April 05, 2016

A whiskey fueled conversation between James and Alex about Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton. A: So, James, we read Rumble Fish. What did you think about the protagonist?J: I hated him. He’s dull. He’s not willing to learn. He makes mistakes but he’s...

March 01, 2016

A booze-soaked Aussie horror yarn of misadventure and self-destruction. Wake In Fright tells the story of John Grant; bound by financial handcuffs to the State Education Department, he serves as the schoolmaster in the blink-and-you-miss-it outback town of Tiboonda. Grant’s loathing of his surroundings...

February 02, 2016

Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana adds to the masterly storyteller’s vivid depictions of nomadic and faithless urbanites. This time, we are introduced to Wormold, a dreamy vacuum cleaner salesman in search of secrecy as MI6’s man in Havana. This is a humorous satire...

December 01, 2015

This book is not just about gods. This is also a story about what we choose to do with our gods. Gaiman once again crafts a beautiful tale rich in menace and wonder. From brawling leprechauns to Egyptian undertakers you can feel the weight...

November 01, 2015

First a confession or two: I wasn’t at the Book Club when we discussed Raymond Chandler’s first Philip Marlowe novel. I hadn’t joined the club yet. I read the book years before when I set myself a challenge to read the English versions of...

October 01, 2015

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is genius and wonderfully entertaining. Ken Kesey crafts an extraordinarily compassionate story about the healing, unifying and empowering strength and potential of man and brotherhood. McMurphy, the ultimate lovable larrikin and quick-witted gambler, is transferred from a prison...

August 31, 2015

I read this book some time ago And was glad to read again The first person views Of gruesome tales From a tough guy Who needs a friend. The Journey these brothers take Is violence filled and cruel With alcohol and jealousy Our friend’s...

August 04, 2015

Juan Gabriel Vásquez’ ‘The Sound of Things Falling’ is a masterful work that not only draws the reader through a gripping story of love, loss, drugs and crime spanning two generations living through Colombia’s tragic modern history, but also delivers a powerful commentary on...

June 30, 2015

Hemingway was already a noted author but not yet the widely known, larger than life figure he went on to be. Fiesta took him to the next level of acclaim. I wasn’t part of TGBC when this was read. I read it while the...

June 03, 2015

I am Pilgrim pieces together a complex series of interwoven crimes and sinister plots, set to the modern theme of extremist Islamic terrorism. Pilgrim is the man charged with tracking down the Saracen, thought to be untraceable and working alone, before he releases a...

May 06, 2015

Poor Rabbit, his life was meant to be so good. Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrum was young, popular and the high school basketball star. But now, only a few years later, nothing has worked out the way he was so sure it would. With a young...

March 31, 2015

Our humble narrator in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is Alex, Alex is 15, living with his not so strict, caring and hard working parents, he goes to school and has a passion for Beethoven’s 9th. Evenings he enjoys drinking Milk Plus, ‘milk with daggers in...

March 04, 2015

It is quite apt that in the month of promising to undertake this review, Graham Greene himself a member of the secret intelligence service whom worked under the infamous Kim Philby is also noted for aspiring John Le Carre, possibly even as his progeny,...

February 04, 2015

Henry Chinaski is a tough guy. He’s the invention of Charles Bukowski, a poet and writer who used to work with the post office. And this is where Chinaski works too. We follow him on what amounts to a story that’s pretty disjointed and...