On the evening I read this short story, I was also reading May Sarton’s 1938 novel Single Hound (more about that tomorrow), in which one character affectionately calls another a “gooseberry”. Even though there’s no such moment in Chekov’s short story and, indeed, the gooseberries themselves are a disappointment—I
Ibi Zoboi quickly situates her readers in Detroit, through Fabiola’s view of American Street. And Zoboi’s 2017 novel feels particularly timely as Fabiola arrives in the United States with her mother, but continues her journey alone—after her mother is detained by immigration authorities. Fabiola stays in her mother’s sister’s
In the middle of July, Bill and Bron and I will be chatting about “Gooseberries”, the third of Chekov’s stories we’re reading, and the second-to-last story that George Saunders considers in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (its title apparently drawn from this very story). These last
Earlier in June, I was saying that I had read another seven books towards this challenge, and here they are. By Ojibwe/Cree, Dene/Métis, Swampy Cree-Beaver Clan of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Secwépemc, Haisla/Heiltsuk, Couchiching First Nation/Ojibwe] authors. Nope, I’m not deliberately selecting different nations; that’s happening by-the-by. For those
Today, talk of six books by Indigenous writers, including a novel, an illustrated children’s book, two books of poetry, and two books of non-fiction. These are works by Binnizá & Maya Ch'orti', Cree-Métis, Kanien’kehá:ka Ahkwesáhsne /Mohawk St. Regis, Kanien’kehá:ka, Wakeniáhton (Turtle Clan), and Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara/Tsimshian writers.
