Harvey Freedenberg
@harvf.bsky.social
Reader and writer for BookPage, Bookreporter, Shelf Awareness & Kirkus Reviews. Also meditator, golfer, Dickinson College & University of Michigan Law School alum. I care about our democracy, too.
Pinned
Harvey Freedenberg
@harvf.bsky.social
· Nov 21
“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
From @readbookpage.bsky.social my review of Martha Cooley’s MY LITTLE DONKEY: Essays: www.bookpage.com/reviews/my-l...
Book review of My Little Donkey by Martha Cooley
My Little Donkey is a wise, empathetic and consistently surprising essay collection that sparkles with Martha Cooley’s customarily graceful prose.
www.bookpage.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:08 PM
From @readbookpage.bsky.social my review of Martha Cooley’s MY LITTLE DONKEY: Essays: www.bookpage.com/reviews/my-l...
From Shelf Awareness my review of Ian Frazier’s THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA: Reporting, Essays, and Criticism: www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?i...
Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Welcome to the Web site for Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade, the free e-mail newsletter dedicated to helping the people in stores, ...
www.shelf-awareness.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:13 PM
From Shelf Awareness my review of Ian Frazier’s THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA: Reporting, Essays, and Criticism: www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?i...
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Joseph J. Ellis’s THE GREAT CONTRADICTION: The Tragic Side of the American Founding: www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-...
The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding | Bookreporter.com
On the eve of the American Revolution, half a million enslaved African Americans were embedded in the North American population. The slave trade was flourishing, even as the 13 colonies armed themselv...
www.bookreporter.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:54 AM
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Joseph J. Ellis’s THE GREAT CONTRADICTION: The Tragic Side of the American Founding: www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-...
“Finally, we were introduced to sentence diagramming, which hacked away at the unruly jungle of English syntax until it became a tidy French garden with its topiary sorted and arranged by function.” Anne Fadiman, FROG and Other Essays (coming in 2026) #sundaysentence
November 2, 2025 at 4:22 PM
“Finally, we were introduced to sentence diagramming, which hacked away at the unruly jungle of English syntax until it became a tidy French garden with its topiary sorted and arranged by function.” Anne Fadiman, FROG and Other Essays (coming in 2026) #sundaysentence
A couple views of the Susquehanna River just north of #Harrisburg, #Pennsylvania . The train is passing over the Rockville Bridge, at 3,820 feet, the longest stone masonry arch railroad viaduct ever built: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockvil...
October 31, 2025 at 9:22 PM
A couple views of the Susquehanna River just north of #Harrisburg, #Pennsylvania . The train is passing over the Rockville Bridge, at 3,820 feet, the longest stone masonry arch railroad viaduct ever built: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockvil...
From @readbookpage.bsky.social my review of WHEN ALL THE MEN WORE HATS: Susan Cheever on the Stories of John Cheever:
www.bookpage.com/reviews/when...
www.bookpage.com/reviews/when...
Book review of When All the Men Wore Hats by Susan Cheever
In When All the Men Wore Hats, John Cheever’s daughter, Susan, makes an appreciative, but often unsparing, assessment of the undeniable intersection of her father’s life and work.
www.bookpage.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:58 PM
From @readbookpage.bsky.social my review of WHEN ALL THE MEN WORE HATS: Susan Cheever on the Stories of John Cheever:
www.bookpage.com/reviews/when...
www.bookpage.com/reviews/when...
“The subject hardened into a public posture, like a pigeon- stained statue of a forgotten general.” Ian McEwan, WHAT WE CAN KNOW #sundaysentence
October 26, 2025 at 5:11 PM
“The subject hardened into a public posture, like a pigeon- stained statue of a forgotten general.” Ian McEwan, WHAT WE CAN KNOW #sundaysentence
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Joe McGinniss Jr’s DAMAGED PEOPLE: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons:
admin.bookreporter.com/reviews/dama...
admin.bookreporter.com/reviews/dama...
