Blog Archives

Reviewing: David Sedaris

In Sunday’s LA Times, I reviewed David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. Somewhere, David Sedaris is giggling. His new collection of short stories — of mice and chipmunks and dogs, of…

In my office

That table sat in my parent’s house in Rhode Island. It was at the end of the entryway; it’s where we threw the mail. I always liked it, and when…

Cloudy skies

Yesterday running from downtown to Ben Greenman’s reading at Book Soup, I stopped for gas. This is not especially interesting, except that it allows me to write “yesterday” in a…

Bought more bookshelves

It will be my 8th Ikea Billy bookshelf. I also have a couple of other, less branded, made out of real wood bookshelves. An Ikea Billy bookshelf holds 120 books…

The view from above

That’s the view from the Soho House in Los Angeles, with downtown LA off to the southeast. I talked to James Ellroy there yesterday afternoon for a lovely book club…

Sure is hot

It was so hot at the West Hollywood Book Fair that the astroturf reflected heat and light back up at you; I got a suntan from the feet up. Then…

These gray LA days are killing me

The duck doesn’t much like them, either.

More fun in the new world

I just got back from New York, where I interviewed John Waters on stage, thanks to Word, the bookstore in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; spent all day Saturday in the board meeting…

On The Lovers

My review of Vendela Vida’s new novel The Lovers is in today’s LA Times. It’s set in Turkey, and follows Yvonne, a 53 year-old widow. While it’s a sleek read,…