Scatterbrained smatterings

Picks of the Week

Adam Thirlwell: Politics: A Novel (P.S.)
One would think this book is about sex, And while it is, since the characters have so much about it, some of it is kinky, and threesomes play a big role in the narrative. mostly POLITICS is about everything else: the mechanics, the logistics, the emotional minefields, the awkward questions, the moral dilemmas, and, well, the politics of what it is to be with someone you love or someone you don't, and how an act that should be simple is anything but. Thirlwell was disgustingly young when he wrote this but he absolutely understands that to make this book work, there must be an underlying sweetness and sincerity to the entire story. Now I want to see what he's up to more recently. Amazon | Indiebound | B & N | Borders | Powell’s
Jennifer Mascia: Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir
Years ago I was blown away by Mascia's Modern Love piece describing her parents' secret past: her father was a mobbed-up convicted murderer, and her mother not only knew all about it, but aided and abetted her husband when life required being a fugitive, selling drugs, and living at great highs and crushing lows. Mascia's book tells a more whole story about her peripatetic life, and even with every new shocking revelation what remained consistent was how much she loved her parents, no matter how deep those lows went, and how much she misses them now that they are gone. Unconditional love never goes away, no matter if those who receive it deserve it. Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N | Powell’s
Juli Zeh: In Free Fall
Give me a novel of ideas and if the story is good and the characters are believable and entertain me, I am there. Give me a crime novel of ideas, where two physics professors, friends and rivals, opposites but startlingly similar, do emotional battle on an intellectual canvas, raise the stakes through betrayal, the possible kidnapping of a child, and embroil a romantic-leaning police detective in the complicated machinations of quantum theory, and holy hell, I think I have myself one of my favorite books of the year. Powell’s | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N
Simon Lelic: A Thousand Cuts
It appears to be a crime with an easy solution: a disgruntled schoolteacher shoots up his place of employment and kills several students in the process. But really, Lelic's novel is about the catastrophic consequences of bullying, and how this act is hardly limited to kids turning on other kids, but burrows deeply into adult relationships as well. He evokes empathy for the killer and sympathy for Lucia, the investigating officer who has to fight for every scrap of dignity as she pieces together the far more complex truth of what really happened at the school. Powell’s | Amazon | Borders | Indiebound | B & N
William Lindsay Gresham: Nightmare Alley
I cannot stop raving about this book to people. The circular narrative structure, the demented feel of a traveling carny troupe, and the extraordinary rise and precipitous fall of Stan Carlisle give off the persistent, raging feeling that hell is always with us, and success is basically a sucker's game. No matter what the biographical evidence on Gresham's state of mind leading up to and after the book's bestseller (and movie basis) status in 1946, I don't think we can really know what demons plagued him to produce this marvelous noir gem. B & N | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | Powell’s

July 28, 2005

Meetings, lunches, deadlines -- well, you get the drift. There should be something up earlier this afternoon but in the meantime, flights of randomness:

Kathy Reichs seems to be everywhere in the media lately, likely because of her new book, the new TV series based on her book, and other related things.

Reginald Hill's new standalone, THE STRANGER HOUSE, is just out in the UK (I'm looking forward to my copy of the US version soon) and he talks to the Telegraph about his longevity in the crime fiction world.

This article on slush has to be deliberately naive. Has to. But then again, it also talks about Macmillan's new writing like it's actually a worthwhile venture.

The LA Weekly examines Rupert Thomson's new book, DIVIDED KINGDOM, in the context of his career.

Oh goody, everything we need to know about Nick Laird, who seems to be a good writer and oh yeah, he's married to a more famous one.

Russel MacLean finally offers his roundup of the Harrogate Crime festival, which he survived -- barely.

Robert Birnbaum's latest lengthy interview is with ASSASSINATION VACATION author and voice-over artiste Sarah Vowell.

And finally, I'm not sure I could say much more about this particular profile except for "W....T.....F...." Actually, that's not true -- I feel similarly to it as I did about this one last year.

UPDATE: Ron offers his take. No kidding. No mention of THE BITCH POSSE and/or WHORES ON THE HILL? Someone wasn't paying attention...

Posted at 11:00 AM in Literary minded | Permalink

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Comments

i am, indeed, speechless. shame the journalist hasn't the talent to write about the real person behind the books.

Posted by: christin | July 28, 2005 at 11:24 AM

That is definately a "the dog ate my notes" profile.

Posted by: Mary Root | July 28, 2005 at 01:14 PM

I saw that Lippman piece also, and that it was exceedingly lame. But, and I wonder and have no clue, but could Lippman at all bear some fault for this? Not trying to rescue the journalist, and I've read other Lippman interviews which show that she can be terribly interesting...but I wonder if the particular topic in which she participated didn't leave room for much else than corn.

Posted by: Tribe | July 28, 2005 at 03:55 PM