Personal Western Cannon

Read about half of Amy Hempel's The Dog of The Marriage upstairs at the Housing Works Used Book Cafe http://www.housingworks.org/usedbookcafe/. Hempel's latest once again finds her compulsively probing the far reaches of just how isolated/alienated folks can get in this post-modern world. And as much as I'm a sucker for the standing with my thumb out at intersection of the disconnected and the seedy, I still get the feeling she should maybe leave this stuff to Joan Didion's more capable hand.

On the other hand, I also started The Devil You Know by Wayne Johnson. It sings.