Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
Archive for January, 2004
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New Hampshire Predictions
Posted on January 26, 2004 | 8 CommentsWell, hell, if Oliver’s going to do it, then so am I. Here’s my New Hampshire prediction. And I’ll even throw up percentage points. 1. Kerry 30% 2. Dean 29%... -
More Serials! More! Newspapers, Are You Listening?
Posted on January 26, 2004 | 1 CommentAlexander McCall Smith’s new one, 44 Scotland Street, will be serialized in the Scotsman. (via Publisher’s Lunch) -
Monday Morning Boiler Plate Blog Entry
Posted on January 26, 2004 | 2 CommentsWe [drank too much]/[had too many personal fiascos]/[raped a small poodle] over the weekend. It was an experience that [left us intellectually lacking]/[has us pondering __________]/[pairing our argyles]. [Not that... -
Comfort Books
Posted on January 26, 2004 | 2 CommentsTerry and OGIC have fessed their comfort reading. I thought I’d add to the hue and cry, hoping that other swell folks would do the same. “Comfort reading” has been... -
Tom Cruise: All-American Bacon
Posted on January 26, 2004 | 2 Comments -
Quickies
Posted on January 26, 2004 | No CommentsPrimer: Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The film was made for $7,000, doesn’t appear to have a distribution deal yet, but somehow... -
Well, Goddam
Posted on January 25, 2004 | 3 CommentsI’m embarassed to confess this, but the end of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time brought tears to my eyes. Everything that Everything is Illuminated... -
Edwards Develops Rictus Mouth to Gain Slight Edge in Polls
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 1 Comment -
More 1992 v. 2004 Primary Comparisons
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 3 CommentsDelaware: February 3, 2004 Primary 1992 Tsongas 30.2% Uncommitted: 29.6% Clinton: 20.8% Brown: 19.5% Missouri: February 3, 2004 Primary 1992 Clinton: 45.1% Tsongas: 10.2% Brown: 5.7% Uncommitted: 39% South Carolina:... -
Dean Isn’t Finished…Yet
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 3 CommentsCNN reports the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows Kerry ahead with 35%, with Dean following at 23%. If Dean loses Tuesday, it won’t be the first time an eventual front-runner... -
J-Franz Gets a Phone-In
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 4 CommentsA new tell-all book on the Kennedys is coming out. But this time, it’s from the inside. The book is authored by Christopher Kennedy Lawford, and will include an essay... -
Noir City #4
Posted on January 24, 2004 | No CommentsThursday and Friday’s screenings made ten movies in five days. This was drastic media input by all reasonable standards, particularly given the four hours of sleep I was getting, the... -
R.I.P. Helmut
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 4 Comments[1/25/06 UPDATE: Two years after Helmut Newton's death, it occurs to me that there is nobody who can really replace him. There is nobody daring enough to make people sexy... -
Walter Kirn is David Denby’s Bitch
Posted on January 24, 2004 | 1 CommentAnd while we’re on the subject of the rich, I couldn’t help but notice Walter Kirn’s review of American Sucker. Kirn writes, “Instead, like countless other Americans who had their... -
Eat the Rich
Posted on January 24, 2004 | No CommentsHe’s noticed that the heft of money makes the bodies of the wealthy more dense, more boldly angled and thus threatening, even when suited, dressed, coated — and wrapped in... -
LiveJournal RSS Feed
Posted on January 23, 2004 | 4 CommentsI don’t know what in sam hill this will do for you, but Susan has been nice enough to create a LiveJournal RSS feed for this place. Me? I feed... -
Weblog Antics
Posted on January 23, 2004 | No CommentsAna Marie Cox + Gawker = Wonkette. Nice move. I take back everything bad I ever said about Nick Denton. However, “Wonkette” sounds like a love child between Chewbacca and... -
If You See This Man in the Streets, Hassle Him Mercilessly
Posted on January 23, 2004 | 2 Comments -
The Times: What Is To Be Done
Posted on January 23, 2004 | 7 CommentsFolks, folks, folks, folks, folks, folks. It’s terrible news, yes. But it hasn’t happened. It ain’t a fait accompli. Here is what we must do. In order to prevent this... -
Clark Confuses New Hampshire Primary Debate With Jujitsu Match
Posted on January 23, 2004 | No Comments -
Remarks from the President
Posted on January 22, 2004 | 5 CommentsThe crazed Dean speech was one thing, but I’m starting to have grave concerns about the President. Here’s a partial transcript: Remarks by the President to the Press Pool Plenty... -
Who Needs Those Two-Page DeLillo Reviews When You’ve Got John Grisham?
Posted on January 22, 2004 | 1 CommentHorrible news about the NYTBR‘s change in direction: Well, if you write non-fiction, review non-fiction, or prefer to read non-fiction, break out the champagne. “The most compelling ideas tend to... -
Noir City #3
Posted on January 22, 2004 | No CommentsLast night, Eddie Mueller paired two movies based on W. Somerset Maugham material. Maugham, who was the highest paid author in the world during the 1930s, had a good deal... -
For Those of You Wondering
Posted on January 22, 2004 | 3 CommentsI owe emails to a lot of people. You will get them tomorrow. Even if I die without food or water in a locked room, I am determined to answer... -
Ribbed for Spot’s Pleasure
Posted on January 22, 2004 | No CommentsIn Washington, the Folger Shakespeare Library has the coffee table book prototype on display. The book, recently restored and some 400 years old, contains an illustrated history of the world... -
Nothing Personal, Nautilus, It’s Just Business
Posted on January 22, 2004 | 11 CommentsFrom Peter Biskind’s Down and Dirty Pictures: Undoubtedly urged on by Eve, [Harvey Weinstein] hired a personal trainer. At the outset, so the story goes, he told the trainer, “You... -
Noir City #2
Posted on January 21, 2004 | 2 CommentsLast night was Round 2 of Joan Crawford vs. Barbara Stanwyck. I wasn’t there for Round 1, largely because I had seen both films (Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity) dozens... -
Quickies
Posted on January 21, 2004 | 2 CommentsThanks to computers, professor Floyd Horowitz has uncovered 24 stories likely to have been authored by Henry James. Using common phrases, themes and pen names (the same methodology used to... -
Bush Invokes 1970s Glen A. Larson Television Aesthetic to Declare Prosperity Just Around the Corner
Posted on January 21, 2004 | 1 Comment -
Did the Van Man Wear Ray Bans?
Posted on January 21, 2004 | No CommentsRonald Jordan, known as the White Van Man, stole tens of thousands of Lonely Planet guides and hawked them on the street with help of a few shadowy vendors. But...