Comments on: Launching the Radio Galaxy Book Club

By: Rebecca in Berlin

Rebecca in Berlin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:09:02 +0000

It’s just not my cup of tea. After 4 stories I am giving up. I cannot empathize with testosterone-filled young men who hate their brothers, have dysfunctional relationships with their fathers and talk about getting diarrhea and the joy of beating up football players. Let me know when you choose the next book.

By: Jean Kenny

Jean Kenny — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:51:12 +0000

Dave Wiley: I agree with you. I was trying to figure out why I had a difficult time getting into the stories, I think it’s because I felt like I had jumped into the middle of an existing novel. It’s an interesting style which I find a little unapproachable - I can’t really sink my teeth into the story until about midway through. I’ve had to reread a few of them to understand the writer’s voice and really get the impact.

By: KenY

KenY — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:05:54 +0000

I just picked up a copy of this today. I’ve only read the first couple of stories, but wow! I like the writer’s way with words. Often I’m reading novels or non-fiction or technical writing, that I miss out on the impact a good short story can have.

Actually, I just read Aryn Kyle’s “God of Animals” recently, and I was impressed by how the original story (Ch1 of the book) expanded well into a full novel.

This is the first time I’ve participated in a book-club type activity - I love how it opens my eyes to writing I probably wouldn’t have encountered otherwise!

By: Dave Wiley

Dave Wiley — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:53:54 +0000

So I’ve finished most of it. (Some parts twice. I’m eager to get started talking about it. One of the things that struck me was the structure of these short stories is completely different than anything I have encountered before. For the most part they read like fragments of novels rather self-contained stories. I’m still not certain whether this is a good thing or not.

By: Rebecca in Berlin

Rebecca in Berlin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:51:01 +0000

The book arrived today!

By: Sarah Goodyear

Sarah Goodyear — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:34:25 +0000

Hey, Dave,

I sure hope you like the book more now you know what it is.

By: Dave Wiley

Dave Wiley — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:56:13 +0000

What a horrible novel! I got the title off the blog entry without reading much more because I wanted to go into the book with a completely open mind. I skipped even the dust jacket. Fresh as a daisy I plunged in last night. After the first 40 pages or so I was completely baffled. The author picked up and dropped characters at a whim. The plot seemed to be going in a dozen directions at once. Even the style varied from chapter to chapter. And don’t even get me started on the layout. Still there was some reason for hope. I liked the author’s prose and most of the characters were engaging, although under-developed. Bleary eyed and confused I put the book down at 10:30 and tried to drift off to sleep while simultaneously attempting to puzzle out the larger picture. One of my last thoughts was, “You know this reads a lot more like a collection of short stories than a novel.” Ohhhhh. I think I’ll start again today.

My monomania against spoilers does have occasional drawbacks.

By: Steve Petersen

Steve Petersen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:53:12 +0000

I’m excited for this book. I just got it from the library today. In fact, I had a to quickly finish the book that I was reading — Bill Flanagan’s New Beldam — before I could start this.

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:18:21 +0000

Look forward to reading it. Yay for Radio Galaxy Book Club!

By: Nathan in Holland

Nathan in Holland — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:02:19 +0000

My mouse is hovering over amazon’s “buy now” button as we speak.