It’s been 12 years since Zadie Smith published her break-out debut, White Teeth, and 7 years since her most recent novel, the brilliant On Beauty.
So … was NW worth the wait?
On Day 6 with Brent Bambury I say … YES. With a word of caution that the novel is “crazy good” in parts, but “chaotic and cluttered” in others.
Here’s the audio.
I found Karen Thompson Walker’s much hyped debut to be a slightly flawed but overall impressive and tightly wrought feat of the imagination. And it absolutely screams “summer read.”
Read my review in the Globe and Mail.
What books will we be buzzing about on the beach this summer?
Looking for a fast-paced read? Some arm-chair travel? An alternative to that mega-selling bonk-buster book? Or to immerse yourself in the past (or an alternative present…)?
I served up some summer suggestions with different kinds of reader in mind on CBC Day 6 this weekend.
For a character-driven novel: John Irving’s IN ONE PERSON
For some historical drama: Hilary Mantel’s BRING UP THE BODIES (fiction); Erik Larson’s IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS (non-fiction)
For a fast-paced crime fix to take to the beach: Jo Nesbo’s PHANTOM
For an erotic-fiction alternative to Fifty Shades of Grey: Tamara Faith Berger’s MAIDENHEAD; Nicholson Baker’s THE FERMATA and HOUSE OF HOLES
For escapism…
To the Olympics: Craig Taylor’s LONDONERS
To the big sky and open road: Hari Kunzru’s GOD’S WITHOUT MEN
To (or from) a different kind of economy-class travel: Michael Ondaatje’s THE CAT’S TABLE
For a summer-long doorstop read: Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84
One of the great American novelists has published his first novel in 6 years and called it CANADA.
Cue excitement in literary circles everywhere, but most especially north of the border.
So … should you read it?
On CBC Day 6 this morning I said … probably not, no.
First you couldn’t be online without hearing about it. Then you couldn’t open a newspaper without reading about it. Then you couldn’t even walk into a bookstore without seeing it piled high in all its suggestive tie-me-up-ishness.
Fifty Shades of Grey was everywhere. But is it any good …? Of course not.
Erin Balser and I went in to the CBC Fresh Air studio to talk to Mary Ito about why we think everyone’s going gaga for Christian Grey, and to offer some suggestions for smutty reading with a little more literary style.
In a twist on our “Should I Read It?” segment, I talk to Brent Bambury on today’s CBC Day 6 about the buzz books that will be finding their way into many people’s stockings this year.
Gifts for fiction lovers, tricky teenagers, dentists, tech-fans, and anyone who enjoys a nice cocktail on a cross-country train.
Here’s the audio.
1Q84: Haruki Murakami’s mammoth new tome.
Some say it’s his masterpiece. Some say it just goes on too long.
I was on CBC Radio One’s Day 6 with Brent Bambury to weigh in and help you decide: Should I Read It?
We’ve been waiting nine years since Middlesex, so … does Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot live up to the hype?
On tomorrow’s CBC Day 6, I say … no.
Prepare to throw rotten tomatoes (at it, or me, depending on your own point of view).