https://slackersmuse.com/tags/2023/ Recent content in 2023 on Slacker's Muse Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_ninestories/ Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_ninestories/ A Review: Nine Stories Title of Work: Nine Stories Author: J.D. Salinger Format: Published: 1948 Started: Finished: 2023-12-29\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 5/5 I’m really mixed up about this one and… awestruck maybe? So concentrated, pure reduction, essence of short story. You almost think oh it’s formulaic, I figured out the gag then sort of lose your way half way through the next one and don’t quite find it again before the last few lines put you right back on your ass. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecreativeactawayofbeing/ Sun, 03 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecreativeactawayofbeing/ A Review: The Creative Act: A Way of Being Title of Work: The Creative Act: A Way of Being Author: Rick Rubin Format: Published: 2023 Started: Finished: 2023-12-03\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Felt a little soft at first, a little cliché. I even worried briefly that Rubin might descend into a self-helpification of the creative process. But with time my defenses softened and all of my hopes for this book bubbled into clarity. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thesunalsorises/ Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thesunalsorises/ A Review: The Sun Also Rises Title of Work: The Sun Also Rises Author: Ernest Hemingway Format: Published: 1926 Started: Finished: 2023-11-09\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 It’s light but light happened to be exactly what I needed. I can’t map out exactly why I think so yet but I kept thinking as I read that TSAR is like the classic novel equivalent of reality TV. Sure, maybe Hemingway is getting at something deeper here but, in practice, we get lots of brief, dramatized observations of the daily experiences and relationships between a small group of friends over a short period of time. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecheechakoes/ Tue, 30 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thecheechakoes/ A Review: The Cheechakoes Title of Work: The Cheechakoes Author: Wayne Short Format: Published: 1962 Started: Finished: 2023-05-30\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Simple, no frills writing but better for it. W. Short captures the appeal of Southeast Alaska. The vast wilderness and regional familiarity, the bounty, the subsistence, the inherent danger, the independence. Much of the posturing and plastered on superficiality of “Down South” is stripped away, humbled by salty spray and glacial winds. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onearthwerebrieflygorgeous/ Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onearthwerebrieflygorgeous/ A Review: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Title of Work: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Author: Ocean Vuong Format: Published: 2019 Started: Finished: 2023-05-01\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 As Ken Craft pointed out, this self-ascribed “novel” strongly invokes memoir. I don’t care to quibble over taxonomy here (certainly elsewhere I would love to) so I’ll say it is clear the work is deeply personal to the author and it strikes chords a memoir would know well. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_yearbook/ Tue, 25 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_yearbook/ A Review: Yearbook Title of Work: Yearbook Author: Seth Rogen Format: Published: 2021 Started: Finished: 2023-04-25\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Alright, this was pretty fun. Would recommend for funny, light memoir. You have to listen to the audio book read by Rogen and the cast, of course. You’re in for: Coming of age, pot-smokin’ shenanigans. “This one time me and my friends tried to get high and…” sort of stuff. Lotsa Jewish and Jewish adjacent jokes (can I say Jew? https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_profession/ Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_profession/ A Review: Profession Title of Work: Profession Author: Isaac Asimov Format: Published: 1957 Started: Finished: 2023-03-15\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 I wrote a bit about this but got carried away and ended up spewing over 1,000 words in a form not really resembling a review of the text at all so I’ll hold off on posting that here… Come to think of it, I should probably arrive at this conclusion for most of my reviews. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onwriting/ Sun, 12 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onwriting/ A Review: On Writing Title of Work: On Writing Author: Charles Bukowski Format: Published: 2014 Started: Finished: 2023-03-12\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 3/5 I found this correspondence collection interesting from two angles: the first, biographical insight into the work of a controversial and prolific writer and the second, as a source of artistic inspiration and encouragement. Finally, it is a selected subset from 50 years of letters and probably only worth reading if you’re interested in Bukowski the man or his take on the craft of writing more generally. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_quantumcountry/ Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_quantumcountry/ A Review: Quantum Country Title of Work: Quantum Country Author: Andy Matuschak Format: Published: Started: Finished: 2023-01-25\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 I came across this research project on human memory and learning on the personal website of one of the authors, Andy Matuschak. If you have any interest in how memory works, limitations and solutions for personal knowledge storage, or just slick web design (I’m geeking out over bi-directional links rn)—check out his site. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_afterdark/ Fri, 20 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_afterdark/ A Review: After Dark Title of Work: After Dark Author: Haruki Murakami Format: Published: 2004 Started: Finished: 2023-01-20\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 2/5 It is night. In the neighborhood, all is quiet above the faint and ever present background noise of the city. A black cat saunters past in the alley below and pauses, one paw raised as if momentarily frozen, and looks upward in your direction. As you move through the open window on the second floor the cat is suddenly reanimated and continues on in the same direction, this time with more vigor. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onwritingamemoirofthecraft/ Sun, 06 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_onwritingamemoirofthecraft/ A Review: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Title of Work: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Author: Stephen King Format: Published: 2002 Started: Finished: \ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Packed to the brim with thought provoking material for hopeful writers. Not just wishy-washy “trust your gut” or “show don’t tell” kind of stuff, though it is in there with a healthy dose of caveat. Sound, reasonable methods (with examples) for aspiring and working writers though I do wonder how much the publishing landscape has changed even in the past 5 years relative to when this was originally published in the early aughts.