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Ralph Part Two
Last time, I stopped in the midst of discussing Frederick Busch’s short story Ralph the Duck , writing in particular about how Busch...

Alan Bray
4 days ago4 min read


Frederick Busch Short Stories
This week, I want to look at three short stories by Frederick Busch: Ralph the Duck, Are We Pleasing You Tonight, and Domicile . Busch, a...

Alan Bray
Jun 275 min read


That Was How I Gave Up Micol
As I wrote last time, we’ve been looking at largely content and meaning issues in The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,  and last time, we...

Alan Bray
Jun 204 min read


Building A Story
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been looking at The Garden of the Finzi-Continis  through the lens of content and meaning, pondering...

Alan Bray
Jun 133 min read


Stendahl Syndrome
There are several interesting literary references in The Garden of the Finzi-Continis  that enrich the story. Certainly, it begins with a...

Alan Bray
Jun 63 min read


Forever Young
‘Kay, this is supposed to be part two of a discussion on whether The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is primarily a love story or a story...

Alan Bray
May 305 min read


Love Story
Last time, I suggested that The Garden of the Finzi-Continis  was more a story of unrequited love than one about the Holocaust....

Alan Bray
May 235 min read


The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
Today, dear friends, a new story, Giorgio Bassani’s 1962 novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis . The book won the Viareggio prize in...

Alan Bray
May 163 min read


Moth
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been considering some different aspects of Susan Minot’s fine novel, Evening . Today, I’d like to call...

Alan Bray
May 23 min read


What's It All About?
A major distinction in literary works is whether a story’s plot is linear or circular. A linear plot expresses cause and effect—A leads...

Alan Bray
Apr 255 min read


Imperfect
Good day! Let’s get started. (chairs scraping on a dry floor, murmurs from the audience, coughing) Mr. Speaker! Your exaltedness! Call...

Alan Bray
Apr 184 min read


Time Travel
Evening uses several styles of narration to show different experiences of time. The chapter entitled A Pale Bay begins: She kept the...

Alan Bray
Apr 114 min read


Evening
This week, dear friends, we begin an exploration of a new book, Susan Minot’s 1998 novel, Evening . If one reads back of the book blurbs...

Alan Bray
Apr 45 min read


Masks
As we read and re-read Frederick Busch’s The Night Inspector , we may ask ourselves, what is the book’s major theme, my bro? (This is...

Alan Bray
Mar 284 min read


Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?
This week, ladies and gentlemen, a new one…drumroll…Lorrie Moore’s 1994 novel, Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? What? ‘Kay, I’m not sure...

Alan Bray
Dec 7, 20235 min read


Dog - My Lord You
We have to talk about the dog. A central part of James Salter’s My Lord You concerns a large dog who appears in many scenes, shadowing...

Alan Bray
Nov 30, 20235 min read


Time For Rascals - My Lord You
One of the characteristics of James Salter’s writing style is the way time makes big leaps, a feature that is especially evident in his...

Alan Bray
Nov 23, 20234 min read


My Lord You
Today, a new one, James Salter’s 1994 short story My Lord You. The story was originally published in the September, 1994 issue of Esquire...

Alan Bray
Nov 16, 20235 min read


You Looking At Me?
Last time, we looked at the (long) opening scene of William Trevor’s A Bit On the Side. Let’s continue. Onward! A key element to the...

Alan Bray
Nov 9, 20234 min read


A Bit On The Side
This week, the adventure continues with William Trevor’s 2004 short story A Bit On the Side, published as part of the story collection of...

Alan Bray
Nov 2, 20236 min read