BOOKS THREAD

Actually, I'm going bald on top, that's why I shave my head.
Anyway, my friend's got two Klosterman books 'Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs' and another. Is it called 'Fargo, Rock City'?
I'm a fan of his work in Esquire, so I'm looking forward to reading them.
I've got those, a Dave Sklansky book, 'The Historian' and a big shipment that just came in from the History Book Club.
Should be a good vacation.

 

sex, drugs and cocoa puffs is a collection of writings... so good

and fargo rock city is basically a heavy metal manifesto -- excellent

 

Anybody else here read fantasy?

I am currently reading "Ships of Merior" by Janny Wurtz, the second book in the "Wars of Light and Shadow" series. She is a "fat" writer- lots of adjectives and descriptions and high vocabulary, but her plots and characters are good.

I also highly recommend the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. Loved it! Also anything by Robin Hobb. She is great at good plots and realistic characters. She rendered an argument between two characters that was so realistic I felt like I was in the room with them - I actually felt uncomfortable!

 

"Anybody else here read fantasy?"
RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

 

Don't spoil it! Vacation starts Thursday.
I'll be finished with the last Umberto Eco book (which is excellent, as usual), and I'll probably take on Klosterman for the plane ride (except for the planned layover in Vegas).

 

Anybody have any thoughts yet on Woodward's latest offering, The Secret Man?

I'm about 50 pages in, and so far I've found it has a pretty quick pace, with newsworthy nuggets sprinkled throughout. A pretty decent read so far, though I'd advise reading it as a companion to All the President's Men (as I'm doing).

I began re-reading ATPM after Felt was announced as Deep Throat and while (cliche alert) hindsight is 20-20, going back through ... it sort of seems obvious, like there were pretty meaty clues in the first book ... anyone else think that, too, or am I off base?

 

In Harm's Way, the story of the USS Indianapolis after it carried the first nuke dropped on Japan from San Fran to the Phillipines(?) was a helluva read. After the ship was torpedoed a man died an average of every 10 minutes -- shark attacks, drowning, drinking salt water. A truly harrowing read.

 

"The Jump", which chronicles Sebastian Telfair's senior year in high school, is fascinating and disturbing. Picked it up for research on a column I'm writing.

"Love in the time of cholera" was referenced in "High Fidelity." Not sure if the reference is repeated in "Serendipity".

"I've read books....Love in the time of cholera....they were about girls, right?"

"Gilead" by Maryanne Robinson is great.

 

I, too, am re-reading "All the President's Men" but I think it's impossible to look at it now and figure out what are clues about Deep Throat's identity. When you know the answer, of course it's easy. For 33 years, nobody pinned it down authoritatively.

 

Has anyone read Sarah Vowell's Assasination Vacation? Sounds like a library visit, rather than a purchase, but I like her style. Good Op-Ed piece in the Times today too.

Also, and here's a shot in the dark, can anyone think of the writer who has recently been compared to David Sedaris and has a fairly new book published. I can't think of the name for the life of me but I remember reading reviews on it.