Birds of America: Stories84 reviews Lorrie Moore Picador, 1999 A Christmas Appreciation of Lorrie Moore + For anyone with a child interned at the hospital... + Discovering Lorrie Moore + What wonderful stories!             The Other Chekhov1 review Anton Chekhov New American Press, 2008 The Other Chekhov Elliott and Minor have given us Anton Chekhov as many of us know him and love him. As usual there is nothing romanticized. Everything is written in a style that is sparse and cool. Chekhov stays true to his refusal to give more than the mildest pity to his characters, many of whom are ignorant and ...             The Brothers Karamazov106 reviews Fyodor Dostoevsky Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 Best Transaltion! + What a messed up family! + Understanding the Russian + Dostoevsky's final major work...a masterpiece + Absolutely Stunning!             Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories59 reviews Raymond Carver Vintage, 1989 A Storytelling Poet (for the everyman) + Phota stories + Paeans to a lived life + "Who knows why we do what we do?" + Nice introduction to contemporary writing             All Things, All At Once: New and Selected Stories8 reviews Lee K. Abbott W. W. Norton, 2007 Best Story Collection I've Read in Years + Occasionally overwrought; occasionally worth the effort + Thematic Repetition + Aptly titled, from a writer hailed by Ann Beattie, Richard Ford, Frederick Busch, and more. + Covers the human spectrum             Falconer15 reviews John Cheever Vintage, 1992 Short and Powerful, But Some Will Not Like The Subject Matter + The Farragut Redemption + I Believe HBO's "Oz" is Adapted from This Book [T] + Dark story of modern punishment and redemption             Empire Burlesque (OSU JOURNAL AWARD POETRY) Mark Svenvold Ohio State University Press, 2007 Empire Burlesque begins with a romp through the Journals of Lewis and Clark and ends with cameo appearances by Ambrose Bierce, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound (in drag), Andy Warhol, and even King Kong. Mark Svenvold was inspired to this approach, which he describes as that of a “clown lost in the Library of Babel,” by the letters of Jules Laforgue, who believed clowns had achieved true ...             Interstate: A Novel5 reviews Stephen Dixon Holt Paperbacks, 1997 flabbergasting + Love Him or Hate Him A work of staggering intensity, Interstate is one of finest literary creations of the past twenty years. And twenty years from now it will appear on the Modern Library's 100-best list. Read it.             A Free Life: A Novel22 reviews Ha Jin Pantheon, 2007 Low key but great + A Charming Portrayal of Immigrant Life If you prefer intense movies, loud music, drama, and constant stimulation this might not be the book for you. I loved it. It was like real life; generally pretty low-key, so you have to find the beauty in what's there, rather than being slapped in the face by it. It's not a noisy book. The ...             Novels in Three Lines (New York Review Books Classics)10 reviews Felix Feneon NYRB Classics, 2007 Dark tales, 30 seconds a pop + An Amazing Book + Madison Avenue Could Learn About IMPACT from Feneon + True Crime Meets High Art + Life was tough in 1906 France.             Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works : Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / ...13 reviews Flannery O'Connor Library of America, 1988 Just Read It All + Classic + Great literature in great binding + Amazing Grace + a lovely book             The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint: A Novel102 reviews Brady Udall Vintage, 2002 A MIRACLE OF A READ ~~~~~~~~~~~ + A fantastic novel from an original voice + The best I've read in a long while + Laugh-out-loud funny! + Best book I've read in years             Varieties of Disturbance: Stories3 reviews Lydia Davis Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007 smart and surprising Anyone glancing through this book who thinks "well, gee, I could just write a bunch of one-line stories or prose poems and be as smart as Lydia Davis" will find, if they actually attempt this project, that only Lydia Davis is as smart as Lydia Davis. Whether you read at random or in sequence, you ...             The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics)98 reviews Graham Greene Penguin Classics, 2003 "One mustn't have human affections--or rather one must love every soul as if it were one's own child." + A David Attenborough of the literary world. + A man on the way + Glorious human frailty + Got to Love the Unloved Priest [T]             Silence59 reviews Shusaku Endo Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980 The Honor of God + Silence + A great, but somewhat repetitive story. + quickly to my door             I Married a Communist47 reviews Philip Roth Vintage, 1999 Roth Just Gets Better + La novela de formación + Clever and thoughtful + Passion, betrayal, and the blacklist + A Great Historical Novel             Knockemstiff40 reviews Donald Ray Pollock Doubleday, 2008 So gritty there was sand in my eyes + Nice collection of....... + So Good, It' s a Bit Hard to Take + NASTY, SHOCKING, WONDERFUL!!! + "Tight as bark on a tree..."             Vermeer in Bosnia: Selected Writings2 reviews Lawrence Weschler Vintage, 2005 A Fantastic Collection From One of Our Great Writers Though ultimately difficult to categorize, the simplest way to describe what Lawrence Weschler does for money would be to say he is an art critic. However readers familiar with Weschler's work will understand why this label seems so insufficient. As a contributer to some of the more important ...             The Pugilist at Rest: Stories34 reviews Thom Jones Back Bay Books, 1994 Darn fine + jones is more than flavor of month -- he's the real thing + Must read Vietnam literature + altered consciousness             Dogs of God Pinckney Benedict Nan A. Talese/ Doubleday, 1994