We’re going on a trip for two weeks and I’m not the greatest traveler. The only reason I can think of for going away (other than to Montana to see my horse) is that traveling allows you to read for hours during the day. (I know, I know. I have no sense of adventure unless…
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LIVE: Anne Lamott and Elizabeth Gilbert
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 13 Comments
Last Friday night Anne Lamott and Elizabeth Gilbert spoke at Royce Hall at UCLA. I had ordered tickets five months ago as soon as I read about the event, and got seats in the front row. (Unlike the Mary Oliver poetry reading where I waited until the last minute and had seats in the last…
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Read This Book
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 2 Comments
Amy Bloom’s novel Away is amazing. I won’t attempt to tell you about the plot but trust me, it’s a luminous novel full of story, adventure, heart, intelligence and depth. When I finished reading it last night, I went back over the last chapter, marveling at the way Bloom pulled all the strands of her…
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A Sad Day for L.A.
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 2 Comments
Dutton’s Bookstore is closing in April. This is the bookstore that supports local writers, knows books and loves books. If you’re a writer and had a new book coming out this is where you invited all your friends to a party and signing. It was a literary home to many, many of us, writers as…
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Update on Bedside Table Books
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 4 Comments
Sometimes Anita Shreve is terrific – The Pilot’s Wife, Eden Close – and sometimes she’s not as terrific – December Wedding, The Last Time They Met. And all her books are lacking a sense of humor. And yet – I just started Body Surfing, her latest book out in paperback last night (thinking as I…
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For Keeps
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 4 Comments
Here’s a review of an anthology of essays I was privileged to be part of. For Keeps: Women Telling the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance is edited by Victoria Zackheim, who’s not only a wonderful writer herself but qualifies for sainthood as an editor. (Check out her previous anthology, The Other Woman.…
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Great Fiction
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 9 Comments
Three books I’ve read and loved this month: The Willow Field by William Kettridge is dense and quirky and beautiful. I’ve reread the page and a half prologue over and over to absorb all the layers of character and story that Kettridge got into it. He’s a great western writer – in the best way…
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Taking Off….
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 9 Comments
WritingTime is taking a few weeks off in Montana. In the meantime please list books you’re reading this summer under Comments below – books you love and those you don’t. I just finished The History of Love by Nicole Kauss It’s an amazing novel – readable, funny and a page turner, and also a dazzling…
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Read This Book
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 7 Comments
I have one thing to say right now: Read Eat, Pray, Love. It’s in paperback. And then when you finish the book, go to Elizabeth Gilbert’s website and look at the pictures of people mentioned in the book who you’ll now regard as dear friends. This is a hilarious, serious, delicious read and I’m going…
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Loving the Words: Francine Prose, Dr. Seuss and Emma
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 10 Comments
I’m reading Francine Prose’s wonderful book, Reading As A Writer. “With so much reading ahead of you,” Prose writes, “the temptation might be to speed up. But in fact it’s essential to slow down and read every word. Because one important thing that can be learned by reading slowly is the seemingly obvious but oddly…
