Steven Clark (Author of The Saint Louisans)

Steven Clark rated a book liked it Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The story is not what you think it WILL be...the building of a cathedral or a momentous death of the leading character; Cather offers something different, which is a study of a land, faith, people, and how La Tour and Valiant, two French clergymen, d ...more
Aug 31, 2026 05:17PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book did not like it The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I have read of racial changeover books before. Updike did a retake of the Tristan/Isolde story in Brazil. For fun, there is Stefan Heym's The Wachsmuth syndrome, where men start turning into women. Actually pretty funny. My problem with Hamid's try is ...more
Aug 31, 2026 04:45PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it Sam Weskit on the Planet Framingham by William Johnston	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Aug 02, 2026 11:24AM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it The Light in the Piazza by Elizabeth Spencer	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I saw the musical based on this. It was okay, but like musicals, felt superficial. I left after the end of the first act. It wasn't bad, I was just disinterested, but I did want to read Spencer's story, and just finished it. Her writing is very contr ...more
Aug 02, 2026 11:01AM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book really liked it The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Peter Frankopan takes our view of history and turns it sleeves and coat out. He proposes that the real civilization of history wasn't the Greek/Roman heritage nor China, but the vast array of fascinating and energetic city state and empires that lay ...more
Aug 02, 2026 10:34AM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I know The Red Badge of Courage is one of the sacred texts we must adore. I admit that Crane does a good job getting into the head of Henry Fleming, a confused soldier who goes through several stages, from bravado, uncertainty, fear, justification fo ...more
Jul 25, 2026 05:40PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I know Bruce Campbell mostly from his work on Xena, and admit The Evil Dead, his meal ticket to fame, never appealed to me as I don't like horror, but his descriptions of making it, living with it, and the world of moviemaking are quite enjoyable. Ca ...more
Jul 13, 2026 04:51PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I always like the English view of things, and I enjoyed Ruth Hogan's style and a plot of lost things that Anthony Peardew, the owner of Padua, collects and makes stories of them. Laura, his housekeeper, inherits the house and the stories. It's all ve ...more
Jul 13, 2026 04:37PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it The Human Stain (The American Trilogy, #3) by Philip Roth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I've always admired Phillip Roth's writing, although The Human Stain left me cold at times. Coleman Silk, his protagonist, is not likable, and his story is one of a man made by fabrication and artifice; like the silk worm's thread that weaves cloth, ...more
Jun 24, 2026 06:35PM · like · see review
Steven Clark rated a book liked it Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I read this as part of my book club and enjoyed thi mem0ir and Ms. Fuller's recollections of life in Africa. I found it a well-remembered and poignant life of a girl and her family; supposedly upper class compared to the black Africans around them, b ...more
Jun 21, 2026 02:27PM · like · see review

Steven Clark rated a book liked it

Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather

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The story is not what you think it WILL be...the building of a cathedral or a momentous death of the leading character; Cather offers something different, which is a study of a land, faith, people, and how La Tour and Valiant, two French clergymen, d ...more

Steven Clark rated a book did not like it

The Last White Man
by Mohsin Hamid

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I have read of racial changeover books before. Updike did a retake of the Tristan/Isolde story in Brazil. For fun, there is Stefan Heym's The Wachsmuth syndrome, where men start turning into women. Actually pretty funny.
My problem with Hamid's try is ...more

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Sam Weskit on the Planet Framingham
by William Johnston

