Author: driftlessareareview

Besides writing book reviews for his own blog, Karl writes reviews and essays for several other venues. He lives in the Midwest and has a full-time job. Posts might be irregular, but a commitment to quality is the first priority. The blog has a variety of subject matter, ranging from guilty pleasures to out-of-print hidden gems.
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Inside Gilligan’s Island: from creation to syndication (1988) by Sherwood Schwartz

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Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip That started from this tropic port Aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailing man, The skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day For a three hour tour, a three hour tour. The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island by George Wyle and Sherwood Schwartz Sherwood Schwartz created two of the most iconic and influential TV series with Gilligan’s Island (1964 – 1967) and the Brady Bunch (1969 – 1974).  Prior to his work as a show-runner, he worked on My Favorite … Continue reading Inside Gilligan’s Island: from creation to syndication (1988) by Sherwood Schwartz

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Aberration of Starlight (1980) by Gilbert Sorrentino

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The slim novel Aberration of Starlight by Gilbert Sorrentino traces the events one summer in 1939 through the perspectives of four different characters.  The title is taken from an astrological phenomenon involving the movement of both the observer and the subject under observation.  Right from the start, Sorrentino will upend the reader’s expectations.  The four characters lives become revealed through various narrative techniques.  These include letters, question-and-answer, and stream of consciousness. The four main characters are Billy Recco, the son of Marie Recco.  He idolizes Tom Thebus, a salesman wooing Marie, much to the chagrin of Marie’s father, John McGrath.  … Continue reading Aberration of Starlight (1980) by Gilbert Sorrentino

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Black Swan: A Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery (Book 5) by Chris Knopf

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Chris Knopf begins Black Swan with an epic set piece.  During a ferocious October storm off the coast of Long Island, Sam Acquillo pilots the Carpe Mañana to safety with the help of his companion Amanda Anselma.  His dog, the ever faithful and frisky Eddie Van Halen lays below decks, asleep in medicated bliss, avoiding the dangers of the open seas.  The craft eventually gets piloted to Fishers Island, New York, a bizarre socioeconomic enclave on Long Island, home to Old Money and a xenophobic underclass.  (Chris Knopf visited the theme of natural disasters and social friction in Elysiana, a … Continue reading Black Swan: A Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery (Book 5) by Chris Knopf

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Brothers in Arms: The Story of Al-Qa’ida and the Arab Jihadists by Camille Tawil

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“I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.” Patton (1970), screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola. “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things … I would not refer to him as a dictator.” Vice President Joe Biden (2011) “God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos: He will set them … Continue reading Brothers in Arms: The Story of Al-Qa’ida and the Arab Jihadists by Camille Tawil

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Expiration Date by Sherril Jaffe

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Following what is presumably a supernatural vision, Flora believes she will die.  What follows is Sherril Jaffe’s novel entitled Expiration Date.  Flora finds herself in the Heavenly Court where a verdict is passed.  She will die in twenty-five years.  At the time the announcement is made, Flora is pregnant.  The novel follows Flora’s impending date with doom, alternating chapters with her life and that of her mother, Muriel. Muriel stands in opposition to her daughter’s predetermined death by avoiding a life in a nursing home outside San Francisco.  She takes up with a taciturn gentleman named Wilbur, a former pilot … Continue reading Expiration Date by Sherril Jaffe

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Reservoir Gods by Brian Knight @ Joe Bob Briggs

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Dworshak was a body of water created by the Clearwater River. The dammed river created this reservoir that powers the town of Orofino. This project flooded a previously abandoned town and there are tales of desecrated Indian burial grounds. Amidst this stew of history, legend, and hearsay, Brian Knight brings us a “Big Fish Tale.” Remember the one that got away? Reservoir Gods is one of those stories. The story centers around the lives of various individuals spending their time around Dworshak. There is Commissioner Grant Lang, who enjoys the outdoors, camping with his underlings, and the occasional fourteen-year-old girl. … Continue reading Reservoir Gods by Brian Knight @ Joe Bob Briggs

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The Lime Works by Thomas Bernhard @ Joe Bob Briggs

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Thomas Bernhard (1931 – 1989) was one of the twentieth century’s greatest prose stylists. He belongs to the trinity of novelists who died early, the other two being W.G. Sebald and Roberto Bolano. Along with Sebald and Bolano, Bernhard’s works are experiencing a popular revival coupled with attention from academic and critical circles. To understand Bernhard’s peculiar brand of fiction one has to examine his country of origin. Austria’s intellectual and literary community minted numerous famous names in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An incomplete list would include the following: journalist-critic Karl Kraus, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, psychologist Sigmund Freud, Nobel … Continue reading The Lime Works by Thomas Bernhard @ Joe Bob Briggs

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Self-Referential 100th Post

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Nothing like an arbitrary milestone for the blogosphere. This is the 100th post of the Driftless Area Review.  It’s been a fun experience thus far.  I’ve met new people and started receiving free review copies.  I have enjoyed the works of the Permanent Press and enjoy the publishing philosophy of co-founder Martin Shepard. For those interested, I will continue my two long term essay series: The Art of Reviewing and Essays on Capital.  I am currently half-way through Capital, Volume 2.  The work presents more of a challenge, since the text is more technical, dry, and math-intensive than the first … Continue reading Self-Referential 100th Post

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The Evil Garden (1965) by Edward Gorey

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Victorian stock characters get attacked by carnivorous plants and animals. The drawings have a simplicity matched by the rhyming couplets that explain the terrors illustrated for our enjoyment. The poetry conjures up nursery rhymes and like nursery rhymes, they veil the fangs and claws of Nature. Gorey’s slim volume is reminscent of the playful chaos of “Alice in Wonderland” and has a curdled humor like Max Cannon’s “Red Meat.” Continue reading The Evil Garden (1965) by Edward Gorey

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The Ringer by Jenny Shank

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On a mid-March afternoon in Denver, Ed O’Fallon and a DPD SWAT Team enter a run-down building on a no-knock warrant.  He comes upon a sleepy Mexican man who doesn’t respond to his commands.  A gun is drawn (or not?) and Ed fires.  The man is killed.  Ed later finds out that the no-knock warrant had the wrong address and the man had a name, Salvador Santillano. The Ringer by Jenny Shank chronicles the repercussions in Denver’s Latino and law enforcement communities.  While the engine that propels the narrative forward revolves around Santillano’s death, Shank begins the novel with Ed … Continue reading The Ringer by Jenny Shank

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