Author Archives: John Walters

The Tortoise Manifesto

Recently I have been reading a lot of resolutions from other exuberant writers with amazingly optimistic daily word counts for 2012:  two thousand, five thousand, even ten thousand words a day.  Quantity is the only way to go, it would … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta; Part Two

In the first part of this review I shared some of the memories of my own time in Bombay that the reading of this book evoked.  It’s a long book, and whether you have lived in Bombay or not, it … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Resolutions

I hate resolutions, not just New Year’s resolutions but resolutions in general.  They are often made with the best of intentions, but collapse in the face of reality, which is often random and relentless and abrupt and all-encompassing.  Reality doesn’t … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta; Part One: Perspectives

I’m only about a third of the way through this long book, but it has brought up so many impressions and memories that I feel I must write them down.  So this is not so much a review of the … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison, Part Two: More Ellison Reminiscences, and The Stories Themselves

So then, after having reread “Deathbird Stories” I realize that at least part of the motivation was to pay homage to one of the great literary influences of my life.  Harlan Ellison’s stories are vivid and emotional, and I have … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, On Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison; Part One: Clarion West 1973 Revisited

I honestly don’t know exactly what made me read “Deathbird Stories” again after all this time.  I usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction books in my reading program.  I was just finishing a nonfiction book and considering that I wouldn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Memoir, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Life by Keith Richards

When I was growing up I listened to the Rolling Stones sometimes on popular radio stations, and I liked some of their songs but was never particularly attracted to the group itself as a fan.  I was more into the … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Paper Dragons

Sometimes the systems of this world just kind of fall into place.  They are the results of a lot of decisions by a lot of people and gradually evolve over the years, usually as the result of reactions to crises.  … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman

The “Dead Hand” of the title refers to a proposed Soviet doomsday machine that would provide devastating retaliation in the event of an American nuclear first strike. Lacking the technology to make the device completely automatic, the Soviets instead devised … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Silence by Shusaku Endo

The first novel by Shusaku Endo I read was “Scandal”, which he wrote late in his career.  It’s set in Tokyo, and is a surreal story of an aging writer discovering the underworld of extreme sex and at the same … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments