Prospect Park West
Amy Sohn
Amy Sohn has Park Slope's number. She surprised me with this novel about the stay-at-home moms of the gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood. It's gossipy and funny, but with an intricate (and only a little far-fetched ) plot about celebrity worship, lesbian crushes, marriage, and real estate panic. There's a little too much name-checking and brand-dropping for me, but plenty of juicy oh-no-she-didn't moments and painfully true observations. She nails the earnest co-op members and the tensions of post-racial, just-pre-Obama urban American life, while letting us get to know what's going on in the heads of the women pushing the strollers past those brownstones.
23 July 2010
These Children Who Come at You with Knives, and Other Fairy Tales
Jim Knipfel
Delightful derangment, with modern life lessons.
Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates
Is suburbia really entirely to blame?
This Boy's Life: A Memoir
Tobias Wolff
Tough childhood, failures provide lifelong material.
Outliers:The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell
Being fortunate contributes to success—surprised?
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.
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping
Judith Levine
Wait—this book is for sale?
The Red Tent
Anita Diamant
The Bible was never this exciting.
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
Bill Buford
I am never eating out again.
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9 July 2010
Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House
Meghan Daum
From Manhattan to Nebraska to L.A.
She tries to change her life through real estate.
Other people's lunacy
Can be quite fun to see
And her fine writing hits home any day.
20 December 2009
The New Yorkers
Cathleen Schine
On this block, whatever the weather
Dog walking brings strangers together.
The story's playful and light
With a bittersweet bite
For neither dogs nor love lasts forever.
30 September 2009
I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era
William Knoedelseder
For comics, the seventies were sunny
Until they realized they should be paid money.
The strike details get dull
But it's nice to recall
The days when Leno was funny.
2 July 2009
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.
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30 May 2010
After the Workshop
John McNally
Our hero, Jack Sheahan, is basically Jim Anchower with an MFA. In the twelve years since he graduated from the famed Iowa Writer's Workshop, he hasn't added a word to his once-promising novel, and he hasn't had a date since his fiancée left him. He works as a media escort—a chauffeur, gofer, and hand-holder for visiting writers—a job that barely covers his bar tab and requires him to dodge poseur novelists, scheming workshop students, and cutthroat publicists as well as snowbanks, ice patches, and the drunken fraternity brothers of Iowa City. On the night in question, a series of mishaps and coincidences results in an odyssey of misadventure that's only a little far-fetched, making for a laugh-out-loud novel that is the smoothest, easiest read of any I've found. How can a book about not being able to write make writing look so effortless?
2 May 2010
Kindred
Octavia Butler
The antebellum South is probably not the first place most time travelers would choose to visit, especially if a time traveler is a 26-year-old black woman living in Los Angeles in 1976. But Dana Franklin doesn't have a choice. Every time her great-great-grandfather, a white slave owner, gets into trouble, she's sent back to rescue him. She has to make sure he lives at least long enough to father her great-grandmother, so she stays on his plantation and works alongside the slaves, chafing at her bondage but also surprised at how easily she starts to adjust to it. Can she be careful not to change the past, while also making sure it doesn't change her? The slight flatness of the dialogue and characters are made up for by Butler's suspenseful plotting, meticulous research, and fearless stare into the darkest depths of history.
14 March 2010
Stuff White People Like
Christian Lander
People who write about stuff white people like are actually white themselves, but that's okay because white people like irony (#50). Do not think too hard about a white person making fun of white people for liking self-deprecating humor (#103), or your head might explode. Pretend to agree that mocking people for their race is edgy and smart. Tell them that they aren't like other white people because they can laugh at themselves. They will like to hear you say this, because white people like being the only white person around (#71). If you do point out to them that stereotypes based on race aren't cool, they will just say that they are really laughing at rich people, so it's okay. The problem is that they are really laughing at educated people. Do not point this out to them as it will make them sad.
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Books Reviewed
Ten Little Indians Sherman Alexie
The...Mormon Singles Halloween Dance Elna Baker
A Box of Matches Nicholson Baker
Big Trouble Dave Barry
One! Hundred! Demons! Lynda Barry
Personals Thomas Beller, editor
Bike Snob BikeSnobNYC/Eben Weiss
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
Kindred Octavia Butler
Long For This World Michael Byers
In Cold Blood Truman Capote
The Skeptic's Dictionary Robert T. Carroll
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
American Voyeur Benoit Denizet-Lewis
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
Still Life With Husband Lauren Fox
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
Baby Proof Emily Giffin
Love the One You're With Emily Giffin
Something Borrowed Emily Giffin
Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert
Committed Elizabeth 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
Awake Elizabeth Graver
The Curious Incident of the Dog... Mark Haddon
Holy Days Lis Harris
The Believers Zöe Heller
What Was She Thinking? Zöe Heller
Confederates in the Attic Tony Horwitz
Waltzing the Cat Pam Houston
Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Le Divorce Diane Johnson
A Death in Belmont Sebastian Junger
John Stuart Mill in Love Josephine Kamm
The Vegetarian Myth Lierre Keith
Subwayland Randy Kennedy
The English Teacher Lily King
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
Stuff White People Like Christian Lander
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
Indecent Sarah Katherine Lewis
The Inn at Lake Devine Elinor Lipman
Absolutely American David Lipsky
Inconspicuous Consumption Paul Lukas
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry
After the Workshop John McNally
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
Short Girls Bich Minh Nguyen
Her Fearful Symmetry Audrey Niffenegger
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 Bigness of the World Lori Ostlund
The Dive From Clausen’s Pier Ann Packer
Truth and Beauty Ann Patchett
The Murder of King Tut James Patterson, Martin Dugan
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
A Changed Man 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
The Three Weissmanns of Westport Cathleen Schine
Time of My Life Allison Winn Scotch
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris
A Return to Modesty Wendy Shalit
The Dangerous Husband Jane Shapiro
The Size of the World Joan Silber
American Wife Curtis Sittenfeld
The Man of My Dreams Curtis Sittenfeld
Prep Curtis Sittenfeld
Before the Knife Carolyn Slaughter
Name All the Animals Alison Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
Prospect Park West Amy Sohn
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