Archive: Fiction
Five Literary Fiascos by Great American Writers
From time to time a successful author decides he should take a chance, go for broke, write a revolutionary book. Whereupon said writer promptly lays an egg. Here are five literary fiascos, all by Americans: Cases of good writers gone shockingly bad. 1. Pierre, or The Ambiguities, by Herman Melville...
By Christian Pelusi | June 19, 2008; 06:24 AM ET | Comments (10)
Five Books to Climb Into
I was a fanciful child, desperate for the romance and adventure that seemed far away from the suburban sprawl of Reno, Nevada, where I grew up. So when I read books, I read them hungrily, eating up the details of places and times distant from my own. If I loved...
By Christian Pelusi | April 24, 2008; 06:24 AM ET | Comments (26)
Five Novels Resolved in 24 Hours or Less
About 2,000 years before federal agent Jack Bauer began saving the free world on "24," Aristotle described the classic drama as taking place during a single revolution of the sun. Novels generally don't abide by that "unity of time," of course, but some of the most striking and curious ones...
By Christian Pelusi | April 3, 2008; 06:27 AM ET | Comments (10)
Great -- and Way Too Often Overlooked -- Novels by Famous Authors
Here are five stepchildren -- terrific novels overshadowed by their creators' more famous or better-selling works: 1. No Name (1862), by Wilkie Collins. Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone are giants of sensationalist fiction, but No Name, a dizzying spiral of impersonation and revenge, is just as good....
By Christian Pelusi | February 28, 2008; 10:49 AM ET | Comments (12)
Where Is Our Best 9/11 Fiction?
Four bestselling authors were having dinner at Gerard's Place, a quiet Washington restaurant. At one end of the table was George Packer ("Assassins' Gate"). At the other was Rajiv Chandrasekaran ("Imperial Life in the Emerald City," now being made into a movie starring Matt Damon). In the middle were Steve...
By Christian Pelusi | February 15, 2008; 07:24 AM ET | Comments (19)
Novels to Read While the Housing Market Plummets
Tired of watching my retirement savings go up in smoke, I decided to see how the value of my house has been holding up. Big mistake. According to the addictive, ulcer-inducing Web site zillow.com, my little Cape Cod in Bethesda declined by $46,000. In the last 30 days. That's more...
By Christian Pelusi | January 31, 2008; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (24)
Serious Novels for People Who'd Rather Be Reading Romance Fiction
So why do book review pages so often ignore romance fiction? Some of the best writing these days, according to Book World critics, is being done in genre novels: mysteries, SF and thrillers. Can the same be said for romance? Truth be told, I've been reading love stories since I...
By Christian Pelusi | January 17, 2008; 08:02 AM ET | Comments (86)
Skip the Book, See the Movie
Because I suffer (happily, actually) from bibliophilia, I am almost invariably (and inevitably) critical of any movie based on a book I've loved. In fact, seeing a movie made from one of my favorite books is akin to listening to an abridged audiobook: I'm infuriated by both its sins of...
By Christian Pelusi | January 10, 2008; 07:40 AM ET | Comments (69)
Great Sci Fi for People Who Think They Don't Like Sci Fi
Funny, how I used to love science fiction as a kid. But something happened at about age 15 -- maybe it was the demands of school, or maybe it was the fact that I came of age in the late '60s, when every day was so "out there" that life...
By Christian Pelusi | December 13, 2007; 11:16 AM ET | Comments (236)
On How the West Was Won
As the sole Westerner on the Book World staff, I feel geographically obligated to highlight some of my favorite novels about the settling of the West. These aren't triumphalist, manifest-destiny books, but fiction that grapples with what it feels like to go out into a fierce, unfamiliar land. Are there...
By Rachel Hartigan Shea | October 18, 2007; 07:01 AM ET | Comments (9)
To Scare the Bejesus Out of You
In the spirit of Halloween, I offer up these thoroughly terrifying books. I can vividly recall where I was when I read almost all of them. Feel free to weigh in on these and tell us what books have left you sleepless on a dark and stormy night. Pleasant dreams....
By Christian Pelusi | October 11, 2007; 06:59 AM ET | Comments (20)
If Your Marriage Is on the Rocks
We kick off our blog with a short list of five books that might be tonics to marital troubles. If only because they'll make you feel better! Tell us what books you'd gently press on a friend. And feel free to weigh in on these. 1. Anna Karenina, by Leo...
By Christian Pelusi | October 5, 2007; 07:26 PM ET | Comments (21)
