by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 12, 2011 | first novels |
Spring Contrary has sprung… And with a brand new look. Plus five book reviews, one of which is mine on Heather Newton’s debut novel, Under the Mercy Trees: I once stood at my grandfather’s knee, watching him do tricks with rocks. Later I backpacked by...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 24, 2011 | continuous life, craft of writing, life, novels, time, truth |
Each chapter of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad can stand alone as a story, but united, these chapters took my breath away. I got chills as I discovered yet another connection between them: Characters who age and reappear. Younger selves revealed....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 20, 2011 | craft of writing, novels |
In her selected shorts interview, Jennifer Egan talked about how, years ago, she abandoned a story because she couldn’t find any way to rein in the material. Well, in A Visit From the Goon Squad, Egan is the master of compression. In Chapter 1, she creates a...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 16, 2011 | life, novels, time |
As some of you may know from my recent post, last week, Jennifer Egan’s book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. This morning it was also long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction. A Visit From the Goon Squad is...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 8, 2011 | accumulation, first novels, mfa, place, reading |
Roswell, Georgia, a small city rich in history on the north side of Atlanta, chose Robin Oliveira’s first novel, My Name is Mary Sutter, as their Sixth Annual Roswell Reads Selection. At a reception for Robin Friday night, which included delicious gluten-free...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Feb 15, 2011 | novels, reviews |
What a great name for a little boy. And for the title of Summer Wood’s second novel, out today from Bloomsbury [no spoilers]. Chapter One begins with these two sentences: It was the middle of the afternoon, January 1969, and a half-hearted rain dampened San...
