Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
John Grogan
The cute little Lab in the pen
Becomes man's huge and destructive best friend
Overbearing and gawky
Describe both the prose and the doggie
But you'll want tissues on hand at the end.
The Caine Mutiny
Herman Wouk
She's a doll, but a wife? He's unsure
He thinks the navy will help him mature.
But who takes the rudder
When the captain's a nutter?
From the title, you can infer.
Secrets to Happiness
Sarah Dunn
The ex-boyfriends are hard to keep straight
And the plot comes too little, too late.
But the one-liners are rocking:
Funny, smart, sometimes shocking
As light reading, this is first-rate.
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
Michael Davis
Take a peek under the scenes
Where things are not quite squeaky clean.
Egos big as the bird,
Tragic deaths that occurred;
A genius it's not easy being.
Wishful Drinking (a memoir)
Carrie Fisher
From a childhood of scandal and strife
To Star Wars icon and Paul Simon's wife
Her self-absorption's extreme
But how hard it must be
To be less interesting than your own life.
More limericks
The Thirteenth Tale
Diane Setterfield
Sisters, secrets, goosebumps for book lovers.
Mrs. Mike
Benedict Freedman and Nancy Freedman
Love a mountie, grow up fast.
The Giant's House
Elizabeth McCracken
Wonderful tale of friendship between misfits.
Good in Bed
Jennifer Weiner
Sheila Levine is alive in Philadelphia.
Bel Canto
Ann Patchett
Lovely but unconvincing Stockholm syndrome story.
Clearcut
Nina Shengold
For lonely timber-country nights, a longjohn-ripper.
More six-word summaries
One! Hundred! Demons!
Lynda Barry
Gorgeous painted colors and freedom from a little box in the newspaper give Barry's art and stories a chance to breathe, while retaining marvelous details like how other people's houses smell and the cursing of her Filipina grandmother. This series of autobiographical vignettes is hilarious at times and gutwrenching at others, probing memories of childhood hurt or confusion in an adult world that doesn't make sense. She's hard on herself, often revealing her own shame and guilt for passing the cruelty she experienced on to those even smaller and weaker. As an adult she's turned those feelings into a permanent allegiance with the underdog, and has surely helped hundreds to survive their own childhoods and exorcise their own demons.
One-L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
Scott Turow
Turow applies the same skills he used later to write bestselling legal thrillers to describe his first year, in 1975, at the most revered, and most high-pressure, law school in the land. This time the villains are sadistic professors and the dangers are classroom embarrassment and overwork, but Turow keeps the reader engrossed. He takes both his profession and himself very seriously—if he has a sense of humor, it's impossible to detect—but the discussions of legal matters are easily accessible for the layperson. The most interesting parts are when he takes a step back to look at how law school prepares a lawyer for practice. At the end of his grueling year he questions how motivating students by terrorizing them can prepare them for careers working with the ambiguities of human interactions. He muses that maybe as women enter the profession they will humanize it. In a 1988 afterword, he calls for legal education to be more practical than what he received, which was designed to turn out legal scholars rather than lawyers. No doubt law school and the legal profession have both changed a good deal in the last twenty years, but the effects of cutthroat competition on very smart people, and the beauty of the pursuit of justice, remain timeless.
Youngblood Hawke
Herman Wouk
A big book about a big man with big ideas. Like his contemporary Marjorie Morningstar, Hawke is pursuing the artistic life and seeking security. Unlike Marjorie, Hawke is a man, and marrying into money isn’t his only option, although he does consider it. All he wants is to pursue his punishing nocturnal writing schedule and churn out big novels with gripping plots and fascinating characters that people love to read (just like what Herman Wouk himself has spent his life producing). But everyone wants a piece of this poor boy from the hills of Kentucky turned cash cow, and Hawke himself chases after riches, knowing it will buy him the freedom to produce his ambitious masterwork. Is there a more romantic place than Manhattan in the forties? The hats, the gloves, the silk stockings, the cabs hailed in the rain? Even better, the publishing world, with sharp-tongued editors in glasses defending intellectual freedom? McCarthyism provides a subplot and a stirring commentary on American life and communism. Wouk has a troubling horror of aging women and gay men, which is unfortunate in a novel set in the New York theatre and publishing worlds. But his characters are fully fleshed out, his plot roars along like a freight train, and this is a rich read.
