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Illustration of a bird flying.
  • A fitting sendoff

    If you missed this book when it was published in 2016, or over the years since, you may join Bob Moyer as he savors Richard Russo’s last, skillful look at his memorable literary creation, Donald “Sully” Sullivan of North Bath. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer EVERYBOODY’S FOOL. By Richard Russo. Alfred A. Knopf. 451 pages.$29.…

    September 25, 2023
  • A friendship forged in fire

    Paul O’Connor, intrepid journalist and discerning reader, reviews a new book about the long-lasting friendship between two very different American heroes. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE WINGMEN: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams. By Adam Lazarus. The Citadel Press. 232 pages. $29, hardcover. There’s no explaining friendships. Often, people…

    September 16, 2023
  • Spies, love affairs, Nazis and history, told with a flair

    Paul O’Connor reviews a work of history that has Nazis, espionage, steamy love affairs and writing that rivals today’s best spy novels. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor SISTERS IN RESISTANCE: How a German Spy, a Banker’s Wife and Mussolini’s Daughter Outwitted the Nazis. By Tilar Mazzeo. Grand Central Publishing. 254 pages. $30, hardcover. If you…

    September 9, 2023
  • This rich history falls short as fiction

    Bob Moyer thinks that Jerome Charyn takes on more history and weaves more tangled webs than he can handle in his latest novel. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer RAVAGE & SON. By Jerome Charyn. Bellevue Literary Press. 288 pages. $17.99. The lower east side of New York City has a heap of Jewish history, and…

    September 8, 2023
  • Traveling the dangerous territory of family history

    Paul O’Connor, a veteran newspaper journalist, finds the account  Burkhard Bilger tells of his Nazi grandfather of great interest – and also finds much to like in Bilger’s dogged search for the truth. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor FATHERLAND: A Memoir of War, Conscience and Family Secrets. By Burkhard Bilger. Random House. 279 pages. $28.99,…

    August 31, 2023
  • “Plotless” – but telling – memories

    Bob Moyer reviews a book that, both author and reviewer make clear, is not an autobiography. And yet… Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer STILL PICTURES: On Photography and Memory. By Janet Malcom. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 155 pages. $26. Janet Malcolm wrote many New Yorker articles as well as many books about interesting subjects—Gertrude Stein, Chekov,…

    August 30, 2023
  • When the well runs dry…

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WESTERN ALLIANCES. By Wilton Barnhardt. St. Martin’s Press. 400 pages. $29, hardcover. Wilton Barnhardt must have had a blast writing this latest novel. What fun, imagining (and researching?!) the travels of Roberto Costa, a spoiled, rich (inherited), overgrown kid-adult who’s never held a job and much prefers Europe to his…

    August 25, 2023
  • A taste of Hell, with a side of wry humor

    Do you like crime/action/mystery novels but want something a little different? Let Bob Moyer tell you about the second book in a growing series about a Felonious Monk. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BLOODY MARTINI. By William Kotzwinkle. Blackstone Publishing. 315 pages. $26.99. Tommy Martini grew up in Coalville, Pennsylvania, where he starred on his…

    August 17, 2023
  • Good guys few and far between

    Bob Moyer takes a look at a novel with Reed Parrel Coleman’s latest hero – or is it antihero? Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SLEEPLESS CITY. By Reed Farrel Coleman. Blackstone Publishing. 321 pages. $26.99. No one wears a white hat in the Sleepless City known as New York. Not even Nick Ryan, the latest…

    August 5, 2023
  • Like fine wine, a good novel grows better with age

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson. RUIN CREEK. By David Payne. Cedar Lane Books, an imprint of Ingram. 367 pages. $18, paperback. If you’re looking for a beautifully written, moving, wise novel to read while you’re lounging on the beach under a shady tent or umbrella, you couldn’t do better than Ruin Creek, the second of…

    July 22, 2023
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