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A Review of The Cannibal Owl (2025) by Aaron Gwyn
By Jay Innis Murray There is a lot of dying in the 66 pages of Aaron Gwyn’s new novella The Cannibal Owl (published this January by Belle Point Press). This short book tells episodes in the life of Levi English (born 1817) who lived in Texas when it was still a frontier. It is a Continue reading
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What Time’s Arrow (1991) by Martin Amis is like
Martin Amis has died. He was 73. Have you read his novel Time’s Arrow (1991)? This is what it is like. To get at the feeling, I thought of describing events of my own life run backwards, and that’s a little disturbing. There’s the scene in the restaurant of yours truly removing the engagement ring Continue reading
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Some Novels of 1923 at 100 Years Old – #1
The Rover, Joseph ConradOpens in 1796 with a vibe like Treasure Island. The rover Peyrol wants to retire from the seafaring pirate life and settle on French soil near where he was born. In the time since he’s been there, France has much changed. There’s intrigue, and he’s concerned he’ll be a wanted man. The Continue reading
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FX on Hulu’s show Devs and Jorge Luis Borges
First, it’s determinism embraced by some. Then determinism pursued by all. Next, it’s many worlds embraced by some then pursued by all, but, finally, it’s a simulation. Many worlds simulated? This seems like a confusion of at least two theories. In episode 7, Lily comes to the Devs lab and asks Stewart the cave fire Continue reading
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A Peek Inside the Illustrated 40th Anniversary Edition of Little, Big
Yesterday, I received my copy of the 25th/40th Anniversary edition of Little, Big. Like many longtime re-readers of this novel, I’ve been waiting for this for several years. The edition is a long labor of love by the publisher Ron Drummond who first proposed the idea to John Crowley in 1992 or 1993. You can Continue reading
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On the 50th Anniversary of Gravity’s Rainbow – Exuberance is Beauty.
Today is the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Gravity’s Rainbow. Here’s Harold Bloom in his 2003 Introduction to his Modern Critical Views volume on Pynchon. The not unimpressive polemic of Norman Mailer—-that Fascism always lurks where plastic dominates—-is in Pynchon not a polemic but a total vision. Mailer, for all his legitimate status as Continue reading
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On Crimes of the Future (2022)
“Just another epiphany. Art triumphs once again.” There is a strange absence of menace in David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future (2022). My personal alarms go off any time a sharp thing cuts or threatens to cut human flesh. I can’t bear to watch the scene when Jack Nicholson gets his nose sliced in Chinatown. Continue reading
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On Breaking Bad Episode 1.03
This is an amazing episode. Just a masterpiece of thematic writing and visuals, mixed. The motel Hank brings Walter, Jr. to is called the Crystal Palace, according to Hank, but the sign on the roof says Crossroads. This is the master image of the episode. First, we’re at a genre crossroads, since this errand on Continue reading
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Watching Spielberg 1: Ten Screenshots from Steven Spielberg’s Duel
The 1955 Peterbilt truck has a big snout and a wide grin. Since the face of the driver is never shown, the front of the truck becomes the face of the villain. Aggressive & obsessed. Though it is an old machine, the truck has unstoppable energy. Dave’s Plymouth Valiant is a bright red. A color Continue reading
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After Yang (2022)
After Yang (2022) glides along on its influences. Speak, Memory. More than anything else Tree of Life. Farrell says he has no words to express the mysterious nature of tea. Then he delivers a Werner Herzog impersonation that expresses it mock perfectly. This happens just at the midpoint of the movie time-wise. Manohla Dargis called Continue reading
About Talking Big
All posts by Jay Innis Murray.
Always on the lookout for new books to review. Please drop me a line at grashupfer@gmail.com or say hi on Twitter, Mastodon or Blue Sky.
Read my novel here: https://tinyurl.com/p98jtu7c
Recent Posts
- A Review of The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers
- Stealing Einstein’s Underpants – A Review of The Delegation (2025) by Avner Landes
- A Review of On the Calculation of Volume 1 (2024) by Solvej Balle
- A Review of The Cannibal Owl (2025) by Aaron Gwyn
- A Review of Every Arc Bends Its Radian (2024) by Sergio De La Pava
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