Seven stories and a novella. I was bowled over by her writing, her grasp of character and her ability to convey depth precisely and simply. I have been reading a lot of short stories and it seems to me that she is as good if not better than Cheever, and I have bought many copies of this book to distribute amongst friends, which is a rare thing and always a sign I really like a book. Get it.

I supposed Mitchell might be challenged a bit by Amis who seems to be getting better and better. This is a very good novel indeed about the early days of Keith Nearing (his thinly disguised attack on himself ) in the 70’s in a castle in Italy on a summer vacation. He flashes forward to modern times and this is a very effective device, showing us how people change.

An extraordinarily fine book. A great novel. Picked up on a brief visit to UK. He is our Chabon. The best contemporary writer in action today. I can’t believe he didn’t even make the short list for the Booker. Clearly the best novel in English since his last. It’s a must read. As are all his books.

Am I missing something? This seems to be a very tedious and dull play. In fact who put the anus in Coriolanus?

The er.. epic (or epicene) tale of Dreamworks. Jeffery Katzenburg recruits two smart friends to help him fight the bully Eisner. Along the way we see Jeffery’s fondness for other people’s ideas, but also how his grimly determined work effort finally paid off, and how, despite more flops than a Chicago hooker, he finally makes his millions and manages to take all the credit for Shrek, and most of the money from his co-workers. She is not the best writer in the world but it is competently written and readable if you like tales from Hollywood. And Jeffery is Jeffery.