Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban is dead. This really doesn't have much to do with what this blog is about, but it does have deep personal significance for me. Hoban was an author of such amazing breadth and creativity that he never ceased surprising me. He was 86 years old.

One of my favorite books of all time is his Riddley Walker, clever, witty, charming, harrowing, beautiful and thrilling, with a language all its own, it is above all the imagining of a post-apocalyptic world of such grace and brutality that impressed me. I am now re-reading this book in his honor.

I confess that while loving this one book and finding his children's books pleasant and imminently readable (he created, among other books, the series about Frances the little girl badger), I had no idea the extent of his creativity in writing for adults. I have just added half a dozen of his books to my to-read list.

I will miss, you Russell. As Riddley might say, we must all be "ready for Aunty, ready to total and done"; I hope you were, too.