stories by alex mindt
Books I'm currently reading:
Everything Else in the World - Poems by Stephen Dunn
Where Shall Wisdom be Found? - Essays by Harold Bloom
Eats, Shoots & Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation ! by Lynne Truss
2001 Prize Stories - O Henry Awards - Edited by Larry Dark
Reading Like A Writer - Francine Prose
2006 Best American Essays - Edited by Robert Atwan
Excellent. Particularly Peter Selgin's charming "Confessions of a Left-Handed Man, and Alan Shapiro's inspiring "Why Write?" and Emily Bernard's searching work on race in modern America: "Teaching the N-Word." From top to bottom, a great book!
Very good. But I found her examples to be mediocre and uninspired and her insight to be a tad obvious. But still a worthwhile read.
Very disappointing. In fact, there are only a few stories worth reading in this head-scratcher of an award winning collection. Notable stories from writers (who explore new forms and arresting narrative strategies) Elizabeth Graver, Ron Carlson and Mary Swan.
Charming exploration of the meaning behind, and the uses of, of grammar and style. A must read for anybody who cares about language.
The latest book from Pulitzer Prize winner Dunn. Not great, not sharp, nor insightful in that often exuberantly off-balanced Dunnian way. But still better than most.
The reigning defender of the Western Canon weighs in on the battle between Plato and Homer (spoiler alert: Homer wins), the ecstatic poetry of Ecclesiastes, Qohelet in Hebrew, and the ultimate wisdom of Shakespeare as it is displayed in Lear and Macbeth. Pretty good, but a bit scattered and unwieldy.
The Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell
A fascinating study of human contagion as it exists not as disease but as thought, psychology, and ultimately behavior, ie., group think, and how it affects what you do and what you buy. Want to know why you have to have that hip pair of loafers, or that trendy sling back dress? Read this book. Excellent!
