Dolan Buckley

This is Personal, July 19 2004

Rosenberg has reached far and wide and deep into the places and people he has chosen to examine and to care for in this stunningly compelling first novel. From the Apache Nation, to a Kyrgyz village, to Istanbul; from bitter family feuds in the Dale family, to the dynamics of the Tashtanaliev family; from Jeff's wandering eye into the cultures of his native continent and two others, Rosenberg has delivered a tender tour beneath the canopy of globalization.

The writing is at the service of the characters. The story-telling moves along with a style and pace that allows the reader concise characterizations in few, sharp, often beautiful words. When a character speaks in this novel, that… Read more

Zora as Muse, July 18 2004

Criticized for not writing a protest novel by some of her fellow African-American writers of the time, Zora instead wrote one of the most poetic novels ever written in the United States. Written in the vernacular of her African-American characters while narrated in standard form, this novel is a blues tale which uses both variations of the language to tranport the reader into the heart and soul of Janie, a young African-American woman in the 1930s on a search.

Musical, heartbreaking, endearing, hilarious, and a novel where the issues of the day enter in horrific ways, this book's title has to best describe Zora as she wrote this book, divinely inspired. There is love, there is marriage,… Read more

Raymond is sorely missed, July 18 2004

This collection of stories I still read 15 years after reading it in the fall semester of college. The characters are salesmen, waitresses, heart surgeons, students, mill workers, and the unemployed. The settings are usually sparse, allowing the characters and their struggles to be front and center.

Carver writes complex stories in simple sentences. One might think he is not working hard, except for the pause after reading the stories, a result of the epiphany or weight of sorrow at the conclusion. Four of the greatest stories written in the last century are in this collection: What we talk about when we talk about love, So much water so close to home, Cathedral, and a Small Good… Read more