I’m likely to run naked into the streets tonight if the Democrats manage to take both houses, but the one thing that would make me laugh my ass off and wallow in the most despicable schadenfreude (and since I’m drinking tonight, I should note that bourbon does this to a man) would be to see Joe Lieberman go down in flames. There are some early signs that this may, in fact, happen.
The Journal-Inquirer: “In Manchester by 10 a.m., 5,562 voters, 18.3 percent of those registered in town, had come to the polls, officials said.” Keep in mind that 23,643 voted in Manchester during the 2004 presidential election. Now I should note that 18.3% of that little number is a mere 4,327 heads. Which suggests that, in Manchester at least, more people are concerned with this race than 2004.
The Hartford Courant is also reporting that there is a high turnout.
NBC30 reports that the secretary of state believes that this is the biggest turnout for a statewide race in more than a decade.
Whether these are Joe-lovers or Ned-lovers, it is difficult to say. It’s encouraging, but let’s not count our chickens just yet.
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. (
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.