Andrew Blackman, literary fiction writer, traveller, book reviewer and essayist

Reading

The Truth About Amritsar

Why did British troops massacre hundreds of Indian civilians at Amritsar in 1919? This book explores the whole shocking story.

Reading

Digging to America by Anne Tyler: Review

In Digging to America, Tyler charts the course of two mismatched families, the hale and hearty, all-American Donaldsons and the quieter, more reticent Iranian-American Yazdans. All they have in common…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 4: Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities

Why does this short story by Jorge Luis Borges create such power? Maybe it's the human frailty underlying the tale of a tough New York gangster.

Reading

Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen

Five chapters. Five narrators. Five different experiences of being young Greenlanders trying to navigate the complex territory of gender and sexual identity. That's the basic setup of Crimson by Niviaq…

Reading

The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti

Set in Aotearoa and London some time in the 19th century, Tina Makereti's excellent novel tells the story of a Maori boy who makes his way to London, where he…

Reading

June 2021 Reading Roundup

In my last reading roundup, I was still emerging from winter. Now, it’s been 30+ degrees for weeks, and I can barely remember what a cloud looks like. The storks…

Reading

Nightshade by Annalena McAfee

If you need your fictional characters to be likeable, to be the sort of people that you can "root for", then absolutely do NOT read Nightshade by Annalena McAfee. If,…

Reading

The Archipelago of Another Life Readalong, Part 4

Here’s a little life tip for you. If you ever feel that the time is starting to drag and you’d like your life to be busier, try signing up for a blogging event. As soon as the dates roll around,…

New Short Story Published

I had a short story published recently in Storgy magazine. It’s available to read free online, so do check it out if you’re interested. It’s about two women caught on…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 3: The Widow Ching—Pirate

Before I read Borges, I used to think there was a sharp dividing line between fiction and nonfiction. In my own writing, there’s a huge gap between the serious, diligently…

Reading

The Archipelago of Another Life Readalong, Part 2

I’m reading The Archipelago of Another Life by Andreï Makine in the company of Emma at Words and Peace and Carol at Cas d’Intérêt. The novel is set in the…

Reading

April 2021 Reading Roundup

Spring is here: storks on the electricity poles, calves in the fields, and suddenly a million things to do around the house and garden. Full-time travel around the 50 countries…

Reading

The Vastness of the Dark by Alistair MacLeod

Alistair MacLeod was a Canadian writer who told stories about the rugged landscape of Cape Breton island in Nova Scotia and the rugged miners and fishermen who inhabited it. Marcie…

Reading

February/March 2021 Reading Roundup

I missed my monthly reading roundup in February, so here are two months together. As you’ll see, they were dominated by one huge book: Marcel Proust’s seven-volume, 3,000-page masterpiece. But…

Andrew Blackman

Andrew Blackman

Andrew Blackman