The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things - J.T. LeRoy

Lies. Lies. Lies. They're all around us. People lying. People claiming to be something they're not. The truth being distorted and grossly manipulated for mere money. Yet, until this second collection from the acclaimed San Francisco author came out, I don't think people really looked at deceit in quite the same way.

Honestly, this is work you might expect from an author in their mid-thirties (or older!) Not that it's completely unthinkable that someone just out of their teens could have written it but there is such a critical distance here that really - it could have as just as easily happened to someone else.

Yes, LeRoy is like a master pupeteer (or whatever) - putting on masks, taking them off, speaking with a funny voice, doing a strange little dance - and we have to profoundly thank the media for bringing this modest, shy writer to our repeated attention.

Pinktoes - Chester Himes

An exciting, passionate account of integration efforts in the 1950s. Inspiring!

Jazz - Toni Morrison

Sure, the story here is somewhat interesting, but the really great thing about this novel is the blatant homage that Morrison pays to the great writers of the past. It's a rare (and brave!) author who knows that since she can't come up with stories any better than the ones already written, she doesn't even try.

Whether it's a murder plot straight out of Native Son or revisiting the same milleu that James Baldwin already explored, Morrison shows that she is a master of the post-modern narrative. No nasty surprises here! Just some great Literature! (And hey, can a couple million Oprah viewers be wrong?)

The Bear Bryant Funeral Train - Brad Vice

At once hauntingly familiar and amazingly new, this collection of stories explores those little-known nooks of southern history in a way no other writer has done before. While strangely reminiscent of the work of Jerzy Kosinski, Brad Vice clearly makes an astonishing splash of his own in his debut - clearly the start of an extraordinary career!

Summerland - Michael Chabon

Without a doubt, the best thing he's ever written. And five or six books into his career, it looks like he's finally found his métier. Good going big guy!

The Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster

Bringing in a dose of Christmas cheer for the whole family, Auster delivers another one of his oh-so-interesting stories set in the second borough of New York. Some critics might think that he's gone to the well once or twice too often with his obsession with Brooklyn but take it from me, this one isn't all that bad! And it's definitely an improvement on his last... you know, the one with the talking dog.

Nope, this guy isn't past his prime a bit. Run on down to your local library and check it out!

Hello

Greetings. Orginally, I was going to create an e-zine featuring stories and articles from brand-new, up-and-coming writers, but that turned out to be a little too ambitious. (What with the family and all. I don't know. Sometimes it seems like they take up so much time...) Instead, completely, totally, for your benefit, I'm going to be doing a series of reviews of new books and movies. I'm mean, it's not like I think anybody will really care what I have to think, but I'll take the time to put them up and see what happens.

So, you know, stay and look around for a while. Or don't. Hey, it's a free country and it wouldn't be for me to tell you what to do...