Damaged People: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons | Bookreporter.com
Joe McGinniss was a paradox: a brilliant writer whose dazzling achievements were overshadowed by personal demons. At age 26, he became the youngest living person to top the New York Times bestseller l...
admin.bookreporter.com
October 25, 2025 at 12:04 AM
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Joe McGinniss Jr’s DAMAGED PEOPLE: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons:
admin.bookreporter.com/reviews/dama...
admin.bookreporter.com/reviews/dama...
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Peter Handke’s novel, THE BALLAD OF THE LAST GUEST: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
Review: The Ballad of the Last Guest
Controversial Nobel laureate Peter Handke's novel The Ballad of the Last Guest is a slim, elegant mood piece, intended more to evoke feelings
www.shelf-awareness.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Peter Handke’s novel, THE BALLAD OF THE LAST GUEST: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
“In America, pessimists are more likely to be right, optimists more likely to succeed.” Richard Russo #sundaysentence
October 19, 2025 at 12:39 PM
“In America, pessimists are more likely to be right, optimists more likely to succeed.” Richard Russo #sundaysentence
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, HOUSE OF DAY, HOUSE OF NIGHT: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
Review: House of Day, House of Night
Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk (Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead) has described her literary works as "constellation novels
www.shelf-awareness.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, HOUSE OF DAY, HOUSE OF NIGHT: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
"Childhood is a darkened, fantasy-filled theater in which, after a long or short while, the houselights are turned on, and the brightness makes you blink, and then you see the candy wrappers under the seats and the lines for the bathrooms." Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA #sundaysentence
October 12, 2025 at 11:04 PM
"Childhood is a darkened, fantasy-filled theater in which, after a long or short while, the houselights are turned on, and the brightness makes you blink, and then you see the candy wrappers under the seats and the lines for the bathrooms." Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA #sundaysentence
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Patricia Lockwood's WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU:
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/will...
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/will...
Will There Ever Be Another You | Bookreporter.com
Amid a global pandemic, one young woman is trying to keep the pieces together --- of her family, stunned by a devastating loss, and of her mind, left mangled and misfiring from a mystifying disease. S...
www.bookreporter.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:43 AM
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Patricia Lockwood's WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU:
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/will...
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/will...
Sorry, Donny, you don’t get a Nobel Peace Prize when you’re busily working to destroy democracy and undermine the rule of law in your own country.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado who lives in hiding after attempting to run against President Nicolás Maduro.
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuela's María Corina Machado
"When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist," the committee said.
nbcnews.to
October 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Sorry, Donny, you don’t get a Nobel Peace Prize when you’re busily working to destroy democracy and undermine the rule of law in your own country.
My #sundaysentence a day late (I was out of town yesterday.)
“Light came right down the middle of the street like a delivery.” Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA (coming January 2026)
“Light came right down the middle of the street like a delivery.” Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA (coming January 2026)
October 6, 2025 at 12:42 PM
My #sundaysentence a day late (I was out of town yesterday.)
“Light came right down the middle of the street like a delivery.” Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA (coming January 2026)
“Light came right down the middle of the street like a delivery.” Ian Frazier, THE SNAKES THAT ATE FLORIDA (coming January 2026)
“Suddenly she is fluttering near the wood-and-mud root cellar ceiling above her—not like a butterfly but more like a bit of ash or ember, carried off on the night breeze, pulled upward like a spark in the narrow trail that leads from a campfire to the dark sky.” D. Chaon, One of Us, #sundaysentence
September 28, 2025 at 1:53 PM
“Suddenly she is fluttering near the wood-and-mud root cellar ceiling above her—not like a butterfly but more like a bit of ash or ember, carried off on the night breeze, pulled upward like a spark in the narrow trail that leads from a campfire to the dark sky.” D. Chaon, One of Us, #sundaysentence
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Dan Chaon’s new novel, ONE OF US: www.bookreporter.com/reviews/one-...
