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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."

September 2007



New sitcom review: "The Big Bang Theory" is very funny

Mon, 09/24/07 8:07 P GMT-08
New show about two hyper-nerdy math geniuses whose new neighbor is a hot blonde. The show is very literate and quick, yet has real heart as well. I abruptly laughed out loud seven or eight times in 22 minutes, which is highly unusual these days and t

Barron Hilton's secret Nevada ranch

Tue, 09/18/07 7:45 P GMT-08
The San Francisco Chronicle printed a very interesting story that appeared in today's Las Vegas Sun. The story lifts the lid on the Flying M Ranch, billionaire hotel magnate Barron Hilton's Nevada hideaway. The remote ranch has been command c
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Cool!

Mon, 09/17/07 9:18 P GMT-08
Cool, as in the oppressive, nasty, record-setting summer heat is abating. At long last.It's actually cool in the morning and at night. Cool, as in 65-70 degrees. And suddenly we're not hitting triple digits. In fact, the weather guy says it&#

Britney = awful

Sun, 09/09/07 10:37 P GMT-08
Britney Spears' opening number on the MTV Video Music Awards? One of the most amateurish things I've ever seen on TV. Unbelievably bad. Lip synching. Lame dancing. Chubby! Gawd almight, that was awful.

Wikipedia weirdness

Sun, 09/02/07 7:58 P GMT-08
Sometimes Wikipedia entries go sideways — often because somebody is screwing around. For example, today I looked up the origins of my first name, and Wikipedia offered a reasonable discussion. But one sentence was thrown into the middle of the
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Updated "2007 best CDs" list

Sat, 09/01/07 8:38 A GMT-08
Four months to go in the year. Plenty of good CDs still to come out, including studio discs by Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Foo Fighters, perhaps Radiohead. Here's the top half of my list as of Sept. 1:Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch (former