Forever Overhead

ToB 2016: Shortlist Predictions

2016-01-07T17:56:00.000-06:00

We've had the 2016 Tournament of Books longlist for a while now and after obsessively staring at it, I think I've narrowed it down to the 16 I'd like to see in the tournament. There are 86 books in the longlist, so I'm bound to be (very) wrong, but here's my crack at it.

1. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
2. City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg
3. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
5. You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
6. Satin Island by Tom McCarthy
7. The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray
8. Lovers on All Saints Day by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
9. Gaza, Wyoming by Seth Colter Walls
10. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
11. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
12. Loving Day by Mat Johnson
13. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
14. A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
15. After Birth by Elisa Albert
16. A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball

So that's my list - do you have a best guess at the short list?

Mostly I Don't

2015-05-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

I do not read Christian novels
I do not read Romance novels
I do not read Sexy Vampire novels
I do not read Self-Published novels

But sometimes I do.

Books Acquired: Saga Vols. 2 & 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

2014-07-11T15:00:00.000-05:00

Saga

Volumes Two & Three
Brian K. Vaughan / Fiona Staples

Image Comics

Published July 2, 2014 / March 25, 2014

I never did a post about acquiring the first volume of the amazing graphic novel Saga, but these showed up on Wednesday and I wanted to be sure that I posted about it.

See, I succumbed to the internet hype and purchased Saga: Volume One on a whim. When it arrived I read it slowly and treated it like it was a regular novel. I loved every page, every panel, every weird bit and piece of it. After I turned the last page, I called out: "BRING ME THE INTERNET! I MUST READ MORE SAGA!"

And now I have them and I'm super excited about it.

Graphic novels aren't something I've read much of in the past. There was this once, but for the most part, I'm new to all of this.

If you're curious for more about Saga, check out this io9 post on 10 Reasons You Should Be Reading Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga

Books Acquired: High as the Horses' Bridles by Scott Cheshire

2014-07-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

High as the Horses' Bridles

Scott Cheshire

Henry Holt and Co.
Published July 8th, 2014

I got this in a LibraryThing giveaway and I'm really excited to read it!

from the publisher:

An urgent, electric debut novel about inheritance, belief, and a father and son divided by a dangerous prophecy

It’s 1980 at a crowded amphitheater in Queens, New York and a nervous Josiah Laudermilk, age 12, is about to step to the stage while thousands of believers wait to hear him, the boy preaching prodigy, pour forth. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, Josiah’s nerves shake away and his words come rushing out, his whole body fills to the brim with the certainty of a strange apocalyptic vision. But is it true prophecy or just a young believer’s imagination running wild? Decades later when Josiah (now Josie) is grown and has long since left the church, he returns to Queens to care for his father who, day by day, is losing his grip on reality. Barreling through the old neighborhood, memories of the past—of his childhood friend Issy, of his first love, of the mother he has yet to properly mourn—overwhelm him at every turn. When he arrives at his family’s old house, he’s completely unprepared for what he finds. How far back must one man journey to heal a broken bond between father and son?

In rhapsodic language steeped in the oral tradition of American evangelism, Scott Cheshire brings us under his spell. Remarkable in scale—moving from 1980 Queens, to sunny present-day California, to a tent revival in nineteenth century rural Kentucky—and shot-through with the power and danger of belief and the love that binds generations, High as the Horses’ Bridles is a bold, heartbreaking debut from a big new American voice.

See also this great interview with Scott Cheshire at Electric Lit
And also this piece written by Cheshire for Harper's entitled "God Lives On Lemon Street"
Oh, and you wanted an excerpt from High as the Horses' Bridles? Well then head over to Killing the Buddah.

Books Acquired: Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois

2014-07-08T18:09:00.000-05:00

Cartwheel

Jennifer duBois

Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published May 20th, 2014

from the publisher:

When Lily Hayes arrives in Buenos Aires for her semester abroad, she is enchanted by everything she encounters: the colorful buildings, the street food, the handsome, elusive man next to her. Her studious roommate Katy is a bit of a bore, but Lily didn't come to Argentina to hang out with other Americans. Weeks later, Katy is found brutally murdered in their shared home, and Lily is the prime suspect. As the case takes shape - revealing deceptions, secrets, and suspicious DNA - Lily appears alternately sinister and guileless through the eyes of those around her: the media, her family, the man who loves her and the man who seeks her conviction. But who is Lily Hayes? It depends on who's asking. Full of psychological suspense and rare moral nuance, Cartwheel investigates how we decide what to see - and to believe - in one another and ourselves.

The Really Important Kind of Freedom

2014-06-02T09:55:00.001-05:00

This arrived today from Em Dash Paper Co. and I love it. The quote from David Foster Wallace's This is Water. I love it and I can't wait to display it somewhere.

"The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day."

The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani

2014-03-10T10:55:00.000-05:00

The Secret History of Las Vegas
Chris Abani
336 pages
Penguin Books
Published January 7, 2014

I just got back from Las Vegas. No kidding. And I meant to write this review from that city because it would be fitting and somehow right, but things don't go as planned in Las Vegas and I didn't write this review. So now I am home and here we are.

The Secret History of Las Vegas is a lyrical, beautiful novel about monsters, the weight of history, and looking for meaning in an empty place.

How do I even begin to describe what this book is about? I've read maybe twenty plot summaries and none really capture what awaits the reader between the covers. We can start with bodies being dumped near the shores of Lake Mead and a pair of conjoined twins named Fire and Water. There's the detective named Salazar and the doctor named Sunil. Throw in the deliberate creation of psychopaths, the horrors of apartheid, two love triangles, a revenge story, and the human fall-out from nuclear testing in the Nevada desert.

I've been turning this book over in my head for a few weeks. When I read something I really love, it's as if I've been poked in the happy part of my brain and I've been flooded with the joy of new discovery. It usually takes me a little while to emerge from the after-glow and figure out what the author was trying to tell me. A good story is always fun, but what's the message?

I'm not sure I've completely figured out The Secret History of Las Vegas, but I've had some insights: The first being that this is much more of a Gothic horror than a mystery. While there are certainly elements of mystery, the novel hits most of the characteristics of Gothic horror, including the concept of the setting acting as a character in the novel. Additionally, the conjoined twins, Fire and Water, are especially interesting because they're not only fascinating as characters, but they also act as a physical manifestation of each character's dark truths. To elaborate much further would spoil the plot, but I'm tempted to re-read the book with this idea in mind.

Apart from the scenes with Fire and Water, my favorite parts of The Secret History of Las Vegas were the scenes from Sunil's youth in apartheid-era South Africa. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I wasn't too familiar with the history of apartheid before I read Abani's novel, but the story of White Alice and the horrors of Vlakplaas led me to more reading and research on the history of apartheid in South Africa. It's always a good thing when a book turns you on to history and expands your experience.

My very favorite books are the ones that take a while to unpack and slowly reveal their secrets and The Secret History of Las Vegas is definitely one of those books. Highly recommended.

National Book Critics Circle Finalists

2014-01-13T09:56:00.000-06:00

This morning the National Book Critics Circle finalists were announced.

Since I really only care about fiction on this blog, let's ignore everything that isn't fiction. Okay? Good.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Someone by Alice McDermott

The Infatuations by Javier Marías (translated by Margaret Jull Costa)

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Of all the commentary I've read about the Tournament of Books, the book that most people seem surprised about not being included is Americanah. I've heard of Alice McDermott, but I have to admit that I wasn't really aware of Someone. Javier Marías' The Infatuations is up next: I love it when books in translation are recognized and I hope it means that more great books get translated to English in the future. As for these last two, I'm about half-way into A Tale For the Time Being and I'm really enjoying it so far. And then there's The Goldfinch, which seems to be pretty much everywhere.

