Now reading...

[jlhoots]

Jack Kerouac - "On the Road"

The Kerouac scroll on which he typed On The Road is currently on display at one of the museums here in Santa Fe. It's part of a fascinating exhibit which includes books, music, photos, videos, etc..

I believe a 50th anniversary edition of On The Road will be published this year.

[jlhoots]

Michael Chabon: The Yiddish Policeman's Union

[Niko]

some paper of which i thought it did exactly what i am trying to achieve; after two depressed hours (and several spam posts here, sorry) I finally managed to look inside and it seems, somewhat contrary to the abstract, they are not really doing anything too exciting, doesn't solve any problems, still i feel a lot better now and might even read on

[DukeCity]

Just starting a novel by Eric Garcia called "Anonymous Rex." Appears to be a noir-ish detective story set in L.A., except that several of the characters, including the two guys running the detective agency, are actually dinosaurs in human disguises. I'll let you know how that all works out...

[7/4]

Just starting a novel by Eric Garcia called "Anonymous Rex." Appears to be a noir-ish detective story set in L.A., except that several of the characters, including the two guys running the detective agency, are actually dinosaurs in human disguises. I'll let you know how that all works out...

...it gotta be interesting.

[sal]

Jack Kerouac - "On the Road"

The Kerouac scroll on which he typed On The Road is currently on display at one of the museums here in Santa Fe. It's part of a fascinating exhibit which includes books, music, photos, videos, etc..

I believe a 50th anniversary edition of On The Road will be published this year.

Yeah, I heard about that exhibit....I hope it makes its way to Chicago. I 'm loving this book. The fact that the main character's name is "Sal" is a nice bonus!

The new edition of On the Road is supposed to contain additional material that was somehow censored from the original verison.

Edited May 9, 2007 by sal

[porcy62]

A biography.

What's wrong with biographies?

I just finished Ronnie O'Sullivan's autobio which I found quite entertaining.

There's nothing wrong with biographies, I simply didn't find a smilie with six shooters and a neckerchief.

[porcy62]

Just starting a novel by Eric Garcia called "Anonymous Rex." Appears to be a noir-ish detective story set in L.A., except that several of the characters, including the two guys running the detective agency, are actually dinosaurs in human disguises. I'll let you know how that all works out...

What are the names of the detectives: Dino Spade and Saurs Harcher?

I couldn't resist. Sorry.

And the incipit:

"I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollar's T-Rex."

Edited May 9, 2007 by porcy62

[paul secor]

Jack Kerouac - "On the Road"

The Kerouac scroll on which he typed On The Road is currently on display at one of the museums here in Santa Fe. It's part of a fascinating exhibit which includes books, music, photos, videos, etc..

I believe a 50th anniversary edition of On The Road will be published this year.

Didn't Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts buy the On the Road scroll several years ago?

[jlhoots]

Jack Kerouac - "On the Road"

The Kerouac scroll on which he typed On The Road is currently on display at one of the museums here in Santa Fe. It's part of a fascinating exhibit which includes books, music, photos, videos, etc..

I believe a 50th anniversary edition of On The Road will be published this year.

Didn't Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts buy the On the Road scroll several years ago?

Yes. Big $$$ too.

[paul secor]

Just finished reading Antoine de Baecque's and Serge Toubiana's exhaustive (though not exhausting) biography of Francois Truffaut, Truffaut.

[Christiern]

I have just started reading John Gennari's "Blowin' Hot and Cool." Too early to give my assessment, but, at a glance, it looks interesting.

[porcy62]

I am reading all the Fred Vargas' novels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Vargas

[paul secor]

Reading several essays by my favorite film critic, Andrew Sarris, in You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet.

From "Norma Shearer (1902-1983):

"People sometimes ask me why we don't have people like the Marx Brothers anymore, and I reply that we do have people like the Marx Brothers, perhaps too many, but we don't have people like Margaret Dumont anymore. We don't have dowagers or stuffed shirts. Everyone, rich or poor, young or old, is a zany character with a stand-up routine. There is no one for zaniness to play off against."

