you won't put it down, that's how good it is

Many years ago an older woman I knew thought I was reading far too many books written by men, and that I was accepting what they said far too easily.

She told me I ought to read some female authors once in a while.

So I did, and since then I have almost exclusively read fiction written by women.

Then what happened, just recently, is that my friend Babs, and a bunch of her friends, were all talking about the same guy writer. They wouldn't stop.

So I got a collection of short stories: The Palace Thief, by Ethan Canin. A really good book, by what seems to be a really good guy.