One of Us | Bookreporter.com
It’s 1915, and life is falling apart for 13-year-old twins Bolt and Eleanor. When their mother dies, they are forced to leave home under the care of a vicious con man who claims to be their long-lost ...
www.bookreporter.com
September 27, 2025 at 1:36 AM
From @bookreporter.bsky.social my review of Dan Chaon’s new novel, ONE OF US: www.bookreporter.com/reviews/one-...
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Stewart O’Nan’s new novel, EVENSONG: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
Review: Evensong
Stewart O'Nan's body of work is noteworthy for its diversity across 18 works of fiction, with settings that include post-Civil War Wisconsin
www.shelf-awareness.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of Stewart O’Nan’s new novel, EVENSONG: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202...
“It was one of those rare evenings one dreams about in winter, when the air seems viscous with warmth, scents and fading light together melting onto the skin as a balm and soaking into the senses.” Ian McEwan WHAT WE CAN KNOW (2025) #sundaysentence
September 21, 2025 at 12:32 PM
“It was one of those rare evenings one dreams about in winter, when the air seems viscous with warmth, scents and fading light together melting onto the skin as a balm and soaking into the senses.” Ian McEwan WHAT WE CAN KNOW (2025) #sundaysentence
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of HISTORY MATTERS, a posthumous collection of pieces from David McCullough, some of them never before published:
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/hist...
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/hist...
History Matters | Bookreporter.com
HISTORY MATTERS brings together selected essays by beloved historian David McCullough, some published here for the first time, written at different points over the course of his long career, but all f...
www.bookreporter.com
September 20, 2025 at 8:38 PM
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of HISTORY MATTERS, a posthumous collection of pieces from David McCullough, some of them never before published:
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/hist...
www.bookreporter.com/reviews/hist...
Reposted by Harvey Freedenberg
This is a massive, history making abuse of your power. It will define your legacy and one day you will come to regret punishing free speech and trying to destroy democracy.
September 18, 2025 at 12:53 AM
This is a massive, history making abuse of your power. It will define your legacy and one day you will come to regret punishing free speech and trying to destroy democracy.
The US has had wise presidents and stupid presidents, strong presidents and weak presidents.
But we've never had a gangster president.
Until now.
But we've never had a gangster president.
Until now.
September 18, 2025 at 3:18 AM
The US has had wise presidents and stupid presidents, strong presidents and weak presidents.
But we've never had a gangster president.
Until now.
But we've never had a gangster president.
Until now.
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of John Irving’s novel QUEEN ESTHER: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202... @simonandschuster.bsky.social
Review: Queen Esther
For anyone who's followed John Irving's nearly six-decades-long literary career, settling into another of his novels feels like stepping into
www.shelf-awareness.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
From @shelf-awareness.com my review of John Irving’s novel QUEEN ESTHER: www.shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/202... @simonandschuster.bsky.social
“A writer must see with the painter’s eye; a writer must have an ear for the music of words; a writer must have the actor’s gift for mimicry, the capacity to take any part.” David McCullough, HISTORY MATTERS (2025) #sundaysentence
September 14, 2025 at 1:14 PM
“A writer must see with the painter’s eye; a writer must have an ear for the music of words; a writer must have the actor’s gift for mimicry, the capacity to take any part.” David McCullough, HISTORY MATTERS (2025) #sundaysentence
“She was like a powerful atmospheric depression that squeezes every puff of smoke out of chimneys and casts winter smog over cities.” Olga Tokarczuk, HOUSE OF DAY, HOUSE OF NIGHT (coming 12/2/25) #sundaysentence
September 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
“She was like a powerful atmospheric depression that squeezes every puff of smoke out of chimneys and casts winter smog over cities.” Olga Tokarczuk, HOUSE OF DAY, HOUSE OF NIGHT (coming 12/2/25) #sundaysentence