Tag: American writer

Tom Lake–book review

Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

Another great read from Ann Patchett. I loved The Dutch House, so was minded to enjoy this new work. And I did, though maybe not quite as much.

Tom Lake is really a tribute to Thornton Wilder, who is a bit out of my frame, not being a big reader of Americana, but no matter. The story centres around his play, Our Town, that feels very pancakes-on-the-griddle homely and probably doesn’t have the connotations for non-Americans that those folksy folk enjoy. Our narrator, Lara, finds herself (almost accidentally) type-cast as the fresh faced young woman in Our Town, first in her home town and later at Tom Lake, a theatre company in Michigan. She is Emily, the sweet thing. She can’t seem to pull off anything else.

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Pineapple Street – book review

Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson

I asked around for a read that was entertaining and not at all intellectually challenging and Pineapple Street delivered, certainly on the second point. I’m not convinced that it is “wryly funny” or “acutely observed” as billed, or why it is recommended by the New York Times, except for the fact that it is very New York, but there are plenty of those books about. Some women in a super rich family have angst, worry about money and class and are fearful of the domineering matriarch.

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Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow–book review

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

Usually, it’s the story setting that draws me to pick up a book. Time and place. A Glasgow slum in the 1980s; the brutal 1700s with Māori tipuna; frozen Norway circa 1880; a present day high country farm. Then, to commit to reading I want characters I could care about, who do things I care about. So I was a slightly reluctant recipient when my friend thrust Tommorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow into my hands. It’s a book set in the States about the gaming industry, and a couple of kids and their friends who spend all their time developing and playing computer games. I’m not particularly interested in geeky American culture and think gaming is an addictive waste of life. So my knee-jerk interest was near zero. But friend Tess saw Zevin live at the AWF and raved, and a recommendation from a good reader is worth gold. So here we go.

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The Paper Palace – book review

The Paper Palace, by Miranda Cowley Heller

This felt like an over-crafted book from the start. We get the climax scene (haha, literally) and then, in dribs-and-drabs, the day that builds up to it and the day that follows, jabbed through with a long (and perhaps irrelevant?) history of the protagonist, her mother, her grandmother, her father – so many back-story characters slowing down the read. I just wanted to skip over them and get back to the main plot.

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