H and I were driving through rural New Mexico late at night returning from a Colorado vacation when we first heard the Sedaris Easter story. We laughed so hard we had to stop the car.
I am currently reading Wally Lamb’s new book, The Hour I First Believed. I’m about 1/3 through it and it’s amazing. He’s a really talented writer. It’s set (partly) at Columbine High School.
BigAppleDaddy
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Thank you! Exactly the type of thing my son would like.
“H and I were driving through rural New Mexico late at night returning from a Colorado vacation when we first heard the Sedaris Easter story. We laughed so hard we had to stop the car”
MOWC- I COMPLETELY understand having to stop that car- I needed tissues to wipe the tears from laughing so hard reading that “Easter Chapter”-- I just gave the book to my sister today, especially pointing out that chapter- so much for the NY Times reviewer
And, Mathmom I didn’t take any foreign language classes, and found that chapter hysterical.
I recently finished:
Lone Survivor - the eyewitness account of Operation Redwing and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10
by Marcus Luttrell (with Patrick Robinson)
Marcus Luttrell tells the story of going through SEAL training for roughly the first half of the book. The second half is about “Operation Redwing” which dropped a 4 man SEAL team into the mountains of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. Ultimately the team was ambushed, 3 members were killed, and Marcus Luttrell was on the run, and ultimately saved by locals in a small village, who protected him from the enemy. I think it was the largest loss of special forces life in US history on one mission (including the rescue mission). The team was the recipients of 3 Navy Crosses and 1 Medal of Honor.
I didn’t know how far I could get into the book b/c I hated the writing style at the beginning, but the style either got better, or I became used to it, and it no longer bothered me. It is a national bestseller, I would highly recommend it. The account of the battle as it was happening, the SEALs getting shot and getting back up… it was a powerful read.
^^Sounds a lot like Black Hawk Down, by Mark Bowden, only that was set in Mogadishu. A Navy helicopter went down on a mission, and the rescue team was caught in a fierce battle. Many lives lost, and much Monday-morning quarterbacking over the unpreparedness of both the original and the rescue team.
The movie was probably better than the book, however.
Just finished the novel Requieum, Mass., by John Dufresne. Lovely, beautifully written, and very funny novel. His others are good, too. I’ve read Louisiana Power and Light and Deep in the Shade of Paradise. I totally recommend him.
[Holiday</a> Guide 2008: Gifts - 10 Best Books of the Year (washingtonpost.com)](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2008/holiday-guide/gifts/10-best-books-of-the-year/gallery.html]Holiday”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2008/holiday-guide/gifts/10-best-books-of-the-year/gallery.html)
[Holiday</a> Guide 2008: Gifts - Best Books of 2008 (washingtonpost.com)](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2008/holiday-guide/gifts/best-books-of-2008/]Holiday”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2008/holiday-guide/gifts/best-books-of-2008/)
[Books</a> | Our critic’s top ten fiction books of 2008 | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2008532452_michaelbest21.html]Books”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2008532452_michaelbest21.html)
(P.S. There’s a poignant note at the end of this list, in which the critic announces that “[d]ue to changes at the newspaper,” he’s “moving [from book critic] to a more general arts beat.” Yet another disturbing reminder [as if we needed one] of what perilous times these are for the newspaper business [and while we’re at it, for the book business, too].)
^^ I agree with epistrophy about it being perilous times for the newspaper and book industries. As much as I like the availability of breaking news on the internet and TV I appreciate more the ability to read and reflect upon the written word. I like the tactile sensation of holding a book in my hands. One of my favorite all time gifts was a subscription to the NY Times when my children were very young. It gave me an insight into the world outside. I also came to know many dedicated newspaper people through my H’s job.
Oddly, I am a in a book group with a retired Times reporter. He almost never actually reads a book if it is available on tape. Several times we have found significant plot omissions when the book is listened to and not read.
This odd novel, set in New Zealand in the late '70s, won the Booker Prize. It is fascinating with very imaginative writing but it also has a lot of disturbing violence and child abuse. Keri Hulme, of European and Maori heritage, weaves fantasy and harsh reality into a storyline in language that to me accurately reflects Kiwi speech patterns. The plot is original and incorporates the constant push-pull of native vs. settler cultures.
P.S. re “perilous times” (#628):
[Goodbye</a> to All That : CJR:](<a href=“Goodbye to All That - Columbia Journalism Review”>Goodbye to All That - Columbia Journalism Review)
[If</a> You Build It… : CJR:](<a href=“If You Build It... - Columbia Journalism Review”>If You Build It... - Columbia Journalism Review)
And an email I sent earlier today to the Seattle newspaper’s (soon-to-be-former) book critic:
P.P.S. Well, this Seattle book critic already got back to me via email (how fast things sometimes go in the e-world) and confirmed that, yes, this change in his role is indeed the product of cost-cutting, and said that while he still hopes to do book reviews from time to time in the future, the newspaper’s overall book coverage is being significantly reduced.
Philip Roth’s “Portnoy’s Complaint” . . . and I haven’t even finished it yet.
^ Ah yes. A classic.
without a doubt the alchemist
Big WWII history fan here- “Agent ZigZag” by B McIntyre and “My Life in Secrets”. Both read like fast page turning mysteries and are hard to put down.
[An</a> impressionistic array of this year’s titles 2008 2008 – chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/chi-1227-holiday-book-roundupdec27,0,7608283.story]An”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/chi-1227-holiday-book-roundupdec27,0,7608283.story)
Two friends of mine work for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and yes, the newspaper has told its employees to expect layoffs. My father worked at the Philadelphia Bulletin–which went defunct in 1978–and my brother worked for the Washington Post (still around). I read newspapers, I love newspapers… and even I no longer subscribe to the daily paper, but just read it online. I do get the Sunday New York Times, for two reasons: it gets me online access to the archives, and I get the magazine. I pay for the online but not print Wall Street Journal.
But even I assume that the newspapers desperately need to figure a way out of this problem, or they won’t survive. I think one answer is to go more local–cover the local school sports and elections, the assessor’s office, that kind of thing–and the other is to change entirely what they provide. Specialize, the way the WSJ covers business, for example. The LA Times could cover the entertainment industry the same way, the Washington Post, the government, etc.
It’s hard to know who has done a worse job of adjusting to the new realities of the e-world: the newspaper business or the record business.
But there seem to be big differences in the downward spiraling fortunes of these two businesses, for both the participants and the public. Many musicians seem to be doing just fine, thank you (maybe even better), without the music “industry” – starting their own labels, selling their music directly to folks via the 'net, etc.
As a writer, though, it’s much more difficult to figure out a profitable way of delivering your goods directly to the public. Sure there are a few bloggers who apparently are making a living at it, but they’re a pretty tiny group of folks when compared to the hundreds and hundreds of writers being laid off at newspapers, magazines, etc.
Well, I know that newspapers must “adapt or die” - but emotionally, I am very sad that my Detroit Free Press will no longer be delivered daily to my doorstep. I read lots of newspapers on-line and will continue to do so. However, there’s nothing like the feel and smell of newsprint and nothing like curling up with the newspaper and a cup of tea on a cold winter day. Call me a dinosaur, I guess… but a computer monitor is just not the same!