Given my aversion to self-help books, I did find Brande's advice encouraging for some reason. She skips the obvious technical sides of the vocation so ubiquitous in materials of this sort, preferring to emphasize intangible aspects that verge on the metaphysical. One can dismiss her theories as mere newspaper astrology but I sympathize with the idea that it takes more than an impeccable command of language to don the writer's mantle. It has a lot to do with internal dispositions.

I remember the film vaguely. The script feels much shorter.

Hmmm, very visceral and morbid so far.

This is an absolute love letter to books.

Finished. Bad news first: characterization and plot in "Idoru" are aspects that border on anorexia. Gibson favours mood over action, and characters don't do much other than going from point A to point B and then back again. The few conflicts of interest between characters never reach a threatening magnitude and the residual climax is easily and quickly dispatched.

Where this book fails in narrative, it compensates with poetic post-modern bursts of Gibson's futurist and otherworldly Tokyo, the design and technological artefacts dominating most chapters. Brands with exotic names, daily life conducted under the aid of Tomorrow's products, the idiosyncrasies of Japanese culture. I would call "Idoru" a travel guide for a fictional city with additional footnotes on product design.

Milder than its precedent "Virtual Light" of the Sprawl saga, or the later "Pattern Recognition", but still cool.

This is a catalogue of exotic brand names and alien technology.

God, it's the third time I'm restarting this book to see if I can get to the end. A fourth time seems likely.

A unconditional fan of King's work, I'm ashamed that I had never paid his short stories the deserved attention (I did read the amazing "The Mist" from his "Skeleton Crew" bundle). After a few years away trying on the works by other authors, I felt like submerging again in his creations. Flipping through this collection, I'm reminded of the conversational tone, the psychological descriptions and the black humour which make the storytelling so alluring. The language is transparent, never gets in the way. It's like hearing an old friend telling a tale over beers.

Debates between atheists and the pious always amuse me. The dialogue here really flow. I liked it.

I found this book a phenomenal read, drawn to Steinbeck's itinerant and adventurous spirit. A road trip account with wit, humor and an analytical eye.

Amusing tone and quirky sentences with some good punchlines. The dialogue describes pretty well the awkwardness between characters, the situations are both comical and a little sad, and I enjoyed it somewhat as a whole.

It's all in the crisp dialogue :)

Watched the film before reading the screenplay, so I couldn't dissociate Kevin Spacey from the protagonist. I enjoyed this a lot, namely the diner scene with the asparagus.

Loved the tightly knitted mystery and the police linguo banter was top notch.

Finished the first hundred pages which form the intimate part of the book (the second part consists of plays and the third is a short story). For an aspiring writer like me, I empathize with Auster's ambitious youth and the hardships he had to go through in his life as the proverbial "starving artist". Weirdly, I get a feeling that he left out some details regarding his relationships. Then again this book is more about writing than romance. Paul Auster makes me want to go to Paris :)

Emotional and full of mind games, I really liked this one. The structure and style was also very fresh :)

An amusing compilation of info on King's early struggle as a writer. But I did skim some parts where the trivia was too monotonous to bear.

Was more amused at the beginning. Now I'm trudging through the difficult final pages.