Wayne Tefs' Night Table Recommendations
by McNally Robinson - Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 at 11:14am
The Secret Scripture, by .
A powerful novel by an Irish writer. Set in the Donegal area of Ireland in a hamlet close to Sligo, it paints a marvelous picture of small-town life in the 50s and 60s while asking interesting fictional and philosophical questions, such as, "How do we know what really happened when we hear two or more accounts of the same events?" and "Can fictional narrators be trusted?" An intriguing study that goes beyond life into literature.
Climate Wars, by .
An unsettling book about the political ramifications that could follow from climate change. Dyer imagines a number of gruesome scenarios, including drought and starvation in Central America and a permanent Berlin-style wall between the US and Mexico, armed with automatic machine-guns to keep out the hordes pushing up from the south. And nuclear war between India and Pakistan as the rivers in that area dry up and increasingly violent factions take over governments. A harrowing read.
I Believe in Yesterday: My Adventures in Living History, by .
The quirky British travel writer explores the world of re-enactors, people who dress up in period (eon) clothing from eras like the Iron Age and attempt to live the way folks did "back then," scrabbling at existence with homemade tools and wild gleams in their eyes. As usual, the writer sees himself as the incompetent bumbler trying to rise above his new-millennial self. Light stuff, but more than just fun because the research is good.
The Angel of Grozny, by .
The Chechen war seen from the side of the Chechens and then from the point of view of an ordinary Russian soldier, wounded by a land mine and sent back to Moscow. Grim scenes of poverty matched by tales of torture and senseless, cruel death. Seierstad lives in a group home with children orphaned by the war and recounts their day-to-day lives without judgment but in telling detail. Not for the faint of heart.
Other titles: Best American Travel Writing 2009, ed ; Small Beneath the Sky, by (memoir); Kilter, by (short short fiction); Point Omega, by (novella); The Door, by (poetry).
Gems from the past: A Scientific Romance, by (novel); Italian Neighbors, by (memoir/travel); From Here You Can't See Paris, by (memoir/travel); Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by (memoir)
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is the author of numerous novels: Moon Lake was awarded The Margaret Laurence Prize for Fiction; Be Wolf was named McNally Robinson Book of the Year. His memoir about living with terminal cancer, Rollercoaster, has taken him to speak in many places. His most recent book of stories is Meteor Storm.
The Secret Scripture, by .
A powerful novel by an Irish writer. Set in the Donegal area of Ireland in a hamlet close to Sligo, it paints a marvelous picture of small-town life in the 50s and 60s while asking interesting fictional and philosophical questions, such as, "How do we know what really happened when we hear two or more accounts of the same events?" and "Can fictional narrators be trusted?" An intriguing study that goes beyond life into literature.
Climate Wars, by .
An unsettling book about the political ramifications that could follow from climate change. Dyer imagines a number of gruesome scenarios, including drought and starvation in Central America and a permanent Berlin-style wall between the US and Mexico, armed with automatic machine-guns to keep out the hordes pushing up from the south. And nuclear war between India and Pakistan as the rivers in that area dry up and increasingly violent factions take over governments. A harrowing read.
I Believe in Yesterday: My Adventures in Living History, by .
The quirky British travel writer explores the world of re-enactors, people who dress up in period (eon) clothing from eras like the Iron Age and attempt to live the way folks did "back then," scrabbling at existence with homemade tools and wild gleams in their eyes. As usual, the writer sees himself as the incompetent bumbler trying to rise above his new-millennial self. Light stuff, but more than just fun because the research is good.
The Angel of Grozny, by .
The Chechen war seen from the side of the Chechens and then from the point of view of an ordinary Russian soldier, wounded by a land mine and sent back to Moscow. Grim scenes of poverty matched by tales of torture and senseless, cruel death. Seierstad lives in a group home with children orphaned by the war and recounts their day-to-day lives without judgment but in telling detail. Not for the faint of heart.
Other titles: Best American Travel Writing 2009, ed ; Small Beneath the Sky, by (memoir); Kilter, by (short short fiction); Point Omega, by (novella); The Door, by (poetry).
Gems from the past: A Scientific Romance, by (novel); Italian Neighbors, by (memoir/travel); From Here You Can't See Paris, by (memoir/travel); Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by (memoir)
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is the author of numerous novels: Moon Lake was awarded The Margaret Laurence Prize for Fiction; Be Wolf was named McNally Robinson Book of the Year. His memoir about living with terminal cancer, Rollercoaster, has taken him to speak in many places. His most recent book of stories is Meteor Storm.
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