Mark Schiffer

Read like a collection of his stand-up, and that's just fine. Reminiscent of the Dave Barry books I read when I was younger, and sometimes that's what I want.

Gymnastics families protect(and don't protect) their own.
Gillian Flynn-inflected suburban thriller, tore through it.

Life, death, queerness.
Unbearably true.

I've gotta say, even for King stylistically this one is a standout. Its epistolary structure makes it compulsively readable. I read Carrie in a feverish state one Sunday a coupla years ago and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes horror at ALL, regardless of your thoughts on King's work in general.

Solid reread. Though the mystery from the past isn't all that memorable to me, the modern-day events land powerfully and disturbingly. Also, one of my favorite settings from King. Florida Keys!

My favorite kind of writing: Pop-culture inflected memoir. Sublime, elegiac, hilarious, and beautiful. Time to read everything else by Lethem.

Cryptic, bizarre, and ridiculously compelling, The Gunslinger may be one of the most fascinating pieces of modern “genre fiction” I have yet read.

This was a re-read. Upon recommending a friend give Burroughs's Dry a read I decided to give myself a mini-retrospective of his work. Running with Scissors is kind of a classic in the comic trauma memoir genre at this point, it would seem. It's still a great read, full of voice and vivid descriptions of settings and interior life. Forgot how brutal some of the content was.

The most vital exploration of trauma and it's impact on one's life I've read. I've owned three separate copies of this book.
Due to its sometimes quite nauseating content it's not for everyone but those who it is for, it REALLY is for.

I've been tearing through as much King as I possibly can this year. I was impressed by this one's focus and visceral power.

Oddly poetic, huge in scope vampire story. Highly recommended.

A supreme joy. I can dip into this book anytime, and gain something from what I read (even if I can't entirely grasp it).
“The Tale of Happiton” is one of the best pieces regarding nuclear disarmament I have read.

A total banger, front to back. Though the actual Exorcism sequences have become overly familiar over time, the real standout with this book lies in the in-between moments. Blatty excelled at the moments of grief, terror, and comfort occurring in the MacNeil household. Kinderman's movie passes, the Black Mass conversation at the dinner party, everything with Burke, Willie and Karl's trips to the movies, the first conversation between Chris and Karras - it all rings true.

This book was both devastatingly incredible. I read it in no more than 2 sittings. As far as I'm concerned Lorrie Moore is a master of the short story based purely on this book and I can't wait to read the rest of her work.

An old favorite, reread for the first time in like 15 years. This book taught me so many hard truths about the world when I was like 14.