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The 10 Most Recent Dispatches
- The Bat Segundo Show: Robert A. Caro
- Review: Dark Shadows (2012)
- Wayne Shannon: A Video Tribute
- The Bat Segundo Show: Stewart O’Nan II
- The Bat Segundo Show: Annalena McAfee
- The Bat Segundo Show: Eric Kandel
- Remembering Wayne Shannon (1948-2012)
- The Bat Segundo Show: Jeanette Winterson
- The Bat Segundo Show: Tom Bissell, Part Two
- The Bat Segundo Show: Tom Bissell, Part One
Modern Library Reading Challenge
On January 10, 2011, Managing Editor Edward Champion pledged to read the top 100 fiction books from #100 to #1. Read about his progress as he makes his way through the Modern Library canon!
82. Angle of Repose (April 10, 2012)
83. A Bend in the River (February 15, 2012)
84. The Death of the Heart (January 6, 2012)
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 MiƩville'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.
About Author: BondGirl
Posts by BondGirl
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Wonder Woman interviews the fabulous Ms. Kelly Link
Posted on September 13, 2004 | No CommentsYour trusty Bond Girl Superfriend here with a (sort of) surprise (I stopped getting married long enough to finish it) interview with my Superfriend and one of the most generous... -
Wonder Woman interviews the fabulous Ms. Kelly Link
Posted on September 13, 2004 | No CommentsYour trusty BondGirl Superfriend here with a (sort of) surprise (I stopped getting married long enough to finish it) interview with my Superfriend and one of the most generous writers... -
Wonder Woman interviews the fabulous Ms. Kelly Link
Posted on September 13, 2004 | No CommentsYour trusty BondGirl Superfriend here with a (sort of) surprise (I stopped getting married long enough to finish it) interview with my Superfriend and one of the most generous writers... -
superfriend interview with the fabulous Ms. Link
Posted on September 13, 2004 | No CommentsYour trusty BondGirl Superfriend here with a (sort of) surprise (I stopped getting married long enough to finish it) interview with my Superfriend and one of the most generous writers... -
monday morning theatrics starring Wilton Barnhardt
Posted on August 30, 2004 | 1 CommentThis is Superfriend Bond Girl poking my head up on Monday morning with a surprise for Ed. Last year, Mr. Bond Girl received Wilton Barnhardt’s novel Emma Who Saved My... -
note to the master of the house
Posted on August 21, 2004 | No CommentsJeff Turretine reviews Cloud Atlas in this week’s Book World, and it’s followed by a fascinating q and a with David Mitchell. BW: What did you learn in the process... -
the beautiful and the banal
Posted on August 14, 2004 | 4 CommentsSuperfriend butting in here to say: Let’s have a Tom Shales kind of morning, shall we? He’s in rare form — and believe you me, I don’t say that lightly,... -
zine machines
Posted on August 6, 2004 | No CommentsThe Washington Post Weekend looks at the current state of zines (sort of, in pretty skimming, general terms). (Note: The Rowe being quoted here is Chip Rowe, who works for... -
you can have our backyard
Posted on August 1, 2004 | No Comments(….as soon as the birds leave anyway.) Guerilla drive-ins are the new best activity: For three years, cult-movie buffs have been organizing “guerrilla drive-ins” in a number of cities, rigging... -
stop, you’re scaring me
Posted on July 28, 2004 | No CommentsAbebooks.com has released the results of a Student Survey of 2,000 students aged 16 to 30 in which females said they’d be more likely to buy books recommended by John...