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 March, 2007
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There’s Room Yet for Those Pesky Amateurs
Posted on March 26, 2007 | No CommentsNew York Times: ” It is a difficult idea for research and development departments to accept, but one of his studies found that 82 percent of new capabilities for scientific... -
Henry Miller Still Raising a Needless Ruckus
Posted on March 26, 2007 | 1 CommentOne would think that more than four decades after it was declared “not obscene” by the Supreme Court, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer would be on more or less solid... -
Ben Schott: Absconding With Personal Experience?
Posted on March 26, 2007 | 4 CommentsAll that apparent vetting and editing at the NYTBR wasn’t enough to stop L’Affaire Schott from sullying Tanenhaus’s pristine gates with redolent taints. The story is this: Ben Schott wrote... -
Roundup
Posted on March 26, 2007 | 2 CommentsForget NaNoWriMo. Try writing a book in 72 hours. Does rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz look angry with the photographer or comparatively comfortable with his white walls and parquet floors? And... -
More Love for Jack Butler
Posted on March 26, 2007 | 3 CommentsIn the event that my Jack Butler streetcred is waning, I should note that, by some miracle, I have obtained the hardcover edition of Jack Butler’s Living in Little Rock... -
Books vs. Television
Posted on March 25, 2007 | 3 CommentsFrom Scarlett Thomas’s excellent novel, Popco: “I read a lot. I helped my grandfather with his various projects. I learnt how to compile crosswords….” He shakes his head. “So basically... -
Teo Kridech, My Hero
Posted on March 25, 2007 | 3 CommentsSan Francisco Chronicle: “The posts ‘nearly killed my business,’ said Kridech, a native of France who has worked in the food industry for 25 years and spent $150,000 revamping the... -
Optional Cost: Installation in a Museum
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsAmazon: “I have sampled 9′s over the world (I am a professional 9 user) and this 9 is a decent bargain for the price. In my opinion the Emtek Solid... -
Hungry Mouths and Bosom Snow
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsThe Ten Most Magnificent Trees in the World. -
It is TLC, Not THC
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsNew York Times Corrections: “Because of an editing error, a report in the National Briefing column on Wednesday, about a measure passed by the Georgia House to ban the sale... -
The Latest Gimmicky Music Video
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No Comments -
Brushing Up on Airbrush
Posted on March 23, 2007 | 2 CommentsIf you can get excited over a heavily airbrushed and art directed “nude” photographs of a cute-in-a-girl-next-door-way actress from The Office, when the actress in question is merely standing behind... -
Of Course, Bil Keane Would Take That as a Compliment
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsJohn Brownlee: “You know, I remember when I thought New Yorker cartoons were cutting-edge stuff, clever and bold. Now it’s like Family Circus for smug metropolitan pseudo-intellectuals. Sometimes I wonder... -
Three Color Blind Mice: See How They See
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsScientific American: “According to Gerald Jacobs, a psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the research that allowed these mice to see in full color was an attempt ‘to... -
Note to Managers: If You’re Trying to Keep Your White Knights on Staff, “Dude” is Pretty Counter-Intuitive
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsGalleycat: “‘I don’t want to sign.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I want to discuss it with my wife.’ ‘Dude,’ said Harris, ‘sign it now, you won’t get a better deal.’” -
Roundup, Part Three (You Like Me Coffee! You REALLY REALLY LIKE ME Coffee! Version)
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsLev Grossman has made an astonishing discovery! Check this shit out, yo! People are actually using the Web to create comics! And they’ve been doing since the late 1990s! I... -
Roundup, Part Two
Posted on March 23, 2007 | No CommentsPW reports that booksellers are “hot for Gore.” It’s quite a phenomenon, really, Gore’s post-2000 election life. At every book signing, booksellers are throwing their bras and panties at Al... -
Roundup, Part One
Posted on March 23, 2007 | 3 CommentsVariety reports that the film adaptation of Revolutionary Road is all systems go. But it comes with a price. Sam Mendes’ nepotism aside, Kate Winslet makes sense as April, but... -
And Print People Think Bloggers Have Conflicts of Interest
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 1 CommentIt’s a mess at the Los Angeles Times right now. A plan to have Hollywood producer Brian Grazer guest-edit the Sunday Current section has gone awry — in part because... -
I Saw This Coming
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 2 CommentsEditor and Publisher: “The mystery creator of the Orwellian YouTube ad against Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic operative who worked for a digital consulting firm with ties to rival... -
Orson Welles: The O.G. Podcaster
Posted on March 22, 2007 | No CommentsA good deal of Orson Welles’ radio work is online, including his dramatizations of Les Miserables and The Pickwick Papers, which I’ve long been curious about. (via 2 Blowhards) -
Note to Actors: Avoid David O. Russell At All Costs
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 4 CommentsMore on Russell’s Antics: New York Times: Russell puts Christopher Nolan into a headlock, shrieking at Dustin Hoffman, and more. YouTube: Lily Tomlin lets loose choice words at David O.... -
Uh, Because It Sells?
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 1 CommentMichael Levitin: “Do we need another postmodern version of the Haggadah? And if we do, why is Foer—a fiction writer who is not observant, who does not go to synagogue... -
Harry Potter 7: It’s Not Easy Being Green
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 1 CommentFor those interested, the new Harry Potter book will be 784 pages. The first print run is set at a mind-boggling 12 million. The paper used will contain “a minimum... -
In Which I Join the Fold
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 1 CommentSince I’ve amassed a tidy arsenal of reviews over the past six months, and, since my litblogging colleagues Mark Sarvas, Lizzie Skurnick, Sarah Weinman, Michael Orthofer, and Jessa Crispin were... -
Waldenbooks Stores Replaced by “Concept Stores”
Posted on March 22, 2007 | No CommentsIt’s been a long time since I’ve set foot into a Waldenbooks store, but Bloomberg reports that Waldenbooks is shutting half of its stores, selling the majority of its international... -
RIP Catherine Seipp
Posted on March 22, 2007 | No CommentsLos Angeles Times: “Catherine Seipp, a writer and media critic who became known in the 1990s for her pointed coverage of the Los Angeles Times in Buzz magazine, has died.... -
RIP Calvert DeForest
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 1 Comment -
One Sentence Reviews
Posted on March 22, 2007 | No CommentsTwo English Girls: The gender swap notwithstanding, I liked it the first time when it was called Jules and Jim. (with apologies to Kevin Smokler) -
Roundup
Posted on March 22, 2007 | 5 CommentsIan McEwan may be taking a page out of Margaret Atwood’s playbook. McEwan has decided to forego touring for On Chesil Beach, replacing his bookstore appearances with a 23 minute...