Feature Reviews Focault's Pendulum is the book that makes you question all your paranoid thoughts. Was any of it happening before you thought of it? Umberto Eco makes 600+ pages past by in a breathtaking way that will not let go of you. Short Cuts is a compilation of Raymond Carver stories which formed the basis for the Robert Altman film ofthe same name. Carver was the master of American short, his work is deceptive in its apparent simplicity White Noise is a novel in which nothing much seems to happen, characters believe they are dying, and life seems to pass by. There's also an airborne toxic event, but we won't talk about that.