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The 10 Most Recent Dispatches
- A Sense of Proportion
- 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
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.
Auctorial Doppelgangers Archive
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Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twenty-Four
Posted on October 11, 2007 | 2 CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Joshua Ferris, who will soon attend The National Book Awards Horror Picture Show PICTURED RIGHT: Barry Bostwick, who appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twenty-Three
Posted on October 11, 2007 | 1 CommentPICTURED LEFT: Shalom Auslander, starting to have doubts about his Orthodox Jewish upbringing PICTURED RIGHT: Chief Galen Tyrol, starting to have doubts about his human upbringing -
Auctorial doppelgangers, edition number whatever.
Posted on May 17, 2007 | 3 CommentsI’ve lost track, but it’s a fine tradition; maybe Ed can tidy up the subject when he returns. Meanwhile, have a look at one of your guest bloggers, along with... -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twenty-Two
Posted on November 2, 2006 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Richard Dawkins, made name by playing serial creationist killer. PICTURED RIGHT: Anthony Hopkins, made name by playing serial killer. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twenty-One
Posted on November 1, 2006 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Claire Messud, has a picture of a castle on the cover of The Emperor’s Children PICTURED RIGHT: Enya, lives in a castle.