his best
His best book would have to be either The Fifth Head of Cerberus or The Book of the New Sun. I'd probably place Peace third, though I haven't read it in years. Other thoughts?

nonsequitor?
I think we all know the proper spelling is "nun's equator." Sheesh.

Thank you, Mizerock. I hated to think that had just disappeared . . . when apparently all that had disappeared was my internet searching ability.

the exclamation point
"Elaine's brief love affair with exclamation points would have made for an interesting novel."

Terrible title, but it's a really engaging read. I suspect Boyd thinks the story has more meaning than it does, though. It just ends up being a sketchy overview of the 20th century. It's fun but, at least in terms of any larger statement, pretty superficial.

william boyd
Boyd is one of my favorite novelists, but while Any Human Heart is a good read, it's certainly not one of his best. Has anyone else read An Ice-Cream War? Phenomenal book. There's one that would I love to see adapted into a miniseries.

John pulled a Clavin there.

Pfft. I demand an obligatory Arbor Day episode. That's where the laughs are, dammit. Trees.

Funny how that works, huh?

osc
Growing up, Card was my favorite author, and I think I read every book he wrote. But it doesn't seem like you can do that with many authors. The bag of tricks generally grows a little stale, at least with someone as prolific as Card. I don't know about anyone else, but it was that five book Homecoming series from…

nobody's writing their own story
There's way too much information out there now about how the producers manipulate all this. The women are definitely not writing their own story in this or truly showcasing their personalities. You're seeing how Brad has been coached/directed, but the women are, too, even the ones who…

Yeah, anytime someone uses the word "perfect" or any variation on it to describe something artistic—book, movie, what have you—it's a clear sign that person hasn't thought through what exactly they're wanting to praise. Or it means they simply lack the critical skill to say anything deep or meaningful about the work…

". . . I can't see how he isn't the best author—in English, at least—alive . . ."

@Two Fucks: pretty much one guy, yep. M.A. Orthofer started it and apparently has brought in occasional people over the years to help but no one stays. My impression is that it's some combination of no real pay, lots of work, and (I'd guess) difficulty in matching his in-house style. He wrote a blog post earlier this…

I can't imagine how he manages to read as much as he does AND write such long, comprehensive reviews AND still post several blog items every day. It's insane. He's like some kind of literary Superman.

Good overview of Franzen here with links to reviews of his novels at the bottom:

I love The Complete Review, even if I don't always agree with Orthofer. Totally addicted to reading the Literary Saloon every night before bed.

The Half-Made World looks intriguing as hell. Zack, have you read The New Weird, the anthology that came out a couple years ago edited by the VanderMeers? I just finished it, and while it's a little uneven (like most any multi-author anthology), it's pretty nifty.

Well, I gotta be fair. I just went and looked at the lists from the last few years, and only seven people contributed in 2008 and 2009. I guess this is the standard practice. Still disappointing, but at least Zack gave two choices a couple comments below.

cronin and franzen
Anyone else find The Passage and/or Freedom absurdly overrated? After the great opening section set in the near-future, The Passage never lived up its promise. The new characters weren't nearly so compelling and the plot, which became a bit too stock and picaresque for my taste, stopped drawing me…