January 16, 2009 “This One is Mine” by Maria Semple Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to the Seattle Times Maria Semple has lived in Los Angeles and written for television shows, including “Arrested Development,” “Mad About You” and “Ellen.” According to publicity materials, she recently “escaped” L.A. and now lives with Read more…
August 15, 2008 “Pharmakon” by Dirk Wittenborn Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to the Seattle Times Dirk Wittenborn is the literary equivalent of the Velvet Underground, the 1960s band that didn’t sell many records but was famous in certain circles because almost every kid who bought a Velvet Underground record started Read more…
July 8, 2008 “The Legal Limit” by Martin Clark Reviewed by Mark Lindquist First published in The Oregonian Martin Clark, a judge in Virginia, draws characters as well as Scott Turow and crafts plots as well as John Grisham. “The Legal Limit,” his third novel, is a model for how to write Read more…
May 30, 2008 “My Liar” by Rachel Cline Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times Hollywood novels have a natural allure. Rachel Cline, a screenwriter and author of a previous novel, “What to Keep,” uses the Tinseltown setting to good advantage in her new work, “My Liar.” An unassertive Read more…
Monday, September 27, 1993 “Fan Mail” by Ronald Munson; Dutton $21, 309 pages Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Los Angeles Times Joan Carpenter is an anchorwoman. Her stated ambition is to be rich and famous. The Watcher is a fan. “Fan Mail” is a creepy book about their symbiotic connection. When Read more…
January 7, 1996 “One Night Out Stealing” by Alan Duff Reviewed by Mark Lindquist New York Times Book Review In ”Pulp Fiction” and ”Get Shorty,” John Travolta defines the current pop culture image for hoods: hip, clever if not bright, and effortlessly charming. The hoods — or ”crims” — in Read more…
Arts & Entertainment: Sunday, December 6, 1998 “Model Behavior” by Jay McInerney Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times In the late ’70s and early ’80s we called it “punk” when an artist said never mind the critics or, for that matter, the general public. “Bright Lights, Big Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts, Sunday, February 28, 1999 “South of the Border, West of the Sun” by Haruki Murakami Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special To The Seattle Times This is a Japanese novel that feels as American as the movie “Casablanca,” which it brings to mind in both tone and plot. Read more…
Entertainment News: Thursday, May 20, 1999 “Music for Torching” by A.M. Homes Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times A.M. Homes’ fifth book is daring, original, smart and artful, yet does not quite work as a novel. Paul and Elaine, the lead couple, were first featured in Homes’ short Read more…
July 4, 1999 Wormwood” by David Levien Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times This first novel was apparently written in the early to mid-nineties, but not published. Levien went on to co-write the screenplay for “Rounders,” a Miramax Pictures release starring Matt Damon, which was a hit. Now Read more…
Sunday, January 2, 2000 “Lo’s Diary” by Pia Pera Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times The legal issues raised by the retelling of Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” from the pubescent child’s point of view are, unfortunately, more interesting than this first novel by Italian journalist and short-story writer Read more…
Entertainment News: Sunday, January 16, 2002 Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times Douglas Coupland’s first novel, “Generation X: Tales of an Accelerated Culture,” was published in 1991. “Miss Wyoming” is his eighth book in nine years. Coupland also works as a designer and Read more…
Arts & Entertainment: Sunday, March 05, 2000 “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times We’ve all had a friend who was bright, neurotic, unsatisfied, overanalyzed everything and just wouldn’t shut up. We hung out with that person because the Read more…
Arts & Entertainment: Sunday, June 25, 2000 “War Boy” by Kief Hillsbery Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times This energetic and ambitious first novel is narrated by Radboy, a 14-year-old deaf skateboard punk. “Storytellers lie,” he warns us right away, then proceeds to tell as much truth Read more…
Arts & Entertainment: Sunday, June 3, 2001 Norweigan Wood and Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times “Norwegian Wood,” Haruki Murakami’s second novel, just published in America in paperback, sold more than 4 million copies in Japan when it was published in 1987. Read more…
Arts & Entertainment: Sunday, June 10, 2001 “Glue” by Irvine Welsh Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times Irvine Welsh is best known to the mainstream as the man who wrote the novel that the movie “Trainspotting” was based on. In the “rave” culture, he is revered as Read more…
July 28, 2001 “How to Be Good,” by Nick Hornby Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to the Hartford Courant Fans of Nick Hornby’s first novel, the decidedly hip and male “High Fidelity,” initially may be perplexed as to why Hornby is now writing about humdrum grown-ups from a female point Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts; Sunday, April 28, 2002 “My Life in Heavy Metal” by Steve Almond Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times This is the coolest and freshest collection of short stories I’ve read since the 1980s. While his contemporaries turn to novels and screenplays, Steve Almond Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts, Sunday, October 6, 2002 “Lullaby” by Chuck Palahniuk Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times Ranting against consumerism and all the noise of the material world may seem passe, but what doesn’t these days? Chuck Palahniuk’s novels are here to say that alienation and despair Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts, October 17, 2002 “Porno” by Irvine Welsh Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times Irvine Welsh’s first novel, “Trainspotting,” was an international best seller and a cult-classic movie. His witty twisted take on the youth culture of Edinburgh was daring and original. Sales have Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts: Sunday, February 16, 2003 “11 Karens” by Peter Lefcourt Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times While the memoir emerges as the favored form of our time, Peter Lefcourt has chosen to tell his life story the old-fashioned way. He calls it a novel. Read more…
Entertainment & the Arts: Sunday, March 28, 2004 “Little Children” by Tom Perotta Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times Tom Perrotta has carved out an impressive career writing about adolescents in “Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies,” “The Wishbones,” “Election” and “Joe College.” Though not all of Read more…
August 18, 2006 “Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs” by Irvine Welsh Reviewed by Mark Lindquist Special to The Seattle Times Drunks have long been a comedy staple, and Irvine Welsh, the Scottish author of “Trainspotting,” spices up their drunkenness with drugs for an extra comic kick. With his eighth Read more…
April 27, 2007 “Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey” by Chuck Palahniuk Reviewed by Mark LindquistSpecial to The Seattle Times Journalists often lift technique from novelists, and sometimes novelists return the compliment by imitating the documentary style of nonfiction. In “Rant,” Chuck Palahniuk adopts the oral biography format used Read more…