Greg Cantwell
@gregcantwell.bsky.social
Writer of novels, screenplays and bite-sized book reviews.
Don’t blame me for the impending catastrophe, I voted for Kamala.
Don’t blame me for the impending catastrophe, I voted for Kamala.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith has an amazing premise—Tom Ripley is so dissatisfied with his own life that he decides to steal someone else’s. Your head will spin as Tom is forced to spin an ever wider web of lies to cover his murderous trail. Two thumbs up.
March 14, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith has an amazing premise—Tom Ripley is so dissatisfied with his own life that he decides to steal someone else’s. Your head will spin as Tom is forced to spin an ever wider web of lies to cover his murderous trail. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. A self-help book written for an audience of one—the Emperor of Rome. The kicker? It was written by the Emperor himself. His Stoic wisdom in a nutshell: Put your focus on the present, be a good person and accept your fate. Two thumbs up!
March 7, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. A self-help book written for an audience of one—the Emperor of Rome. The kicker? It was written by the Emperor himself. His Stoic wisdom in a nutshell: Put your focus on the present, be a good person and accept your fate. Two thumbs up!
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Gorgias" by Plato captures a debate between Socrates and 3 orators on the nature of good & evil, and the dangers of oratory disconnected from honesty & good intention. Surprisingly relevant. Two thumbs up.
February 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Gorgias" by Plato captures a debate between Socrates and 3 orators on the nature of good & evil, and the dangers of oratory disconnected from honesty & good intention. Surprisingly relevant. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Essentials of Hinduism" by Trilochan Sastry provides a compelling overview of the origins and core beliefs of the world's oldest religion. Fascinating and surprisingly accessible. Two thumbs up!
February 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Essentials of Hinduism" by Trilochan Sastry provides a compelling overview of the origins and core beliefs of the world's oldest religion. Fascinating and surprisingly accessible. Two thumbs up!
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. A bright young girl, who dreams of being a writer, sees a moment of intimacy between her sister and the charlady's son. She lets her imagination run wild and ends up ruining the lives of two people. Beautifully written. Two thumbs up.
February 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. A bright young girl, who dreams of being a writer, sees a moment of intimacy between her sister and the charlady's son. She lets her imagination run wild and ends up ruining the lives of two people. Beautifully written. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. After surviving a German POW camp (not many Russians did) Ivan is thrown into a Siberian gulag for the crime of being captured. Informed by the writer's own suffering as a prisoner. Two thumbs up.
January 31, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. After surviving a German POW camp (not many Russians did) Ivan is thrown into a Siberian gulag for the crime of being captured. Informed by the writer's own suffering as a prisoner. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Body" by Stephen King. Four boys search for a kid who was hit and killed by a train. The Rob Reiner adaptation is one of the great coming-of-age films. The book is superb as well; this might be King's best writing.
December 21, 2024 at 1:49 AM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Body" by Stephen King. Four boys search for a kid who was hit and killed by a train. The Rob Reiner adaptation is one of the great coming-of-age films. The book is superb as well; this might be King's best writing.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: I finally read "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King. I say 'finally' because the film is my favorite adaptation of his work. The bones of the story and some of the best lines are there, including, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Two thumbs up.
December 18, 2024 at 6:53 AM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: I finally read "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King. I say 'finally' because the film is my favorite adaptation of his work. The bones of the story and some of the best lines are there, including, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Mezzanine" by Nicholson Baker. A Manhattan office worker heads to CVS to buy a pair of shoelaces on his lunch break. That's the entire story. There's intelligence at work here, but I cannot fathom why you would write a novel with no narrative drive. Two thumbs down.
December 17, 2024 at 3:16 AM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Mezzanine" by Nicholson Baker. A Manhattan office worker heads to CVS to buy a pair of shoelaces on his lunch break. That's the entire story. There's intelligence at work here, but I cannot fathom why you would write a novel with no narrative drive. Two thumbs down.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Machine" by Susan Steinberg. A local girl drowns near a shore town dock where rich city kids gather at night to drink and pop pills. Did the girl fall? Was she pushed? Does anyone care? Does her death matter? Does anything matter? Strangely gripping. Two thumbs up.
December 2, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Machine" by Susan Steinberg. A local girl drowns near a shore town dock where rich city kids gather at night to drink and pop pills. Did the girl fall? Was she pushed? Does anyone care? Does her death matter? Does anything matter? Strangely gripping. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Cool Hand Luke" by Donn Pearce is known for two things—the textured description of life on a chain gang, (Pearce did time) and the iconic anti-hero at the heart of the story. The film adaptation with Paul Newman as Luke was amazing. So is the book. Two thumbs up.
November 28, 2024 at 8:15 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Cool Hand Luke" by Donn Pearce is known for two things—the textured description of life on a chain gang, (Pearce did time) and the iconic anti-hero at the heart of the story. The film adaptation with Paul Newman as Luke was amazing. So is the book. Two thumbs up.
This is almost perfect—they didn't have a Batmobile handy?
November 28, 2024 at 8:13 PM
This is almost perfect—they didn't have a Batmobile handy?
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Buddha in the Attic" by Julie Otsuka. Japanese women come to America and find they've been conned—their husbands aren't the handsome fellows they were promised, they're old men who work them like dogs. When the war comes, things get much worse. Two thumbs up.
