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, 2007
-
Roundup
Posted on July 25, 2007 | No CommentsLast night’s overwhelming support for the Herring Wonder exceeded even my expectations. I felt bad for Craig “The Crippler” Davidson, who maintained gravitas near the end amidst a decidedly pro-Ames... -
The Big Fight
Posted on July 24, 2007 | No CommentsRemember: the fight is tonight at Gleason’s Gym, 77 Front Street, at 8:00 PM. The fighters: Craig Davidson (boxing record 0-1) and Jonathan Ames (boxing record 1-4)! The opening act:... -
BSS #120: Berkeley Breathed, Part Two
Posted on July 24, 2007 | No Comments[This podcast continues our two-part interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. The first part is available here.] Condition of Mr. Segundo: Searching for penguin brides. Author: Berkeley Breathed Subjects... -
The Virtues of Binary Thinking
Posted on July 24, 2007 | 2 CommentsWhat are economists good for anyway? I look at Tyler Cowen and I ask for one main piece of information: Does this man have a sense of humor? Yes or... -
Roundup
Posted on July 24, 2007 | 3 CommentsA quick reminder that Jonathan Ames and Craig Davidson will be fighting tonight at Gleason’s Gym at 8:00 PM. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s excellent comic, Y: The Last... -
Jimmy Page, Plagiarist?
Posted on July 23, 2007 | 3 CommentsThis Bert Jansch adaptation of a folk song, “Black Waterside,” sounds an awful lot like “Black Mountain Side,” does it not? And here’s the original “Dazed and Confused.” (MP3) Well,... -
Another Great Gone
Posted on July 23, 2007 | No CommentsLazlo Kovacs dead. -
Appointment in Samarra Revisited
Posted on July 23, 2007 | 8 CommentsI’ve met Howard Junker — the man was silly enough to drink a barely drinkable pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon with me — and I also email him from time... -
Early Morning Roundup
Posted on July 22, 2007 | 1 CommentI can truthfully think of no duller candidate for a lead review than this guy. Other Ed, currently counting Rowling units, on Walter Kurtz. Mr. Mitchelmore raises an interesting point... -
Theresa Duncan Dead
Posted on July 20, 2007 | 13 CommentsHorrible news. [UPDATE: Pardon my laconic post. The news of these two deaths (Duncan and her boyfriend, Jeremy Blake) hit me as I was about to embark on a restful... -
New L.A. Times Piece
Posted on July 20, 2007 | 4 CommentsI wrote a lengthy feature on confessional writing that appears in this Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. Many thanks to the writers who talked with me for the piece and who... -
Lost PKD Interveiw
Posted on July 20, 2007 | No CommentsAndrew Cornell sends me this fascinating link, which contains a lost Philip K. Dick interview cut up into various MP3s for your listening pleasure. -
Fringe on the Horizon
Posted on July 20, 2007 | No CommentsAbout three years ago, when I talked with fellow theatrical producers at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, many of them told me that they had serious reservations about the New... -
Apostasy to Chicago?
Posted on July 19, 2007 | No CommentsRadar: “According to the Chicago Film Critics Association, 20th Century Fox has instituted a policy of favoritism in the Windy City, providing special treatment to select film reviewers. Others, it... -
7 Additional Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit (And Become a Misanthropic Kook in the Process)
Posted on July 19, 2007 | 2 CommentsSo here’s a list on how to become a lifetime reader. But this series of suggestions doesn’t perform true justice for the truly hard-core. Because this list is inadequate if... -
Computers: Taking All the Fun Out of Commonplace Ontology
Posted on July 19, 2007 | No CommentsBBC: “A Canadian team has created a computer program that can win or draw any game, no matter who the opponent is. It took an average of 50 computers nearly... -
The Follicle of the Century
Posted on July 19, 2007 | 1 CommentLadies and gentlemen, Phil Spector’s hair. -
Binelli Talks with DeLillo
Posted on July 19, 2007 | 1 CommentI have no idea if Mark Binelli’s interview with Don DeLillo was killed by Rolling Stone, but Guernica Magazine has picked it up. -
The Herring Wonder Returns!
Posted on July 19, 2007 | 2 Comments -
Roundup
Posted on July 18, 2007 | No CommentsRon Howard will be destroying directing Claire Messud’s The Emperor’s Children for the big screen. Douglas Coupland’s JPod is being turned into a 13-part television series. (via Bookninja) Okay, this... -
It is a Truth Universally Unacknowledged?
Posted on July 18, 2007 | 10 CommentsDaily Mail: “For when a budding author sent typed chapters of Jane Austen’s novels to 18 of them, changing just the titles and characters’ names, only one recognised her words.... -
The Eight Hours Later Than Usual Roundup
Posted on July 18, 2007 | 6 Comments“Your money is now our money and we will spend it on drugs!” Simon Owens has written an extensive piece on Harriet Klausner, who is truly a menace to coherent... -
Free Book Day
Posted on July 18, 2007 | 3 CommentsPW‘s Douglas Wolk reports on some of the successful efforts to turn average Joes and Janes into successful comic book regulars. Among one of the comic industry’s more enriching promotional... -
It Can’t Happen Here
Posted on July 17, 2007 | No Comments -
“Unlike a Lot of Women, I Like Beer!”
Posted on July 17, 2007 | 3 CommentsWell, who knew that there weren’t a lot of women who imbibed beer in the 1970s? That is, if we believe Michelob. There are important questions that must be answered:... -
I Get the Picture: Rachel Cooke is Living Under a Rock
Posted on July 17, 2007 | 4 CommentsI used to think that Rachel Cooke’s columns were authored by some sheltered journalist who never left her house and who simply wasn’t paying much attention to rudimentary trends developing... -
Roundup
Posted on July 17, 2007 | 10 CommentsThe Millions offers a highly subjective ranking of the McSweeney’s issues, although I’d argue that Chabon’s editorial work on the second genre volume (Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, never issued... -
Read a Book, Read a Book, Read a Motherfucking Book
Posted on July 16, 2007 | 9 CommentsThis may be the first reading campaign that has expressed the urgency of reading, while simultaneously berating its audience. And that’s not all. The spot also demands, “Your body needs... -
Wait a Minute: Segundo’s a Legit Source?
Posted on July 16, 2007 | 2 CommentsI’ve just been informed that the good folks at the Dictionary of Literary Biography have used The Bat Segundo Show as a source. Clearly, they have been misinformed about this... -
Harcourt and Houghton Mifflin Consolidated
Posted on July 16, 2007 | No CommentsPublishers Weekly: “The HM Riverdeep Group has agreed to acquire the U.S. business operations of Harcourt Education for $4 billion. The deal, which is expected to close later in early...