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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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 2008



My favorite CDs so far this year

Wed, 06/25/08 9:48 P GMT-08
1. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark2. Black Keys, Attack and Release3. Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch4. James McMurtry, Just Us Kids5. Old 97s, Blame It on Gravity6. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash7. My Morning Jacket,

(High) school's out forever — for Erin

Fri, 06/13/08 8:05 P GMT-08
My older daughter, Erin, graduated from Shadow Ridge High School this afternoon at the Orleans Arena. She was one of three valedictorians and gave a speech in which she quoted Robert F. Kennedy. Afterward, our family gathered in a banquet room at Big