When I was working for the newspaper, I remember calling William Styron to ask him to write something for us. Even before I picked up the phone, I knew he wouldn't do it. I couldn't imagine a literary master agreeing to spend time writing a humble little review for us. If there's such a thing … Continue reading Styron’s four words to me
Category: Books
Books, new and old, in fiction and nonfiction.
A touchy subject: How writers make their livings
Ten years. That's how long I think Susanna Clarke spent on writing her alternative history of English magic, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I used to think, " 'Swounds, ten years? How is that possible?!" Yes, it's a very big book, easy to mistake for an old phone book, but ten years? Now, as … Continue reading A touchy subject: How writers make their livings
Two for the new year … woof!
Two novels that arrived in the mail made me think, almost instantly, of the oddest pairing: Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Carolyn Parkhurst's Dogs of Babel. To be honest, it's not the canine connection that made me pair these two books. It's something else: the fact that both freshen the … Continue reading Two for the new year … woof!
Nick Owchar 
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