The most interesting books I read for the first time in 2010 (in order of reading) (and always subject to change):
I Am Not Sidney Poitier -- Percival Everett
The Spare Room -- Helen Gardner
The Spellmans Strike Again -- Lisa Lutz
Summertime -- J.M. Coetzee
The Way We Live Now -- Anthony Trollope
The Age of Wonder -- Richard Holmes
A Visit From the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
How to Live: or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
Honorable Mention
The Innocence of Father Brown -- G.K. Chesterton
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them -- Elif Batuman
Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It -- Geoff Dyer
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet -- David Mitchell
After Claude -- Iris Owens
The Gentlemen's Hour -- Don Winslow
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010 Reading List
in reverse order of reading:
The Gentlemen's Hour -- Don Winslow
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
After Claude -- Iris Owens
Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter -- Antonia Fraser
Indian Country Noir -- Sarah Cortez (ed.) & Liz Martinez (ed.)
The Big Boom -- Dominic Stansberry
Hint Fiction -- Robert Swartwood (ed.)
Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers -- Alasdair Gray
How to Live: or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon
The Blue Hammer -- Ross MacDonald
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet -- David Mitchell
Djibouti -- Elmore Leonard
Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift
When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
The Finkler Question -- Howard Jacobson
My Driver -- Maggie Gee
Packing For Mars -- Mary Roach
Baked -- Mark Haskell Smith
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World -- Jack Weatherford
A Visit From the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
Halls of Fame: Essays -- John D'Agata
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest -- Steig Larsson
Skylark -- Dezso Kosztolanyi
Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It -- Geoff Dyer
All That Follows -- Jim Crace
The Girl Who Played With Fire -- Stieg Larsson
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them -- Elif Batuman
Joey's Case -- K.C. Constantine
The Age of Wonder -- Richard Holmes
How To Sell -- Clancy Martin
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
The Executor -- Jesse Kellerman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson
The Way We Live Now -- Anthony Trollope
Summertime -- J.M. Coetzee
Reporting At Wit's End -- St. Clair McKelway
The Ask -- Sam Lipsyte
The Spellmans Strike Again -- Lisa Lutz
Life Itself -- Elaine Dundy
The Chalk Circle Man -- Fred Vargas
The Southpaw -- Mark Harris
Dark Star Safari -- Paul Theroux
The Spare Room -- Helen Gardner
The Water's Edge -- Karin Fossum
The Innocence of Father Brown -- G.K. Chesterton
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
Risk -- Colin Harrison
The Hot Rock -- Donald E. Westlake
I Am Not Sidney Poitier -- Percival Everett
The Ticking Is The Bomb -- Nick Flynn
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary -- M.R. James
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' -- David Bianculli
The Three of Us: A Family Story -- Julia Blackburn
The Original of Laura -- Vladimir Nabokov
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -- Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Gentlemen's Hour -- Don Winslow
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
After Claude -- Iris Owens
Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter -- Antonia Fraser
Indian Country Noir -- Sarah Cortez (ed.) & Liz Martinez (ed.)
The Big Boom -- Dominic Stansberry
Hint Fiction -- Robert Swartwood (ed.)
Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers -- Alasdair Gray
How to Live: or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon
The Blue Hammer -- Ross MacDonald
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet -- David Mitchell
Djibouti -- Elmore Leonard
Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift
When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
The Finkler Question -- Howard Jacobson
My Driver -- Maggie Gee
Packing For Mars -- Mary Roach
Baked -- Mark Haskell Smith
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World -- Jack Weatherford
A Visit From the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
Halls of Fame: Essays -- John D'Agata
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest -- Steig Larsson
Skylark -- Dezso Kosztolanyi
Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It -- Geoff Dyer
All That Follows -- Jim Crace
The Girl Who Played With Fire -- Stieg Larsson
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them -- Elif Batuman
Joey's Case -- K.C. Constantine
The Age of Wonder -- Richard Holmes
How To Sell -- Clancy Martin
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
The Executor -- Jesse Kellerman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson
The Way We Live Now -- Anthony Trollope
Summertime -- J.M. Coetzee
Reporting At Wit's End -- St. Clair McKelway
The Ask -- Sam Lipsyte
The Spellmans Strike Again -- Lisa Lutz
Life Itself -- Elaine Dundy
The Chalk Circle Man -- Fred Vargas
The Southpaw -- Mark Harris
Dark Star Safari -- Paul Theroux
The Spare Room -- Helen Gardner
The Water's Edge -- Karin Fossum
The Innocence of Father Brown -- G.K. Chesterton
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
Risk -- Colin Harrison
The Hot Rock -- Donald E. Westlake
I Am Not Sidney Poitier -- Percival Everett
The Ticking Is The Bomb -- Nick Flynn
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary -- M.R. James
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' -- David Bianculli
The Three of Us: A Family Story -- Julia Blackburn
The Original of Laura -- Vladimir Nabokov
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -- Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Gentlemen's Hour -- Don Winslow
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
After Claude -- Iris Owens
Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter -- Antonia Fraser
Indian Country Noir -- Sarah Cortez (ed.) & Liz Martinez (ed.)
The Big Boom -- Dominic Stansberry
Hint Fiction -- Robert Swartwood (ed.)
Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers -- Alasdair Gray
How to Live: or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon
The Blue Hammer -- Ross MacDonald
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet -- David Mitchell
Djibouti -- Elmore Leonard
Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift
When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
The Finkler Question -- Howard Jacobson
My Driver -- Maggie Gee
Packing For Mars -- Mary Roach
Baked -- Mark Haskell Smith
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World -- Jack Weatherford
A Visit From the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
Halls of Fame: Essays -- John D'Agata
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest -- Steig Larsson
Skylark -- Dezso Kosztolanyi
Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It -- Geoff Dyer
All That Follows -- Jim Crace
The Girl Who Played With Fire -- Stieg Larsson
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them -- Elif Batuman
Joey's Case -- K.C. Constantine
The Age of Wonder -- Richard Holmes
How To Sell -- Clancy Martin
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
The Executor -- Jesse Kellerman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson
The Way We Live Now -- Anthony Trollope
Summertime -- J.M. Coetzee
Reporting At Wit's End -- St. Clair McKelway
The Ask -- Sam Lipsyte
The Spellmans Strike Again -- Lisa Lutz
Life Itself -- Elaine Dundy
The Chalk Circle Man -- Fred Vargas
The Southpaw -- Mark Harris
Dark Star Safari -- Paul Theroux
The Spare Room -- Helen Gardner
The Water's Edge -- Karin Fossum
The Innocence of Father Brown -- G.K. Chesterton
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
Risk -- Colin Harrison
The Hot Rock -- Donald E. Westlake
I Am Not Sidney Poitier -- Percival Everett
The Ticking Is The Bomb -- Nick Flynn
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary -- M.R. James
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' -- David Bianculli
The Three of Us: A Family Story -- Julia Blackburn
The Original of Laura -- Vladimir Nabokov
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -- Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Gentlemen's Hour -- Don Winslow
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz
After Claude -- Iris Owens
Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter -- Antonia Fraser
Indian Country Noir -- Sarah Cortez (ed.) & Liz Martinez (ed.)
The Big Boom -- Dominic Stansberry
Hint Fiction -- Robert Swartwood (ed.)
Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers -- Alasdair Gray
How to Live: or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon
The Blue Hammer -- Ross MacDonald
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet -- David Mitchell
Djibouti -- Elmore Leonard
Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift
When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
The Finkler Question -- Howard Jacobson
My Driver -- Maggie Gee
Packing For Mars -- Mary Roach
Baked -- Mark Haskell Smith
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World -- Jack Weatherford
A Visit From the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
Halls of Fame: Essays -- John D'Agata
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest -- Steig Larsson
Skylark -- Dezso Kosztolanyi
Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It -- Geoff Dyer
All That Follows -- Jim Crace
The Girl Who Played With Fire -- Stieg Larsson
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them -- Elif Batuman
Joey's Case -- K.C. Constantine
The Age of Wonder -- Richard Holmes
How To Sell -- Clancy Martin
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
The Executor -- Jesse Kellerman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson
The Way We Live Now -- Anthony Trollope
Summertime -- J.M. Coetzee
Reporting At Wit's End -- St. Clair McKelway
The Ask -- Sam Lipsyte
The Spellmans Strike Again -- Lisa Lutz
Life Itself -- Elaine Dundy
The Chalk Circle Man -- Fred Vargas
The Southpaw -- Mark Harris
Dark Star Safari -- Paul Theroux
The Spare Room -- Helen Gardner
The Water's Edge -- Karin Fossum
The Innocence of Father Brown -- G.K. Chesterton
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle
Risk -- Colin Harrison
The Hot Rock -- Donald E. Westlake
I Am Not Sidney Poitier -- Percival Everett
The Ticking Is The Bomb -- Nick Flynn
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary -- M.R. James
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' -- David Bianculli
The Three of Us: A Family Story -- Julia Blackburn
The Original of Laura -- Vladimir Nabokov
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -- Allison Hoover Bartlett
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Inspired Insult
"If looks could kill," I told him in between chews, "you'd soon find out that yours couldn't."
-- "After Claude" by Iris Owens
-- "After Claude" by Iris Owens
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Badly Drawn Boy at the Troubadour
Badly Drawn Boy had a difficult last show of the tour at the Troubadour in LA on Thursday Dec. 16. He was extremely unhappy about the sound. He was extremely unhappy when voices from the crowd offered encouragement telling him it sounded good from the audience. ("Yeah but I'm up here.") He was unhappy when audience members strated heckling him about his behavior. ("Fuck you" "Stupid LA twats" "Cunts"). When an audience member said it was ok that it was late. ( "You are talking nonsense".)
"At least I'm being honest. You could at least applaud me for that."
"It's like being in a roomful of fucking lions or something.
No one should have to go through what I'm going through up here."
"Nobody cares as much as me about this."
"Just don't react to anything I say up here."
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2010/12/badly_drawn_boy_at_the_troubad.php
It was a marvelous Ricky Gervais / Russell Brand performance. (And he made it through to the end, and was convincingly contrite about it all.)
"At least I'm being honest. You could at least applaud me for that."
"It's like being in a roomful of fucking lions or something.
No one should have to go through what I'm going through up here."
"Nobody cares as much as me about this."
"Just don't react to anything I say up here."
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2010/12/badly_drawn_boy_at_the_troubad.php
It was a marvelous Ricky Gervais / Russell Brand performance. (And he made it through to the end, and was convincingly contrite about it all.)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Corrections of the Year, etc.
http://www.regrettheerror.com/2010/12/08/crunks-2010-the-year-in-media-errors-and-corrections/
A sample, perhaps familiar:
"This blog post originally stated that one in three black men who have sex with me is HIV positive. In fact, the statistic applies to black men who have sex with men."
A sample, perhaps familiar:
"This blog post originally stated that one in three black men who have sex with me is HIV positive. In fact, the statistic applies to black men who have sex with men."
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Mel Brooks on Leslie Nielsen
I liked him very much. He was lovely, and he'd do anything, and he was funny, and he was just great, and you'd never take him for a Canadian.
2000 Year Old Jokes
Carl Reiner: Of all your girlfriends, who was your favorite?
Mel Brooks: Shirley.
Reiner: And what was so special about Shirley?
Brooks: Her friend Lila.
Mel Brooks: Shirley.
Reiner: And what was so special about Shirley?
Brooks: Her friend Lila.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Several minutes passed before I saw she has finally moved out, helped by a systematic partner or partners who own or have hired a van. . . . I wandered from room to room in a kind of daze, wondering what to tell the police. My fondness for young things could lead to difficulties if Niki is under the age of consent. What is the age of consent? (Memo: find out.)
from "Old Men in Love"
from "Old Men in Love"
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