Two of these are Tournament of Books finalists (Ozeki, Tartt), so I guess that just proves that those ToB people know what they're doing! Americanah had been on my short-term to-read list until the ToB finalists were announced and pushed it back to the long-term list. Someone and The Infatuations weren't really on my radar, but I'm still not feeling compelled to add them to the the to-read list. Maybe if one of them wins?

I've read one-and-a-half of these - how many have you read? What did you think of them?

Some 2014 Tournament of Books Metrics

2014-01-08T10:28:00.000-06:00

Given that the 2014 Morning News Tournament of Books (hashtag ToBX, y'all) finalists were announced yesterday, I thought it would be fun to go through the numbers.

93 Long-listed books
17 Finalist books
7,164 total pages
421 pages is the average book length
384 pages is the median book length (At Night We Walk in Circles & The People in the Trees
200 pages is the shortest book (Hill William)
848 pages is the longest book (The Luminaries)
8 male authors
9 female authors
12 American authors
5 non-American authors
2 books in translation

Don't be confused by names, Mia Couto is a dude. The American and non-American authors was a little more difficult to work out (thanks Wikipedia!). Some of these authors have duel citizenship (I'm looking at you, Ruth Ozeki) and some where born elsewhere but live here and have nationality in the United States.

In other news, I finished The Goldfinch last night. I'm trying to figure out what to take on next. Do I try to tackle the longest book (The Luminaries) or do I go for How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (only 240 pages!)? Since I've only read 2 of 17 books (1,216 of 7,164 pages), there's a lot to read. So do I read the longest books first or do I go for quantity of books and start with Hill William and finish as many as possible?

What's everybody's strategy for getting through these?

If you can't get enough ToB(X!) coverage, here are some posts by other bloggers about this year's finalists:

Tournament of Books 2014 Finalists

2014-01-07T13:29:00.001-06:00

Boy am I glad that I'm almost done with The Goldfinch because I haven't read most of the 2014 Tournament of Books finalists. Here's the list. Links go to Powell's where you can purchase the books you don't have yet (and yes, I get a teeny-tiny piece of the action when you do).

At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

The Dinner by Herman Koch

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

Long Division by Kiese Laymon

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Hill William by Scott McClanahan

The Son by Phillip Meyer

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

Pre-Tournament Playoff Round

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel

Of these titles, I've read The Good Lord Bird and almost finished The Goldfinch. This may be my worst start to the ToB season ever - 2 of 17. Since I've got so much reading to do to gear up for the tournament and only about three months(!) to do it in, this blog is going all-ToB until it's over.

And oh yeah, the ToB contest is making a return as well. So there's that too.

Let's do this.

Some Maintenance

2014-01-02T16:55:00.002-06:00

Hey hey hey...

We've got a new domain name. I'm a dumbass and I accidently let the domain expire and then some asshat bought it up and I had to find a new domain. I actually like the new one better.

http://www.foreveroverhead.net

I'm working on getting it working without the www part... I'm having some challenges there.

Update your links, y'all.

Also, I'll be making some changes around here and posting (much) more often.

With Occasional Music

2013-08-06T08:38:00.000-05:00

In the fall of 1996 I was a freshman in college just outside of St. Louis. I'd grown up just south of Boston (in a bitty coastal town called Duxbury) and I was just starting to settle in as a Midwesterner. Campus was about an hour from the city and anytime we really wanted to go anywhere we threw a few discs into the changer and had a very specific set of songs we'd play in a specific order. The first song was always The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize."

When I hear that song now it always makes me feel like something is about to happen!

----

I have a weakness for mashups. The truly excellent ones are far and few between, but when they hit... man, it just makes me stand up. Maybe you've heard of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.? They've done this mashup mixing "Hypnotize" and the various bits from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and it's pretty awesome.

Listen to it!

(via The Fox is Black)

Acquired: The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan

2013-07-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

The Panopticon
by Jenni Fagan
Hogarth Books
Publication Date: July 23, 2013

I have a thing for Scottish accents. Especially Scottish accented women. Like, if you're a lady and your Scottish accent is so strong I can hardly understand you, I'm done for.

