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."

July 2005



Off to Denver

Thu, 07/28/05 10:56 A GMT-08
Never been to Denver before. Flying there tomorrow for a few days on a book-hunting expedition. The Tattered Cover bookstore there is legendary. Also plan to check out LoDo, the rejuvenated downtown area of Denver. Hear good things about it. It's hot
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Africa

Wed, 07/27/05 9:02 A GMT-08
The African country of Niger is suffering a severe drought, which brought locusts, and so its crops are in bad shape. Kids are malnourished, animals have starved to death and international aid is very slow in coming. Here's an excerpt from an AP stor

Reno is better

Tue, 07/26/05 7:22 P GMT-08
Spent last weekend in Reno. Attended a family wedding. Couple of nostalgia stops: UNR campus, Virginia Lake. Also, spent a little time down by the river, the Truckee River, where there was a Celtic festival going on. It was warm, so lots of people w
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Racism rises in Las Vegas

Fri, 07/22/05 8:55 A GMT-08
The local papers have been reporting lately (first the Sun, then the R-J) about the formation of a new political organization in Las Vegas: the "White Peoples Party." This group is a real piece of work, allowing only white, non-Jewish people of Europ
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News notebook

Thu, 07/21/05 4:24 P GMT-08
"18 Die in Phoenix from Ruthless Heat." Drophead: "Mayor Asks for Federal Emergency Assistance." First of all, why are people dying like this in Phoenix but not in other Southwestern cities such as Las Vegas. Maybe they are dying of boredom down ther
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"Gateway" to downtown Henderson

Wed, 07/20/05 1:34 P GMT-08
Henderson is a schizophrenic place. At times and in spots, it's the coolest place in the valley, with lots of park space and progressive-minded developments. Other times, it's still Hooterville. An example of the latter can be found in the July 14 is

Dave Hickey returns

Wed, 07/20/05 9:14 A GMT-08
The Las Vegas Sun had a big story yesterday and hardly realized it. Buried in a feature story about Libby Lumpkin's involvement with various arts-related projects in Las Vegas, it mentions that her husband, Dave Hickey, has returned to Las Vegas and

World Market Center debut

Wed, 07/20/05 8:57 A GMT-08
When the world, or at least a good chunk of the world, focuses its eyes on Las Vegas these days, it's most likely to be looking at the Strip. But next week many eyes will be turned to downtown Las Vegas, where about 70,000 people will congregate for

Las Vegas Monorail

Wed, 07/20/05 8:49 A GMT-08
Extending the monorail to downtown Las Vegas remains a good idea, with the twin benefits of boosting monorail ridership and bringing more people downtown. The monorail has been something of a laughingstock because of its early mechanical problems and

Ricky Williams

Wed, 07/20/05 7:34 A GMT-08
Ricky Williams, one of my heroes, is returning to the NFL. In a way, it's disappointing, because what I like about him was that he stepped completely out of the football limelight and went his own strange way. Sure, he's eccentric, but that's what I

Hotter than hell

Wed, 07/20/05 7:25 A GMT-08
For those devoted readers of Dogsbody who do not live in Las Vegas — all two or three of you -- you may be interested to know that it has been incredibly hot here lately. We tied our all-time record high (set in 1942) yesterday -- 117 -- and that f
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Losing Iraq

Mon, 07/18/05 1:35 P GMT-08
Lawlessness is the rule in Iraq. Lots of people are getting killed every day. The insurgency is gaining strength. The U.S. military and nascent Iraqi forces have been unable to maintain control. There is no question the war in Iraq has fueled Al Q
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Pop culture weekend

Sun, 07/17/05 10:30 A GMT-08
This weekend, for me, was dominated by two things: Harry Potter and Willy Wonka. On Friday night I took some kids to Barnes & Noble and we waited around until midnight (we actually didn't have books in our hands until about 1 a.m.) to buy the new Har

The slow death of North Mississippi Allstars

Mon, 07/11/05 3:24 P GMT-08
I am a huge fan of North Mississippi Allstars' first two albums, "Shake Hands with Shorty" and "51 Phantom." Those albums, from 2000 and 2001 respectively, deliver consistent hard-driving blues rock, with deft, aggressive guitar work and catchy songs
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In the meantime

Fri, 07/08/05 6:40 A GMT-08
While I'm fooling around in Elko, please read the cover story in this week's CityLife, www.lvcitylife.com. It's great.

To Elko

Fri, 07/08/05 6:31 A GMT-08
I will get on a plane in a few hours and fly to Elko, where I will spend about two and a half days. Why, you surely ask, would I do this? It's for research. I am working on a book that will look at the differences and conflicts between Las Vegas, the
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Merle Haggard live

Mon, 07/04/05 9:15 A GMT-08
My wife and I watched Merle Haggard perform Friday night at Texas Station. I'm not much of a country fan, but who doesn't like Merle Haggard? Gotta see him before it's too late. Merle was in good form for his advanced age, which was a recurring theme