Tag Archives: Annie Dillard

Truth or Consequences?

How true to life should a memoir be? Is bending the facts or changing chronology allowed? How about just making stuff up? Many of us remember the controversy arising from James Frey’s 2003 memoir A Million Little Pieces, which, after … Continue reading

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Required Reading

I haven’t read many books recently because I’ve been reading Bleak House, Charles Dickens’s 800-page novel of 1853. It was supposed to be my winter break project, but I started it late, after New Years, and it’s seeped into the … Continue reading

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Incunabulum

Tonight we’re addressing Christmas cards. After thirty-plus years, we have the routine down. John does his people, and I do mine and I can’t tell you exactly how we know whose names are whose. I rely on my old, water-stained … Continue reading

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Animal + Music Book Titles

Awhile ago, I reviewed a book for the Plain Dealer called Frog Music* and soon after read a book with a similar title. My reactions to the two were very different, however. Emma Donoghue, an Irish writer who lives in … Continue reading

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No Buzz

How do you choose which books to read and which movies to see? All of us are probably somewhat susceptible to “buzz”–the blaring ads and TV talk-show promos and mentions on National Public Radio that make us think we have … Continue reading

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