Missive #384 Published 9 November 2024
An elegiac essay on memory and the power of storytelling by a master of the art. Well-known as a Pulitzer-winning novelist (Duane’s Depressed, 1998, etc.), McMurtry turns less often to nonfiction. It’s usually a delight when he does. In this book-length meditation on the past—his own, that of his ancestors, and that of the corner of west Texas whence they hail—
Missive #383 Published 8 November 2024
60. The Burglar in the Well
Nasruddin awoke to the sound of a burglar outside. He crept into the yard but saw nobody, and then he looked in the well. Sure enough, he saw a man’s face in the water.Missive #382 Published 7 November 2024
The author’s son wrote an introduction to the book’s edition that I read explaining his father’s motivation for writing One Man’s West. The son says his father was “doing more than creating a personal memoir. He is describing a period of time and a way of life that he felt was disappearing rapidly yet was worth attempting to preserve.”
Missive #381 Published 4 November 2024
India, 1803. Sergeant Richard Sharpe witnesses a murderous act of treachery by an English officer who has defected from the East India Company to join the mercenary army of the Mahratta Confederation. In the hunt for the renegade Englishman, penetrates deep into the enemy's territory where he faces temptations more subtle than he has ever dreamed of.
A another historical fiction novel by a master of the genre. This is only the second book in the series so I have a lot more to read.
Missive #380 Published 3 November 2024
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 33Missive #379 Published 2 November 2024
Hector Lynch and his companions are in the Caribbean, diving to plunder a wreck on the notorious Vipers reef, when they are spotted by a passing Spanish ship. To prevent news of their activities getting out, they cripple the Spanish vessel by burning her sails — an act of piracy — and then head for their base in Tortuga. There Hector's wife Maria awaits, for she and Hector are planning a better life for themselves — this time on the right side of the law.
This is another entertaining book in the series with one more remaining. My only criticism is the author has worn the play rather thin with how many times Hector gets locks up and manages to escape.
Missive #378 Published 1 November 2024
59. Who Will Feed the Donkey?
Nasruddin and his wife were arguing about whose turn it was to feed the donkey. Finally they agreed: whoever spoke the next word would have to go feed the donkey.Missive #377 Published 31 October 2024
After twelve gloriously scandalous Flashman novels, the incomparable George MacDonald Fraser gives us a totally hilarious tale of derring-do from a different era.
This is an entertaining book but not 'totally hilarious' as touted by the book promo. I liked the Flashman humor better.
Missive #376 Published 29 October 2024
I didn't like this book very much. It is autobiographical but only up to just before the Civil War in Spain and WWII. He made a passing reference to his friendship dissolution with Hemingway but did not indicate that it was due to a dispute over the Civil War. The Best Times were the years when he was a Socialist and his books were held in high esteem. After leaving Spain he moved to the right and his writing was no longer looked upon favorably by his old friends or by publishers. This was the last book published before his death four years later; perhaps he planned on a second memoir book that covered the rest of his life?
Missive #375 Published 27 October 2024
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Brutus XIII
by Robert Yates
(Continued from last paper.)