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

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."

March 2009



Hughes aide, key source for my book on the billionaire, dies

Fri, 03/27/09 3:56 P GMT-08
My main blogging venue is the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I just filed a long blog post about Gordon Margulis here.

Well, so much for the NIT and CBI

Tue, 03/17/09 9:20 P GMT-08
UNLV lost 70-60 to Kentucky in the NIT.Nevada lost 79-77 to UTEP in the CBI.All I have left is Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, and the prospects aren't good.At least basketball season will be over soon and I can move on to other things. 

Who needs the NCAA tourney when there's the NIT and CBI?

Mon, 03/16/09 7:59 P GMT-08
The two main teams I follow in college basketball are not in the NCAA tournament this year. Both came close, but no cigar. But alas, the season is not over for me, because both teams have been invited to second- and third-string tournaments. UNLV is

The problem with Esquire's ‘75 Albums Every Man Should Own'

Sun, 03/15/09 6:32 P GMT-08
I’m a hopeless sucker for lists, especially lists of best or favorite books and albums. I print them out, study them, ponder their merits, sometimes act upon them by obtaining recommended books or CDs.The latest list on the music front comes fr

My Howard Hughes book named finalist for national award

Thu, 03/12/09 2:35 P GMT-08
I learned yesterday that my book, "Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue," is a finalist in the biography category of the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards."HH," as the book is known in the offices of its pu