Smatterings

Today, of course, is anniversary five, and somehow I feel more reflective than I did last year or the year before. Maybe because the coverage of ⁹⁄₁₁ is more pervasive this time around, or maybe because I’m much more settled in New York and in my life than I was last year, when the move back here was still reasonably fresh. So those who died, and those who helped save, are in my thoughts today – as they are in the thoughts of many, many others.

Now the links:

It seems appropriate to begin with Janet Maslin’s review of Jess Walter’s “⁹⁄₁₂” novel THE ZERO, which gets a mixed take from her.

Patrick Anderson welcomes the return of Bernie Gunther in Philip Kerr’s THE ONE FROM THE OTHER.
Clea Simon has some reservations about Dennis Lehane’s CORONADO.

Michael Cox’s MEANING OF NIGHT is, to my mind, the best of the much-hyped fall debuts. The Times’ Melissa Katsoulis explains her own positive reaction.

Kristine and Joyce Atkinson talk to the Houston Chronicle about their unusual and extremely appealing debut, JOURNAL – which tells a story in scrapbook format.

New York Magazine’s Boris Kachka talks to Mark Haddon about changing directions from the megabestselling CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME.

Over at the Rap Sheet, Megan Abbott discusses why the Black Dahlia case still endures while Jean Spangler’s disappearance – subject of her next novel, THE SONG IS YOU – is largely forgotten now.

And finally, these photos just make me smile.