I was asked to teach a one-day course on flash fiction. Here’s what the students said about it.
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Reviews
Review: The Idea Machine -- two reviews in one!
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Read MoreReview: Digital Culture Shock -- two reviews in one!
in Bookshelf, Technology, Reviews
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Read MoreReview: Craftland -- two reviews in one!
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Read MoreReview: The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories -- two reviews in one!
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!
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Click the pic to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes
This is a great book for dipping into at random, and can work in two ways. One would be for sheer pleasure. The other would be to check your knowledge of the allusions. And, of course, knowing them is likely to elicit even more pleasure.
Read MoreReview: The Life of Crime
Like all the best books, this can be read chronologically or dipped into.
Read MoreReview: Things Seen, by Annie Ernaux
in Bookshelf, Reviews, On this day
At times beautiful, at times cynical, at times hard-hitting, Things Seen is an endearing and accurate portrayal of a modern city.
Read MoreReview: Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carré -- two reviews in one!
Review: Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carré -- two reviews in one!
Read MoreReview: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics: Anniversary Edition -- two reviews in one!
in Reviews
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!
Read MoreReview: Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found -- Two reviews in one
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!
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Click the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: Exercises in Style Updated
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
Anyone interested in the craft of writing should read this book. It’s not a primer, or dictionary, or anything of that nature. But it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Read MoreReview: The Many Lives of Anne Frank
You could be forgiven for thinking that all that has been said, or needed to be said, about Anne Frank had already been said, given the number of books, articles and even a play that have been written about her. And yet in some ways she has never been more relevant.
Read MoreReview: Stranger than Fiction
At first glance, this book's table of contents seems puzzling. Despite running to nearly 500 pages, Frank seems to be using fewer than 50 different novels to represent a hundred years of literary evolution — but appearances can be deceptive.
Read More“The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that, and I like the sense of foreboding.”
Quick look: Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter -- Progress report
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that, and I like the sense of foreboding.
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Click on the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Quick look: Conversations with Third Reich Contemporaries
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
Context is given regarding the manner in which the interviews were conducted, and there is a great deal of nuance regarding the concept of “bystanders” vs “perpetrators”.
Read MoreThe electrophone? The Gecophone?
in Audio, Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
Although I’ve been writing for donkeys’ years, I’ve never written anything for radio.
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Quick look: The many lives of Anne Frank
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The structure of this book is very interesting.
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Quick look: Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that.
Read MoreCompare and contrast: A Town Without Time reviewed
in Bookshelf, Journalism, Reviews
The book includes the obituary writer who can hardly wait for his subjects to drop dead so that he can at last see his work in print.
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