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 July, 2004
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Time Was, George Will’s Syndicated Content for the Midwest Fostered Folksy Generalizations ‘Bout Ol’ Readin’ News
Posted on July 22, 2004 | No CommentsGeorge Will: “Time was, books were the primary means of knowing things. Now most people learn most things visually, from the graphic presentation of immediately, effortlessly accessible pictures.” GEORGE WILL:... -
50 Essential Reads & My Illiterate Ass
Posted on July 22, 2004 | 6 CommentsMore fun from Kevin, based on the recent Orange Prize essential list. Your mission: Bold the titles you’ve read. My count is 22, or less than half of the 50. -
Jerry Goldsmith Dead
Posted on July 22, 2004 | No CommentsOne of the greatest living movie composers, Jerry Goldsmith, has passed on. He was 75. Goldsmith composed over three hundred scores (more than Ennio Morricone) and nearly every one of... -
Glengarry Powell Ross
Posted on July 22, 2004 | 2 CommentsPowell’s is hosting an essay contest celebrating ten years of bidness. Put that credit card down! That credit card is for buyers! You think I’m fucking with you? I am... -
Kerry Unveils Surprise Arm Implant to Increase Daily Handshake Quota
Posted on July 22, 2004 | No Comments -
Color Us Momentarily Incapacitated
Posted on July 20, 2004 | 1 CommentWe’re on the mend at a particularly bad time. We’ll get through it. We always do. But this means scant updates (if any at all) for the rest of the... -
Woof Woof: Who Let the Grads Out?
Posted on July 20, 2004 | 11 CommentsOne is struck by the ponderous and patently silly nature of Mr. Munson’s deconstruction. Hey, Sam, I’ve got your deliberately informal tone right here. It’s called letting your hair down.... -
It’s Time to Bury the Corpse
Posted on July 20, 2004 | 6 CommentsI don’t watch a lot of television. In fact, just about the only time I turn the teevee on is to watch Six Feet Under, which in its previous seasons... -
Don’t the Ego Look Lonesome
Posted on July 20, 2004 | 9 Comments[EDITOR'S NOTE: Return of the Reluctant has obtained an advance copy of Stanley Crouch's memoir, entitled I'll Slap 'Em If They Smoke My Shit, to be published by Knopf in... -
Kerry Conceals Left Hand to Maintain Symmetry for Photo Op
Posted on July 19, 2004 | No Comments -
Human Decency at a Premium
Posted on July 19, 2004 | 2 CommentsWhen I first heard the news about soldiers anally raping children in Abu Ghraib last night (Seymour Hersh says that the Pentagon is sitting on the tapes), I hoped to... -
But He Would Have Liked It Better If It Came from Steely Dan
Posted on July 19, 2004 | No CommentsHoly frijole! Looks like Elvis Costello’s first orchestral work, Il Sogno, has the endorsement of Terry Teachout. -
I Am a Fugitive White-Suited Writer from a Typewriting Gang
Posted on July 19, 2004 | No CommentsNew York Post: “The full manuscript of ‘Charlotte Simmons’ has not been turned in, sources say, but The Post obtained about 100 unedited manuscript pages. The pages indicate that the... -
Review Update
Posted on July 19, 2004 | No CommentsMy review of Chang-rae Lee’s Aloft is now up at January. Reviews of The Coma and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas are forthcoming at various places. -
Those Vituperative Librarians Leave Bad Childhood Memories, Don’t They?
Posted on July 19, 2004 | No CommentsWNBC: “A 36-year-old man led police on a short car chase, driving against traffic on a busy boulevard so he wouldn’t get caught with a stolen library book…. The chase... -
The Bohemian Grove: Continuing the Long Legacy of Racist Elitism
Posted on July 19, 2004 | 1 CommentSan Francisco Chronicle: “One year, San Francisco novelist Herb Gold said he was offered an associate membership if he would help write the Grove play. Gold took fellow writer Earnest... -
I’ll See Your Worst Writer of His Generation and Raise You a Bumptious Heehaw
Posted on July 19, 2004 | 1 CommentJohn Leonard: “Think of it: with a whole world of worthy targets — Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner, Donald Trump, Conrad Black, Eli Manning, Shell Oil, Clear Channel, Conde Nast —... -
The Ultimate Compromise
Posted on July 18, 2004 | 3 CommentsAfter hearing early notice that the film version of I, Robot was nothing less than a crapfest (hardly the stuff of Asimov; the new version had killer robots, no less),... -
Visit the Elegant Man Behind the Variation
Posted on July 16, 2004 | No CommentsMark’s recovering from “unpleasant matters.” In lieu of nothing here, please visit the man and check out his back entries. Despite all this, Mark’s been maintaining a fantastic literary blog.... -
James Wood is the Worst Generalizer of His Generation
Posted on July 15, 2004 | No CommentsWe’re operating on about one thruster right now to get us to O’Hare, so it’s possible we’ve taken leave of our senses. But this Laura Miller essay comparing Dale Peck... -
Crouch Announces “I Am King of the World” to Bemused New Yorkers
Posted on July 15, 2004 | No CommentsGawker: “[Crouch] He was overheard talking about his recent physical assault on critic Dale Peck (2nd item), saying that he ‘had the distinct feeling that if I hit him a... -
Sometimes You Eat the Bar, Sometimes…Well, Sometimes the Bar Eats You
Posted on July 15, 2004 | No CommentsIt may seem a cop-out, but real life (namely, this weekend’s auditions) has us really busy. Expect little today and probably nothing much here until Monday. -
Bush Reveals Secret Plot to Overturn Twenty-Second Amendment
Posted on July 14, 2004 | No Comments -
Nineteen Suns Before Earth Hands Him to 30
Posted on July 14, 2004 | 1 Comment– You are not doing enough. – Nonsense, mofo. – No, you are feeling the appropriate sensations. – Of age? – More than that, padre, but that’s part of the... -
Will It Keep Him Quiet or Make Him Write a Longass Aggro Essay?
Posted on July 14, 2004 | No CommentsBuy Hitch a Drink. Not since Sinclair Lewis has a writer been so actively encouraged to stay drunk. (via LNR Books Diary) -
A Happy Year
Posted on July 14, 2004 | No CommentsAbout Last Night is one year old. We’d have more to say, but then we’d have to unveil the latest draft of the Teachout roast we’ve been working on for... -
The Book Review & Reading Climate
Posted on July 14, 2004 | No CommentsSara looks at book reviews from an auctorial perspective. She writes, “The reviews can be limp with distaste or bristling with sarcasm or even positive — but one thing is... -
Peck-Crouch: Linda Yablonsky’s Take
Posted on July 14, 2004 | 5 CommentsThanks in part to Sarah, I just spoke with Linda Yablonsky, who had lunch with Dale Peck when Stanley Crouch confronted him. She told me that as the two of... -
Thankfully Bruckheimer Didn’t Salivate Over the Balloon
Posted on July 14, 2004 | 2 CommentsEnduring Love, a film adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel, is set to make its world premiere at the next Toronto International Film Festival. The film was directed by Notting... -
Peck-Crouch Update
Posted on July 14, 2004 | 2 CommentsNewsday has followed up on the Peck-Crouch smackdown. Crouch declined to comment, but he acknowledges in the article that he saw Peck at Tartine. Newsday did note that Crouch was...