- Sarah examines the Yiddish controversy surrounding Chabon’s latest.
- The latest installment of In Our Time concerns Spinoza. (via Mark Thwaite)
- The jury is now deliberating over the Cussler/Sahara lawsuit. Is Cussler boasting about the number of books he sold or did Crusader Entertainment breach their contract?
- Frances Trollope’s America.
- The Book Marketing Society is trying to find the book that best defines the 20th century. The BMS, of course, does this purely out of the goodness of their collective heart. They have absolutely no interest in publicizing overpraised books. Which is why such century-defining books as Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary are the list. I know that when I ponder a book that best represents the escalation of technology, the horrors of Hitler and Stalin, McCarthyism, mass production, the influence of Freud and feminism, and too many 20th century ideologies and innovations here to list, a trivial memoir about soccer and a novel about a frumpy thirtysomething who can’t find Mr. Right are the first books that come to mind.
- Thomas Jones examines an interesting looking book about how the typewriter’s relationship to the gender divide.
- Ralph De La Cruz considers Ricky Smith.
- There’s a grassroots movement to get Peter Bagge’s The Incorrigible Hulk reprinted, which Marvel is now holding hostage. (via Eric Reynolds)
- In a surprise move, Carl Bernstein’s biography of Hillary Clinton has been moved up to June 19 from its original August pub date. Of course, this recent announcement has nothing whatsoever to do with Obama moving ahead of Hillary in the polls this week.
- Quixote Sound Machine?
- Frank Wilson’s contrarian take on McCarthy has spawned some fireworks.
- So this is the new way. When promoting literacy, boast about how fast your program is instead of the ability of people to understand it. You may as well describe how fast you ate your breakfast, instead of how tasty it was.
- Joan Baez has been banned from performing for US troops.
- Shannon Wheeler: “I looked at Gary and said ‘Why should I support you when you’ve never done anything for me?’”
- Thank you, Mr. Dirda, for spawning Novelgobbler. (via Galleycat)
- John Cleese makes love to a Barbie doll.
- Summer book recommendations from booksellers. (via LHB)
- loltrek (via MeFi)
Roundup
– May 3, 2007Posted in: Roundup
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. (
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. (
The book that best defines the 20th Century for me is unquestionably Anthony Burgess’ ‘Earthly Powers’–not a popular choice, no doubt, but a book that has the right scope and humour–but little navel gazing and no 30-something angst.
Speaking as a big Burgess fan, good answer, Andrew. Good answer.
“[A] book that best represents the escalation of technology, the horrors of Hitler and Stalin, McCarthyism, mass production, the influence of Freud and feminism, and too many 20th century ideologies and innovations here to list.”
You couldn’t be talking about any one book other than Gravity’s Rainbow. Mind you, I don’t think one book can get the whole job done, but this one comes closest.