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

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."

August 2005



Disneyland on ice

Tue, 08/30/05 1:08 P GMT-08
I intended to post this item as soon as I returned from California on Aug. 18. That obviously didn't happen, but I still want to say a thing or two about Disneyland. First of all, not really my thing anymore, if it ever was. The lines weren't bad,
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Red Rock preservation

Fri, 08/26/05 7:38 A GMT-08
Here is the link to the column I had in last Sunday's R-J on Red Rock Canyon preservation: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Aug-21-Sun-2005/opinion/2856157.html I've received several e-mails and calls so far, all in support of keepin

Could not resist

Fri, 08/26/05 7:30 A GMT-08
Music industry publicists are hilarious sometimes. The rock band Cold is releasing a new album, and its publicists seem to be new to the English language: "‘A Different Kind of Pain' is fraught with insight into the band's recent upheavals, whic

Dry spell

Fri, 08/26/05 6:17 A GMT-08
My recent blogging dry spell will end this weekend when I vow to write a bunch of stuff. Been watching episodes from the third and fourth seasons of "Six Feet Under." It's time well spent, but time that could have been devoted to giving you my though

Pynchon, finally

Fri, 08/12/05 3:33 P GMT-08
I finally can say that I have read Thomas Pynchon. Last night I finished "The Crying of Lot 49." I have to say, it didn't do much for me. I was underwhelmed, despite hearing for years that Pynchon is one of the great thinkers and stylists of our time
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Recommended

Thu, 08/11/05 12:34 P GMT-08
1. Triple George Grill on Third Street in downtown Las Vegas. Excellent new high-end restaurant/bar with dark wood, high-walled booths and good food. And NO VIDEO POKER. It's a steak and seafood place with a San Francisco inspiration. It's been open
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Another vicious wild animal

Wed, 08/03/05 9:36 A GMT-08
Here's an excerpt from an L.A. Times story today that further confirms my belief that pit bulls and Rottweilers ought to be outlawed: "In an attack termed 'horrific,' a Rottweiler dog ripped a toddler out of her mother's arms outside a Glendale ho

Buffalo Jim returns

Wed, 08/03/05 9:28 A GMT-08
You've probably never done this, but I am suggesting that this week you do it: Pick up a copy of the Nifty Nickel. It comes out Friday, I think, and this next issue, for the first time, will contain editorial content. Buffalo Jim Barrier, whose popul

Bush on "intelligent design"

Tue, 08/02/05 8:26 A GMT-08
One thing George W. Bush could have done right during his sorry excuse for a presidency was to ignore the advocates of "intelligent design." But of course Bush, always eager to join hands with the forces of stupidity and wrongheadedness, yesterday ca

Back from Denver

Mon, 08/01/05 7:54 A GMT-08
Spent a couple of days in Denver on a book-hunting expedition. Visited two Tattered Cover stores (the main one next to the Cherry Creek Mall and the downtown one on the 16th Street Mall), as well as a couple of good used bookstores (Books Unlimited a