Books To Jump Up and Down Over
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (Bat Segundo interview with Murphy)
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (Bat Segundo interview with McClear)
Doppelgangers Archive
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Auctorial Doppelgangers (Special Publishing Edition)
Posted on December 19, 2006 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Judith Regan, fascinated with murder. PICTURED RIGHT: Patricia Krenwinkel, fascinated with murder. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twenty
Posted on August 2, 2006 | 1 CommentPICTURED LEFT: Danielle Steel, five husbands. PICTURED RIGHT: Brigitte Nielsen, five husbands. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Nineteen
Posted on August 1, 2006 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Nell Freudenberger, appeared in much talked about author photo PICTURED RIGHT: Danica McKellar, appeared in much talked about photo in Stuff -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Eighteen
Posted on August 1, 2006 | 1 CommentPICTURED LEFT: Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude and comics junkie PICTURED RIGHT: Judd Winick, star of The Real World and comics illustrator -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Sixteen
Posted on December 23, 2005 | 1 CommentPICTURED LEFT: James Caan, actor, Dogville PICTURED RIGHT: James Patterson, author of shaggy dog thrillers -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Fifteen
Posted on December 23, 2005 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Liam Neeson, actor in The White Rose PICTURED RIGHT: Rick Moody, author of The Black Veil -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Fourteen
Posted on December 23, 2005 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Rainn Wilson, The Office PICTURED RIGHT: William T. Vollmann -
“Mr. Franken, I Served With Jonathan Franzen. I Knew Jonathan Franzen. Jonathan Franzen Was a Friend of Mine. Mr. Franken, You’re No Jonathan Franzen. And Nix the Tie While You’re At It, Sir!”
Posted on October 28, 2005 | 1 Comment -
Auctorial Dopplegangers, Part Twelve
Posted on October 5, 2005 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: John Updike: “This middle-aged affluent will self-destruct in five seconds.” PICTURED RIGHT: Peter Graves: “This message will self-destruct in five seconds.” -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Twelve
Posted on October 4, 2005 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Martin Amis, bad boy of British literature. PICTURED RIGHT: Keith Richards, bad boy of British invasion. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Eleven
Posted on October 4, 2005 | 2 CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Anne Rice, writes novels dealing with undead vampires. PICTURED RIGHT: Angelica Houston, appeared in The Dead. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Ten
Posted on October 4, 2005 | No CommentsPICTURED LEFT: Virginia Woolf, part of the Bloomsbury coterie. PICTURED RIGHT: Lauren Ambrose, “Clare” from Six Feet Under, part of an art school coterie. -
Auctorial Doppelgangers, Part Nine
Posted on October 4, 2005 | 1 CommentPICTURED LEFT: Dave Eggers, who works on the 826 Valencia Project. PICTURED RIGHT: David Marcus, who works on the Genesis Project.