Thursday, October 27, 2005

Another Unfavorable Review

The International Herald Tribune doesn't have much nice to say about Stoppard's "Heroes."

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Fear and Loathing in Woody Creek

It can't have been easy being Hunter S. Thompson's wife. And it doesn't sound as if being his widow is any easier.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Boats Against the Current


Sometimes it sure seems like I'm living in a Philip K. Dick novel.

If anyone had asked me a week ago whether I had ever read "The Great Gatsby," I would have unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative. Sure, sure -- Nick, Daisy, Tom, Jay, Long Island, American Dream, the optometrist's sign, the garage owner with the gun, boats against the current borne ceaselessly into the past. I know the drill. I definitely had to read Fitzgerald's "Tender Is the Night" in high school, but I remember reading "Gatsby" on my own initiative during college, probably during a summer vacation when I was working horrible hours for the U.S. Postal Service.

So why, as I read "Gatsby" this week, did it seem familar in outline but completely new in most of its particulars? Granted, it has to have 25 years since I last picked it up, but shouldn't I have recognized more from it -- Owl-Eyes, James Gatz's befuddled father, the queasy depiction of the Jewish gangster? Why did the novel seem like a completely fresh reading experience?

Have I been fooling myself all these years and never read more of "Gatsby" than the Mad Magazine parody of the ill-fated movie starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow? What other books am I deluded about?

Stoppard Fails to Rescue Dull `Heroes' in London

The production of Stoppard's new translation fails to impress David Benedict of Bloomberg.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Sir Tom in the Doghouse

Translation is a tricky business. When Sir Tom Stoppard agreed to adapt Gérald Sibleyras's "Le Vent des peupliers" for a starry West End opening, the first problem was the title. -- From The Telegraph

That's a Perfectly Cromulent Word

This has been making the rounds, but I can't help but blog it myself: A Dictionary of Made-up Words from The Simpsons."

Also, The Royal Court Theatre has announced that it will produce "Rock 'n Roll," a new play by Tom Stoppard, to be directed by Trevor Nunn.

Friday, October 14, 2005

The Birthday Party

Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize on this 75th birthday. Tom Stoppard, among others, wished him well.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Paolini, Gaiman, Butler

My Chronicle review of "Eldest," "Anansi Boys" and "Fledgling."

Two out of three ain't bad.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

A Clean Slate

Gradually, it will grow...