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

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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 2008



Book fest: The day before

Fri, 04/25/08 5:56 P GMT-08
LOS ANGELES — We checked out two famous-ish bookstores today. First we drove quite a ways to Long Beach to experience Acres of Books, a legendary used book shop. It is in fact worthy of legend status. It's an old brick building with a cool

L.A. Times Festival of Books: A prelude

Wed, 04/23/08 9:56 P GMT-08
It's that time of year again: time for a road trip to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. This event is held on the UCLA campus. It is massive, certainly the biggest book festival on the West Coast. It attracts many top-shelf authors, fictio

Another nice review

Thu, 04/17/08 8:13 A GMT-08
Megan Edwards, a local journalist who has a very nice website, just reviewed my Hughes book. Here is where it may be found:http://living-las-vegas.com/

A good review

Mon, 04/07/08 9:10 P GMT-08
Doug McMurdo, former editor of the Pahrump Valley Times and current associate editor of the Elko Daily Free Press, devoted his Saturday column to a review of my Howard Hughes book. It's a very positive review, and I didn't pay him anything fo

Quote of the day

Fri, 04/04/08 8:06 A GMT-08
"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which

Nice chunks of crunchy rock

Wed, 04/02/08 10:19 P GMT-08
Six really solid rock albums have been released in the last few weeks. I recommend them all, although none screams "instant classic." They are:- Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, "Real Emotional Trash"- Black Keys, "Attack and R