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 June, 2004
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Believe Me, Umberto Eco Makes a More Compelling Case for Sandwiches
Posted on June 15, 2004 | No CommentsA desperate baker in Portland, Maine has tried to woo low-carb obsessives back to bread with an Atkins alternative culled from The Da Vinci Code. -
Pryor to Written Approval
Posted on June 15, 2004 | No CommentsRecent NYT refugee Elvis Mitchell is writing a book about Richard Pryor. Meanwhile, Walter Mosley is writing the liner notes to a forthcoming 9-CD boxed set. And Pryor himself is... -
A Page of “Ulysses” A Day — That’s All We Ask
Posted on June 15, 2004 | 1 CommentBotheration is blogging a page of Ulysses a day, courtesy of the 100th anniversary. (via MadInkBeard) -
Yann Martel Off the Deep End
Posted on June 15, 2004 | No CommentsThe Globe and Mail: “Martel shrugs when asked whether he’s become downright smug because of his recent success. But he follows this shoulder roll with diabolical laughter, sticking his tongue... -
Comics as Literature — Some Starting Points
Posted on June 15, 2004 | 8 CommentsSuperhero Comics as Literature: “It was precisely this pathos that made the potential literary quality of superhero comics almost impossible. Before Starman, comics like the aforementioned Watchmen and Dark Knight... -
Someone Cuts Through the Swath
Posted on June 15, 2004 | 1 CommentRasputin gets to the heart of the matter: “What it comes down to is this: Comics began as a populist artform. They belong to the uneducated lower classes. No self-appointed... -
ULA A-Go-Go
Posted on June 15, 2004 | 1 CommentKing Wenclas writes in to report that Snobs Revisited Part 1 and Part II has been posted at the ULA site. This time, the ULA’s main targets are Bookforum, Sven... -
In Defense of Rebecca Walker
Posted on June 14, 2004 | 4 CommentsDeborah Solomon & Rebecca Walker: You’re the daughter of the novelist Alice Walker. Why did you decide to take her name instead of your father’s, who is a lawyer? “It’s... -
Drifting Inside for a Mite
Posted on June 14, 2004 | 3 CommentsAs can be gathered from the slipshod updates, and my firm resistance to the idea of giving up blogging during this quasi-hiatus period, current life has reached levels beyond hectic.... -
The Secret to Being Shamelessly Lionized? Convince the Public That You’re Real
Posted on June 12, 2004 | 2 CommentsPatricia Harrington of Nashville, TN: “He was an honest man — very honest — and a real man.” John Morton of Cumming, GA: “That’s what impressed me, that he was... -
How Would Gavin Stand in Front of Pruitt-Igoe?
Posted on June 11, 2004 | No CommentsMy feelings towards Mayor Gavin Newsom are mixed, but I think we can all agree you’d be hard pressed to find a sillier way of showing concern when standing in... -
RIP Ray Charles
Posted on June 10, 2004 | 2 Comments -
Put Up or Shut Up
Posted on June 9, 2004 | 8 CommentsToo many balls in the air. The content here sucks isn’t as grand as I’d like it to be. I’m pulling the plug for a few weeks. One more thing:... -
Hopefully, We Fare About as Well in September
Posted on June 9, 2004 | 2 CommentsThe Mercury offers a first look at Dave Eggers’ play, Sacrament (adapted from You Will Know Our Velocity), concluding that “the playwright and director have not yet found a way... -
Lamda Lit Award Winners
Posted on June 9, 2004 | No CommentsAmong several award winners, Christopher Bram has won the Gay Men’s Fiction Award a Lamda for Lives of the Circus Animals, a comedy set in the New York theatre world.... -
Actors/Volunteers for “Wrestling”
Posted on June 9, 2004 | No CommentsApologies for corrupting Return of the Reluctant business with the play business. We will have a separation between church and state firmly in place next month. But if you are... -
Tanenhaus Watch
Posted on June 8, 2004 | No CommentsUnder Tanenhaus’s firms hands, it appears that the NYTBR has begun issuing corrections. The corrections, as usual, are laced with the kind of minutiae that will prevent merely a handful... -
Orange Prize Winner Announced
Posted on June 8, 2004 | No CommentsAndrea Levy has won for Small Island. -
Publishers Begin Reagan Grave-Dancing in Record Time
Posted on June 8, 2004 | No CommentsReuters: “‘We all said Ronald Reagan has passed away — what should we do?’ said Gene Taft, director of publicity at publisher PublicAffairs. ‘Maybe we should take some orders.’” -
Transit of Venus
Posted on June 8, 2004 | No CommentsWe here in North America don’t get the one going down today, but on June 6, 2012, the rest of the world will be jealous. -
My Unilateral Country: Right AND Left
Posted on June 8, 2004 | 2 CommentsHere in the City, there’s a big brouhaha going down because of a Biotech conference happening at the Moscone. In one corner, there’s Mayor Gavin Newsom and the business sector... -
San Francisco — Third City?
Posted on June 8, 2004 | No CommentsBay Area improv gets a big cover story in this week’s Bay Area Guardian, with the usual suspects cited (including True Fiction Magazine and Diane Rachel, whom I was fortunate... -
On Presidents
Posted on June 7, 2004 | 5 CommentsRight after Ronald Reagan died, I began reading Joseph J. Ellis’s fascinating biography American Sphinx, which attempts to log the duplicities and conflicting character of Thomas Jefferson. I had long... -
Major Newspaper Introduces Book Spoiler Policy
Posted on June 7, 2004 | 1 CommentUSA Today has spoiled the ending to the next Dark Tower installment. I won’t even bother to link to the article, but, needless to say, seeing as how I was... -
Be a Winner at the Game of Life
Posted on June 7, 2004 | 5 CommentsJonathan Heawood has attempted to take advantage of Penguin’s recent findings. Apparently, Penguin Books has determined that men seen to be reading a book are more attractive to the opposite... -
Weekend Update
Posted on June 6, 2004 | 4 CommentsThe play is progressing. Early feedback has produced some very thoughtful conversations in email and in person, one of which went down today with close members of the crew at... -
Even in the Book World, Crime Does Not Pay
Posted on June 4, 2004 | 1 CommentThe Chicago Tribune considers the case of David George Holt, a seemingly quiet man who used various aliases to swindle countless rare-book dealers to the tune of $95,000. Despite serving... -
No Sex This Time…Really.
Posted on June 4, 2004 | 1 CommentDue to a number of exciting things going down, it will be silent around these parts until maybe Sunday. Until then, check out Mark and Ron’s outstanding coverage of BookExpo,... -
Michiko: A Homebody Toppled Over the Edge?
Posted on June 3, 2004 | 3 CommentsThe first paragraph of Michicko’s review of the new post-Bridget Jones Helen Fielding book features a very disturbing segue: “As Bridget Jones and most single women well know, there’s nothing... -
Book Babes Smackdown
Posted on June 3, 2004 | No CommentsIt looks like you’ll have two shots to watch Mark and Ron vs. the Book Babes. Book TV reports that they will be airing the Saturday coverage (which will include...