[ghost of miles]

Christiern, great to see you posting again! I evidently missed some of your recent ones... we had a rather fiery discussion about that Gennari book in the "Jazz in print" forum a few months back. Anyway, we're lucky to have you around once more.

Just started vacation today, and have the following lined up:

The new Willis Conover biography

Alan Wald's TRINITY OF PASSION: THE LITERARY LEFT & THE ANTIFASCIST CRUSADE

Alyn Shipton's NEW HISTORY OF JAZZ

A Pee Wee Russell biography

Very interested in the new Don DeLillo novel (FALLING MAN) and the new Michael Chabon novel as well (THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION).

[BruceH]

That new Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, looks intriguing. I heard him interviewed on Fresh Air recently and it made me want to go out and buy it.

BTW, re-reading Revolution In the Head by Ian MacDonald. Love that book.

Also, Peanuts: 1963-1964.

[Matthew]

GofM:

Alan Wald's TRINITY OF PASSION: THE LITERARY LEFT & THE ANTIFASCIST CRUSADE

Please, pretty please, post your thoughts on this when you're done. I just finished Murry Kempton's: Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties, and the Wald book sounds like a natural follow up.

[Van Basten II]

The original french version of Life: A user's manual by Georges Perec.

Tremendous and fascinating book that took him 9 years to write, hope it won't take as much time reading it.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Van Basten II

[ghost of miles]

GofM:

Alan Wald's TRINITY OF PASSION: THE LITERARY LEFT & THE ANTIFASCIST CRUSADE

Please, pretty please, post your thoughts on this when you're done. I just finished Murry Kempton's: Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties, and the Wald book sounds like a natural follow up.

Will do, Matthew. I'm going to start it here in just a little while...Wald's previous book EXILES FROM A FUTURE TIME is very good; it and TRINITY are part of a trilogy he is writing about 1930s authors. The classic early/pioneering work on this topic, Daniel Aaron's WRITERS ON THE LEFT, is still worth reading as well. (Wald's trilogy-in-progress is basically an attempt to write an updated & more-expansive version of the Aaron book.)

[Matthew]

GofM:

Alan Wald's TRINITY OF PASSION: THE LITERARY LEFT & THE ANTIFASCIST CRUSADE

Please, pretty please, post your thoughts on this when you're done. I just finished Murry Kempton's: Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties, and the Wald book sounds like a natural follow up.

Will do, Matthew. I'm going to start it here in just a little while...Wald's previous book EXILES FROM A FUTURE TIME is very good; it and TRINITY are part of a trilogy he is writing about 1930s authors. The classic early/pioneering work on this topic, Daniel Aaron's WRITERS ON THE LEFT, is still worth reading as well. (Wald's trilogy-in-progress is basically an attempt to write an updated & more-expansive version of the Aaron book.)

Thanks, I might have to check out Wald for my own vacation in July.

[ghost of miles]

Also still reading Merton's journal LEARNING TO LOVE--did I mention this to you, or post it here? Covers the 1966-67 period, including his affair with "M" (Margie Smith); a touching love story that haunts me, for some reason. (She's still alive, but has never written or spoken about her relationship with Merton, save for a phone interview with his official biographer.)

Edited May 20, 2007 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Well, vacation time has enabled me to resume a not-so-great reading habit... having six or seven books going at once. Just started a novel by a Bloomington literary legend:

...and am rereading the very good biography by Lockridge's son:

[Matthew]

Edwin O'Conner's book The Edge of Sadness. Story about a recovering alcoholic priest set in Boston. Written in 1961, is really is a story of days-gone-by, and the life of the Irish-Americans that were a part of the fabric of the Catholic Church of that era. O'Conner has the whole story and talk based Irish/American culture down, and writes in a traditional style narrative. Enjoyable, though the depiction of the priesthood is a little off -- J.F Powers' book Morte D'Urban is still the most realistic look at the priesthood IMHO, even though it's a comedy/farce, he's dead on about what priests are like.

edit: for clarity

Edited June 1, 2007 by Matthew

[B. Goren.]

[Shawn]

I'm in the mood for a good mystery, something complex. I haven't read any fiction novels in about 10 years (don't ask) so I don't know where to start.

Got any suggestions? Maybe something Noir-ish?