Another Unfavorable Review

The International Herald Tribune doesn't have much nice to say about Stoppard's "Heroes."

Fear and Loathing in Woody Creek

It can't have been easy being Hunter S. Thompson's wife. And it doesn't sound as if being his widow is any easier.

Boats Against the Current

Sometimes it sure seems like I'm living in a Philip K. Dick novel.

If anyone had asked me a week ago whether I had ever read "The Great Gatsby," I would have unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative. Sure, sure -- Nick, Daisy, Tom, Jay, Long Island, American Dream, the optometrist's sign, the garage owner with the gun, boats against the current borne ceaselessly into the past. I know the drill. I definitely had to read Fitzgerald's "Tender Is the Night" in high school, but I remember reading "Gatsby" on my own initiative during college, probably during a summer vacation when I was working horrible hours for the U.S. Postal Service.

So why, as I read "Gatsby" this week, did it seem familar in outline but completely new in most of its particulars? Granted, it has to have 25 years since I last picked it up, but shouldn't I have recognized more from it -- Owl-Eyes, James Gatz's befuddled father, the queasy depiction of the Jewish gangster? Why did the novel seem like a completely fresh reading experience?

Have I been fooling myself all these years and never read more of "Gatsby" than the Mad Magazine parody of the ill-fated movie starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow? What other books am I deluded about?

Stoppard Fails to Rescue Dull `Heroes' in London

The production of Stoppard's new translation fails to impress David Benedict of Bloomberg.

Sir Tom in the Doghouse

Translation is a tricky business. When Sir Tom Stoppard agreed to adapt Gérald Sibleyras's "Le Vent des peupliers" for a starry West End opening, the first problem was the title. -- From The Telegraph

That's a Perfectly Cromulent Word

This has been making the rounds, but I can't help but blog it myself: A Dictionary of Made-up Words from The Simpsons."

Also, The Royal Court Theatre has announced that it will produce "Rock 'n Roll," a new play by Tom Stoppard, to be directed by Trevor Nunn.

The Birthday Party

Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize on this 75th birthday. Tom Stoppard, among others, wished him well.

What I've Been Doing for the Past Year -- Part 2

Mammoth, Godplayer and I Live with You
Olympos,The Big Over Easy, WE3
Magic for Beginners, From the Files of the Time Rangers, Promethea Vol. 5, Old Twentieth
Peeps, The Lightning Thief, The Dance of the Assassins
Eldest, Anansi Boys, Fledgling

What I've Been Doing for the Past Year -- Part 1

Last year's "Best Science Fiction and Fantasy" list
In the Night Room, The Stupidest Angel, Hawke's Harbor
Going Postal, The Dry Salvages, The Originals and 1602
The Family Trade, Reflex, Old Man's War and Bone
The Mysteries and Market Forces
Phantom Nights, Here, There & Everywhere and Heart of Whitenesse

Paolini, Gaiman, Butler

My Chronicle review of "Eldest," "Anansi Boys" and "Fledgling."

Two out of three ain't bad.

A Clean Slate

Gradually, it will grow...