This has nothing to do with Scottish accents, but Jenni Fagan is a Scottish writer whose debut novel will be published tomorrow here in the US. Her accent is rather light, but she seems to be a lovely woman.

Honestly, I haven't read a word of The Panopticon yet, but it arrived on Saturday and I haven't had a chance to crack it yet. I'm headed to Florida next week and I'll take it with me. If I finish, I'll write something up when I return.

Here's the first bit of the publisher's blurb:

Anais Hendricks, fifteen, is in the back of a police car. She is headed for the Panopticon, a home for chronic young offenders. She can't remember what’s happened, but across town a policewoman lies in a coma and Anais’s school uniform is covered in blood.

Sounds cool, right? The New York Times seemed to like it.

Let's let author Jenni Fagan describe it to you:

Some Thoughts on God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr.

2013-06-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

God Is Dead

Ron Currie, Jr

192 pages

Viking

Published 2007

Some stream-of-conscious thoughts on God Is Dead...

The inside flap in God Is Dead asks, "If God took human form and was killed, what would become of life as we know it?"

I have a hard time with short story collections. They typically take an eternity for me to read, but I read this one pretty quickly. I practically devoured it, actually

People don't react well to something called God Is Dead. I felt like I was baiting people when I carried it around or read it in public. I wondered if Ron Currie, Jr. was baiting people with this title. I think the concept of writing about what would happen to the world if God really, truly ceased to exist in the world is kind of baiting the general public. It would be so easy to write something cynical and hateful and call it God Is Dead, but this book is not that.

Many of the reviews I've read of this story collection make a big deal out of the opening story in which Colin Powell loses his shit. I thought it was maybe the least compelling story in this collection and felt like it was just an opportunity to take the piss out of George W. Bush. It was funny though.

I'm maybe not giving that story enough credit. It's the title story, after all and sets up the premise of the entire collection and it's clever and funny and all of those things, but it just kind of fell short for me. Maybe because it's the only story that has solid real-world references? It threw me for a loop when Michael Chabon included Barak Obama as a character in Telegraph Avenue. Maybe I have a bias against that kind of thing? Maybe the story is really great, but I can't see past the characters?

Most reviews tend to downplay the stories at the end of the collection, ("The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit" and "Retreat").

I'll admit that the first of those stories was a little hard to get into, but once I'd figured out what was going on, I re-started the story and I loved it.

I keep thinking about how, despite all of these scenarios in which God no longer exists, humanity keeps doing what it's been doing since the beginning of time.

And maybe that's the point of all of these stories?

Let's look at "The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit." I'm tempted to spend more time talking about the greater world situation in which there is an epic war between the Postmodern Anthropologists and the Evolutionary Psychologists. Since there's no more religion (because no God, remember?), humans have found new ways to split into factions and in this case, it's those who believe in free will against those who believe in genetic predetermination.

As humans, we're not happy unless there some kind of "other" to rail against.

But the story has multiple layers. Follow me here. First layer: God is dead and traditional religion is obsolete. Second layer: There's this crazy war going on. Third layer: parents just don't understand. The heart of the story is about a boy named Arnold who feels out of touch with his mother. Yet it's really tempting to comment on how humanity has replaced fighting over differing concepts of God to fighting about differing concepts of human existence (which, if we're being honest, aren't that different). I could easily write an entire blog post unpacking the second layer of this story without ever really discussing the heart of the story. It's really well done.

Most of the stories are like this. I could list each out, give you the framework of the second layer and then reveal the real story at the center.

What happens is kind of the opposite of that whole "can't see the forest for the trees" thing. The framework for the story is often so dazzling that when it's over you remember that second layer more than the actual core of the story.

I think what I'm trying to get at here is that the world-building sometimes steals the spotlight. No, I don't think that's what I'm trying to say. It's more like a slight-of-hand trick. You get distracted by the flashy part. Maybe it's subversive in its own literary way.

