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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

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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."

April 2005



Survivor

Fri, 04/29/05 6:47 A GMT-08
Fresh off my disappointment over the departure of Constantine from "American Idol," the "Survivor" troops dumped my favorite, Stephanie, from the island. She was by far the most appealing, thoughtful and competitive person on this season's show, whic
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Constantine

Thu, 04/28/05 7:19 A GMT-08
"American Idol" voters made a grevious error last night by voting off Constantine. He's easily in the top four, and possibly top two, yet he finished sixth, behind freaky Scott and mediocre Anthony. Well, as always, this just lets the guy get started
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Bruce

Wed, 04/27/05 6:58 A GMT-08
Early verdict on Springsteen's new album, released yesterday: awesome. But you knew I'd say that. I still have a lot of listens before I can comment halfway intelligently on particular songs, but I can say this much: It's a very subdued album, mostly

Hitchhiker's Guide movie

Tue, 04/26/05 6:34 A GMT-08
Saw a screening last night of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was pretty darn funny, actually. It was a solid adaptation of Douglas Adams' book, capturing the satire and zaniness that are his trademarks. In other words, they didn't ruin it in so

Gravy

Mon, 04/25/05 11:49 A GMT-08
A country boy from Texas living a hungry existence on the Depression-era streets of New Orleans in Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side: "‘Mister, I like any kind of gravy: red-eye gravy, pink-eye gravy, black-eye gravy, speckledly gravy and
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The service economy

Fri, 04/22/05 6:23 A GMT-08
Wonderful story in today's Review-Journal tells of a 48-year-old woman in Richland, Washington, who didn't like her haircut, so she robbed the salon at gunpoint, shot at her stylist's car and then used part of her robbery proceeds to get a trim somew

Reno's Olympics bid

Thu, 04/21/05 6:56 A GMT-08
I like it. I like the fact that they are thinking big up there again. No more inferiority complex. Screw Vegas. Reno has its own thing going on. It all started last year, I believe, when the University of Nevada, Reno basketball team reached the S

Cynical but true

Mon, 04/18/05 11:03 A GMT-08
Algren again. He has a great passage in A Walk on the Wild Side in which he describes how prostitution is publicly condemned by the powers that be in New Orleans yet the same guys partake of the prostitutes and profit from them. He then gives an inte

The Dying Earth

Mon, 04/18/05 6:37 A GMT-08
In my early teens, fueled in part by a couple of school acquaintances who played Dungeons and Dragons, I read a bunch of heroic fantasy novels. First and foremost, there was The Lord of the Rings, but then I ventured further into the pulp realm of sw

Packers 2005 schedule

Thu, 04/14/05 6:11 A GMT-08
First-blush look at Packers' 2005 schedule prompts this prediction: Green Bay will finish 10-6, good enough to get into the playoffs but probably not good enough for home field advantage throughout. More of the same, I guess. Unless they tank comp
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More Algren

Wed, 04/13/05 6:50 A GMT-08
Okay, so now that I've finished The Man with the Golden Arm, which I wrote about previously, I'm reading Nelson Algren's other celebrated novel, A Walk on the Wild Side, published in 1956. Algren's distinctive voice is in fine form again as he tells

Las Vegas Centennial

Mon, 04/11/05 6:37 A GMT-08
It's Centennial season in Las Vegas. There are panel discussions about Las Vegas history at libraries, photo exhibits at museums and many other events geared toward celebrating the city's 100th birthday. The big stuff — Helldorado, etc. — is hap

What's wrong with America

Fri, 04/01/05 8:21 A GMT-08
You can sum up everything that's wrong with American civic life today —and there's a lot — in two words: Tom Delay. This guy is a major asshole, as exemplified most recently in regard to the Shiavo thing. He's so full of it that the Bushes don't