In a story out of Bellingham, Wash., today (where I had my first job in journalism, by the way, at the Bellingham Herald) is a piece about the evolving nature of book clubs.
Here’s the link to the story, and here’s a sample:
Author: Michael Janairo
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My favorite audiobook of 2006
In an earlier post, I said I’d write about my favorite audiobook of the past year. That honor easily goes to Haruki Murakami’s “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle,” as read by Rupert Degas for the Naxos Audiobooks company.
For a review of the audiobook as well as “A Wild Sheep Chase,” click “more.”
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A Vonnegut controversy
A colleague is reading her first Vonnegut novel — ever. I don’t think it is necessarily a sin to be living in the Capital Region without having read the former GE worker’s work, but the choice of novel, “Breakfast of Champions,” has raised some interesting discussions.Namely, one other colleague says that it is the *wrong* book to be the first Vonnegut novel, that it probably should be Slaughterhouse 5 or Cat’s Cradle.
I see nothing wrong with Breakfast, after all it has fun doodles and Kilgore Trout is writing away in Cohoes.
This leads to a couple bigger questions I put to you, dear readers: If you had to recommend someone read one (or if you could only read one) Vonnegut novel, which would it be?Other questions could be: Why read him now at all? Does Vonnegut still matter?
(one answer can be found in Indiana, where 2007 is the Year of Vonnegut:
The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission are hosting a yearlong celebration of Kurt Vonnegut. Here’s a look at the highlights. For a complete list, go to www.yearofvonnegut.org. -
Charlie Rose interviews available on google video
For more info, go to this blog: http://www.edrants.com/?p=5262Here’s what it says:
A good number of Charlie Rose interviews are now available through Google Video. (They had previously been available for $1.00 per view, but Google has since added video ads, making them free, and helpfully demarcated these ads through blue dots on the timeline.)
What this means, of course, is that the infamous DFW interview is now available. If you haven’t seen it, this is the interview in which Rose, who doesn’t seem to have read much of DFW’s work, asks DFW (wearing, believe it or not, a bandanna and shirtsleeves) about everything but his books. DFW comes in at the 23:17 mark.
It’s the telltale indicator of how low the literary journalism bar has fallen (compared with, say, the Dick Cavett shows of the 1970s, where Cavett or his researchers actually read the damn books) — a veritable train wreck and a true revelation of Rose’s illiteracy. A visibly uncomfortable DFW is bullied by questions that pertain to David Lynch, with Rose boasting about interviewing Lynch instead of talking about DFW’s work. Rose’s ignorance is astonishing, particularly as DFW educates Rose about the history of postmodern literature.
And this was only ten years ago.
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Happy Word Nerd Day
At least, that’s the message I got from one of my co-workers. I don’t know if that says more about me or my co-worker. Anyway, here’s a link to more info.
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What was your favorite book of 2006?
Saratoga Springs author M.E. Kemp weighs in with her favorite:
THE RIVALRY: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and the Golden Age of Basketball by John Taylor
You don’t have to be a sports nut to enjoy reading THE RIVALRY because it’s not about basketball, it’s about the men who play it. Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were Titans in a personal clash that raised the level of play to Heroic. Chamberlain was the first ego-driven Superstar — fast cars, faster women, a gigantic appetite for the good things and the talent to command them. The only one who could control him on the court was Celtics’ Bill Russell, a proud, complicated and intelligent man with a family life and a cause.
Russell fought racism all his life. Chamberlain had fun playing off-season with the Harlem Globetrotters. Russell would never demean himself playing for a bunch of clowns. Mercurial Walt would up and quite when he felt like it. Russell never quit; he was driven to win, and always as a team. Wilt was a showboat most of his career.
Russell had the one thing Chamberlain really envied — a coach who would fight for his players. Any book with Red Auerbach in it has to be a fun read. The legendary Celtics coach had a mouth worth two points to the team with his browbeating of officials.
The book starts off with his finagling to acquire Russell in the first place — a deal about the Ice Capades for Russell as a draft pick. This is a fun read except for the ending, when one of the Titan’s dies. The reaction from the other is surprisingly touching. Read it and weep.
M. E. Kemp is the author of DEATH OF A DUTCH UNCLE (coming March ’07) and MURDER, MATHER AND MAYHEM.
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It doesn’t pay to charge…
In the world of literature, writers shouldn’t have to pay editors or agents to read their work, and that seems to be behind the failure of the $100,000 Sobol award, as reported by the AP:
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Join the conspiracy
Are you a book worm? A word-aholic? A devourer of novels? A poetry peruser? Are you big on biographies? Knowledgable about nonfiction? Passionate about prosody? Or even an academician on a mission? In short, are you a reader?
If so, then you’ve found the right place: The Times Union Books Blog: A conspiracy of smart people.
