I get a lot of people asking me for book recommendations. That’s not all that strange, considering how much I read, and that I write a lot of reviews. All the same, I still find it hard to know what to say sometimes… tastes are so different. And […]
I’ve always known that my reading habits are a bit odd. That was confirmed by the way I came across The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. Most people heard of it by word of mouth or because it was on bestseller lists — the book […]
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the most respected names in fantasy and science fiction. She doesn’t need to boost her career by cheap gimmicks or by following current trends. So I was a bit shocked to read about how Le Guin’s editor had suggested she write […]
John Brunner’s The Shockwave Rider has a fantastic ending: an unstoppable computer virus reveals all secret information. If you’ve bribed the food inspectors to ignore mad cow disease in your factory farm, now the whole world knows about it. Gone to war under false pretences? Selling designer clothes […]
Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash is a book that requires some warning for unsuspecting readers: it’s so wacked out and demented that it’s beyond over-the-top and way beyond anything you can take seriously. The book works because you eventually realize that Stephenson’s approach suits the future that he is […]
Publishing is a wacky world, with huge conglomerates controlling the big imprints, return policies that see half of all published books destroyed as a matter of course, and only a small fraction of authors making a living at what they do. Why would any sane person get involved […]
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The Cultural Gutter 