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I first saw this book in 1970 on the book rack of my small town drugstore, and was intrigued by the cover and title about Planet Framingham but never bought it. I kept thinking back to it, and last month finally found a copy on the internet. Cost me I first saw this book in 1970 on the book rack of my small town drugstore, and was intrigued by the cover and title about Planet Framingham but never bought it. I kept thinking back to it, and last month finally found a copy on the internet. Cost me 21.00. In 1970 it was 75 cents.
So what happens? It's comic sci-fi, where four earth travelers, led by Bull Branigan, a corporate big mouth seeking a tax free planet, shoots off. With him is Sam Weskit, his Exec. VP, Fargus Yard, a twelve year old genius in engineering, and Marcia McAdoo, a "girl reporter" (paperback 1970 description).
They arrive on planet Framingham, a world a lot like earth, and the residents are somewhat dim and uninterested in much of anything; sort of like biped Dodos. Bull means to set up a corporate Valhalla, but things happen, and our travelers have to deal with Gogo, the corporate head of West Framingham, who decides Sam is an earth monster and must be sentenced to death...or something. His advisors aren't on top of much except praising Gogo. The use of Zippo belts, which offer instant travel, are more trouble than convenience. The West Framinghamians are at war with East Framingham. Fortunately the only weapons on the planet are rocks, but a secret weapon is ready to destroy all...and our travelers get mixed up in it...as well as riding on bikes with square wheels.
The book is 154 pages, a pretty quick read, and seems like an early version of The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There are zany allusions, odd differences in somewhat earth-like Framingham (to them, if you ask for an orange, you get a file...words have different associations).
I enjoyed the story and dialogue, although I would have liked it a lot more when I was fifty years younger. It brings smiles. Johnson wrote a lot of paperback Get Smart books then, so the similarities, snappy patter and absurdities to that series are pretty close.
My criticism is the characters aren't that well-developed. Sam, who seems to be the protagonist, is off the pages a lot. Bull is okay, but, like Fargus, is one-note. Marcia is really in need of a bigger role, but this was 1970, and women were still second bananas in sci-fi. it felt like the end was a kind of to-be-continued, but I've of no more books in this series.
It was almost a museum piece for me, but still funny. Comic sci-fi in any age is a rarity, and it was good to finally make it to planet Framingham. Just remember: round trips pose difficulties. ...more

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The Light in the Piazza
by Elizabeth Spencer

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I saw the musical based on this. It was okay, but like musicals, felt superficial. I left after the end of the first act. It wasn't bad, I was just disinterested, but I did want to read Spencer's story, and just finished it. Her writing is very contr ...more

Steven Clark rated a book really liked it

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
by Peter Frankopan

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Peter Frankopan takes our view of history and turns it sleeves and coat out. He proposes that the real civilization of history wasn't the Greek/Roman heritage nor China, but the vast array of fascinating and energetic city state and empires that lay Peter Frankopan takes our view of history and turns it sleeves and coat out. He proposes that the real civilization of history wasn't the Greek/Roman heritage nor China, but the vast array of fascinating and energetic city state and empires that lay in-between, especially that of Persia. The silk roads, commercial routes used to bring goods, mark the essence of civilization as trade and knowledge thrived and grew from international human interchange of cultures and ideas. It's a well-put way of viewing history, and he offers a neat twist of seeing Europe as outside the main drag of civilization for a long time. The central asian cultures and the wealth they amassed (and lost through invasion, etc.,) determined what really made us. For a fictional view of this read Gore Vidal's novel Creation.
He also offers the idea that the Mongols, while savage and grasping enough, also became astute at charging tolls and doing business. Much the same was with the Vikings. He also states that the West didn't become Islamic not because of valiant knights and resistance, but because Western Europe was barbaric and undeveloped, and simply had no wealth. Islam, like early Christianity, progressed faster in the urbanized east, where there was civic structures...and more loot. The western dominance came because of a switch to maritime efforts to increase trade; a four hundred year age
that is now coming to a close, and the Silk Road powers are again asserting themselves. The historians Will and Ariel Durant said as much in the 1950s.
I liked Frankopan's narrative, and found the book hard to put down. He also jumps ahead to the 19th century and European domination of Central Asia, especially seeking oil, and his chronicle of the sly inundation of western powers inserting themselves in is probing. To see WWI/WWII as in may respects wars for oil has been told elsewhere, and Frankopan offers his views supporting it. Some have charged him with inaccuracy and a biased view of history, but I did find the book a good break away from my usual fiction, and much of what rewrite is easily echoed in recent headlines and events as Iran is fighting America...simply another chapter of Persia dealing with invaders. One gathers a very long view of history from this book, and I enjoyed its perspective and sidelines on the many cultures of the area. ...more

