The Best of Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis

[rating=5] Genius. Pure genius. I savored ‘Archy and Mehitabel’; read every last word. From the insightful introductory essay by E.B. White, to the scratchy pen illustrations by George Herriman of ‘Krazy Kat and Ignatz’ fame, to the final poem by Don Marquis, the whole thing filled me with glee. Marquis was a newspaper reporter during […]

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

[rating=1] I found ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ painful to read, and would have abandoned it after 30 pages had it not been our February book club pick. Overwrought is the first word that comes to mind. Woefully, ponderously academic; ‘Elegance’ is less a work of literature than it is a series of diary entries […]