Author Archives: Rory

Wherever you see a head, hit it: Donnybrook by Frank Bill

I can change a flat tire and complete an oil change. I can construct and refinish furniture, perform minor electrical work, and grow my own food. I can bait a hook, wield an axe, and I’m proficient in all manner of water activities (swimming, diving, snorkeling, canoeing, kayaking, etc.). I can gut a fish, climbContinue reading “Wherever you see a head, hit it: Donnybrook by Frank Bill”

Mixtape | American Gods

I will save you what would likely be a redundant review of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Yes, it’s as amazing as everyone says it is. Yes, it’s intensely imaginative, epic in scope, and emotionally subdued. And yes, I am looking forward to HBO’s adaptation, tentatively scheduled to premiere late 2013. It’s almost enough toContinue reading “Mixtape | American Gods”

Worst Fiction To Film Adaptations: A Top Ten List

Occasionally, films are better than the fiction they are based on. More commonly, the books are better. This top ten list, the opposite of last week’s, is where the novels are significantly better than the movies they were made into. The list is, of course, limited to the books that I’ve read. And certainly thereContinue reading “Worst Fiction To Film Adaptations: A Top Ten List”

The Fun Parts by Sam Lipstye

I sound like the narrator of a mediocre young adult novel from the eighties. Which is, in fact, what I am. There are far too few writers who dedicate themselves to documenting the plight of losers. Would it hurt anyone if the literary world gave the odd characters among us a little more shelf space?Continue reading “The Fun Parts by Sam Lipstye”

Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin

There is a particularly vein of literature that I find both unsettling and fascinating. Donald Ray Pollock, Daniel Woodrell, Frank Bill, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and Cormac McCarthy are modern writers who successfully mine that vein (impoverished, desperate, violent, and real).  I now consider Tom Franklin to be one of them. In his debut novel (yes, debut,Continue reading “Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin”

Movies That Are Better Than The Book: A Top Ten List

Heresy. Or not. I am not such a literary snob that I can’t admit that, on occasion, a movie adaptation turns out better than the book. It happens more frequently than you might think and not just with awful books. For example, one would hope that the 50 Shades of Grey movie will be betterContinue reading “Movies That Are Better Than The Book: A Top Ten List”

Above All Things by Tanis Rideout

From Goodreads: In 1924 George Mallory departs on his third expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Left behind in Cambridge, George’s young wife, Ruth, along with the rest of a war-ravaged England, anticipates news they hope will reclaim some of the empire’s faded glory. Through alternating narratives, what emerges is a beautifully rendered storyContinue reading “Above All Things by Tanis Rideout”

Bob Dylan: A Love Story

I can’t say that Bob Dylan is the greatest American singer-songwriter of all time – only because I don’t know that there’s an answer to that perennial question. He is certainly one of the most influential. And he’s the one I hold most dear. If you consider lyrics to be literature, then Bob Dylan isContinue reading “Bob Dylan: A Love Story”