New York City | Raging Biblio-holism

Condominium

August 5, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Charles and Sarah, a present-day yuppie couple, have just bought a condo in Williamsburg, right on the water. It should be the perfect next step in their relationship and their lives… but what seems perfect quickly begins to destabilize the not-so-perfect couple. Will their new place break them? Or will they retain their individuality even in the face of a midlife crisis? The Review: Expectations are a silly thing. If we work hard, we’re taught, we can expect […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, CCLaP, Condominium, Daniel Falatko, Fiction, Literature, New York City, Reviews

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Sweetbitter

May 23, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: In June 2006, 22-year-old Tess arrives in New York City. She soon finds a job working at a prestigious restaurant in Union Square and falls under a spell: the spell of the city, the spell of the restaurant, the spell of her older colleague, the spell of a handsome bartender, and more. The Review: There’s nothing in the world like coming to New York in your early twenties. I can’t say for sure but I’d argue that no […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Fine Dining, Food, Literature, New York City, review, Reviews, Stephanie Danler, Sweetbitter, Union Square Cafe

Near Enemy (Spademan #2)

March 25, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Spademan has returned to his usual work (killer for hire) after the events of Shovel Ready – but when his next target wakes up out of the limn to say that somebody killed somebody for real on the inside, he stays his box cutter and begins to investigate. But this plot is bigger than he ever could’ve foreseen and the reality that society is clinging to, both in the real world and the limn, might be far less […]

Categories: Fiction, Noir • Tags: Adam Sternbergh, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Dystopia, Fiction, Mystery, Near Enemy, New York City, Noir, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Spademan, Terrorism, Thriller

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The Whites

March 7, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Twenty years ago, a group of cops known as the Wild Geese were an aggressive anti-crime unit. Today, only one of them – Billy Graves – is still on the force, working the literal graveyard shift. When an old perp who got away (known, colloquially, as a White) from the Geese is found dead at Penn Station during his shift, Billy is drawn into a case that he doesn’t want and that might forever change not just his […]

Categories: Crime, Fiction • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Crime, Fiction, Harry Brandt, New York City, NYPD, Reviews, Richard Price, The Tournament of Books 2016, The Whites

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Read Bottom Up

February 12, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Guy & girl meet. Tell their friends. Guy gets girl’s email, asks to meet up. Dating ensues. So does miscommunication, recommunication, sex, drinking, awkward conversations, and about six months worth of nearly every single person’s life at some point or other in the big city. The Review: The big selling point for this novel came last fall when it was revealed that Skye Chatham is in fact a nom de porn (first pet + street you grew up […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Dating, Fiction, Humor, Literature, Millennials, Neel Shah, New York City, Quirky, Read Bottom Up, Relationships, Reviews, Skye Chatham, Sloane Crosley

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Oreo

February 10, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Christine Schwartz (nicknamed Oreo) is born in Philadelphia to a Jewish father and an African-American mother. Her father left when she was only a few years old and when she comes of age, her mother sends her off to find him, beginning a hilarious journey to New York armed with her wit, charm, and some bad-ass martial arts. The Review: Fran Ross is one of those authors who, without the attentions of a savvy publisher like New Directions, […]

Categories: Fiction, Humor, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Fran Ross, Humor, Literature, Mythology, New Directions, New York City, Oreo, Philadelphia, Reviews, Satire, The Tournament of Books 2016, Theseus

M Train

December 18, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Over the course of a year and a half or so, Patti Smith reflects on the roads she has traveled to come to this point as well and also recounts some of the roads she continues to travel down. The Review: Just Kids is, I think you’ll have to agree, one of the best memoirs ever written. Patti Smith gave us a glimpse into a world that transfixes us even still – the 60s & 70s in New York, a […]

Categories: Essays, Memoir, Non-Fiction • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, BookClub, Books, Essays, M Train, Memoir, New York City, Patti Smith, Reviews, Travel, Writing

Ragtime

November 9, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: A family struggles to define itself, an immigrant struggles to make a life, a man struggles for respect, and a nation struggles overall in this kaleidoscopic view of the opening decade or so of the 20th Century, as seen by New Yorkers both famous and ordinary. The Review: I’ve seen the musical version of Ragtime several times and I can’t really call any of it to mind. Friends, many of whom have performed in it, adore the show but […]

Categories: Fiction • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, BookClub, Books, Coalhouse Walker, E. L. Doctorow, Emma Goldman, Evelyn Nesbit, Fiction, Henry Ford, Historical Fiction, History, Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Literature, New York, New York City, Ragtime, Reviews

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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

August 12, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: It’s 1939 when Joe Kavalier arrives on the Brooklyn doorstep of his cousin Sammy Klayman, freshly escaped from Prague. The two dreamers cook up an idea for a comic book character – the Escapist – whose adventures will take them through the Second World War, bringing them adventures of their own along the way. The Review: This is one of those books that I’m a little ashamed to have only just gotten around to. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, BookClub, Books, Comic Books, Fiction, Kavalier & Clay, Literature, Michael Chabon, New York City, Pulitzer Prize, Reviews, Superheroes, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Escapist, World War II

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: New York City

Condominium

Sweetbitter

Near Enemy (Spademan #2)

The Whites

Read Bottom Up

Oreo

M Train

Ragtime

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay