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Search Results for 'picaresque'

The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson

Posted in Adventure, Andrew's Picks, Books, Characters, Dark humor, Fast-paced, Historical fiction, Humor, Plot, Quick read, Quirky characters, Readers' advisory, Satire on July 3, 2014| 4 Comments »

With a life like Allan Karlsson’s, who wouldn’t want to live to be 100 years old? Befriended by Francisco Franco and Robert Oppenheimer, creator of both the American and Soviet atomic bombs, drinking buddies with Harry S. Truman, consultant to Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, and rescuer of Mao Tse-Tung’s wife, smuggled in a Russian submarine, imprisoned in […]

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Calling Mr. King, by Ronald DeFeo

Posted in Andrew's Picks, Books, Characters, Crime fiction, Dark humor, Fast-paced, Quirky characters, Readers' advisory on September 7, 2011| 4 Comments »

Being a killer-for-hire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You’ve got your airport security to get through, the mooks you occasionally use for backup can be unreliable, sometimes the targets are inconvenient, and the wrong numbers–always with the wrong numbers!– can drive you around the bend. It’s too bad that  Mr. King is finally […]

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Foolscap, by Michael Malone

Posted in Academic fiction, Arts, Barry's Picks, Books, Characters, Literary fiction, Readers' advisory on August 24, 2011| 2 Comments »

Character is at the center of all of Michael Malone’s books, and his academic novel Foolscap is no exception. Theo Ryan, son of semi-famous singers, teaches English (what is it about English departments that attract the attention of fiction writers?) at a small college in North Carolina. Here, a fascinating cast of characters surrounds him, […]

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Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea

Posted in Andrew's Picks, Books, Characters, Coming of Age, Dark humor, Gab Bags, Language Focus, Plot, Readers' advisory, Satire, Setting on August 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

With all the talk about illegal immigration in the United States (especially in the context of Arizona’s controversial SB1070 law),  Urrea offers a balanced and sympathetic description of Mexican emigration that supporters and opponents would do well to read.  But this isn’t a scholarly assessment or weekend supplement puff piece—it is fiction based on Urrea’s […]

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Handling Sin, by Michael Malone

Posted in Barry's Picks, Books, Characters, Clever dialogue, Gab Bags, Humor, Language Focus, Literary fiction, Readers' advisory on April 20, 2007| 5 Comments »

Michael Malone’s Handling Sin takes you from laughing aloud to thoughtful reflection, often in the span of a couple of pages. Raleigh Hayes’ life is a success as most view it. He has a happy marriage, two loving daughters, a successful insurance business, and none of the eccentricities and waywardness of his other family members. […]

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