Richard Brautigan’s 1967 novella Trout Fishing in America is a difficult book. The opening chapter, “The Cover for Trout Fishing in America,” immediately puts the reader off balance, with a … [Read more...]
The Twenty-Story Summer
Last summer I put aside work on a novel. Inspiration wasn’t hitting me for the longer work, so instead of obsessing about a lack of progress, I worked on other ideas that accumulated along the way. … [Read more...]
Building a Better Argument
Most of us would agree that a free exchange of ideas is beneficial to society. And most of us probably agree that the quality of this conversation is poorer than it could be. We just have to turn on … [Read more...]
Becoming the World’s Strongest Writer
“To write, you must read.” - Kurt Vonnegut “She needs to read more poetry if she ever wants to become a better writer,” insisted my colleague when talking about one of our weaker creative writing … [Read more...]
Used Books vs. Collectible Books
Recently, I had the opportunity to compare the selling practices of two unique used bookstores. They are technically both “book barns” – a popular selling point for bibliophiles like myself. During … [Read more...]
Book Review – Swimmer in the Secret Sea by William Kotzwinkle
Known more for fantasy and children’s books, William Kotzwinkle made his name with novelizations of hit movies like E.T: The Extra Terrestrial. His forays into more serious fiction are often ignored, … [Read more...]
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Often, reading books at different times in one’s life produces different results and different interpretations. But perhaps no book makes a clearer demarcation between adolescence and adulthood than … [Read more...]
Book review — Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
I have read so many books about the practice of Zen Buddhism that it is difficult to choose a particular one that influenced me. And in fact I read Eugen Herrigel’s thin volume after I had read four … [Read more...]
Book Review – The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder
When someone comes up with a fresh and startling way of looking at our world, you can bet that it is drawn from a combination of sources, fields, and disciplines. Gary Snyder has done just this with … [Read more...]
Book Review – Time Adjusters & Other Stories by Bill Ectric
The modern fables that make up Bill Ectric's new collection of stories, Time Adjusters, are difficult to classify, in the best way possible. They seem a comic-book mishmash of science fiction and … [Read more...]
A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I first found Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind while an undergraduate, finding the wry attacks on the established order refreshing and invigorating. Ferlinghetti protests and rages … [Read more...]
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
"I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had gotten over a serious illness that I won't bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up … [Read more...]
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman
I encountered The Dharma Bums for the first time in college, on a classmate's shelf. She gushed about the book, but I was more interested in her roommate and didn't pay enough attention. Many … [Read more...]
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
Big Sur is often ignored by critics and Kerouac fans alike. We all want the freedom of On the Road, the craziness of The Dharma Bums — the celebration of the Beat lifestyle. We want young Jack … [Read more...]
Book Review — Tristessa by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac is primarily lauded for his keen understanding of male friendship. The female characters of On the Road or The Dharma Bums never really achieve the reader's interest the way the males … [Read more...]
Book Review — Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac
Like a weird, mutated ogre muttering to himself by the roadside, Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody stands apart. As the author states in his short introduction, "I wanted a vertical metaphysical study … [Read more...]
Book Review — Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac
When Vanity of Duluoz: An Adventurous Education, 1935-46 was written in 1967, an overweight and severely alcoholic Jack Kerouac had only two years to live. Chronicling the years just before his … [Read more...]
Dr. Sax by Jack Kerouac, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman
Dr. Sax is one of Jack Kerouac's most troubling books for readers, peering behind the curtain of his childhood rather than exploring those later years of Beats and bodhisattvas. Nevertheless, it … [Read more...]
Tamper by Bill Ectric, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman
Tamper, the new book by Bill Ectric, frames itself as a boy named Whit's effort to comprehend his past. Did he have a prophetic dream about a bag of bones on the side of the road? Did his friend … [Read more...]
