[barutanseijin]

Somehow got this in the wrong thread:

These were put-downable:

Jamie Quatro -- I want to show you more

Meh. A couple of the shorter pieces on affairs were nice, but most of the stories sounded like things i've heard in my writers' group. Which is not to say that these aren't polished or properly edited, quite the contrary. It's just that narrative point of view, the settings & narrative content cover familiar territory, even when the narrative form is magical realism.

But i did zip right through it. It helps that many of these pieces are the right size for my commute.

John Krich -- Music in every room: Around the world in a bad mood

Can't decide if this is a parody of travel writing or just overwritten. Sometimes the narrator drops the baroque exclamations and repetitions for a quieter, almost elegaic mode. I liked those moments best. Once in a while the prose matches the setting. I think that happens in the Istanbul chapter. Also, some of the passive aggressive dynamics with Iris and other travellers are amusing.

Again, it helps that this one comes in commuter-sized chunks.

This one has held my interest more:

Keynes -- General theory

The paper copy has been on my shelf for 15 years. Something made me want to read it after all thee years, but i couldn't find it. I dug up an epub online somewhere. At about the halfway point, i'm finding it surpisingly readable.