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."

September 2005



Not a small matter

Fri, 09/23/05 3:09 P GMT-08
This is what I hate: When you attend a conference or a banquet at a hotel, which is where most conferences and banquets are held, and the hotel serves a meal, it typically offers only two types of drinks: iced water or iced tea. If you want a soda or
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Katrina, war, taxes

Tue, 09/20/05 7:35 A GMT-08
Cut war spending, use savings to help rebuild Gulf Coast? Makes perfect sense. Rescind tax hikes for the rich, use money to help rebuild Gulf Coast? Makes perfect sense. 1,904 dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq? Doesn't make any sense. People are funny

Off to Tahoe

Fri, 09/16/05 7:05 A GMT-08
Flying today to Reno, then driving to South Lake Tahoe for a newspaper industry conference. Should be cool -- literally. Apparently the highs at Tahoe are in the 60s, lows in the 30s. I'll have a full report upon my return.

Facts of the day

Wed, 09/14/05 7:16 A GMT-08
1. Hurricane Katrina is not one of those news stories that's here today, gone tomorrow. This story will be with us for five years minimum as the massive cleanup and rebuilding continues. It will be a what's-happening-on-the-ground story as well as a
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New Orleans

Tue, 09/06/05 2:41 P GMT-08
I've been to New Orleans. It was a couple of years ago, for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conference. Andrew Kiraly and I went. Jimmy Boegle was there, too, I recall. The French Quarter really got my attention. It struck me as being diff

Hold on to your hats

Mon, 09/05/05 9:14 A GMT-08
Hurricane Katrina is bad enough. It's not only having a dramatic impact on one region of the country, it's going to affect the nation as a whole in a variety of ways, not just economically. Now Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist has died

Bush's post-disaster disgrace

Fri, 09/02/05 6:54 A GMT-08
It's increasingly, shockingly clear that the Bush administration is totally botching relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. This morning, during an interview, ABC's Diane Sawyer basically ripped the FEMA director a new one, and he deserved worse
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