Author Archives: Ben Mitchell-Lewis
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
I’ve read this book before. I will read this book again, probably many times. Writing an overly positive review without sounding too schmucky is hard, so I’ll keep this one pretty short. If you haven’t read Eggers before, I highly … Continue reading
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
Karen Russell likes kids. She likes them to be lost, hurried, confused, afraid. Have you read Swamplandia!? In that story, our heroine is Ava, proud member of the Bigtree clan, brave alligator wrestler and frightened little girl. Here, Russell offers ten … Continue reading
number9dream by David Mitchell
I’ll preface this by saying I read Cloud Atlas last fall, avoided the movie, and am pretty enamored with David Mitchell. I’m already fiending to read more of his work. Cloud Atlas unreels its nested narratives artfully, and Mitchell’s transitions between … Continue reading
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Ignatius J. Reilly is a madman. His hat is green, his stomach is bulging, and his mustache is black and often crumb-filled. He makes me laugh really, really hard. A Confederacy of Dunces is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. … Continue reading
Americana by Don DeLillo
Most books fit into some basic genres (mystery, historical fiction, self-help (privileged white women eating Indian food and claiming inner peace), etc.). Americana was a tough one for me to classify. Most simply, I could stick it into two genres. The first … Continue reading
CannonBall Read #5
I often find myself reading a pop-culture site called Pajiba. While much of it is pretty silly, it’s very funny and keeps me informed of important things (like when Arrested Development is back on the air and how stunningly awful … Continue reading
Boat Posts
Obviously, I’ve been lacking on the blog lately. Summer is busy. At the moment I’m sailing a boat to Florida. Check out a tumblr I made for the trip: The Bon Voyage Chronicles One of these days I’ll get some … Continue reading
In the Morning
I’m most selfish in the morning. When the rim of the bright burning ball first breaches from the waves like a smooth, gray whale aflame, I go mum and stare until my eyes ache with bloody reds and warm glowing … Continue reading
The Cabin (Part VI/The End)
(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V) Darkness. I’m not so much worried as sick. My stomach is boiling into a storm of helplessness and my heart is pounding harder and faster than I should let it. I try … Continue reading
Ben Mitchell-Lewis 