BruceH Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Roy Blount, Jr. - Hail, Hail, Euphoria! My homeboy Roy Blount is one of my favorite humor writers. This is his examination of The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup. The Amazon reviews are all over the place - some people don't like Blount's many digressions, but that's always been part of his style. And the digressions often contain the most interesting passages. Oh yes, I'm a big fan of Roy Blount, Jr. too. How, I wonder, could anyone NOT like Blount's digressions, then I recall you said "Amazon reviews" and of course, that makes sense, because about twenty percent of Amazon reviews are shit. Conundrum solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Steve Stern: The Frozen Rabbi You always post some interesting sounding novels. Just wish I could make room in my own reading time to read some of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Now on: Part of a great 30s/40s series (they overlap but are not a series or chronological). This one is based in Poland in 1937. I'm a fan of Furst as well and have read several of his 1930s/40s novels--still a number of them I have yet to get around to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 I'm a fan of Furst as well and have read several of his 1930s/40s novels--still a number of them I have yet to get around to. Only realised when reading the end of this one that he's an American. I'd always assumed he was British - not a great US presence in his novels. His website has Django R. as a soundtrack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 The Andre Agassi autobiog "Open". If he wrote this without a ghost, he's an elegant writer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 I've just finished the second Quiller story, The Ninth Directive. It was so delicious, I didn't want to read it for more than a half hour at a time. I wanted to savor it all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Back to the old favorites: Raymond Chandler, Three Novels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Lorrie Moore: A Gate At The Stairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Cop Killer----the penultimate Martin Beck book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 I'm now reading the latest Dashiell Hammett collection, called Lost Stories. It includes a biography of Hammett which discusses where Hammett was in his life when he wrote each story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 Hey GA, that's a new one on me, thanks for the post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 25, 2010 Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 Just finished "The Cookbook Collector" by Allegra Goodman. Anyone else here read it? Now into Keith Richards' "Life" which I'm sure many of us are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted November 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 I'm now reading the latest Dashiell Hammett collection, called Lost Stories. It includes a biography of Hammett which discusses where Hammett was in his life when he wrote each story. There are still a few uncollected ones--Medjuck and I have been trying to track all of them down over the past several years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 25, 2010 Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 Still revisting my youth. Finished rereading David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, which was a strange experience. Apparently he's revised the novel to reflect things that have changed since he first wrote it, which would be completely ridiculous in any other novel, but with this one, it adds to the unreality of it all. Still a ridiculous practice if you ask me; one that shows not even the author takes this stuff seriously. As many times as I've recommended this book in the past, I can no longer do so. But take that as an 'old and cranky' comment. Now reading Terry Brooks' Sword of Shanarra, or should I say trying to. A couple of hundred pages in, I'm finding this to be somewhat tedious, and the level of Brook's craft is not what I remember. My guess is this one won't be finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 (edited) Just finished reading John Dufresne's Deep in the Shade of PARADiSE. From a dialogue between Miranda and Adlai near the end of the novel: "Miranda says, 'Adlai?' 'What' She wraps her arm over Adlai's chest, kisses his shoulder. 'Tell me a story, a long, long, long story that you never finish.' 'Can you have a story that never ends?' 'Yes, if you tell it right.'" I didn't want this story to end. But, like life, I knew it had to. Edited November 29, 2010 by paul secor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Half-way through this. Beautifully written story of a young woman reporter captured by the Vietcong. Superb passages about everything from riding in a military helicopter under fire, being out in the jungle, experiencing South Vietnamese police brutality and just everyday life in a war zone. Very impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Still revisting my youth. Finished rereading David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, which was a strange experience. Apparently he's revised the novel to reflect things that have changed since he first wrote it, which would be completely ridiculous in any other novel, but with this one, it adds to the unreality of it all. Still a ridiculous practice if you ask me; one that shows not even the author takes this stuff seriously. As many times as I've recommended this book in the past, I can no longer do so. But take that as an 'old and cranky' comment. What the ever-lovin' Hell? Why on God's green earth would someone "revise" a novel like The Man Who Folded Himself? It sounds remarkably wrongheaded. What are the differences? Does the eponymous time-traveling hero refer to President Bush? Sad to hear that Gerrold would mess up his own book like that. I reread a good part of the novel about 10 years back. I hadn't read it since I was in 9th grade, so the only thing strange that time was getting a more adult perspective on the old book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 It's really silly stuff, like mentioning the WTC twin towers 'still standing' at one point, the character 'listening to CDs', and such; stuff that adds absolutely nothing to the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 (edited) Before I get too senile might as well start reading some classics.Think I'll finish it when summer comes along if everything goes well. Edited November 30, 2010 by Van Basten II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Before I get too senile might as well start reading some classics.Think I'll finish it when summer comes along if everything goes well. Good luck. I just had to read Madame Bovary for our book club. Drove me crazy. Happy to get back to contemporary writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Craig Ferguson's BETWEEN THE BRIDGE AND THE RIVER, 2nd attempt at reading this. It's catching on this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.