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Tag Archives: Alice McDermott
The Books: Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink; edited by David Remnick; ‘Enough’, by Alice McDermott
Next up on the essays shelf: Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, edited by David Remnick Secret Ingredients is a collection of food writing from The New Yorker. I love these collections. So far, we have … Continue reading
Happy birthday, Alice McDermott
From an interview with novelist Alice McDermott: It’s been said that, to some extent, every novelist writes the same book over and over. Many reviewers have noted how much your novels share: middle-class Irish Catholic characters, and that Long Island … Continue reading
That Night, by Alice McDermott: The Beginning
I’m now reading That Night: A Novel, by Alice McDermott – author of the wonderful and National Book Award-winning Charming Billy: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics) (my post about it here). McDermott often writes from the point of view of … Continue reading
The Books: “Charming Billy ” ( Alice McDermott)
Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction: Charming Billy: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics) by Alice McDermott Alice McDermott writes about Irish-American life and the Irish-American experience (straddling Vatican II into now) – like nobody’s business. Charming Billy is almost creepy to … Continue reading
Alice McDermott: Charming Billy
I read and loved Alice McDermott’s book Charming Billy (I babbled about it a bit here) – and there are a couple of her other books on my shelves that I have yet to get to. Charming Billy is about … Continue reading
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Tagged Alice McDermott, Charming Billy
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Waiting for Godot: Waiting, In General
I like this question a lot: What books or stories can you think of that importantly feature absent characters? The answers in the thread are cool, too. The first one that comes to mind, for me, is Ulysses – where … Continue reading
Posted in Books, James Joyce
Tagged Alice McDermott, Cat's Eye, J.D. Salinger, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, The Passion, Ulysses
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“To sail, gracefully and in tandem, across the abyss.”
An excerpt from Charming Billy, a lovely novel I just finished this morning. The excerpt below made me think, immediately, of one of Big Dan’s most recent posts, which pretty much debunks the over-used phrase: “When you’ve got your health, … Continue reading
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Tagged Alice McDermott, Charming Billy
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Excerpt from Charming Billy
Charming Billy, by Alice McDermott. . Here we get a glimpse of Billy Lynch as a young man – running into his cousin Dennis on the subway. It would take an act of will to picture him now as he … Continue reading
Saturday Snapshots
— Up at the crack of dawn. Three loads of laundry. I do try to take time to revel in simple pleasures. And this morning, sitting in the laundromat, it wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet … staring at the white … Continue reading
Book Notes: Alice McDermott’s Charming Billy
I just started Alice McDermott’s novel Charming Billy this morning. I’ve had it for years, since it won the National Book Award, and just now, on impulse I picked it up. Too much non-fiction recently, and the last novel I … Continue reading
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