It's not a bad thing, it's just a thing. George Saunders does the same thing in his own way and apparently he's awesome and has written the best book of the year.

And I guess when I really think about it, most (good) fiction operates that way. Set up an interesting premise that lets the author explore the human condition in a new way. So I guess that God Is Dead succeeds in that way.

Since I've read Ron Currie, Jr.'s two other books, it's hard to put God Is Dead in the context of the rest of his work other than it feels less mature than the later stuff (as is typical for a first book, I guess). You can see the darkness in Everything Matters! and Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles in the stories "Indian Summer" and "My Brother The Murderer." But you can also see the heart (so, so much heart in those two later works) in "The Bridge."

My man-crush on Ron Currie, Jr. is now well established and I'm still deeply embarrassed that he knows about it. I plan to write about his other two books shortly.

Do I recommend God Is Dead? I sure do. If nothing else, it's imaginative and sometimes touching and other times revolting. Regardless, it touched a nerve in me and it might do the same for you.

Book Source: St. Louis Public Library

This is embarrassing

2013-05-28T17:04:00.000-05:00

Well this is embarrassing...

Some choice quotes from Ron Currie Jr.'s Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles

2013-05-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm usually not very good at capturing passages that I really love while reading. I either don't have a pencil or pen on me or I'm not feeling patient enough to jot the quote on a scrap of paper or onto my phone. But as I've been reading Ron Currie Jr.'s new novel, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, I've been making an effort to make note of the quotes I really loved.

Reading through them, I've noticed how the quotes that I picked really apply to my current life situation and I wonder that if things were different if I would have been as in love with these quotes. Which sort of begs the question, how much of our appreciation of a book (or any art, really) shaped by our life's events?

Anyway, on with the quotes.

Why is grief, when inspired by certain types of loss, considered something to surmount, to get over, while when inspired by other types of loss it’s given a pass, allowed and even encouraged to go on forever?

And when you try to live there, to live in a place where you’re betraying yourself over and over, not only do you grow to resent the hell out of it, and resent the hell out of whomever you’re betraying and censoring yourself for, but the very idea of your self begins slowly and inexorably to erode. Until you realize one day out of the clear blue that you have no idea who yourself is, anymore.

Aging was no longer the abstraction it had been a decade before. It was now a fact made concrete by every gray hair discovered in the mirror, every randomly sore knee and forgotten factoid and irregular, spotty period, every unbidden thought of where our parents were at our age and, moreover, how old they had seemed to us then.

...and I realized suddenly that at thirty-six my body couldn't hope to keep up with either my heart or my brain when it came to this woman, always this woman, only this woman, because with this woman I was forever going to need the ravenous coupling that only teenagers are capable of, and I had not been a teenager for a very long time.

When I looked at Emma and my heart leapt into my throat, as it always did when I looked at her, I sometimes realized that if I could figure out a way to see her as other people no doubt must—as human, in other words, pretty, certainly, but flawed, real, actual, doomed to expire like the rest of us—then I would be free, finally. But there seemed to be only one way that I could see her.

You can buy Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles at Powell's or Amazon.

Currently: May 19th 2013

2013-05-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Trying to find a way to get myself to post more often. I'm going to borrow (steal?) this format from Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness. Let's see how it goes.

Time // 9:42 a.m.

Place // My apartment

Eating and Drinking // Nothing yet this morning. Had a lot of pizza from the place down the street yesterday and I think I'm still full?

Reading // I'm reading a book on my iPad (Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr), reading another on my iPhone (The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson) and alternating between the library book I have checked out (God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr.) and a book given to me by a close friend (A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness).

After finishing Everything Matters!, I've gone on a Ron Currie, Jr. binge. Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles is really interesting stylistically, but it hasn't grabbed me as much as Everything Matters! I also got Currie's first collection of linked short stories from the library, God Is Dead, which examines what would happen if God actually died. I'm not very far into it yet, but it looks promising.

