GEOFF SCHUMACHER'S LAS VEGAS

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Schumacher Literary Hall of Fame

Here is a list of fiction writers who are among my personal favorites (with a representative book listed alongside). These are not the usual suspects, but some of the lesser-known writers I like. Richard Yates, "Revolutionary Road"; John Fante, "Ask the Dust"; Nelson Algren, "The Man with the Golden Arm"; Frederick Exley, "A Fan's Notes"; Charles Portis, "The Dog of the South"; John Williams, "Stoner"; Patrick Hamilton, "Hangover Square"; Richard Russo, "Empire Falls"; Richard Ford, "The Sportswriter"; Don DeLillo, "White Noise"; Jim Harrison, "True North"; Raymond Carver, "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?"; Willy Vlautin, "The Motel Life"; Michael Chabon, "The Wonder Boys"; Ian McEwan, "Atonement"; Colson Whitehead, "John Henry Days"; Orhan Pamuk, "Snow"; Junot Diaz, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"; Avram Davidson, "Vergil in Averno"

Recent reading: recommended fiction

The Secret of Lost Things (2006), Sheridan Hay; Absurdistan (2006), Gary Shteyngart; Five Skies (2007), Ron Carlson; Citizen Vince (2005), Jess Walter; On Chesil Beach (2007), Ian McEwan; We're in Trouble (2005), Christopher Coake; Returning to Earth (2007), Jim Harrison; The Lay of the Land (2006), Richard Ford

My profile

Geoff Schumacher

What's a dogsbody?

It's British slang for "a worker who has to do all the unpleasant or boring jobs that no one else wants to do."

February 2006



The freedom to be stupid

Tue, 02/21/06 8:14 A GMT-08
Nine European countries have laws making it a crime to deny the Holocaust happened. One of those countries, Austria, has sentenced a British man to three years in prison for this belief. And Germany has a Canadian man on trial for the same "crime."

What will be remembered about Iraq war

Thu, 02/16/06 8:35 A GMT-08
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. Guantanamo Bay illegal detentions and abuse. Torture. Secret prisons in Europe. Illegal wiretapping. Hundreds of millions in reconstruction funds wasted or stolen. U.S. government providing "news" to Iraq press. Bin Laden
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It all started with a cartoon

Wed, 02/15/06 9:16 A GMT-08
The massive, violent responses across the Muslim world to cartoon depictions of Muhammad published several months ago in a small Denmark newspaper obviously have been fueled not solely by spontaneous outrage among the devout, but by governments, acti

Cheney's shot in the dark

Mon, 02/13/06 8:24 A GMT-08
Just one word for the vice president today: dumbass.

Recommended: Stephen King's "Cell"

Sun, 02/05/06 8:00 P GMT-08
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Recommended: "The Assassins' Gate"

Thu, 02/02/06 10:19 A GMT-08
New Yorker magazine writer George Packer's relatively new book, "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq," is an outstanding look at the intellectual debates surrounding the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well as a potent and poignant firsthan

Why Hillary can't and shouldn't win

Wed, 02/01/06 9:08 A GMT-08
President Bush had a funny line in last night's otherwise predictable and humorless State of the Union address. In discussing the aging of the baby boom generation, he mentioned that two of his father's favorite people are turning 60 this year: himse
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