Falconer by John Cheever

 

I swear I read this when it was published with great fanfare in 1977 and I was sixteen years old. Hipster. Scenester. Had I a clue about what it was? Doubt it. I remember admiring it. Or perhaps admiring myself for finishing it.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

 

Great as usual.

How Music Works by David Bryne

 

Fascinating breakdown of music by a fascinating musician.

A Swim In a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

 

The Journals of John Cheever

 

The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever

 

A marvelous sequel to The Wapshot Scandal, Dave Eggers bizarre foreword notwithstanding. (Eggers gives his mailing address for some reason.)

The distant mountains had been formed by fire and water but the houses in the valley looked so insubstantial that they seemed, in the dusk, to smell of shirt cardboards. (p. 34)

"Listen, chicken," Murphy said, "Where I grew up you either helped yourself or you ate dirt.” “But this doesn't happen to be where you grew up,” said Coverly. It was the wrong tack." (p.34)

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart