Deaf Sentence
by David Lodge
[Book]
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British novel about a hearing impaired retired professor of linguistics. Well written, interestingly plotted, with a sort BBC/Masterpiece Theater feel to it. It is very much a character driven story that explores the former professor’s challenges with retirement, his increasing deafness, and his family concerns. The professor explores various literature about and by the deaf and attends lip reading classes where he learns all sorts of interesting trivia. The story is spiced up by his involvement with a possibly psychotic American grad student writing her doctoral thesis on the linguistics of suicide notes.
Reviewed by Janet
Tagged: Aging, Fiction, Psychological fiction
All a Novelist Needs: Colm Tóibín on Henry James
by Colm Tóibín
[Book]
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All a Novelist Needs is beautifully written with fascinating insights into Henry James and his creative process. Anyone who likes Tóibín or James will enjoy this book.
Reviewed by Janet
Tagged: Non-fiction, Writing
Camping with Henry and Tom
by Mark St. Germain
[Audiobook]
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This “book” is the audio to a play performed at L.A. Theatre Works in 2006 starring Alan Alda and was borrowed using Overdrive (see the reference desk for more information on how to download free books to your phone or e-reader!).
The off-broadway play is a fictional account of inspired by an actual camping trip in 1921 with friends Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Warren Harding. The three men set off camping and their car breaks down and we hear their chatter as they are lost in the woods. It is filled with humor and historical facts as we hear how Ford aspires to be President and President Harding would rather spend time with a mistress.
Reviewed by Janet
Tagged: 1920s, Drama, Fiction, Play
Excellent Women
by Barbara Pym
[Book]
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Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym’s best — a funny, engaging, and insightful story of post WWII English life. Like Jane Austen, Pym examines the small, seemingly mundane lives of ordinary people in an extraordinary manner.
Reviewed by Janet
Tagged: Fiction
