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.
Awards Archive
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Of Course, It Could Also Be That Midlist Literary Writers Need Something on the Mantle to Justify Their Poverty
Posted on December 30, 2005 | No CommentsLouis Menand offers this interesting overview of book award circlejerks-cum-review of James English’s The Economy of Prestige: “What makes them valuable is the recognition that they are valuable. This recognition... -
2005 — The Year of the Bad Boys
Posted on November 30, 2005 | No CommentsBanville, Vollmann and now…Gilbert Sorrentino winning the Lannan Literary Lifetime Achievement Award. If 2005 isn’t the year for literary underdogs, I don’t know what is. (Thanks, Molly!) -
HOLY SHIT!
Posted on November 16, 2005 | 3 CommentsWilliam Vollmann won the National Book Award for Europe Central. Way to go, Vollmann. It is about time that Mr. Vollmann’s incredible output be recognized. Between this and Banville winning... -
Four Books Enter, One Book Leaves
Posted on November 16, 2005 | No CommentsThe Whitbread shortlists have been announced. While Rushdie received no love from Booker, he might just be making a comeback with Whitbread. I’m mystified, however, why Nick Hornby was nominated,... -
Pinter Bags Nobel
Posted on October 13, 2005 | No CommentsAnd the cause of dissension and delay? Apparently, Harold Pinter. Let us hope that this encourages Mr. Pinter to pen more plays rather than poetry. -
National Book Awards Finalists
Posted on October 12, 2005 | 1 CommentHoly shit! Vollmann gets nominated, as does Christopher Sorrentino. We got us some surprises this year for that National Book Awards. Here’s the full list: FICTION E.L. Doctorow, The March... -
I Am Knut!
Posted on October 12, 2005 | 2 Comments[Translated from the Swedish by an anonymous reader. Culled from remarks given at a press conference this week.] I am Knut Ahnlund and you’re not. I pity you for not... -
National Book Awards Finalists
Posted on October 11, 2005 | No CommentsAs a reader recently noted, there are now so many major awards being announced that it is often difficult to keep track. Tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST, this year’s National... -
Roundup
Posted on October 11, 2005 | 4 CommentsFrances Dinkelspiel covers the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. This week, in the City, it’s Litquake. We’ll be crawling ourselves this Saturday, in more ways than one. Word on the... -
Some Guy in Southern California Named Mark Just Blew His Load
Posted on October 10, 2005 | No CommentsThis year’s Booker winner: John Banville, The Sea. -
The Ultimate Development in the Frey-Eggers “Best Writer of My Generation” Fiasco
Posted on September 23, 2005 | 2 CommentsJust when you thought that Oprah had confined herself to dead writers and the “Summer of Faulkner,” Oprah recently announced a return to living writers. Her first new book along... -
The Moral of the Story: If You Haven’t Changed Your First Name to “Jonathan” by Now, You Should Consider It
Posted on September 20, 2005 | 2 CommentsA hearty congratulations to Jonathan Lethem, who won a MacArthur Genius Grant this year. Lethem, beyond being a standout correspondent, is also an adventurous stylist and one of the few... -
LBC: It Goes Down Tomorrow
Posted on September 14, 2005 | No CommentsSo what’s been happening on the LBC front? Well, you may want to stop there tomorrow. Because the LBC will soon be revealing the next finalist. In the coming weeks,... -
Booker Shortlist
Posted on September 8, 2005 | 1 CommentThe Man Booker Shortlist has been announced: John Banville, The Sea (Someone’s going to be very happy.) Julian Barnes, Arthur & George (Julian Barnes: Comeback Kid?) Sebastian Barry, A Long... -
Booker: The Real Authorities
Posted on August 12, 2005 | No CommentsWhile the BBC reduces the Booker Prize to stunt reading (“I push away comics, Doctor Who, Playstation, television, DVDs and the internet. [sic] All of a sudden this does not... -
Booker Longlist Announced
Posted on August 10, 2005 | No CommentsThe longlist has been announced: Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory John Banville, The Sea (Someone‘s going to be really happy.) Julian Barnes, Arthur & George Sebastian Barry, A Long,... -
The “I’ve Got Tedious Meetings But Here’s a Quick” Roundup
Posted on August 9, 2005 | No CommentsJay Matthews shares his efforts to learn Chinese, prompted in part by this Asia Society report which describes how Americans can learn the Chinese language effort more effectively. If you... -
Hugo Award Winners Announced
Posted on August 7, 2005 | No CommentsThis year’s Hugo Awards Winners are up. Here are the literary-related winners: Best Novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (*sigh*) Best Novella: “The Concrete Jungle” by Charles... -
The “We Were Too Sluggish From Tuesday Night’s Festivities” Roundup
Posted on August 4, 2005 | 4 CommentsRobert “Two Sheds” Birnbaum is at it again. This time, he talks with Camille Paglia. The real question here is whether Camille was ever confused for a pirate incarnation of... -
Roundup
Posted on June 22, 2005 | No CommentsBecause one can never cover too many awards, I note that Orhan Pamuk has won the 2005 Book Trade Peace Prize. The prize is the most coveted literary award in... -
Insomnia-Charged Roundup
Posted on March 30, 2005 | No CommentsRadio host Paul Kennedy is trying to win Leonard Cohen a Nobel Prize. “He’s different from a celebrity; he’s almost God,” says Kennedy. You can make the same claim about... -
A Book A Day, That’s All We Ask
Posted on March 29, 2005 | 5 CommentsRick Gekoski’s idea of bliss involves reading a book a day. He’s a Man Booker judge for 2005. And with 130 titles to read in five or six months, the... -
Hugo Nominations
Posted on March 27, 2005 | 4 CommentsGwenda beat me to it (for obvious reasons), but the Hugo Nominations are up. A certain Christopher Rowe was nominated. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, put the... -
The Oscar Pool
Posted on February 24, 2005 | No CommentsIf you want to get into dichotimies, I suspect that there are computer mechanics and car mechanics. There are people who understand and appreciate comics and there are people who... -
We’re Not Sure Where He Got the Million Number, But We Hope Someone Gets a Visit from Ed McMahon
Posted on February 22, 2005 | 2 CommentsThe nominations for StorySouth’s Million Writers Award are up. Editor Jason Sanford notes that this is a contest in which the best online story of 2004 will win, thanks to... -
Actually, It’s Unfair to Let Susanna Clarke Unleash a Longass Novel Without Hard-Hearted Editors
Posted on February 18, 2005 | No CommentsMark says, “Perhaps it?s unfair to pit 19th-century magicians against Jewish exiles from Nazi Germany,” and selects Heir to the Glimmering World in the next installment of the TMN Tournament... -
Betting on the Tournament of Books
Posted on February 15, 2005 | No CommentsThe Morning News Tournament of Books is alive and kicking. The truly strangest choice, however, was Danny Gregory’s endorsement of I Am Charlotte Simmons over Wake Up, Sir! “Slither slither”... -
The Romance of Reading Glasses
Posted on February 11, 2005 | No CommentsIt’s not enough for Andrea Levy to win the Orange and the Whitbread. She’s just been nominated for a third award: the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Normally, we... -
Whitbread Winners
Posted on January 6, 2005 | No CommentsThe Whitbreads go to: Novel Award: Andrea Levy, Small Island (She also won the Orange Prize.) First Novel Award: Susan Fletcher, Eve Green Biography: John Guy, My Heart is My... -
Happy New Year
Posted on December 31, 2004 | 2 CommentsWell, that’s it for us. Apologies for the political drivel, but we had to get in our yearly quota before midnight. Regularly literary coverage will continue when we pull ourselves...