The Agony Column / Rick Kleffel

The Agony Column Book Reviews and Commentary

Edited by Rick Kleffel Email the Editor
Review Archive of over 800 Titles
RSS Feed Link for News: http://trashotron.com/agony/indexes/tacrss.xml
Podcast Feed Link: http://trashotron.com/agony/indexes/tac_podcast.xml

Reviews New Somewhat In the Vicinity of Some Damn Week:

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer 'The New Weird', Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
Jessica Queller 'Pretty is What Changes', Reviewed by Rick Kleffel
Lee Child 'Nothing to Lose' Reviewed by Terry D'Auray.
John Meaney 'Bone Song' Reviewed by Terry D'Auray.
Andrew Humphrey 'Other Voices' Reviewed by Mario Guslandi.
Isamu Fukui 'Truancy' Reviewed by Rick Kleffel.
Paul Melko 'Singularity's Ring' Reviewed by Richard Gingell.
Toby Barlow 'Sharp Teeth' Reviewed by Rick Kleffel.
Iain M. Banks 'Matter' Reviewed by Richard Gingell.
Derek Nikitas 'Pyres' Reviewed by Terry D'Auray.
Charles Bock, 'Beautiful Children', Reviewed by Rick Kleffel.
Phil Rickman, 'The Remains of an Altar', Reviewed by Rick Kleffel.
Terry D'Auray Reviews 'Blue Heaven' by C. J. Box.

Rolling (and leaning) shelves. 05-01-08. 05-02-08. 05-05-08. 05-06-08. 05-07-08. 05-08-08. 05-09-08. 05-12-08. 05-13-08. 05-14-08. 05-15-08. 05-16-08.

News: 05-16-08: Kate Elliot Steps Through the 'Shadow Gate' : Upping the Ante ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Conversation with Seana Graham : Script Frenzy. First Books for NPR : Isamu Fukui. 05-15-08: Daryl Gregory Unleashes Pandemonium : Monsters of the Id ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Conversation with Bookseller Arsen Kashkashian : Boulder Book Store. 05-14-08: Justin Peacock Finds 'A Cure for Night' : Agony Column Podcast News Report : Legally Informed, A 2008 Interview With Justin Peacock. 05-13-08: Brian James Scores With 'Zombie Blondes' : Pretty, Popular & Dead ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2008 Interview With René Hicks : "I'm Just One Blade of Grass". 05-12-08: A 2008 Interview with Eleanor Coppola : "It's a struggle - but the struggle enriches both aspects". 05-09-08: Nam Le Voyages Aboard 'The Boat' : The Symmetry of Home ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Phone Interview with Marga Gomez : Comedy Vs. Tragedy. 05-08-08: Mario Guslandi Reviews 'The New Weird' ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : A Conversation With Jeremy Lassen. 05-07-08: A Review of 'Pretty Is What Changes' : Following Science, Leading Society ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : An Interview With Bookseller Steve Bercu : Book People. 05-06-08: Time for a Roundup : A Glimpse at the Present and the Future ; A 2008 Interview With Jessica Queller, Part 2 : "I took the test a second time". 05-05-08: A 2008 Interview with Jessica Queller : 'Pretty Is What Changes' (Part 1) 05-02-08: Laurie Gough Travels to 'Kiss the Sunset Pig' : Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2008 Interview With Laurie Gough at Capitola Book Café ; And Now for this Public Service Announcement : Uncharacteristic Blog Link. 05-01-08: Patrick McGrath Endures 'Trauma' : A Family Madness ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : Patricia A. McKillip Interviewed at SF in SF, April 20, 2008 : A Good Take. 04-30-08: Eleanor Coppola Takes 'Notes on a Life' : Bumpy Roads ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : David Lunde, Patricia A. McKillip and Terry Bisson at SF in SF, April 20, 2008 : "Seems like we have a theme here". 04-29-08: Chuck Palahniuk's 'Snuff' is Not Enough Update: Links to Palahniuk Interviews. 04-29-08: Millipede Press and Tom Tryon 'The Other' : The Twins at 50 ; Agony Column Podcast News Report : David Lunde Reads at SF in SF, April 20, 2008 ; Instead. 04-28-08: Pico Iyer Takes to 'The Open Road' : A 2008 Interview with Pico Iyer.

Audio Interviews: Links to all recent podcasts and interviews here.

Commentary Archives: Links to Columns, Commentary and Rants.

Fiction: Elizabeth Bear's short story Botticelli.

Alastair Reynolds offers readers of The Agony Column an exclusive excerpt from his science fiction mystery, 'Century Rain'.

Exclusive: Susanna Clarke's The Master of Nottingham's Daughter.

Do not follow this deadly link.

Audio Fiction: Four Poems by Catherynne M. Valente (all under 3 MB): Electra Redux, Freaks, De Naturis Bestiarum, and Gingerbread.

An Agony Column Exclusive Original Non-Fiction Work by Rhys Hughes: Bouffant Terrible: Margaret Thatcher.

More infamy than a single nation can handle! Enjoy the hilarious work of Rhys Hughes in 'The Worst Hero', a complete story excerpt from his magnificently funny 'A New Universal History of Infamy'

Read an excerpt from Conrad Williams' 'London Revenant', forthcoming on May 27 from Do-Not Press.

Neal Asher's 'Watchcrab'!

James Frey Reads from 'A Million Little Pieces' (NC-17, MP3 Audio)

RealAudio: Carter Scholz Reads his story 'The Nine Billion Names of God' from 'The Amount to Carry'

Reviews New This Month / Reviews New Last Month / Step into 'Spook Country' with William Gibson; bring your own agenda. Mario Guslandi digs into 'Dark Delicacies 2 : Fear' and likes what he finds. Kaui Hart Hemmings' 'The Descendants' is "Girlfriend in a Coma" funny. "It's serious, it's really serious." A review of Peter F. Hamilton's big-screen space opera, 'The Dreaming Void'. Dream a little dream for me! Richard Morgan turns in a stellar prose performance in 'Black Man' / 'Thirteen'. Jim Crace remixes reality in 'The Pesthouse'. You may never escape 'Bangkok Haunts' by John Burdett. Tony Ballantyne's 'Divergence' rushes in where Saints once dared to tread. Do you have the capacity to read Tony Ballantyne's 'Capacity'? Charlaine Harris delivers dissonant delights in 'All Together Dead'. Jeremy C. Shipp's 'Vacation' is a long, strange trip. John Marks explores the world of death in 'Fangland'. Austin Grossman's 'Soon I Will Be Invincible' is really super!