Tag: Book Reviews
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Aylett’s Inferno
An Essay by Bill Ectric on Steve Aylett’s Shamanspace This essay first appeared in the book Steve Aylett: A Critical Anthology; Published by Sein und Werden Books, Copyright 2016 by Sein und Werden and Bill Ectric. All rights reserved. WARNING: This review contains spoilers. —∞— “Of making many books there is no end, and much study…
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D. Harlan Wilson’s excellent book on J. G. Ballard
Book Review by Bill Ectric D. Harlan Wilson has made a literary mark in the field of cultural theory, focusing on the loss of humanity in the inescapable rush of accelerating technology, with books like Technologized Desire: Selfhood and the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction and Cultographies: They Live. While his fiction tends to be disorienting (a trait his…
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Inspired by Murder
This review was written by Colin Dickey for New Republic, November 2, 2016: “Murder, in ordinary cases, where the sympathy is wholly directed to the case of the murdered person,” (De Quincey) reasons, “is an incident of coarse and vulgar horror; and for this reason that it flings the interest exclusively upon the natural…
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Dead Men Naked, Book Review
Dead Men Naked, a novel by Dario Cannizzaro Review by Bill Ectric Dead Men Naked is the best novel I’ve read in while, satisfying to the end. All too often, books with supernatural overtones veer into preposterous territory, but not this one. Author Dario Cannizzaro achieves a near-perfect balance of realism and phantasm, humor and…
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A Psychological Drama set in France: Stranger Days by Rachel Kendall
My book review of Rachel Kendall’s Stranger Days is on Empty Mirror. I’m happy to report that Rachel Kendall does an exceptional job of keeping her novel, Stranger Days, fresh, fun and riveting. Kendall doesn’t shy away from the usual intrigue and romance of Paris, but she does it so well, Stranger Days is a…
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Galapagos Regained Reviewed
Galapagos Regained by James Morrow Review by Bill Ectric James Morrow James Morrow writes with a great sense of fun and wonder. In Galapagos Regained, he regales us with a surreal 1850s adventure that is equal parts historical fiction, metaphysical treatise, and Pirates of the Caribbean spree. Fictional characters interact with actual historical…
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Fortean Melancholia and Paranormal Mourning
Many thanks to Andrew Wenaus for his review of my novel, Tamper! Tamper is like the Hardy Boys in that it is a kind of mystery novel in clear/concise language, and it is like (William S.) Burroughs in the sense that there is a presiding desire to break free of some kind of invisible system…
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The Madonna and the Starship, by James Morrow
James Morrow is one of those writers whose books I buy without hesitation as soon as they are available. He never lets me down. Here’s a review by The Little Red Reviewer of Morrow’s latest book:
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S. T. Joshi Chides Again
Today via Wormwoodiana I learned of this book review by Michael Dirda of S. T. Joshi’s new book, Unutterable Horror, at The Weekly Standard’s Book Review. Because Joshi is so opinionated, Dirda suggests that we “trust Joshi on the books he praises, but look for yourself at those he dismisses or disdains.” Here’s an excerpt…
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Thomas Pynchon!
I’m a big fan of Thomas Pynchon. Levi Asher, at Literary Kicks, isn’t so sure, but it sounds like he’s willing to give Pynchon’s new book a try. Personally, I can’t wait to read it! Levi says, “All my friends and literary comrades and people I respect love Thomas Pynchon. I guess they find his…