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The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane

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I know The Red Badge of Courage is one of the sacred texts we must adore. I admit that Crane does a good job getting into the head of Henry Fleming, a confused soldier who goes through several stages, from bravado, uncertainty, fear, justification fo ...more

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Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor
by Bruce Campbell

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I know Bruce Campbell mostly from his work on Xena, and admit The Evil Dead, his meal ticket to fame, never appealed to me as I don't like horror, but his descriptions of making it, living with it, and the world of moviemaking are quite enjoyable. Ca ...more

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The Keeper of Lost Things
by Ruth Hogan (Goodreads Author)

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I always like the English view of things, and I enjoyed Ruth Hogan's style and a plot of lost things that Anthony Peardew, the owner of Padua, collects and makes stories of them. Laura, his housekeeper, inherits the house and the stories. It's all ve ...more

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The Human Stain (The American Trilogy, #3)
by Philip Roth

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I've always admired Phillip Roth's writing, although The Human Stain left me cold at times. Coleman Silk, his protagonist, is not likable, and his story is one of a man made by fabrication and artifice; like the silk worm's thread that weaves cloth, I've always admired Phillip Roth's writing, although The Human Stain left me cold at times. Coleman Silk, his protagonist, is not likable, and his story is one of a man made by fabrication and artifice; like the silk worm's thread that weaves cloth, Silk himself is weaved by many factors, and yet Roth, while emphasizing his black background, also makes Silk Jewish, and an outsider times two. There are also many yards of prose...I call them arias for heldentenor...where Roth lets loose on anything and everything. At times it was a slog, I wondering "why am I reading this?", but there's no denying Roth's brilliance and how he can pull you in, despite having a cold attitude to the story. That being said, I thought there was a strong, gritty cast: Fauna and Lester Fairley, Stena Palssom, and the ever elusive Nathan Zuckerman, narrator.
While Coleman and Faunia can be seen as a usual match of old, Jewish academic going after the young stuff, Faunia is also a vibrant, effusive woman caught in the pain of being married to Lester and his PTSD from Vietnam, and the deep tragedy over the loss of their family. Faunia, in fact, befriends a crow in a museum, and its isolation from other crows makes her compare it to Coleman, as the crow has The Human stain on him that repels other crows.
This is brilliant writing and thematic. I also think the sexual overtones in the book live in the shadow of Greek myth, and the conclusion, where Zuckerman confronts Lester in a frozen wilderness, is reluctantly awed by the man's peace and apathy while using a augur to ice fish...an obvious sexual symbol wrapped in natural, harmonious sterility. The book is full of moments like this, although it also has a lot of political umbrage and misinformation that I think reveals Roth's less than adoring feelings of the goyim. But his imagery never fails to captivate. "M. Silk apparently imagined he was going to have his father around to hate forever," comes at a funeral, and human hate, isolation, and self-invention are well-displayed here. I kept going back, and enjoyed this entry into a man's and country's inner turbulence of rejection and mulling.
If Citizen Kane had "Rosebud," The Human Stain has "spook." ...more

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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by Alexandra Fuller

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I read this as part of my book club and enjoyed thi mem0ir and Ms. Fuller's recollections of life in Africa. I found it a well-remembered and poignant life of a girl and her family; supposedly upper class compared to the black Africans around them, b ...more

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	The Saint Louisans 2.87 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2016 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Green Path it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Maddening Tune and other stories it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Guards 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	On Old 67. : A Missouri Memoir 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	German Days 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Terry and the Pirates and Other stories 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Terry and the Pirates : and other stories 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Hu Perdu 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rogue and the Jade Pt.1 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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