Philadelphia | Raging Biblio-holism

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

2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas

January 2, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: It’s Christmas Eve Eve in Philadelphia and three Philadelphians in particular are about to have the 24 hours of their lives. Madeleine Altimari, a brassy nine year old with a dead mother and distant father, just wants to sing; Sarina Greene (Madeleine’s teacher) is just back in Philly after her divorce; and Jack Lorca has just been told that he needs to pay 30k in finds to keep his club open. And at 2 A.M., all three […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fantastical Realism, Fiction, Jazz, Literature, Magical Realism, Marie-Helene Bertino, Philadelphia, Reviews

The Signature of All Things

March 29, 2014 by Drew

The Short Version: Alma Whittaker is born in the early moments of the 19th Century to an immensely wealthy Philadelphia land-owner. Her love of science – and her desire to be loved – will chart a course through the 1800s and towards the great scientific revelations that are to come. The Review: I’ve read nothing of Elizabeth Gilbert before. Oh, don’t worry, I’m aware of Eat, Pray, Love – when I was at the Strand Warehouse Sale a few weeks back, […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Elizabeth Gilbert, Fiction, Historical Fiction, History, Literature, Philadelphia, Tahiti, The Signature of All Things, The Tournament of Books 2014, ToB X

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

June 29, 2013 by Drew

The Short Version: Dr. Spencer Black was a youthful prodigy – gifted at science and medicine – in the late 1800s in Philadelphia. But as his studies furthered, he began to develop unorthodox ideas about mutation and beasts of classical antiquity: namely, that they were in fact real and present-day mutations are an attempt to revert back to those now-extinct forms. His work was discredited and Dr. Black disappeared with little trace in 1908. The Review: Quirk Books, a small-ish […]

Categories: Fiction • Tags: Anatomy, Art, Dr. Spencer Black, E. B. Hudspeth, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature, Philadelphia, Quirk Books, Science, The Codex Extinct Animalia, The Resurrectionist, The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: Philadelphia

Oreo

2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas

The Signature of All Things

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black