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About this blog
This blog started out as a collection of book reviews, but has evolved into something a little different. While I still begin with reflections on a book I've read recently, I tend to use these reflections more as a starting point for issues I'm focused on. As I develop as a writer, I hope to get better at making these entries naturally more polished and concise. At the same time, I do enjoy some of the conventions of blogging, a form which allows you to ramble and shoot off your mouth a little more than other media.
About Me
- Paul Brynner
- In 2002 I self-published a novel that takes place in Anchorage. There are still copies of it around somewhere; it's called Conception of Sphinx. Also, I had a funny newspaper column for a while called Traditionally Speaking. You can still find it in the Opinion Archives at www.thenorthernlight.org
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Some favorite books
- A Box of Matches, By Nicholson Baker
- A Distant Episode, by Paul Bowles
- A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
- A History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell
- Africa, by John Reader
- Against the Day, by Thomas Pynchon
- Ansichten eines Clowns, by Heinrich Böll
- Areas of My Expertise, by John Hodgeman
- Beautiful Losers, by Leonard Cohen
- Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, by David Foster Wallace
- Broom in the System, by David Foster Wallace
- Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Cerebus, by Dave Sim and Gerhard
- Checkpoint, by Nicholson Baker
- Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
- Cosmic Comics, by Italo Calvino
- Der Fremde, by Albert Camus
- Der Nazi und der Friseur, by Edgar Hilsenrath
- Der Prozess, by Kafka
- Die Blechtrommel, by Günter Grass
- Dr. Science's Big Book of Science
- Dubliners, by James Joyce
- East is East, by TC Boyle
- Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Froer
- Family Matters, by Rohinton Mistry
- Flood! by Eric Drooker
- Free Play, by Stephen Nachmanovich
- Fun with Milk and Cheese, by Evan Dorkin
- Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon
- Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
- Heartbreak House, by George Bernard Shaw
- Hello, Down There, by Michael Parker
- How Brains Think, by William Calvin
- I Gotta Go, by Ian Schoales
- In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
- Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace
- Last Exit to Brooklyn, by Hubert Selby Jr
- London Fields, by Martin Amis
- Loser Takes All, by Graham Greene
- Mating, by Norman Rush
- Momotaro, illustrated by George Suyeoka
- Mortals, by Norman Rush
- Nickel Mountain, by John Gardener
- Omeros, by Derek Walcott
- Our Dumb Century, by the Onion staff
- Out of One Eye, by Kit Williams
- Pigeon Feathers, by John Updike
- Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth
- Possession, by AS Byatt
- Problems, by John Updike
- Prometheus Rising, by Robert Anton Wilson
- Rabbit, Run, by John Updike
- Room Temperature, by Nicholson Baker
- Science Made Stupid, by Tom Weller
- Searching for Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez, by Andromeda Romano Lax
- Shakespeare in Hollywood, by Ken Ludwig
- Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Some Honorable Men, by Norman Mailer
- Tales from Friozha Baag, by Rohinton Mistry
- The Bandsaw Riots, by Arlitia Jones
- The Beautiful and the Damned, by F Scott Fitzgerald
- The Big Rock Candy Mountain, by Wallace Stegner
- The Blind Watchmaker, by Richard Dawkins
- The Cartoon History of the Universe, by Larry Gonick
- The Clock Winder, by Anne Tyler
- The Everlasting Story of Nory, by Nicholson Baker
- The Lazlo Letters, by Don Novello
- The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt
- The Magus, by John Fowles
- The Mathematical Tourist, by Ivan Peterson
- The Mezzanine, by Nicholson Baker
- The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, by Neal Pollack
- The Pocket Book of Erskine Caldwell Stories
- The Rachel Papers, by Martin Amis
- The Sonnets, by William Shakespeare
- The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay
- The Wonder Boys, by Michael Chabon
- Time's Arrow, by Martin Amis
- To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf
- Ulysses, by James Joyce
- Unuseless Japanese Inventions, by Kenji Kawakami
- Up in the Old Hotel, by Joseph Mitchell
- V., by Thomas Pynchon
- Virginia Lovers, by Michael Parker
- Why Are We In Vietnam? by Norman Mailer
- Winter Count, by Barry Lopez
- World's End, by TC Boyle
Some favorite children's books
- Adventures with Arnold Lobel
- Alumette, by Tomi Ungerer
- Arm in Arm, bby Remy Charlip
- Bartholomew and the Ooblek, by Dr Seuss
- Bedtime For Frances, by Russell Hoban, Pictures by Garth Williams
- Best Friends for Frances, by Russell Hoban, Pictures by Lillian Hoban
- Charlie Chaplin–The Gold Rush, Illustrated by Philippe Magniaux
- Dandelion, by Don Freeman
- Detective Arthur on the Scent, by Mary J Fulton, pictures by Aurelius Battaglia
- Dinosaurs, by David Lambert
- Fungus the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Retold and Illustrated by James Marshall
- Graham Oakley's Magical Changes
- Hansel and Gretel, retold by James Marshall
- Joel Schick's Christmas Present
- Journey Cake, Ho! by Ruth Sawyer, Pictures by Robert McCloskey
- Life Story, by Virginia Lee Burton
- London Bridge is Falling Down! Illustrated by Peter Spier
- Magic Michael, by Louis Slobodkin
- Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
- Mermaid Tales from Around the World, retold by Mary Pope Osborne, Illustrated by Troy Howell
- Ming Lo Moves the Mountain, by Arnold Lobel
- Noah's Ark, illustrated by Peter Spier
- On Market Street, by Anita Lobel, Words by Arnold Lobel
- Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever
- Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World
- Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever
- Spooky Stuffs, by Eric A Knudsen, Illustrated by Guy Buffett
- That Man is Talking to His Toes, by Jacquie Hann
- The Bears' Almanac, by Stan and Jan Berenstain
- The Church Mice in Action, by Graham Oakley
- The Cow Who Fell in the Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky, Illustrated by Peter Spier
- The Frog Band and the Onion Seller, by Jim Smith
- The Island of the Skog, by Steven Kellogg
- The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton
- The Magician, by Uri Shulevitz, adapted from story by I. L. Peretz
- The Man Who Lost His Head, by Claire Huchet Bishop, pictures by Robert McCloskey
- The Troll Book, by Michael Berenstein
- Too Much Noise, by Ann McGovern, Pictures by Simms Taback
- Urashima Taro, Illustrated by George Suyeoka, adapted from original folktales by Robert B Goodman and Robert A Spicer
- What Do People Do All Day? By Richard Scarry
- When I was Young in the Mountains, by Cynthia Ryland, Illustrated by Diane Goode
- Who Needs Donuts? by Mark Alan Stamaty
- Who's Got the Apple? by Jan Lööf, translated by Ole Risom and Linday Hayward
- Zeke Silver Moon, by Amy Ehrlich, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
Best Book Read in 2007
The Magus by John Fowles
Best Movie Seen in 2007
Fat Stupid Rabbit
Best cd heard in 2007
Contemplating the Engine Room by Mike Watt
Best Book Read in 2008
If You Want Me to Stay by Michael Parker
Best Movie Seen in 2008
Demon Pond directed by Takashi Miike
Best cd heard in 2008
Feed the Animals by Girl Talk