Not that Chick-Lit Thing again

This is ought to get some people riled up.

Some in the publishing industry questioned whether women -- who
are widely believed to buy a majority of books -- really needed an imprint
of their own. "Pam's a good editor, and I'm sure she'll do a good imprint,"
said David Rosenthal, publisher of Simon & Schuster. But, he added, "I'm
always wary of ghettoization."

Hyperion Starts Imprint to Help Women Whittle the Book Choices - New York Times

Fall book releases - Yahoo! News

Here's the ones I'm looking forward to:

"The Lay of the Land" (Alfred A. Knopf), Richard Ford returns with Frank Bascombe, the protagonist of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Independence Day."

"The Road" (Alfred A. Knopf), a post-apocalypse tale from Cormac McCarthy.

"The View from Castle Rock" (Alfred A. Knopf), a new collection from short story master Alice Munro.

Fall book releases - Yahoo! News

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

My wife keeps walking around singing that song, so I guess that means we're really going on vacation. Seven days with no internet (good). More concentrated time to write (good?).

TC Boyle Recommends John Cheever Collection

As if we need anybody to tell us that we should read John Cheever.

NPR : On Learning to Appreciate John Cheever's Stories

Doris Lessing reviews new Anna Kavan bio

A new biography of Anna Kavan, A Stranger on Earth, by that pest Jeremy Reed is reviewed by Doris Lessing here: Independent Online Edition > Reviews.

I call Jeremy Reed a pest because he has managed to write either Fiction or Non-Fiction on nearly ever fun subject. Every time I turn around to see what's been written about Rimbaud or Artaud, there's that damn Jeremy Reed. And now he has this biography coming out on my favorite fiction writer, Anna Kavan. Underappreciated she is, but then again you might easily believe that this is the way she would have wanted it. Her work has often been compared to Doris Lessing, so her thoughts on the subject are relevant:

Changing her name, changing husbands, she destroyed letters, diaries, anything that might assist a biographer like Jeremy Reed - who has done pretty well, with no assistance. This biography is a good enough introduction: reliable, but it is a bit short on insight.
[...]
she has her own original voice in one startling novel after another. Mercury, Asylum Piece, Sleep Has His House, My Soul in China: in each Anna Kavan speaks, and with authority. She is being recognised as the most distinctive of 20th century
novelists. Her experience with drugs may have added phantoms and fantasies to
her landscapes, but it is the cool lucid light of that unique mind which makes
her Anna Kavan.

Add another book to that wish list.

Book Review: Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

I went into this book with some pretty high expectations and I was not disappointed. Woodrell manages to paint the bleakest of scenes with beautiful prose. While the subjects are lowly, the language stays lyrical (if only Denis Johnson did the same).

There have been some comparisons to Faulkner and they make perfect sense. The author shows an incredible amount of skill in description as well as tension. And I can't ignore the way Woodrell manages to catch that Southern Missouri dialogue without painting them as stereotypical hillbillies.

My only complaints might be that the novel is so short (I would have read much more) and an unnecessary note of optimism at the end.

It is a great thing to read a book that lives up to the reviews, and there's nothing much better than finishing a good book.

Is a story ever "done?"

I am afraid to read the stories in my MFA thesis. After spending so much effort on these stories, rewriting scenes, creating new endings, the end product was often much different than the earlier drafts. There was little time for reflection, though. I never had the chance to decide whether any particular change was the necessary one. I turned in the thesis and turned my back. Those stories were "done."

As I send out these stories now, I wonder if I should look back at them again. I'm afraid they'll let me down. I'm afraid that no matter the condition I'll find something to change. I think that any writer at any point can look back at a story and see room for improvement, even after publication. I don't think stories are ever really "done."

Book Review: Herzog

Herzog by Saul Bellow

This one started out one of those bedside books out of which only a page or two might be read before sleep closed one eye. Other books, several of them, came and got in the way, but finally I had to make it the priority. The only reason a book takes so long is if it is difficult or not particularly interesting. This one was both.

It is a traditional psychological novel and we spend the entire 400+ pages of it inside the mind of Moses Herzog. It isn't the best place to be. I actually tend to like these stories and at times this one was brilliant, but often it all came off as rambling. He has a fair amount going on, a number of neuroses that kept it interesting, but I got the feeling early on that very little was going to happen. I enjoyed bits, but it was a tough read. Admirable in some aspects, but not really worth a recommendation.

Your average audiobook listeners

This article, You Say Tom Robbins, I Say Tom Clancy - New York Times, on audiobooks and the disputes they cause between couples on roadtrips is pretty worthless, except for these juicy quotes from audiobook listeners:

"I did try getting a couple of the Patterson books but I think the writing is unbelievably bad. "

“The guys won’t listen to chick lit, but the women will listen to what guys are interested in, like biography and action,” Ms. Zeiher said. Not that women are pushovers.
“I think women’s interest in literature is broader than men’s,” she said. “We can handle their stuff better than they can handle ours. That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?”

Killing an Arab

Bush reads Camus's 'The Stranger' on ranch vacation
And we really know why, don't we.

I feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes
Of the dead man on the beach
The dead man on the beach

I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab

Book Review: Giraffes? Giraffes!

