Michael Dirda on N.C. Writers

Washington Post book critic Michael Dirda seems to have taken a shine to a couple of North Carolina’s finest writers in recent weeks. In today’s column, for example, he sings high praises for Michael Malone‘s new novel, The Four Corners of the Sky. Early in the review, Dirda writes

Malone’s prose — as smooth as a con man’s patter — hooks you on the first page, and you’re not going anywhere after that, except to your favorite reading chair or backyard hammock or vacation beach blanket. Malone possesses the only gift — according to Vladimir Nabokov — that a writer really need: Shamantsvo, the ability to cast a spell, to enchant.

And then he concludes his column by calling the book “a dream of a summer novel.” Read the full review here; check out my own interview with Malone here; and if you’re in D.C., don’t miss Malone’s reading tonight (Thursday, May 28) at Politics and Prose.

In addition to his rave take on Malone’s book, Dirda also gave a more than satisfied nod toward Reynolds Price‘s new memoir a couple of weeks back, calling Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back both “engaging” and “very enjoyable.” Read that review here, and if you’re in N.C., be sure and mark your calendar for Price’s reading early next week — Tuesday evening, June 2 — at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh (a ticketed event, I should add).

And remember to check out the MetroBooks Calendar to your right for a full list of literary events in the Triangle and Eastern North Carolina.

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