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)
Newspapers Archive
-
Dave Eggers and the Journalism Sweatshop Model
Posted on January 5, 2010 | 3 CommentsIn recent months, Dave Eggers has continued to insist that newspapers, contrary to recent developments, are not dying. In May 2009, Eggers spoke before a crowd and announced, “If you... -
The Covenant
Posted on March 17, 2009 | No CommentsSome years ago, not long after Herb Caen’s death, I decided to make a series of pilgrimages to the San Francisco Public Library to dust my hands and wrangle microfilm.... -
This Can’t Possibly Catch On
Posted on January 29, 2009 | 4 Comments -
Sam Leith Axed at the Telegraph
Posted on December 3, 2008 | No CommentsThe Guardian is reporting that The Daily Telegraph‘s longtime literary editor, Sam Leith, has been laid off. Leith’s redundancy was one of fifty jobs the Telegraph had been seeking to... -
Passive-Aggressive Newspaper Drones in Training at Montclair
Posted on October 30, 2008 | 1 CommentI learned through The Beat (via Eric) that an installment of Keith Knight’s The K Chronicle has caused an uproar at the Montclair State University newspaper. Despite Knight basing his... -
The Future of Newspapers and Litblogs: A Thought Experiment
Posted on July 30, 2008 | 12 CommentsIn yesterday’s Huffington Post, publicist Lissa Warren expressed her dismay in “the seemingly widely-held notion that these book sections are being adequately replaced by blogs.” She complained that blogs “don’t... -
Carole Goldberg Laid Off at the Courant
Posted on July 22, 2008 | No CommentsI have confirmed with Hartford Courant features editor Naedine Hazell that books editor Carole Goldberg has been laid off. Goldberg’s final day as a staffer will be on July 31st.... -
Developments at the LATBR
Posted on July 21, 2008 | 6 CommentsThis morning, L.A. Observed posted an open letter sent by four previous editors of the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Calling the forthcoming termination of the Sunday Book Review “a... -
Quirky Formats: Another Casualty as Newspaper Subscriptions Dwindle
Posted on August 17, 2006 | 2 CommentsThe Chicago Reader, which, for years, has had one of the quirkiest and most endearing alternative newspaper formats in the nation, is saying goodbye to its four section layout. The...