Now reading...

[paul secor]

John Williams' novel Stoner.

[Jazzmoose]

I've been on a Robert Sheckeley kick, reading books of his short stories. Damn, he could write 'em!

[Joe]

Maxi Kim: ONE BREAK, A THOUSAND BLOWS!

[jostber]

Maxi Kim: ONE BREAK, A THOUSAND BLOWS!

What's this one about?

[jazzbo]

Edited December 18, 2008 by jazzbo

[BruceH]

I've been on a Robert Sheckeley kick, reading books of his short stories. Damn, he could write 'em!

I especially love his short stories! Have you checked out the mammoth collection The Masque of Manana (NESFA Press) which has all his significant short SF work, as far as I can tell? There's some stuff in there that ranks with anything by William Tenn, though with a different flavor of course.

The novels are (for the most part) great too, with Mindswap my favorite and Dimension of Miracles not far behind. Looking back at Sheckley, it seems that he did the "Hitchhikers' Guide" schtick both first and better.

[Joe]

Maxi Kim: ONE BREAK, A THOUSAND BLOWS!

What's this one about?

Art school, Japan, continental post-modernism, sex and name-dropping.

Full disclosure: the author and I attended the same graduate writing program and have many friends and colleagues in common -- many of them referenced / fictionalized in this book.

[BruceH]

Should start reading it in a day or two, depending how much free time i have at work

I used to love his chain of mid-western pizza parlors as a kid.

[patricia]

Anthony Perkins - A Haunted Life by Ronald Bergen.

I have been curious about Perkins for years. He drifted in and out of attention after "Psycho", which he never quite escaped. More interesting than I thought it would be.

[porcy62]

Alexandre Dumas: The Count Of Mount Cristo.

IMHO an understimated work. It has everything matters: love, hate, revenge, good and God, fate, etc.. like a greek tragedy.

[Tom Storer]

Edward R. Tufte's "Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative." Wonderful discussions of the visual design of information display.

[Jazzmoose]

I used to love his chain of mid-western pizza parlors as a kid.

[Jazzmoose]

I've been on a Robert Sheckeley kick, reading books of his short stories. Damn, he could write 'em!

I especially love his short stories! Have you checked out the mammoth collection The Masque of Manana (NESFA Press) which has all his significant short SF work, as far as I can tell? There's some stuff in there that ranks with anything by William Tenn, though with a different flavor of course.

The novels are (for the most part) great too, with Mindswap my favorite and Dimension of Miracles not far behind. Looking back at Sheckley, it seems that he did the "Hitchhikers' Guide" schtick both first and better.

No, I've just been combing the stores for paperbacks of his stuff. You know, I don't think I've ever read a novel of his, unless you count the expanded 10th Victim.

Yeah, it's a different flavor, but he and Tenn are in a class above the rest. Great stuff!

[BillF]

Clifford D Simak, The Civilisation Game and Other Stories.

[Serioza]

[Matthew]

St. Basil the Great (c. 330 – 379): The Hexameron: A series of homilies on the creation account in the book of Genesis. A beautiful meditation on creation, and what is fascinating is that a lot of the issues St. Basil deals with are still with us.

[Kalo]

I've been working my way through David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest." Until I began reading it, I had no idea that it is largely set in a near-future version of the Boston neighborhood I live in: Allston, MA.

Wha?

It's set in a near-future Allston/Brighton/Brookline/Cambridge!

And it's actually a brilliant, moving book, albeit with numerous Pynchonesque passages of too-clever-for-its -own-goodness. Infinitely more heart than Pynchon, though!

[Jazzmoose]

The Dimensioneers by Doris Piserchia. It's okay. I dunno if I'd recommend it. Look, I just felt like making a post, and I wasn't watching anything or listening to music, and I had the book with me at the computer (dial-up will do that to you), so there it is.

[A Lark Ascending]

Finished a couple of 'location' thrillers at the weekend. Both great fun:

The first one part of Donna Leon's marvellous Brunetti series set in and around Venice; the second in Provence.

Just starting:

I found his last one ('Depths') unreadable - gave up after 70 pages. The first chapter of this one is much more engaging. Hoping for something with the narrative drive, multiple sub-plots and character depth of the Wallander series.

[BruceH]

I've been working my way through David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest." Until I began reading it, I had no idea that it is largely set in a near-future version of the Boston neighborhood I live in: Allston, MA.

Wha?

It's set in a near-future Allston/Brighton/Brookline/Cambridge!

And it's actually a brilliant, moving book, albeit with numerous Pynchonesque passages of too-clever-for-its -own-goodness. Infinitely more heart than Pynchon, though!

Must read it (or take a stab at it anyway.)

[poetrylover3]

I'm reading: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and dipping into Joan Didion's We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order To Live and The Best American Mystery Stories 2008. The Lincoln is fascinating as I learn more about Lincoln and his political contemporaries than I ever did in school. Didion is a masterful stylist, second only to John McPhee for clarity, IMO. The Best American Mysteries provide a wide range of styles and introduce me to authors I've never read before. The Best American Series is a godsend for those folks like myself who have limited time to seek out new writers. Style matters to me and you simply can't get that from 99% of the book reviews out there.

All the best for the Holidays and the coming New Year.

Jeff T aka Blue Trane

[randissimo]

Think I found a James Patterson 'Alex Cross' book I haven't read. 'Pop Goes The Weasel' ..

[ejp626]

I''m really digging Chabon's Yiddish Policemen's Union. It's got the world-weary tropes of the noir detective stories cross-fertilized with Jewish angst. It kind of goes right up to the edge of parody and skates back. What I'm feeling is if Samuel (I can't go on; I can't go on; I'll go on) Beckett was writing detective fiction and then for some reason made everyone in the story Jewish. Since it is set in Alaska, it is perfect reading in this weather.

On the basis of this, I went ahead and got Kavalier & Clay, though I believe it has a very different feel, probably a lot more "shiny" and optimistic, as everyone (except minorities*) was in the Eisenhower years. Chabon is quite a writer, so I'll be interested how this one turns out.

* Yes I am aware that the frission in this book comes from whether Jews are considered full Americans during the 50s.

[poetrylover3]

Alexandre Dumas: The Count Of Mount Cristo.

IMHO an understimated work. It has everything matters: love, hate, revenge, good and God, fate, etc.. like a greek tragedy.

I agree. Dumas at his best wrote incredibly exciting entertainments. BTW, if you haven't read Richard Pevear's translation of The Three Musketeers, you owe it to yourself to do so in short order.

Peace,

Blue Trane

[Elissa]

Finished The Polish Officer and plan to read more of Alan Furst's war novels soon. Man are they great.

First though, Martha Gellhorn's Selected Letters.