Tony Daniel
Novels, Short Stories, Screenplays, Poetry, Reviews, and Nonfiction
Tony Daniel Reviews Reese Witherspoon’s Book-Cum-Coffee-Table-Fixture ‘Whiskey in a Teacup’ at the Federalist
Tony Daniel says the book is mostly a product ad for her on-line brand, but also contains a short and charming memoir of Witherspoon’s grandmother. Tony writes: “Dorothea Draper was a good role model for all of us who believe that being a decent person is about far more than politics.”
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Retrospective on the Astonishing Literary Legacy of James Michener at ‘The Federalist’
Tony Daniel says that the venerable best-selling author of historical fiction has gotten a bad rap in literary circles as Michener’s rejection of postmodernism has given rise to jaded and unfair judgments of his epic storytelling.
“Reconsidering The Astonishing Literary Legacy Of James Michener” is here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Movie and Book at ‘The Federalist’
In his review here, Tony Daniel calls Crazy Rich Asians a fun American movie. He notes, tongue-in-cheek, that the cast is kind of like a Harvard freshman class in reverse (more on Harvard’s racist admittance policy here). He concludes that the film establishes no significant milestones whatsoever — other than being a much-needed island of semi-sophisticated entertainment for an adult audience in a sea of adolescent power fantasies and kitsch. But that is enough these days to make it worth seeing. Read the review here.
Former Students and Award-winning T.V. and Motion Picture Screenwriters VJ and Justin Boyd Deliver a Couple of Nice Mentions of Tony Daniel as One of Their Formative Writing Teachers
In an article in the University of Texas at Dallas Mercury, Tony Daniel’s former writing students and friends VJ and Justin Boyd, who have gone on to write for several television series including Justified and Channel Zero, and who jointly won the Screamfest award for best screenplay, talk briefly about getting their start in Tony Daniel’s scriptwriting class at UTD.
Tony taught graduate and undergraduate writing at UTD for six years, including scriptwriting, novel writing, and short story writing. He also taught the humanities course The Literature of Fantasy and Science Fiction each term.
Read the article here.
Retrospective on the Great V.S. Naipaul by Tony Daniel at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel says that with the death of the Nobel Prize winning author, we’ve lost a great writer who both valued civilization, and saw the world as it is, not how he wished it to be. Tony also examines in particular his favorite Naipaul novel, A House for Mr. Biswas.
Read the piece here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘Life After Google,’ by George Gilder at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel notes approvingly that George Gilder argues that centralized data behemoths like Google and Facebook are coming down, sooner rather than later, because the nature of the internet and the information economy is about to undergo a transformative change. The review is here.
Tony Daniel Review of HBO Show ‘Barry’ at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel says HBO television show “Barry” is a mostly charming confection, even if it ultimately fails to be as funny as it thinks it is. The show is done by episode eight, the story told, the point hammered home. Season two of “Barry” feels like a gloomy prospect. Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Review of Thriller Novel ‘Spymaster,’ by Brad Thor at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel argues that, while Spymaster and the Harvath series may be fast food reading, you can think of Brad Thor books as the Chick-fil-A sandwiches of thrillers. Thor always turns out a nicely researched quality product with a hero who is not going to suddenly take a dark turn and start questioning whether a country like the United States deserves to exist—or especially whether it deserves him to defend it. If you root for the triumph of the West, Scot Harvath is a hero who is always going to have your back.
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Pens Tribute to Tom Wolfe, Novelist and Journalist Extraordinaire, at ‘The Federalist’
Tony Daniel’s tribute to the late Tom Wolfe, who was one of Tony’s favorite writers and a big influence, appears at The Federalist. Read the essay here.
Author Copies in for Tony Daniel Story “Lovers” in 2018’s ‘The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF Volume 4’
Author copies have arrived with a first look at the cover for The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF Volume 4 featuring Tony Daniel’s story “Lovers.”
The anthology will be available at booksellers everywhere in June, or pre-order here, among other places.
