BOOKS THREAD

Just finished "Tigers in Red Weather," which was interesting to read on Cape Cod as it's based in Martha's Vineyard.

 

Times review on David Foster Wallace bio I'm really looking forward to reading.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/books/david-foster-wallace-biography-by-d-t-max.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share

Also pumped for Michael Chabon's new novel, first in five years. Telegraph Avenue.

Here's an excerpt. This passage - or a form of it anyway - was what Chabon read 2 years ago at The New Yorker festival I attended. I had a coughing fit and walked to the back of the theater. Moments later, a man was carried out. He had passed out and I later heard him talking to his girlfriend. The passage was so graphic it got to him. That sounded odd, but still, it'd be cool to have that effect on a reader.

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/22/158198740/exclusive-first-read-telegraph-avenue

 

Can't wait for the DFW bio.

Been reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. Page-turner about vampires etc. but not the pussy Twilight kind.

 

Anyone read any of the Seal Team Six books? Seems like there's a slew of them out there, written by former SEALs.

I just bought this one: http://www.amazon.com/SEAL-Team-Six-Memoirs-Sniper/dp/1250006953/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345721106&sr=1-1&keywords=Seal+Team+Six

But this one comes out in October: http://www.amazon.com/No-Easy-Day-Firsthand-Account/dp/0525953728

Shocker. The Pentagon isn't all that happy with the guy who wrote the first-hand account of the bin Laden raid. Definitely going to read it.

 

My fiance is reading the review of the Foster Wallace bio right now and will review it. He said it's pretty dry but there are some funny parts.

 

Enjoyed this interview Mother Jones did with Michael Chabon
http://www.motherjones.com/transition/inter.php?dest=http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/08/telegraph-avenue-michael-chabon-interview

 

Started the new Tana French novel "Broken Harbor." So far, so good. As always.

 

I think Savages might be 50 Shades of Gray for dudes. Except, with way better writing.

But the same amount of fucking.

 

Stephen King released a short story that's available for .99 cents an Amazon.
"A Face in the Crowd."

Read it last week before bed. Money well spent.

 

Read several business-related books lately: Sneaker Wars, about the feuding Dassler family that founded Adidas and Puma; Poisoned Legacy about BP's recklessness in the Gulf and elsewhere; Once Upon A Car and American Icon about the recent crises in the car industry, The People's Tycoon, a fine bio of Henry Ford, and Too Big To Fail, which I found to be riveting stuff.

Now reading In Black and White, The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.

 

Thanks for posting this! Great interview.

Liked this part:

Brought up memories of an old thread, started by Double Down. The thread that actually got me started reading Chabon.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/41286/

At the New Yorker Festival two years ago, saw Chabon read and during the Q&A I actually had a chance to ask him about similes and whether he agreed that if you have to think about them too much they're probably not worth writing because they'll be too strained. He said they came to him right away so it wasn't an issue. He struggled - his word - with other aspects of writing, which he also talks about in this interview, but similes and metaphors weren't among them. Left me in a bit of awe to know those lines spring up instantly.

Magic,
I'll be interested to read the bio and see how it compares to Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, by David Lipsky. Came out after his death and wasn't a straight bio obviously. But I really enjoyed it, gave a glimpse into Wallace we hadn't seen before.

Rolling Stone bit on the new bio:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-david-foster-wallace-20120827

 

I'm about a third of the way through this, and I described the writing in this book to a class of mine today as beautiful. I don't think I've ever used that word in reference to writing before. But it really is. The author is going to be at the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 1, if you're in the area. I heard her at the Mayborn conference in Texas this summer. Amazing stories on how she found the three subjects for her books.