Giraffes? Giraffes! by Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-On-Whey

Now out of print, this book I picked up last night out of the bargain bin and laughed out right in the bookstore. I'll admit I didn't read the whole thing last night, but I have to recommend it.

The best kind of humor is absurdist, and this book relishes in it. The whole thing is worth quoting, but let me steal a little here from the book description at Amazon:

You are so behind on giraffes that it's rather embarrassing and you obviously need this book more than health insurance. Things you probably don't know about giraffes -- and can only be found in this book -- include giraffes' preferred mode of transportation (conveyor belt), what their bodies are made of (paper mache, a clock, fruit juices and a super-strong lightweight titanium alloy), where most giraffes live (Terra Haute, Indiana -- known for many things, including buildings made of wood and ground made of dirt), and basic giraffe history (in 50,000 B.C giraffes began to hang out with primitive man, they found him to be likeable and helped him paint buffaloes in caves).
Cheat Sheet on Giraffes (good for slumber parties and barroom brawls):
• Giraffes invented plastic. "No, not plastic--latex. My bad. Still, though isn't that amazing?"
• Frequently Asked Question: Why do we call giraffes "giraffes?" Answer: Because when they came to Earth they asked us to.
• Rarely Asked Question: How fast can giraffes run? The giraffes have tried to phase out running from their lives but if they had to, they could still run much faster than you. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that they can run 780 mph.

It looks like this bit of fun comes to us from Dave Eggers and McSweeneys.

Why I hate Barnes and Noble (and Borders)

I live in the suburbs (say what you want--I made my decision and I'm sticking with it). My nearest new bookstore is, of course, a Barnes and Noble. So, with some extra time on Tuesday night, I stopped in to take a look at the new book by Daniel Woodrell, Winter's Bone. I had heard an NPR interview that left me intrigued. Add to that, the book had been reviewed in many, many places. It sounded like something I would like, and I thought I'd go in and read a couple pages to see if I might buy the book (I'm reluctant to add new books to my much too long to-be-read list). Imagine my surprise/anger when I realized that my Barnes and Noble did not stock the book. Brand new book, out that day, reviewed in dozen papers and not one copy for sale.
Okay, so the buyer at the local big-box-bookstore isn't up to date. No real surprise. Well, I'll look at the new paperback edition of Aimee Bender's Willful Creatures. I'd finally listened to the interview at Pinky's Paperhaus, and I thought I definitely need to read this book. Imagine then my lack of surprise when the store also did not stock this book. Brand new edition, released that day--nada. That's it, I'm outta here.
So, then last night I'm at the mall (did I mention I live in the suburbs?--it comes with the territory), and I popped in the Borders. Believe me, at this point I didn't have much hope, and surprise--not one copy of the new Woodrell book and not one book by Aimee Bender on the shelves. Argh. (I did end up buying a bargain book there, but I'll explain that one later.)
Tonight, I am going to go out of my way to go the suburban branch of Tattered Cover Bookstore, which is a really great independent store, but if they don't have either book....

Starbucks to offer Mitch Albom book

That sounds about right.

Starbucks to offer Mitch Albom book - Yahoo! News

RIP Arthur Lee

Alone Again Or

Yeah, said it's all right
I won't forget
All the times I've waited patiently for you
And you'll do just what you choose to do
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear

BBC NEWS Entertainment Love singer Arthur Lee dies at 61

Does this raise Irving's standings?

Harry Potter, Stephen King, John Irving, and Jon Stewart? I think I had a dream like that last week.

J.K. Rowling Conjures A Huge Crowd - Washington Post

Is it possible to name your favorite fiction books?

My subjective, time-sensitive list of favorite fiction books (in no particular order):

1. American Pastoral - Philip Roth
2. The Beggar Maid - Alice Munro
3. Complete Stories - Flannery O' Connor
4. Rock Springs - Richard Ford
5. White Noise - Don Delillo
6. Where I'm Calling From - Raymond Carver
7. If I Forget Thee Jerusaleum (The Wild Palms) - William Faulkner
8. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
9. Asylum Piece - Anna Kavan
10. Age of Reason - Jean-Paul Sartre
11. We Were the Mulvaneys - Joyce Carol Oates
12. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
13. The Stranger - Albert Camus
14. Journey to the End of the Night - Ferdinand Celine
15. Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
16. Dubliners - James Joyce
17. Empire Falls - Richard Russo
18. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
19. Swann's Way - Marcel Proust

Talk to me in six months and I'm sure the list will have changed.

Hitch doesn't like Terrorist? Really...

Christopher Hitchens reviews Updike's Terrorist, and he's not pleased. Not that he often gives much credit to things that support his world view.

Powell's Books - Review-a-Day - Terrorist: A Novel by John Updike, reviewed by The Atlantic Monthly: "He looks at the quotidian crowd in Manhattan, 'scuttling, hurrying, intent in the milky morning sun upon some plan or scheme or hope they are hugging to themselves, their reason for living another day, each impaled live upon the pin of consciousness, fixed upon self-advancement and self-preservation. That and only that.' Insects, in fact. Ahmad resents them for taking away his God, and, really, one is hard put not to empathize with the poor boy. Given some admittedly stiff competition, Updike has produced one of the worst pieces of writing from any grown-up source since the events he has so unwisely tried to draw upon. "