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 May, 2008
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Hillary Introduces Last Minute Ventriloquist Act to Woo Voters; Not Enough Dinero in Campaign Funds for Dummy
Posted on May 22, 2008 | 1 Comment -
Nine New Segundo Shows
Posted on May 22, 2008 | No CommentsThis week, nine new installments of The Bat Segundo Show were released from the factory. I’ll be cross-posting the full capsules here at Reluctant Habits (the new preposterous name of... -
Roundup
Posted on May 22, 2008 | 9 CommentsJames Wood vs. Steven Augustine. I hope to have more to say on Wood’s review of O’Neill later, once I have thought more about why it rubs me the wrong... -
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Posted on May 22, 2008 | 3 CommentsThe fourth Indiana Jones movie is a piece of shit. Gone is the sense of wonder. Gone is the great love of Republic serials. This is a movie made by... -
Liberation!
Posted on May 21, 2008 | 5 CommentsOkay, ladies and gents, after nearly six months of experimentation (well, five actually, but who’s really counting?), I have decided to break the single post a day rule. For one... -
Indiana Jones
Posted on May 21, 2008 | No CommentsI have procured tickets for the midnight show of Indiana Jones and the Quest for Geritol. A report of my experience, with an honest assessment of the film, will follow... -
Chicken Wrap
Posted on May 21, 2008 | 1 CommentA chicken wrap now sits in a plastic container in the fridge, and I made this chicken wrap appear because I had skipped lunch, and was very confused. I did... -
The Forgotten Iconoclast
Posted on May 19, 2008 | 2 CommentsAs I sit in my black leather chair (purchased and delivered by OfficeMax; assembled with my bare hands after giving up on the incomprehensible instructions) staring into the dusty window... -
The Intellectual Apocalypse, Case #4,172
Posted on May 16, 2008 | 5 CommentsThe action begins at the four minute mark. Kevin James does not know basic history. It is stunning that such an ignorant moron would be permitted to host a radio... -
Hazy Chintzy Afternoon
Posted on May 16, 2008 | 1 Comment[EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm pleased to announce that Harper has given me a $3 million advance and a guaranteed public shaming by Oprah for my first novel, Hazy Chintzy Afternoon. I... -
Dear Young Reviewer
Posted on May 16, 2008 | 2 CommentsDear Young Reviewer: Thank you so much for writing in! Your writing samples are acceptable, which is saying something, seeing as how they’ve been published on one of those goddam... -
Unputdownable
Posted on May 15, 2008 | 4 CommentsThe rather odd modifier “unputdownable” is frequently attached to a book that compulsively entertains, offers a consistently fascinating narrative, or otherwise works to subsume the reader into an almost narcotic... -
Dossier
Posted on May 14, 2008 | 2 CommentsSubject, thirty-three, contemplated writing a confessional post that pointed to certain emotions established by (a) two phone calls, one currently unreturned, (b) the ontological isthmus from one apartment to another... -
A Hack of a Different Stripe
Posted on May 14, 2008 | 3 CommentsI always dreamed of being like Jackie Collins or Danielle Steele. Of writing novels devoid of character or intelligence or truth. Of multiple marriages that the tabloids could gloss over.... -
Infrequent Posting
Posted on May 12, 2008 | No CommentsDue to many pleasant events over the next few weeks, posting will be less regular, less frequent, with a possibility of intermittent showers and random madness here as the monsters... -
“Am I Being Detained?”
Posted on May 11, 2008 | 2 CommentsThe Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be... -
We Regress the Error
Posted on May 7, 2008 | 3 CommentsDear Peter: I write to impress my most profound apologies for our recent disservice to your book, Cup in the Hole: My Year Puncturing Baltimore’s Yeastern District. Had we been... -
Interview with Ralph Bakshi
Posted on May 7, 2008 | 4 CommentsI recently had the opportunity to talk with underground animator Ralph Bakshi. A portion of our conversation appears this afternoon at Vulture, where you will discover the song that was... -
Is Hillary Finished?
Posted on May 7, 2008 | 3 CommentsLiveblogging the elections. 12:18 AM: Listening to WIBC-FM feed. Indiana remains close, with Hillary ahead by only two percentage points. Gary, Indiana remains the big mystery. Hillary has just announced... -
Free Comic Book Day
Posted on May 6, 2008 | No CommentsI walked into my local comic shop and saw few unfamiliar faces looking over a few freebies. I walked out with a thick stack of comic books, headed home, and... -
PEN: The Three Musketeers Reunited
Posted on May 5, 2008 | No Comments[EDITOR'S NOTE: Sadly, this website's proprietor could not attend PEN World Voices due to contracting a particularly nasty bug. Thankfully, the more robust Eric Rosenfield was able to pick up... -
Concerning Poshlost
Posted on May 3, 2008 | No CommentsFrom John P. Marquand’s Wickford Point: No one could teach anyone else to write. You could be as industrious as you pleased; you could steep yourself in the technique of... -
PEN: In Absentia
Posted on May 2, 2008 | 1 CommentI must have the same thing Tayari had. A deadly strain, not unlike the vicious superflu portrayed in Fiona Maazel’s Last, Last Chance, has knocked your faithful correspondent on his... -
Love Transformer
Posted on May 1, 2008 | No CommentsLove and Sex with Robots David Levy HarperCollins, 334 pages, $24.95 Review by Erin O’Brien Let’s start with the RealDolls. Actually, it’s not the dolls I want to dwell on,...