“Aliens In The Prime Of Their Lives”
When I first picked up “Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives,” I thought I was holding a book for young adults when in fact, the 12 short stories are about young people – an under-appreciated mother, a rebellious teen, an angry lover who has been abandoned, a divorced father, a sexually abused teen, a mother who looses a child, and a young boy’s family vacation. There are also the experiences of a father and son at “Bodies: The Exhibition” which showcases preserved human bodies dissected to display bodily functions, a young couple’s adventures in a car, the hunters that become the hunted, and a couple’s last moments on a doomed aircraft. This 263-page book reminded me of the “The Twilight Zone” – the American television series from the early 1960’s that depicted weekly singular episodes of disturbing, paranormal, or futuristic phenomena in seemingly normal day-to-day life. Read more 
“Getting A Life”
Several years ago, Helen Simpson published a collection of nine short stories called “Getting A Life.” Simpson, an English novelist is a master at writing about women overwhelmed with their lives as mothers – be they stay at home or working moms – and as wives to men who don’t think their responsibilities go beyond going to work everyday. At times hilarious – especially the scenes with children – but more often sad, the stories portray women in England who are trying to keep their lives, careers, and marriages together while raising children – not an easy feat. Read more
“Runaway”
Alice Munro is often described as the foremost short story fiction writer of the times. Born in 1931 in Ontario, Munro is well-known throughout Canada for her short stories but is less well-known in the US and England where her work has often been overlooked for awards because Munro hasn’t written the definitive novel that tends to garner literary distinction and international recognition. One has to admire Munro for not caving into the pressure to write “the novel” and instead stay true to her art by continuing to publish short story collections. Read more
“Emerald City”
Jennifer Egan, who wrote the Pulitzer prize-winning novel “A Visit From The Goon Squad” published a collection of short stories under the title “Emerald City” in the UK in 1993, but did not release the book in the US until 1996. Sixteen years later and I feel like the kid who overslept and missed the exam or the athlete that got a late start because I didn’t know who Jennifer Egan was until recently. And, now I can’t get enough of her work. Read more
“Farther Away”
Jonathan Franzen, author and “Great American Novelist” (as declared by Time Magazine on its August 23, 2010 cover) has published a collection of 21 essays that fall generally into one of three broad categories: Perspectives on Life and the World, Thoughts on Writing, or Underappreciated Authors and Great Books. “Farther Away” offers both serious and humorous narratives that stand on their own but collectively provide a broad overview of the issues, authors and books that are important to Franzen as a writer and a human being. Read more
Remembering Marjorie Williams
Seven years ago, the world lost a great writer named Marjorie Williams who died at age 47 from liver cancer leaving behind a husband and two young children, ages 11 and 8. At the time of her death, Williams was an op-ed columnist with the Washington Post and a frequent contributor to Vanity Fair where she primarily wrote political profiles – not your typical rose smelling or hatchet job profiles but portraits that zeroed in on the character beyond what the image machine created. Somehow Williams managed to figure out what was at the core of a being – what drove him or her – and deftly tied in all the minutiae in their universe to show the reader who the person really was in an entertaining but truthful way. Read more
“Mental Floss”
We all have our favorite magazines and mourn those that are no longer published (Life) or changed (Newsweek) while continuing to look for new choices. My favorite magazine is “The New Yorker” for two reasons: the cartoons are hilarious; and the stories are immensely enjoyable to read because the writing is so damn good. Every week when The New Yorker arrives, I get giddy – similar to how I feel when I receive a new book or open a box with a new pair of running shoes. But as much as I enjoy “The New Yorker,” I am always on the lookout for the next interesting magazine which is how I found “Mental Floss.” Read more
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