Author: Nick Owchar

communications and content specialist

Second only to Paris … 700 years ago, that is

by Nick Owchar, posted in Books, Dante, fantasy, Myth - Dante, mythology, Poetry, Prue Shaw, Reading, W.W. Norton

Well, we wouldn't have Shakespeare's sonnets if plague hadn't closed all the London theaters; we wouldn't have Henry James' novels (a mixed blessing) if he'd struck gold as a playwright; and we definitely wouldn't have Dante's "Comedy" if the poet hadn't been driven out of Florence. In other words, misfortune's often been the handmaiden to … Continue reading Second only to Paris … 700 years ago, that is

Return of a Roth … necessary reading … rest, Peter

by Nick Owchar, posted in A Game of Thrones, Henry Roth, Kai Maristed, Lijia Zhang, Peter Mathiessen, Publishing, Reading, W.W. Norton, Writing

Of the Roth triumvirate (Philip, Joseph, and Henry), Henry usually gets overshadowed by the other two. After all, how can a maker of bildungsroman tales compete with portraits of a failing empire or the romantic uses of a piece of liver? Well, the work of Henry Roth -- lyric chronicler of childhood in Call It Sleep -- … Continue reading Return of a Roth … necessary reading … rest, Peter

Strange & Norrell: Where did that novel go?

by Nick Owchar, posted in Books, fantasy, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, magic, Myth - George R.R. Martin, Novels, Publishing, Susanna Clarke, Writing

A republished post by fantasy novelist Jo Walton asks a poignant question, Whatever happened to Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? "It did about as well as any book can do," Walton writes, "….but five years later, it doesn't seem to have had any impact." Walton's piece first appeared in 2010 (hence the five years remark … Continue reading Strange & Norrell: Where did that novel go?