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Len Vlahos
The
Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by
Michael
Chabon
For some reason, I thought one of my colleagues had already reviewed this
book in the staff picks, but after a romp through the
archives, I see that I'm mistaken. Which is great, because now I'll
have the pleasure. Mr. Chabon's sweeping novel of two cousins (Kavalier
and Clay, of course) and their journeys -- together and apart -- from
boyhood to manhood during WWII is one of the finest pieces of writing
I've encountered in a long time. And don't be misled by that hamfisted
description...this is not in any way, shape, or form a war novel. Almost
all of it is set in and around New York City -- with brief visits to Prague
and Antarctica -- and really, in many ways, is the story of how different
people (artists and entreprenuers) cope with loss, with love, with success,
and with failure. The characters are eminently identifiable, the prose
intoxicating, and the smatterings of actual history fascinating. This
book is, quite simply, a must read.
Meg Smith
Sonnets
from the Portuguese and Other Love Poems
by Elizabeth
Barrett Browning
I pick Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, sentimental favorites
for the month of April. Was their verse that got me interested in the
form 100 years ago when I started writing. Pick a volume, any volume..
A Toast--
To Robert
and Elizabeth, lately Bob and his Liz,
Lovers
and partners, in life and the biz.
Thanks
for the careful words and fine lines,
Portuguese Sonnets, verses, and perfect rhymes.
Gavin
J. Grant
Six
Kinds of Sky
by Luis
Alberto Urrea
This is an amazing collection of short stories. There are stories here
that I'll be thinking about long after I've forgotten most of the other
books I've ever read, the TV I've watched, and the films I've seen. They
range from the pretty damn funny ("Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush") to strong
stuff like "A Day in the Life;" which chronicles the lives of an extended
family of garbage pickers in Mexico City. "Father Returns from the Mountain"
-- along with the afterword -- is part of Urrea's ongoing recording of
the mythos of his father's hometown, Rosario, Mexico.
If nothing
else, pick up the book for the last story, "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses."
A man goes to the South Dakota reservation where his wife had grown up
-- and left to go with him -- for her funeral. He remembers his early
unthinking racism, the chance meeting with Joni Her Many Horses, and how
the in years since, she smiled less and less; drank more and more. The
story is at once much more complicated, and yet that simple. It is a story
that, like all good stories, runs deep.
Scott
Nafz
The
Straight Dope
by Cecil
Adams
There is a quality shared by several books I swear by, a quality that
may put them just one step above picturebooks... I greatly enjoy books
that I can open at random and begin reading on any page. Even short stories
within collections are often too long for my 'tree squirrel' attention
span. Luckily, one of my favorite authors presents all of his works in
exactly this fashion. Cecil Adams is a columnist for a weekly alternative
paper in Chicago called the Chicago Reader, and has been "fighting ignorance
since 1973" by answering readers' questions about any topic they can think
of: What's the best way to kill cockroaches? What ever happened to Channel
1? Can man live on bread alone, and if so, how long? ("Long enough to
wish it were shorter, Irv"). Of course, many 'answermen' have risen in
Cecil's wake, and I've read many of their books as well. But there is
a certain aspect to Mr. Adams' answers... insufferable, acidic, pompous...
let's face it... this guy can be a jerk (Heaven forbid you should submit
a question with spelling or grammatical errors!). However, the depth to
which he does answer these questions is matched by the hilarity of his
usually insulting replies. Although there are five or six books in the
series, this first one is far and away my favorite (If all 1 billion Chinese
stood on chairs and jumped off at the same time, would the Earth be knocked
from it's orbit?). It was from Cecil Adams that I learned why manhole
covers are round, and that a penny tossed from the top of the Empire State
Building will NOT drive through a person's skull... valuable information
in any modern civilization.
Eric Wallenstein
Lunch
Poems
by Frank
O'Hara
It took a bit of time before I was keen to O'Hara's style -- his poems
are so off-the-cuff that it might be hard to take them seriously -- but
then I came around and realized that the relaxed, conversational quality
of his writing makes for some truly refreshing reading, and so what if
each page doesn't make any grand "This is POETRY" proclamations? As the
title suggests, these poems were supposedly written during random lunch
hours, and likewise, such impromptu and witty bits are perfect for reading
on your own lunch hour. Although, in doing so, you may quickly become
hooked on O'Hara (in which case I also recommend Meditations
in An Emergency, and anything you find on his fascinating life).
Throughout this collection, he celebrates everyday urban life while gleefully
referencing both highbrow and lowbrow culture (circa 1964, when Lunch
Poems was published) and adding a liberal dose of humor to the proceedings.
Best of all, perhaps, is that this pocket-sized volume is perfect fit
for your coat pocket or knapsack, in case you're prone to the kind of
wanderlust that would make old Frank proud.
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