Vintage Classics (Random House) are launching a new Children's Classics range in August that excites me very much. It includes some novels that had a huge effect on me in childhood, such as The Silver Sword by Ian Serralier (of which I accidentally stole a copy from school), Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and The Secret … Continue reading Vintage Children’s Classics launching in August
Vintage
Guest review: Alice Grundy on Mr Peanut by Adam Ross
Vintage, 9780099535379 (Aus, UK, US) Reviewed by Alice Grundy The cover of Adam Ross’ first novel, Mr Peanut, is swathed in praise from no lesser lights than Stephen King and Michiko Kakutani. The title page features a reproduction of Escher’s ‘Mobius’ flagging the role of the double in the plot. All the signs point towards … Continue reading Guest review: Alice Grundy on Mr Peanut by Adam Ross
Cult carny lit: Katherine Dunn's Geek Love
Vintage, 1989 9780375713347 (2002 edn) (Also Aus, US, UK) Miss Olympia is an emotional, hunchbacked albino dwarf, and the complex narrator of this wonderful novel. In the present, Oly secretly watches over the remaining members of her carnival-of-freaks family: her daughter, Miranda, and her mother, Crystal Lil. Why her observance and care is secretive is revealed through … Continue reading Cult carny lit: Katherine Dunn's Geek Love
Collected Stories – Richard Yates
Vintage 9780099518549 (Aus, US) When a man is fired from his job in the story ‘A Glutton for Punishment’, he realises he has enjoyed the failures in his life. The character in this – like many of the other characters in Richard Yates’ Collected Stories – runs over a conversation in his head, with his … Continue reading Collected Stories – Richard Yates