I've had The Family Fang in Kindle format for months and I didn't start it until this week and I LOVE IT.

I'm reading A Discovery of Witches because a really wonderful person told me that I should read it. It's a big bulky book, so I often choose to read something else, but when I chose to pick it up, I enjoy the story and the history. It's not my usual thing, but I'm glad I'm reading it.

Watching //Watched my first episode of Adventure Time this week and it's just as weird and wonderful as promised.

Last night we struck out on two Netflix movies before we found one we liked. DNF'd both Bachelorette and The Pill, but watched and enjoyed The Giant Mechanical Man.

On the TV front, finished and really enjoyed The New Girl (need to go back and watch season one)

Listening // I've really been into the new Waaves album:

Working // Work is crazy. That's all I have to say. At some point I'll catch up. I hope.

Doing // Caught dinner with some old friends on Friday night and I met a lot of new people. Yesterday went to Bark in the Park over at Forest Park. Lots of dogs!

Today is going to be clean and catch up on work day. I'm considering a walk in nearby Lafayette Park and maybe some reading before I come back here to work.

Book Acquired: Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.

2013-04-11T08:10:00.000-05:00

Another book that's been on my TBR list for a long time is Ron Currie, Jr.'s Everything Matters!, published by Penguin in 2009. In a fit of book-buying that also included Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son, I bought myself a brand new copy of this baby.

In this novel rich in character, Junior Thibodeau grows up in rural Maine in a time of Atari, baseball cards, pop Catholicism, and cocaine. He also knows something no one else knows-neither his exalted parents, nor his baseball-savant brother, nor the love of his life (she doesn't believe him anyway): The world will end when he is thirty-six. While Junior searches for meaning in a doomed world, his loved ones tell an all-American family saga of fathers and sons, blinding romance, lost love, and reconciliation-culminating in one final triumph that reconfigures the universe. A tour de force of storytelling, Everything Matters! is a genre-bending potpourri of alternative history, sci-fi, and the great American tale in the tradition of John Irving and Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood and John Irving, y'all! Sounds AWESOME, eh?

Ron Currie, Jr.'s most recent novel is Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, published by Viking last February. The reviews were good, so maybe I'll read it after Everything Matters!

As you were...

Book Acquired: Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson

2013-04-09T11:10:00.001-05:00

And lo, a package arrived with mine name upon its face. And I opened the package and out of it sprang forth a slim collection of short fiction. The author is Denis Johnson. The slim book is Jesus' Son. It is published by Picador.

Jesus' Son is a visionary chronicle of dreamers, addicts, and lost souls. These stories tell of a spiraling grief and transcendence, of rock bottom and redemption, of getting lost and found and lost again. The raw beauty and careening energy of Denis Johnson's prose has earned this book a place among the classics of twentieth-century American literature.

As I've mentioned before, "Emergency" was featured in The New Yorker's Fiction Podcast in 2009 (and read by Tobias Wolff). I've been trolling used bookstores for years in search of a copy of this book. I finally broke down and bought it.

So! Excited! I think I need to go lie down.

Some FREE e-Books for Thursday

2013-04-04T10:42:00.002-05:00

Fiction Advocate, a micropress and literary website, is marking its fourth birthday and they're celebrating by giving away all four of their e-books.

For free.

The books include The Real Holden Caulfield by Michael Moats, Brothel by J. Boyett, A Post About a Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room by Andrew Mitchell, and Robert Repino Has a New Catchphrase by Brian Hurley

Do it. Get some free quality books from some great people. Go off and download. They're all available until the end of April.

A Few Things Marking A Return Of Sorts

2013-04-03T11:22:00.001-05:00

"To be alive at all is to have scars."
-John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

Lots of life changes since last we chatted. My marriage is, for the most part, over. I moved from a nice house in the country to an apartment in the city. On balance, I'm happier than I've ever been.

