reading

James Agee A Death In The Family Review Response Writer Workshops

Book Response: A Death In The Family

James Agee’s A Death In The Family follows a young family in the early 20th century directly before and after the unexpected, sudden death of the patriarch, Jay Follet. Agee beautifully illustrates how each family member copes with Jay’s death, following their journey from anxiety to anger to confusion to acceptance. But despite the beauty […]

The Birds Tarjei Vesaas book review literary fiction workshops

Book Response: The Birds

Difficulty Categorizing This Book I have never read a book quite like this before. Perhaps that’s because it was written by a Norwegian author. Or perhaps it’s because of the original publication year (1957). Despite the novel’s tiny cast and contained setting, I found that I did not want to put it down. Ironically, there […]

Blue Nights quote by author Joan Didion

Book Response: Blue Nights

Every time I read a book by Joan Didion, I am struck by her skill. Blue Nights is no exception. This non-fiction rumination centers around what it means to raise a child and to lose that child prematurely, all while dealing with one’s own aging. It is a powerful look into Didion’s psyche. “When we […]

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Book Response: The Lover

The Lover by Marguerite Duras What a perfect novel to read following Robert Olen Butler’s From Where You Dream. There are several things I admire about Marguerite Duras’s The Lover. First, the prose itself is lyrical and unique. Her analogies and themes are consistent and poignant throughout. In fact, the entire novel reads like one […]

Book on a piano stand Optimist's Daughter Eudora Welty

Book Response: The Optimist’s Daughter

It seems that in every creative writing class I take, Eudora Welty’s name is invoked. The woman had a lot to say about writing. A quick search on the internet will give you hundreds of thousands of hits of her advice despite the fact that she died over 15 years ago. She is, without a […]