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."

August 2006



Fred Exley's trilogy

Mon, 08/28/06 8:42 P GMT-08
Fred Exley is best known for his first novel, "A Fan's Notes," published in 1969, but he wrote two more novels during his life that form a trilogy. All three books revolve around a character named Fred Exley and they seem to be highly autob

Fante's "Ask the Dust" on the big screen

Mon, 08/21/06 9:10 P GMT-08
Just finished watching the film version of novelist John Fante's "Ask the Dust," and it's a decent approximation of the book. Starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek and with screenplay and direction by Robert Towne ("Chinatown"),

On deck, waiting to bat

Fri, 08/18/06 4:11 P GMT-08
Okay, I have successfully downloaded Firefox on my home computer and this posting proves it works. Soon, new blog postings will begin raining down on my fast-growing readership of 9.

Aha! It works using Firefox

Fri, 08/18/06 3:33 P GMT-08
Well, it appears that the blog-posting function works using the Firefox browser. This is good news, sort of. I have Firefox at work, but I do not have it at home. However, I think I can get it at home. If so, I will get back into the swing of things

I hope to figure out how to fix the problem soon

Thu, 08/17/06 9:31 P GMT-08

Blog-city "upgraded" program and screwed me

Thu, 08/17/06 9:30 P GMT-08

Not my fault no new posts, technical problems

Thu, 08/17/06 9:29 P GMT-08

Mel Gibson is an idiot, has been for a long time

Tue, 08/01/06 7:58 P GMT-08
I can't exactly say I told you so, but the truth is that Mel Gibson's blatantly anti-Semitic remarks during his DUI arrest in California were inevitable. Gibson has tried to cover up his anti-Semitism for years but once he had a few too many in him,