Jonathan Lethem

Last night I attended my first book reading since sometime over the summer, perhaps July but maybe June or, gasp!, even May. Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn, Fortress of Solitude) was promoting his new novel You Don't Love Me Yet. At first, from reading the first twenty pages and comparing it what I was led to believe about Lethem, I was confused what the deal with this 200-ish page book about a rock band, kangaroo, and a performance art piece had to do with the literary genius I have heard at least Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude possess. Attending the reading gave me a new perspective on the novel. He characterized it as the first comical novel he has written since one of his earlier books. Taken as an exercise in humor, along with the fact that he cut out 60-70 pages in a final edit shortly before the manuscript was due, in addition to the creative process he discussed gave me a new appreciation of the novel. I hope to read more of his novels and some of his short stories and non-fiction pieces in the near future.

Foreign

I have, for years now, been conflicted over the issue of translations. I fear/feel that much is lost in translation. I would love to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude in Spanish but my Spanish is so terrible. Reading Kundera, Kafka, Chapek, Havel, etc always makes me think of the problem/issue with translations. I'm still struggling with the issue. I don't want to miss out on all the great literature in all the languages I do not speak.

The Next Three

In addition to what I am already in the middle of reading, the next three books I plan to start are as follows:

1.) You Don't Love Me Yet-Jonathan Lethem
2.) Night Draws Near-Anthony Shadid
3.)The Cremaster Cycle-Matthew Barney

They Call Me Naughty Lola

I finished They Call Me Naughty Lola. It was really quite good and entertaining.

Below are some of my favorites:
Gynotikolobomassophile (M, 43) seeks neanimorphic F to 60 to share euneirophrenia. Must enjoy pissing off librarians (and be able to provide the correct term for same). Box no. 4732.

I'll spend Valentine's Day giving enemas to goats. I'm not a vet, but I do enjoy volunteer work. Man, 31. Box no. 3287.

Like Dave Eggers, only better. Man, 41. Better than Dave Eggers. Box no. 9442.

They call me naughty Lola. Run-of-the-mill beardy physicist (M, 46). Box no. 4023.

There are many more great ones. These ones just stuck out for one reason or another. Check the book out. It gives you insight into Londoners, British humour, and it shows how absurd personal ads are (and can be!).

Magazines

Below is a partial list of magazines I subscribe to or read regularly (I apologize for any omissions):

The New Yorker
The Believer
Wholphin
Paste
Rolling Stone
All-Story
Harper's
Atlantic Monthly

Occasionally
The Nation
Foreign Policy
Time
Newsweek

New
Monocle (from the people who brought us Wallpaper*)

Literary Journals

Here is a list of literary journals I subscribe to and/or read occasionally/frequently:
N+1 (subscribe)
McSweeneys (subscribe)
Tin House(subscribe)
VQR (The Virginia Quarterly Review)(subscribe)
Open Space (occasionally)

I hope to check out Ploughshares and am always on the lookout for new and exciting literary journals.

N+1

N+1 is a wonderful literary journal. You should check it out. The latest issue, number 5, has some interesting pieces in it. I've read parts of all five issues and plan on getting through them as soon as is feasible. The journal is best known for one of its founding editors being Benjamin Kunkel, the author of the novel Indecision.

I have read Indecision twice and heard Mr. Kunkel talk about the novel once. The novel is deeply flawed. The beginning part takes place in Manhattan and does a convincing job of describing what it is like to be a college graduate working a shitty job and unsure of what it is you are supposed to do with your life. Had the novel been a novella or stayed in Manhattan, it could have been more successful. However, the main character goes to South America and the novel goes south as well.

If you are interested in art, N+1 is copublishing a new journal on art called Paper Monument magazine. If the magazine/journal is anything like N+1 then it's a safe recommendation.

note: From what I have heard, Mr. David Mitchell's latest novel, Black Swan Green, is supposedly a coming of age novel that redefines the coming-of-age story. I plan on reading it soon and imagine, from what I have heard, that Black Swan Green excels where Indecision fails.

VQR!

In the (I believe) Fall 2006 issue of Virginia Quarterly Review there is a literary supplement to celebrate the VQR's victory at the National Magazine Awawrds where VQR won 2 awards tying it for most awards with New York, New Yorker, etc etc (just google it).

The last piece in the fiction/literary supplement is by Steve Almond (a new favorite of mine, though I liked the idea of him as far back as his dj'ing at the Four Stories events at the Enormous Room). The Almond piece is a mock obituary to James Frey of Million litlle pieces. And it is pretty great.

Perhaps Thursday will be my weekly update on what I am reading. Get excited!

Check out VQR, it really is an amazing little quarterly. It has a good balance of fiction, nonfiction, reviews, and all kinds of fun things (including cartoons sometimes!).

Battling Terrorism in the Horn of Africa

I am restarting this book. I had read part of the intro in the first weeks of working at TRC. Now I will finish it and return it to Nancy.

So far its interesting, but it's from 2005 so a lot of it is out of date...


more soon...

Desperate Characters by Paula Fox

This novel has been highly acclaimed from the New Yorker in 1970 when it was published to Jonathan Franzen in the 1990s (he wrote the introduction for the reprint and also mentions it in his collection of essays How to Be Alone).

I'm about 1/3 of the way in (50pgs out of 150). It's well written. She is exploring a marriage (or two?) imploding. It's quite well done and from what I can tell its going to be worth checking out, the first 50 pages are.


More on this and more in the near future.

They Call Me Naughty Lola

The London Review of Books has the quirkiest personal ads. This book is a collection of the best of them. Go to here to see a few examples. They are great great stuff.

I'm about a quarer of the way though it. It's a quick read that I pick up occasionally. I highly recommend reading some of them at a bookstore before dropping $16 bucks on it. But definitely a great quick read.

The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen

I finished this memoir. It's mostly about his childhood. Though it does have a bit about his mother's death as well as the collapse of his first marriage. While the memoir is well written and intersting, there are two points I have to make in this short review.

1.) Why a memoir? Joan Didion's A Year of Magical Thinking was written for a reason. This one though seems like a distraction from his main job as a novelist. I enjoyed it but I still don't understand why he wrote this rather than a new novel.

2.) This memoir makes it clear that The Corrections is highly autobiographical.

I guess if you like the work of Mr. Franzen, then check this out. Otherwise, it might be better to find a better memoir. I still liked it a lot though. And I did like The Corrections a lot in case that makes a difference.

Update

I am now also reading the new issue of Tin House. Steve Almond was an adjunct creative writing professor at BC. They invite Condi Rice to speak and he resigned in protest. He got letters from the wingnuts. There is a section in Tin House in which he prints the original letters and then replies with humour and wit. Its quite nice.

I am still working on This Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen. I have about fifty pages left. It is really well written as well as pretty interesting. However, I still have to ask why a memoir and not a new novel?

I am so excited for the Yiddish Police Man's Union by Michael Chabon. May 1.

All for now. Now sleep.

What I am now reading (a brief list)

I am reading several books, all of which I need to finish:

1.) The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen
2.) How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers
3.) Girls on the Verge by Vendela Vida
4.) Battling Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (Brookings Institute)

Reviews, thoughts, quotes, words, etc to come in the not too distance future. Enjoy yourselves here.

An explanation

There is someone I know who lists among her favorite books "US Weekly." This blog will serve two purposes. First, it is to inform the general population that US Weekly is NOT in fact a book but rather a trashy tabloid magazine. Second, it will allow you, dear reader, to know what I am reading and what I think about the piece of literature I am reading.