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Literary Limericks
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Buy-Nothing Songs
Books Reviewed
Ten Little Indians Sherman Alexie
A Box of Matches Nicholson Baker
Big Trouble Dave Barry
One! Hundred! Demons! Lynda Barry
Personals Thomas Beller, editor
Postville Stephen Bloom
Passionate Minds David Bodanis
Mystery Ride Robert Boswell
The Climb Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt
My Husband Betty Helen Boyd
Drop City T.C. Boyle
The Inner Circle T.C. Boyle
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson
Long For This World Michael Byers
In Cold Blood Truman Capote
Heart, You Bully, You Punk Leah Hager Cohen
Mrs. Bridge Evan S. Connell
Mr. Bridge Evan S. Connell
River Thieves Michael Crummey
My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum
The Quality of Life Report Meghan Daum
The Gift of Fear Gavin de Becker
Burnt Bread and Chutney Carmit Delman
Brother Iron, Sister Steel Dave Draper
Crunchy Cons Rod Dreher
Turbulent Souls Stephen Dubner
House of Sand and Fog Andre Dubus III
Bait and Switch Barbara Ehrenreich
Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich
Travels with Lizbeth Lars Eighner
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman
Kick Me Paul Feig
True Story Michael Finkel
Time and Again Jack Finney
Bad Times in Buenos Aires Miranda France
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen
Jew vs. Jew Samuel G. Freedman
Jews Without Judaism Daniel Friedman
Muscle Samuel Fussell
The Country of Marriage Anthony Giardina
White Guys Anthony Giardina
Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert
The Last American Man Elizabeth Gilbert
Stern Men Elizabeth Gilbert
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress Susan Jane Gilman
Blink Malcolm Gladwell
Bee Season Myla Goldberg
The Search for God at Harvard Ari Goldman
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon
Holy Days Lis Harris
What Was She Thinking? Zöe Heller
Confederates in the Attic Tony Horwitz
Waltzing the Cat Pam Houston
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Le Divorce Diane Johnson
A Death in Belmont Sebastian Junger
John Stuart Mill in Love Josephine Kamm
Subwayland Randy Kennedy
The Pleasing Hour Lily King
Seven Blessings Ruchama King
Ultimate Fitness Gina Kolata
Into the Wild Jon Krakauer
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri
Close to the Bone Jake Lamar
The Girls Lori Lansens
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson
The Body of Jonah Boyd David Leavitt
Random Family Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Mystic River Dennis Lehane
The Geography of Time Robert Levine
The Inn at Lake Devine Elinor Lipman
Absolutely American David Lipsky
Inconspicuous Consumption Paul Lukas
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry
The Early Arrival of Dreams Rosemary Mahoney
Shopgirl Steve Martin
The Family That Couldn’t Sleep D.T. Max
Home Comforts Cheryl Mendelson
The Trouble with Diversity Walter Benn Michaels
The Outside World Tova Mirvis
Starting Out in the Evening Brian Morton
The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club Laurie Notaro
The Last of Her Kind Sigrid Nunez
The Orchid Thief Susan Orlean
The Dive From Clausen’s Pier Ann Packer
Truth and Beauty Ann Patchett
Little Children Tom Perrotta
The Botany of Desire Michael Pollan
Blue Clay People William Powers
Whispering in the Giant's Ear William Powers
The Wild Trees Richard Preston
Blue Angel Francine Prose
Music Through the Floor Eric Puchner
Don’t Get Too Comfortable David Rakoff
In the Little World John H. Richardson
Out of America Keith B. Richburg
Stiff Mary Roach
Them Jon Ronson
The Israelis Donna Rosenthal
Kissing in Manhattan David Schickler
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris
The Dangerous Husband Jane Shapiro
The Size of the World Joan Silber
American Wife Curtis Sittenfeld
Prep Curtis Sittenfeld
Before the Knife Carolyn Slaughter
Name All the Animals Alison Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
A Ship Made of Paper Scott Spencer
The Man Who Ate Everything Jeffrey Steingarten
High-Tech Heretic Clifford Stoll
Evening News Marly Swick
The Mismeasure of Woman Carol Tavris
Blankets Craig Thompson
A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews
Summer Blonde Adrian Tomine
The Men and the Girls Johanna Trollope
One-L Scott Turow
Working Fire Zac Unger
My Own Country Abraham Verghese
The Tennis Partner Abraham Verghese
The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls
Girls Like Us Sheila Weller
He Is...I Say David Wild
The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe
Old School Tobias Wolff
Marjorie Morningstar Herman Wouk
Youngblood Hawke Herman Wouk
Generation Kill Evan Wright