Published: 1941 (Charles Scribner’s Sons) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, transports you back to 1930’s Hollywood where an iconic producer, Monroe Stahr, holds onto his last shred of power and intrigue. The novel starts by introducing our Great Gatsbyian narrator Cecilia Brady, the daughter of Stahr’s co-producer and rival Pat Brady, asContinue reading “The Last Tycoon-F. Scott Fitzgerald”
Tag Archives: reading
The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham
Published: 1925 (Heinemann) Summary: W Somerset Maugham’s novel The Painted Veil is one of those novels that, while not having any real “shock value” or plot twists which are needed to sustain a certain readership, sustain the reader’s attention with perpetual sadness and disappointment. Not the disappointment in a character you learn to love, butContinue reading “The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham”
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story-Chuck Klosterman
Published: 2005 (Scribner) Setting: 2000’s U.S.A. Summary: Chuck Klosterman’s third major work of non-fiction explores how the death of a rockstar changes our memory of them. Klosterman further posits the question: How does how we remember the dead highlight what we think of ourselves, and how we see ourselves in relation to popular culture? Klosterman, having been sentContinue reading “Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story-Chuck Klosterman”
Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto
Published: 1988 (MK) Setting: 1980’s Tokyo Summary: Banana Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, and her novella, Moonlight Shadow, both deal with how lose makes us examine our distance to those we care about. Mikage, the protagonist in Kitchen, lives in a tiny world filled with pots, pans, couches, and plants. What she lacks is genuine connection to others afterContinue reading “Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto”
Will Reviews Things 