It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
Continue »
Lipsyte's characters in "The Ask" speak to one another in an up-to-the-minute style of quips. If you read the internet news, are in your 30's or 40's and don't think most literature reflects reality, read this. The narrator,Milo Burke is the most self deprecating protagonist I can recall. He will leave you un-angry, ready to stop and breath into the present,and permission to laugh at the people who think they are better than you because of money. With unique humor, and right on ironies, I can see why this is on the Powells promising writers list.
The author gives the reader an inside view of severe clinical depression, such as I have never seen. With depression affecting as many as 1 in 4 people in the United States, it receives very little public attention.
Ms. Brampton has done us all a favor in writing with such honesty about so personal a subject. Her 4 year journey through pain so intense it was often suicidal, ends with a note of hope. There is no magic bullet, and yet she found a combination of behaviors, supports, vitamins and medications which took her from the clutches of the black dog. Inspiring as well as crucially informative, even for those who have not experienced this level of depression. The reader is left with more tools with which to communicate and love a person in need, and that can only be good for all of us.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
In these times of political corrouption, endless war and diminished social fairness the diaries of a young woman living in Nazi Occupied Holland offer some strange comfort to me. Etty Hillesum held onto hope and light in the midst of the unimagnable. She was able to touch people with genuine love. Her writing shines on the page.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
"Flight" could be described as Sherman Alexie's exploration of violence in it's many forms.
He begins with an adolescent boy, who travels into other male forms and periods in history. Always faced with severely violent situations to manuever through, the man/boy begins to see brutality and it's cyle, coming to a sense of redemption. Even after drawing the reader through an Indian man's despair, with the positive closure style of Alice Walker and Barbara Kingsolver, the novel ends on a note of hope.
This is a perfect offering for High School age readers.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(8 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
Margaret Shindler has commented on (6) products.
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
Margaret Shindler, October 5, 2011
Lipsyte's characters in "The Ask" speak to one another in an up-to-the-minute style of quips. If you read the internet news, are in your 30's or 40's and don't think most literature reflects reality, read this. The narrator,Milo Burke is the most self deprecating protagonist I can recall. He will leave you un-angry, ready to stop and breath into the present,and permission to laugh at the people who think they are better than you because of money. With unique humor, and right on ironies, I can see why this is on the Powells promising writers list.The Man from Kinvara: Selected Stories
Margaret Shindler, November 23, 2009
The stories in this book offer the unembellished comfort of humor and sympathy if you are a widow, a title I share with Ms. Gallagher.She writes characters who move from discerning just what is clogging the plumbing to eloquently explaining several rationals for carrying a handgun.
Tess Gallagher is a timeless poet and storyteller, a woman's woman.
Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression by Sally Brampton
Margaret Shindler, February 25, 2009
The author gives the reader an inside view of severe clinical depression, such as I have never seen. With depression affecting as many as 1 in 4 people in the United States, it receives very little public attention.Ms. Brampton has done us all a favor in writing with such honesty about so personal a subject. Her 4 year journey through pain so intense it was often suicidal, ends with a note of hope. There is no magic bullet, and yet she found a combination of behaviors, supports, vitamins and medications which took her from the clutches of the black dog. Inspiring as well as crucially informative, even for those who have not experienced this level of depression. The reader is left with more tools with which to communicate and love a person in need, and that can only be good for all of us.
(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum
Margaret Shindler, November 18, 2007
In these times of political corrouption, endless war and diminished social fairness the diaries of a young woman living in Nazi Occupied Holland offer some strange comfort to me. Etty Hillesum held onto hope and light in the midst of the unimagnable. She was able to touch people with genuine love. Her writing shines on the page.(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
Flight: A Novel by Sherman Alexie
Margaret Shindler, July 21, 2007
"Flight" could be described as Sherman Alexie's exploration of violence in it's many forms.He begins with an adolescent boy, who travels into other male forms and periods in history. Always faced with severely violent situations to manuever through, the man/boy begins to see brutality and it's cyle, coming to a sense of redemption. Even after drawing the reader through an Indian man's despair, with the positive closure style of Alice Walker and Barbara Kingsolver, the novel ends on a note of hope.
This is a perfect offering for High School age readers.
(8 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
1-5 of 6next