Point of disclosure:  I know and happen to really like Laura Kasischke, but I would never recommend a book I didn’t enjoy.  This one reminded me of “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt, an all-time favorite.  It’s a quick, intriguing, suspenseful novel about murder on a college campus, but, like Tartt’s novel, it’s so much more. I read it (all 496 pages) in two days. 

 I’m betting on a National Book Award for this poetry collection. Check out this Harvard prof, talking about Kasischke’s poems on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFnKiIMUkEw

This book of lyrical essays is by a poet and you can tell--so unusual and beautifully rendered.

Deborah Eisenberg, a New Yorker writer, has been feted for years, but she was news to me when a friend recommended her this summer. I’m glad I hadn’t read any of her work before, because I thoroughly enjoyed every single one in this 992-page tome.  Personally, I like the early stories best. She reminds me a little of Alice Munro but also—in the early stories—of the hilarious short story writer, Julie Hecht.

Have you heard of Julie Hecht? She’s another New Yorker writer but if you google her, you can’t find out anything about her at all. What is she up to these days? I have no idea but once you read these neurotic little ditties you might find yourself hoping (like I do) that she hasn’t suffered any deleterious effects from all that electrolysis.