Lush Life (2008)

Lush Life: A Novel by Richard Price


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another of the top ten as designated by Entertainment Weekly, Richard Price writes about real people and gritty situations. I wasn't surprised to find he wrote for the television series "The Wire".

I had trouble adjusting to the realistic street language and found the characters disturbing in their flawed portrayals.

This is a disturbing story and left me feeling sad. It is well written, plotted, and the characters seems real. I just didn't like spending time with them very much.

View all my reviews >>

Bottomless Belly Button (2008)

Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read (if you can call it that) this graphic novel - my first - several weeks ago. Amazingly I was drawn into the story and able to follow the narrative with little difficulty. On the other hand, there were probably many subtleties that eluded me.

It was another of Entertainment Weekly's list of the ten best books of 2008. My experiment with reading these titles, most of which would have held no interest for me, has been quite interesting. They have turned out to be an interesting mix.

Three more to go: House on Fortune Street; The Story of Edgar Sawtelle; and The American Wife.

View all my reviews >>

What Happened to Anna K.? (2008)

What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is book 5/10 from my Entertainment Weekly list of ten outstanding books of 2008.

Somehow my education did not contain exposure to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and maybe in this instance it's a good thing. Those who knew the original did not seem to like What Happened to Anna K.? as well as I did. I found the story engrossing and an interesting portrait of a beautiful young Russian immigrant in New York City who has the perfect life but always needs something more. She only defines herself through her conquests, each one supposed to solve the problem of her life. As she begins aging, her world falls apart.

It reminded me of a Stephen Sondheim song that wondered what was behind the facade of a beautiful woman. "Sometimes when the wrappings fall, There's nothing underneath at all."


View all my reviews >>