http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/ culture blogging for the good of the planet Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:10:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-2931 Jim Smith Wed, 02 May 2007 16:27:34 +0000 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-2931 "The Day of the Locust" shuts any other Hollywood novel right down (despite having a character disturbingly named "Homer Simpson"), Smiley's included. “The Day of the Locust” shuts any other Hollywood novel right down (despite having a character disturbingly named “Homer Simpson”), Smiley’s included.

]]> http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-2112 Burnin’ All Illusions » Smiley Presents Los Angeles Circa ‘03 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:42:12 +0000 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-2112 [...] According to his review on New Critics, Smiley’s novel concerns a group of Los Angelenos who, the day after the 2003 Oscars, gather in a film director’s spacious home and try to shield themselves from the Iraq war, even as raging debates break out among the characters. The book is 449 pages, in really small type, and it sometimes gets lost in its tangents, but Smiley has a marvelous gift for creating characters with compelling flaws and for writing great gabs of free-flowing dialogue. It’s a book that may wear you out getting to the finish line, but it keeps pulling you forward nonetheless. It has the rounded pleasures of those old-fashioned pop blockbusters that weren’t afraid to lace a little intelligent dialogue and subtle characterization in between scenes of beautiful people having sex in gorgeously appointed homes. [...] [...] According to his review on New Critics, Smiley’s novel concerns a group of Los Angelenos who, the day after the 2003 Oscars, gather in a film director’s spacious home and try to shield themselves from the Iraq war, even as raging debates break out among the characters. The book is 449 pages, in really small type, and it sometimes gets lost in its tangents, but Smiley has a marvelous gift for creating characters with compelling flaws and for writing great gabs of free-flowing dialogue. It’s a book that may wear you out getting to the finish line, but it keeps pulling you forward nonetheless. It has the rounded pleasures of those old-fashioned pop blockbusters that weren’t afraid to lace a little intelligent dialogue and subtle characterization in between scenes of beautiful people having sex in gorgeously appointed homes. [...]

]]> http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-1634 Tom Watson Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:26:35 +0000 http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/03/24/jane-smileys-postcard-from-the-edge/#comment-1634 The Decameron is a scream, by the way - an Italian Canterbury tales a century later - all about the role of fate/luck. At least, that's how I remember it 25 years since college lit class! The Decameron is a scream, by the way - an Italian Canterbury tales a century later - all about the role of fate/luck. At least, that’s how I remember it 25 years since college lit class!

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