All posts by Superfast Reader

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

American Literature

Synopsis: When an author stubs her toe on a piece of metal buried on her property, she uncovers a force which begins to change her from within–and this force might be guided by a malevolent consciousness. Review: I have begun The Brothers Karamazov, but it’s not exactly a “before-bed” book. Enter The Tommyknockers, a lesser work by Stephen King that deals with a pretty big whatif: “What if there was a spaceship buried in my backyard?” Bobbi Anderson stubs her toe on some metal, and…

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Who Stole Feminism? by Christina Hoff Sommers

American Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: Hoff Sommers debunks “gender feminism” and the scare tactics its proponents use to promote their radical agenda. Review: Susan Faludi’s Backlash came out when I was in college, and had a tremendous impact on me. Today, I consider myself a feminist with reservations. I’ll speak out wherever I can against injustice against women, but where feminism aligns itself with the culture of death in our society I stop being a supporter. My feminism has grown into a hatred of injustice against all who are…

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Emotional Reads

On Reading 1 Comment

I like to be moved by literature, which is why I don’t go crazy for metafiction or postmodernism or overly intellectual fiction (Don DeLillo, Thomas Pyncheon, etc.). Such was the book I read yesterday for work. Otter asks, What are the five books in your library (or memory) that stirred the greatest emotive reaction in you? What I mean is, what five (or more) books most brought you close to tears, laughter, anger, whatever?

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The House of Stairs by Barbara Vine

British Literature 7 Comments

Synopsis: A woman haunted by the uncertain onset of a genetic disease sees a woman from her past, and struggles to fill in the gaps between truth and lies from a time in her life marked by violence and murder. Review: House of Stairs is yet another knockout from Barbara Vine, the British crime writer who pens the Inspector Wexford mysteries as Ruth Rendell. The tease here is that Vine isn’t going to reveal the identity of the murder victim until the final pages, and…

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Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

American Literature 6 Comments

Synopsis: When a troubled teen on probation for vandalism is falsely accused by a fellow student, he comes face-to-face with the demons raised by his troubled family life. Review: My love for Laurie Halse Anderson’s books knows no bounds, and Twisted is just as good as her astonishing debut Speak. In Twisted, she steps inside the head of a young man for the first time, and she gets it dead-on, not shying away from all the things about teen guys that are icky and messy…

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Blindness by Henry Green

British Literature

Synopsis: A young man on the verge of university is blinded in a freak accident. Review: Henry Green’s later books Loving, Living, and Party Going were referenced quite a bit in Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer, but I chose to start with Blindness because it was listed in the infamous 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. It’s a slim volume, and I breezed through it, though Green’s marvelous turns of phrase caused me to pause and relish.

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