reading cheerily along

One of my new year's resolutions is to return to an ancient unfinished short story I haven't worked on for ages. The story is narrated by an extremely minor character in a major 19th century novel. I'll take it as a sign that Campaign for the American Reader's Marshal Zeringue has posted this look at twice-told tales, which includes my favorite "underrated" novel, Marianne Wiggins' John Dollar.

Then there is the case of John Dollar and Lord of the Flies. As much as I admire Wiggins’ novel, I think Golding’s achievement outshines it. But the novelist Anne Tyler does not agree. She has written, “Lord of the Flies was more predictable, more relentless; it was, in my opinion, not half as thoughtful a piece of work."
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