Blogcritics Author: Ted Gioia

Conceptual Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Ted Gioia — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 20:29:20 EST

A recent controversy in the blogosphere brings Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s 1959 novel 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' back into the limelight.
Conceptual Fiction is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on major works of fantasy, science fiction, magical realism and alternate history. These books are celebrated in recognition that literary experimentation with ways of conceptualizing reality has been as important as experimentation with language in creating fiction of...

The New Canon: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Ted Gioia — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:58:34 EST

Is J.K. Rowling's writing just "clich�s and dead metaphors" as Harold Bloom argues, or is there something more to Harry Potter?
The New Canon is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on great works of fiction published since 1985. These books represent the finest literature of the current era, and are gaining recognition as the new classics of our time. In this installment of The New Canon, Gioia looks at Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K....

The New Canon: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Ted Gioia — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:44:16 EST

In Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy shifts quickly from loving descriptions of flora, fauna, and rocks into accounts of bloodthirsty violence.
The New Canon is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on great works of fiction published since 1985. These books represent the finest literature of the current era, and are gaining recognition as the new classics of our time. In this installment of The New Canon, Gioia looks at Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.Cormac...

Conceptual Fiction: Dune by Frank Herbert

Ted Gioia — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:01:38 EST

Frank Herbert's Dune was rejected by countless publishers, yet became a cherished sci-fi classic. How does it stack up today?
Conceptual Fiction is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on major works of fantasy, science fiction, magical realism and alternate history. These books are celebrated in recognition that literary experimentation with ways of conceptualizing reality has been as important as experimentation with language in creating fiction of...

Book Review: The English Major by Jim Harrison

Ted Gioia — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:19:38 EST

Jim Harrison writes a new millennium version of Kerouac's On the Road for senior citizens.
From Huckleberry Finn to Holden Caulfield, American literature has thrived on heroes who take quasi-aimless journeys that turn into trips of self-discovery. Sometimes the travels are made in “fear and loathing”; at other instances, they are pursued with beatific beatnik hope for transcendence. But almost always, the wanderers are young,...

Conceptual Fiction: The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

Ted Gioia — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:56:58 EST

The young Isaac Asimov tried to chronicle hundreds of years of future galactic history in three pulp fiction novels. Should we care?
Conceptual Fiction is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on major works of fantasy, science fiction, magical realism and alternate history. These books are celebrated in recognition that literary experimentation with ways of conceptualizing reality has been as important as experimentation with language in creating fiction of...

Book Review: Death With Interruptions by José Saramago

Ted Gioia — Mon, 8 Dec 2008 04:17:16 EST

In Jos� Saramago's newest novel, people suddenly stop dying, but this unexpected gift of immortality leads to chaos.
How do we deal with José Saramago? This Nobel laureate writes books that read more like fables than novels. Often his characters are so poorly developed that the author doesn’t even assign them names, let alone inner lives. If an award were given for run-on sentences, he would win it every year. His preferred narrative voice is marked...

Conceptual Fiction: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Ted Gioia — Fri, 5 Dec 2008 16:11:56 EST

In The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick imagines a universe in which the United States lost World War II.
Conceptual Fiction is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on major works of fantasy, science fiction, magical realism and alternate history. These books are celebrated in recognition that experimentation with ways of conceptualizing reality has been as important as experimentation with language in creating fiction of lasting...

Book Review: A Mercy by Toni Morrison

Ted Gioia — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 18:14:19 EST

Charts the troubled relations of African, European and Native American members of a 17th-century New World household.
Toni Morrison’s new book A Mercy is not much longer than a novella. But don’t jump to the conclusion that this work, clocking in at around 40,000 words, is a minor effort in the oeuvre of this much lauded author. A Mercy stands out as one of Morrison’s finest moments, a masterfully crafted fiction that covers considerable ground...

The New Canon: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Ted Gioia — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:17:38 EST

In The Secret History, Donna Tartt charts the path by which a clique of college students become cold-blooded killers.
The New Canon is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on great works of fiction published since 1985. These books represent the finest literature of the current era, and are gaining recognition as the new classics of our time. In this installment of The New Canon, Gioia looks at The Secret History by Donna Tartt.In Alfred...