Recent content by hayden

Not to wish misfortune, but I'm glad Undiscovered didn't make the cut. Found it a very difficult work to care about. Felt like one of those episode of family-tree-story-telling sponsored by ancestory.com. And not necessarily an interesting one. Not even sure something like that would be pass...

A postmodern legend. Glad he got to live such a long life. I think he's the last of his generation (bar maybe Pynchon, who might not even be alive for all we know?)— and certainly one of the best. Always knew how much experimenting was just the right amount. Complexity too. I've always been...

It's excellent she got to live such a long life and received a notable uptick in recognition later in her career. Doesn't happen to everyone. I've only read I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, but hope to get around to Segu one day (seems to usually be considered her opus). I still think the...

I'm a little late, but this is my first time hearing about this. His recent works Earth Keeper and The Death of Sitting Bear are excellent companion pieces— both are rather brief and easy to find as well, so no excuse to not give them a shot. The Way to Rainy Mountain is also an important staple...

Thank you Marba. (This is genuinely all very much appreciated). Hopefully I'll have time to post some comments about the nominees soon, but first I have to figure out who a lot of the new ones are :p— shocked at how few of the first-time names I recognize, even despite being sandwiched...

Saddened to hear the early passing of British poet, author and actor Benjamin Zephaniah. I started reading him only earlier this year and enjoyed his works quite a bit. Modern Rastafarian/beat-dub poet/street-style writing with plenty of humour and political bite. I recommend his poetry volumes...

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I knew it! ;) Just spotted the blurb halfway down the page :LOL: Surely there's better praise out there than 'it's... odd'. Anywho— I've never read him before. Might pick the book up in the new year.

While I agree, I think this trend only started happening circa the 2014-2016 classes. Before that, nominated candidates were stacked (or, at least very intriguing). I'll say it again— I like the Neustadt. It's good stuff.

I read this in early September. I read this after her name started popping up. It wasn't my thing. I'm not going to badtalk it or anything. I didn't like her style. Her style and my taste don't click. But I read her book. In September. (that was my best impression of her style, but it's bad—...

Happy with this choice. (Albeit, I've only read her poetry— might pick up a novel). Hope this leads to more translation of her work... still waiting for an English version of The Green Sari. French-language African writer twice in a row (and third overall).

I've only read one novel by Dương Thu Hương (Paradise of The Blind), but I have nothing but praise for it. Hoping to get around to at least two of these this year— Novel Without A Name No Man's Land Memories of A Pure Spring I think it's excellent we've selected her as a finalist. Looking...

And then there were three.

Agreed. It wouldn't work.

Yeah— that might be Carson at her Carson-y-est. You'd get a great sense of her style, and it isn't super lengthy. Being said, no matter what you think of it (for better or worse), go into Autobiography of Red next. Essential. Would love to get my hands on a copy of Float. Her most recent work...