Books I Read May 12th, 2026

I'm late a week and the catch has not been impressive, but in my defense I've been putting out a lot of fires—some figurative and some, sadly, quite literal.

Late Fame by Arthur Schnitzler – An aging bourgeoisie discovers a second lease on life when his forgotten volume of poems inspires the enthusiasm of a new generation of artists. Extremely funny, if perhaps hitting a bit too close to home in its (really quite sympathetic) portrayal of the unalterable vanity of the writer, and particularly the hack. In short, still great.

Saga of Brutes by Ana Paula Maia – Three short, loosely connected stories about hard men doing the tasks societies likes to ignore. Tight, mean, very well-written, melodramatic, excellent works of genre fiction.

Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed – Reed's raucous, slapstick, inspired re-creation of the last days of a Confederacy as overlaid by the late 1970s remains funny and original.

Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800 by John K. Thornton – Insightful revisionist history detailing the complexities of native warfare on the coast of central east Africa. A useful counterpoint to the commonly held misconception that politics and its inevitable violence remained in a 'tribal' status on the continent. Valuable.