BOOKS THREAD

Read that a few months ago and loved it. The rooftop luau scene where the whores do a Halliburton-inspired dance number about cost overruns was literary comedic gold. The whole thing was sort of like Catch-22 making love to Confederacy of Dunces.

 

Nice comparison. I thought of both of them when I read it and, of course, the hero is Ignatius Reilly with borscht on his breath.

 

My thoughts exactly. Started it last week on an Acela ride and was laughing my ass off in the quiet car, getting annoyed looks from the mopes scrolling through their Blackberrys. After only a few pages in, I thought that Misha reeked (in good way) of Ignatius C. Reilly...had to be intentional on Shteyngart's part...an homage to obese, neurotic, oddly sympathetic narrators, perhaps.

 

I just finished "Crazy '08" a look at the gonzo pennant races in 1908, specifically the National League grudge match featuring the Tinker-Evers-Chance Cubs against John McGraw's Giants.

I enjoyed it, for the most part, largely because -- while uneven in spots -- it not only chronicled the races, but gave a big-picture look at what it was like to play baseball at the turn of the 20th century. I could have done without a few of the non-sequitors, like an examination of a famous unsolved murder in Chicago around that time, but overall, Cait Murphy's work was a pleasurable read.

 

Haven't scrolled through the past few pages, so apologies if this has been discussed already, but...anyone read Bill Buford's new one, "Heat"? Loved "Among the Thugs" and will defnitely be picking this one up.

 

Mrs. Flip, who, by her own admission, is not a fast reader, knocked out Kite Runner in about three days. Night before last, she stayed up until 2 reading, and I don't remember if she's ever done that before. She really, really liked this book.

 

Dan Shaughnessy's "Senior Year" is very well done.

 

Apparently he's got a new book out, pretty highly anticipated if you believe my mother-in-law (who used to own a bookstore).

I finished Feinstein's book on Q School today, and couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. The anecdotes and the people he followed were pretty good, but the writing wasn't anything to get excited about. And covering so many people over so many weeks left little room for telling detail; he included it in some parts, but not enough IMO. Though I say that with the understanding he doesn't want to write a 700-page novel.

Anyway, onto the autobiography on the guy who helped developed the 747...

 

I started reading "Crazy 08" (I need to get back to it) and it bothered me that parts (all?) of it were written in the present tense, as if it were still 1908. Birdscribe - did you notice that? Did it bother you?

 

I did notice that, Dyno, but didn't pay it too much attention. Now that you mentioned it, however, I can see the disconnect.

The look-at-me-and-my-command-of-the-era non-sequitors bothered me far more.

 

I went through Kite Runner quickly, too. I bought A Thousand Splendid Suns, but haven't delved into it yet.

 

Anybody here read Rant by Palahniuk? I just picked it up today at the library.