GEOFF SCHUMACHER'S LAS VEGAS

News, Music, Movies, Books and More

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."

June 2006



Cashing out

Fri, 06/30/06 8:44 A GMT-08
I'm not sure how I feel about the news that Barry Gibb has purchased the late Johnny Cash's home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Sure, I'm glad the home of one of the all-time greats will be preserved, including the log cabin-turned-studio where he pro

Hotter than hell; book talk

Tue, 06/27/06 10:37 P GMT-08
I'm way overdue. I just read an article that said successful, "A-list" bloggers must post every day or their readers will abandon them. By that measure, my six or nine readers would have all given up months ago! Thankfully, that has not happened. I a
Comments/Trackback (1-0)

Testing, testing

Thu, 06/22/06 2:17 P GMT-08
This is a test of linking. Las Vegas Business Press
Comments/Trackback (2-0)

Last day in Little Rock

Sun, 06/18/06 5:53 A GMT-08
The Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock is wonderful. The architecture is striking, it's luxurious and the service is very good. I am staying in what has to be the nicest room I've ever had anywhere. The other night, we ate at Doe's Eat Place, a
Comments/Trackback (1-0)

The Gleaner arrives

Sat, 06/10/06 5:21 P GMT-08
An old colleague, best known these days as the Las Vegas Gleaner, is pictured above the fold on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal today. The Gleaner was photographed talking with a congressional candidate at the YearlyKos convention at t

Rockin' the Puritans

Fri, 06/02/06 6:55 A GMT-08
On my recent trip to Hawaii, I read a new history of the Pilgrims by Nathaniel Philbrick. "Mayflower" is a fine book, very well researched and written for a popular audience. It certainly was eye-opening to learn about how mythologized the Pilgrims h