Francine Prose has a wonderful—and by wonderful I mean articulate and scathing—review of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch in the January 9th issue of the New York Review of Books, in which she points out that the book's Dickensian aspects are not necessarily Dickens' "originality, his intelligence, his witty and precise descriptions...his cadenced, graceful language..." Perhaps it was this that kept me from feeling fully drawn into the novel—but more likely it was the cringe-worthy inaccuracies…

If you came seeking ornithological knowledge about the titular bird, you may click here. I came by my copy of The Goldfinch dishonestly. I helped a friend carry some boxes at the bookstore she works at, and, in return, she said I could help myself to any galley copy left on the staff bookshelf. I recognized Donna Tartt's name and thought, why does that sound familiar?, and took it home. Later I heard one…

If there's one thing I like more than I like birds, it's The Secret History. Imagine my excitement when it was announced in February that Donna Tartt's new novel would be named after one of my favorite kinds of finch. So in honor of The Goldfinch, which is coming out in a matter of days, October's bird of the month is THE GOLDFINCH. If you live in the United States, you’ve almost certainly…