian checking me out also mentioned she had been meaning to read it. Turns out there’s a good reason the [...]
