Follow Me

Picks of the Week

  • Adam Thirlwell: Politics: A Novel (P.S.)

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

Archived Picks

...And Cabana Girls, Too

Stats


« Michael Collins is Extreme! | Main | All you want with the Weekend Update »

March 24, 2006

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451af9169e200d834b364b369e2

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference I can't believe I missed this till now:

Comments

Fiona

I really can't wait for this. The best thing I read about it was that they tried to change the title simply to "Snakes", but Jackson threatened to walk out!

Gold. Pure gold.

JDRhoades

Actually, the money line is going to be the one I heard they added by having Jackson come back in and re-shoot a couple of scenes.

"Snakes! On a muthafuckin' plane!"

Jenny D

I have been eagerly awaiting this movie for some time now; seriously, I can't believe they thought about changing the title, EVERYBODY is going to want to see it with this one!

Sarah

I so agree, Jenny -- remember a few years or so ago there was that movie with Nicholas Cage and Bridget Fonda? The original title was COP GIVES WAITRESS $2M TIP, which was the best title ever (and made me want to see the movie.) So of course the studio changed it to the incredibly dull IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, and I never bothered to go see it.

Jenny D

I am sorry to say I saw that movie on a bus, and it was absolutely awful (including one of the most awful stereotypical Rosie Perez roles ever). I hope the snakes one will be more fun--surely it will...

Daisy

Me, I'm already looking forward to the follow-up, "Weasels on a Boat".

Stacey Cochran

And every editor in the business tells me they don't think people will want to read a book about a man-eating cougar and the biologist trapped in the woods with it.

Stacey Cochran

And I quote: "The tension in some scenes is incredible--I was on the edge of my seat when the cat came at Maggie in the shower. Unfortunately, I'm just not sure how many readers we could bring to a book about cougars and cougar attacks. So while your writing is good, I regretfully must pass."

A woman in the shower in the woods and a big motherfuckin' cougar.

What more do you need?

David Terrenoire

I like the fact that "Snakes on a plane" has entered the lexicon to mean, "what are you going to do?" as in, "I answered a personals ad and it turned out to be my ex-wife."

"Snakes on a plane, man, snakes on a plane."

Gina

It's fascinating what catches on and takes off. This would be a great study for a follow up to "The Tipping Point".

bookfraud

snakes on a plane, how could i have missed it? brilliant in ways that cannot be expressed. it just is.

The comments to this entry are closed.