But I also feel free. Bad habits in a relationship form quietly and have the shield of justification to keep them alive. They thrive in the warm waters of conflict and suppressed emotions. These habits can become so huge and unwieldy that they obscure even larger problem. Tearing down the habits means exposing a bigger issue and it's frankly terrifying.

Because the truth is that sometimes a marriage just doesn't work. And as much as you care about someone and love them, they're not your partner. They have different dreams, different goals, different tastes. This isn't anyone's fault, but once it becomes clear then all of the other problems come into focus as well. How can you live your life and feel like yourself when your chosen partner wants a different life? How can you feel content when your spouse is doing/thinking things that are foreign to you? That's not a partnership; it's a roommate..

"We all have to die a bit every now and then and usually it's so gradual that we end up more alive than ever. Infinitely old and infinitely alive."
-Roberto Bolaño, The Skating Rink

So what's new? I have been reading, but slowly. I managed to finally read Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, which hit a little too close to home. I finished Matt Johnson's Pym, which was fun. I also finished George Saunders much-lauded short story collection, Tenth of December.

I watched the Tournament of Books roll past.I couldn't get my shit together enough to put on another contest. I barely kept up with some of the commentary. But I was thrilled to see that The Orphan Master's Son took the Rooster. I loved that book when I read it almost a year ago. If you haven't read it then shame on you! Head out to your local bookstore or library right now and read it.

I'm going to start doing this blogging thing again. I'm currently reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, so look for a review of that soon. Someday I will collect my thoughts on Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold. The Steinbeck Reading Challenge lives on... no kidding.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you soon.

-Brooks

Some links for your Monday

2012-11-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

* Rick Moody reviewed Eric Nuzum's Giving Up The Ghost on the New York Times. His review is better than mine, but I think we generally agree. I only have one issue with Moody's review - he completely ignores the musical aspects of the book. Music is a big deal in Giving Up The Ghost and to leave it without any consideration is a mistake.

* One of my favorite people who writes about books is Lydia Kiesling. She has a new piece in Bullett about James Wood's new essay collection, The Fun Stuff. The reason I love Kiesling so much is that she manages to imbibe her thoughtful writing with a lot of fun and humanity. Her regular-ish column at The Millions, the "Modern Library Revue," is really excellent and recommended reading. Do it.

* Among others, Andrew Krivak's The Sojourn was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Another Forever Overhead favorite, The Sisters Brothers was also nominated .

So this happened...

2012-11-11T11:55:00.000-06:00

apologies for the
weird reflection of the ceiling

My two month old Nexus 7 took a fall and now it is fully busted.

I break everything. *sigh*

And apparently the PBA won't pay for a replacement, which is bologna.

I'm bummed because this thing has become my primary reading device, edging out my old Kindle 3. It was great for reading in bed at night without needing to keep a light on.

That quote I posted yesterday from Pym - it's great, right? I had been reading Pym on my Nexus 7. Now I need to read the rest of it on either the Kindle or the iPhone. Not cool.

And do my overlords at the PBA offer any assistance? No. They just tell me to mellow out and do their bidding. So I guess that's what I'm going to do.

I guess.

A quote for Saturday

2012-11-10T11:14:00.000-06:00

"In this age when reality is based on big lies, what better place for truth than fiction?"
- Pym by Matt Johnson

Yesterday morning was cold and foggy

2012-11-09T09:14:00.000-06:00

It was really cold outside when I left the house to go to my new desk at the PBA.

The grass had gone and had it's tips frosted overnight.

Now everyone's going to think I've got gay grass

(I live in the midwest, folks).

Despite the cold, a few trees still have some nice color, so I decided to snap a quick photo.

And then I was driving and as I neared the mighty Mississippi River, my car was surrounded by a mysterious fog.

What does any of this have to do with books or literature or reading or anything?

Nothing, really. I mean, if I have to provide some kind of connection then maybe I can point you in the direction of Stephen King's short story "The Mist," which coincidentally takes place very close to where I went to summer camp.

Or maybe this post is some kind of subliminal message from my overlords at the PBA?

Maybe so. Maybe not.