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Carla Schwartz's avatar

I just finished Marie Benedict's novel, Queens of Crime. I thought it was clever and the audiobook was great. Also enjoyed "The Antidote: Prairie Witch" which has a lot of history (trail of tears, dustbowl, black sunday, depression) in it, and now all the other titles escape me for the moment...I listen to a lot of books.. both fiction and nonfiction...one title (nonfiction) that stands out is "Economic Hitmen." Also "Fear" by Woodward.

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Peter Mladinic's avatar

I liked 2666, Mark, though it was disturbing, unsetting. It kept me turning the page right til the end. Another similar but different book is Denis Johnson’s Jesus’s Son, a book of dark stories.

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Mark Danowsky's avatar

Good comparison.

Also, well said. "Disturbing, unsettling." Dark stuff.

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Peter Mladinic's avatar

Johnson, to my knowledge, gave up poetry (and I like much of his poetry) for prose. To me, his prose is uneven, but when he’s good (both in fiction and nonfiction) he’s very good. The stories in his last book, as a whole, are not as good as Jesus’s Son, but there’s one in particular very funny story about a teacher who has a classroom meltdown, Johnson at his best!

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Mark Danowsky's avatar

Oh yeah, Johnson can be very funny. I love those stories. I also really love his novellas 'Angels' and 'Train Dreams'

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Mark Danowsky's avatar

It's true he did make the switch from poetry to prose. He's a prime example of this. It used to really bother me. There was this sense that poetry just wasn't good enough. But now I see why it happens. Not so easily explained. At times, it can be difficult to fully express yourself in one medium.

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Peter Mladinic's avatar

Well said. I myself, while I read my share of fiction, never feel inclined to write it. I had a teacher who used to say, Don’t get “caught” writing poetry, I tell myself, Don’t get caught writing prose, because I have caught myself doing that, and that’s all the more reason to read the poems aloud.

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Mark Danowsky's avatar

Fine lines to walk

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