November 21, 2024 at 7:07 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Buddha in the Attic" by Julie Otsuka. Japanese women come to America and find they've been conned—their husbands aren't the handsome fellows they were promised, they're old men who work them like dogs. When the war comes, things get much worse. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A quiet, bookish Nigerian girl endures constant torment living under the thumb of her father, a brutal, Catholic zealot. There are moments in this book that make "Mommy Dearest" seem quaint. Two thumbs up.
November 19, 2024 at 8:23 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A quiet, bookish Nigerian girl endures constant torment living under the thumb of her father, a brutal, Catholic zealot. There are moments in this book that make "Mommy Dearest" seem quaint. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Winter in the Blood" by James Welch. A man living on a Montana reservation searches for the wife who ran off with his gun and electric razor. Except she's not his wife, he doesn't want her back, and doesn't care about the razor. Two thumbs up. @penguinpress.bsky.social
November 19, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Winter in the Blood" by James Welch. A man living on a Montana reservation searches for the wife who ran off with his gun and electric razor. Except she's not his wife, he doesn't want her back, and doesn't care about the razor. Two thumbs up. @penguinpress.bsky.social
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky is the story of a hateful little man, filled with self-loathing and contempt. A hugely influential work, it introduced the anti-hero with no redeeming qualities. Imagine Radiohead’s “Creep” as a Russian novel. Two thumbs up.
November 17, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky is the story of a hateful little man, filled with self-loathing and contempt. A hugely influential work, it introduced the anti-hero with no redeeming qualities. Imagine Radiohead’s “Creep” as a Russian novel. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Lover" by Marguerite Duras. Imagine LOLITA as a biography, written by a girl from a disintegrating family in colonial French Indochina. This line stuck with me - “Very early in my life it was too late.” Two thumbs up.
November 17, 2024 at 8:59 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Lover" by Marguerite Duras. Imagine LOLITA as a biography, written by a girl from a disintegrating family in colonial French Indochina. This line stuck with me - “Very early in my life it was too late.” Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: I finally read Maya Angelou's legendary memoir, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Remarkable, in every respect. This was one of 100 lines that grabbed me— “When things were very bad his soul just crawled behind his heart and curled up and went to sleep.” Two thumbs up.
November 17, 2024 at 8:57 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: I finally read Maya Angelou's legendary memoir, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Remarkable, in every respect. This was one of 100 lines that grabbed me— “When things were very bad his soul just crawled behind his heart and curled up and went to sleep.” Two thumbs up.
Did anyone check to see if this guy was okay with calling them “Skeets”?
November 16, 2024 at 2:17 AM
Did anyone check to see if this guy was okay with calling them “Skeets”?
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Death of Napoleon" by Simon Leys imagines the great man escaping his prison on St. Helena, leaving a body double in his place. But his plan to restore his empire is upended when the double dies. Brilliantly written. Two thumbs up.
November 15, 2024 at 8:09 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Death of Napoleon" by Simon Leys imagines the great man escaping his prison on St. Helena, leaving a body double in his place. But his plan to restore his empire is upended when the double dies. Brilliantly written. Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Fever Dream" by Samantha Schweblin is aptly named. The narrative is disorienting, but it has amazing propulsive force. This is a book you finish in a single afternoon, but it'll keep you that night! Two thumbs up.
November 15, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Fever Dream" by Samantha Schweblin is aptly named. The narrative is disorienting, but it has amazing propulsive force. This is a book you finish in a single afternoon, but it'll keep you that night! Two thumbs up.
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century" by @timothysnyder.bsky.social is a clear-eyed account of how dictators seize power, and critically, what ordinary people can do to resist them. A book that everyone should read, for obvious reasons. Two thumbs up
November 15, 2024 at 8:01 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century" by @timothysnyder.bsky.social is a clear-eyed account of how dictators seize power, and critically, what ordinary people can do to resist them. A book that everyone should read, for obvious reasons. Two thumbs up
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Speedboat" by Renata Adler. Many love this collection of keen observations and wry, unfinished anecdotes, but the near total absence of narrative drive made it a frustrating read for me. Two thumbs sideways.
November 15, 2024 at 7:57 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "Speedboat" by Renata Adler. Many love this collection of keen observations and wry, unfinished anecdotes, but the near total absence of narrative drive made it a frustrating read for me. Two thumbs sideways.
Bite-Sized Book Review: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros. A young girl dreams of escaping the stifling confines of her impoverished Chicago neighborhood. The intimate details are so marvelously rendered you begin to think these must be your own memories. Two thumbs up
November 15, 2024 at 7:55 PM
Bite-Sized Book Review: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros. A young girl dreams of escaping the stifling confines of her impoverished Chicago neighborhood. The intimate details are so marvelously rendered you begin to think these must be your own memories. Two thumbs up
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. An English teen sends a hateful letter to a girlfriend after she chucks him for a friend. Forty years later, he's still dealing with the unexpected consequences of his ill-advised missive. Strangely absorbing. Two thumbs up.
November 15, 2024 at 7:54 PM
Bite-Sized Book Reviews: "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. An English teen sends a hateful letter to a girlfriend after she chucks him for a friend. Forty years later, he's still dealing with the unexpected consequences of his ill-advised missive. Strangely absorbing. Two thumbs up.