Quite a Bit of Hope, Actually
Gentle reader, imagine my surprise this morning when--bleary, semi-coherent, not-yet-at-all-properly-caffeinated--I scrolled through the Arts section of the New York Times, only to see
Looking all pensive and suave, I might add. Imagine the coffee sputter! Imagine my thrill!
Timothy Schaffert, my friend and colleague here at UNL in the creative writing program, has just been tapped by the gods--or, more specifically, Janet Maslin--for his new novel, The Coffins of Little Hope.
Her review is glowing. For the book's wry warmth, she calls him an American Alexander McCall Smith, whose wild success and popularity (I'm a fan of the Isabel Dalhousie mysteries set in Edinburgh, myself) can bode only good things for a writer who, as she notes, has not gotten nearly the attention his fine work deserves:
One thing Maslin does not say--so I'll say it here--is that Timothy writes wonderful sentences. His prose style is a lilting delight. The typical reader may read primarily for story and for character, and his work has all those, too, but Timothy's a writer's writer as well.
And his partner Rodney, who snapped the photo, makes marvelous limoncello from an old family recipe. Which may not be at all relevant here.
But still. It bears saying.
And I didn't know I liked dirty martinis until I met Timothy, so there's that as well. (Hmm. Where doth my mind stray? Could it be time to leave the office?)
So, from the bar, congratulations, Timothy!
Enfin, here's a batch of the latest from Charles, whose DESIRE PROJECTS expedition ends tomorrow:
my friend Timothy!
Looking all pensive and suave, I might add. Imagine the coffee sputter! Imagine my thrill!
Timothy Schaffert, my friend and colleague here at UNL in the creative writing program, has just been tapped by the gods--or, more specifically, Janet Maslin--for his new novel, The Coffins of Little Hope.
Her review is glowing. For the book's wry warmth, she calls him an American Alexander McCall Smith, whose wild success and popularity (I'm a fan of the Isabel Dalhousie mysteries set in Edinburgh, myself) can bode only good things for a writer who, as she notes, has not gotten nearly the attention his fine work deserves:
Indeed. But perhaps, with this attention and more that's sure to come (Publishers Weekly called Coffins "sublime"), life's about to get fairer.As of Wednesday morning, it cost a total of 3 cents to buy used copies of all three of Timothy Schaffert’s previous novels from Amazon.com: “The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters” (2002), “The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God” (2005) and “Devils in the Sugar Shop” (2007). Yet each of these books is a quirky little gem, particularly the first one. Life is not fair.
One thing Maslin does not say--so I'll say it here--is that Timothy writes wonderful sentences. His prose style is a lilting delight. The typical reader may read primarily for story and for character, and his work has all those, too, but Timothy's a writer's writer as well.
And his partner Rodney, who snapped the photo, makes marvelous limoncello from an old family recipe. Which may not be at all relevant here.
But still. It bears saying.
And I didn't know I liked dirty martinis until I met Timothy, so there's that as well. (Hmm. Where doth my mind stray? Could it be time to leave the office?)
So, from the bar, congratulations, Timothy!
Enfin, here's a batch of the latest from Charles, whose DESIRE PROJECTS expedition ends tomorrow:
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