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
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Photo editor and writer Antony Bennison had some fun and produced the following bit of awesomeness:
:
Talk about seriously cool. I also think this might be a new meme....in which case, I tag Bill Crider as the next cover boy. On your marks, Photoshoppers!
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That is wicked cool! Nice photo of you, too. Like a classic hardboiled dame.
Posted by: Jake | April 13, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Jake, the lovely lady in the photo is Antony's girlfriend Marion. But I agree it's a classic hardboiled shot.
Posted by: Sarah | April 13, 2008 at 04:29 PM
That's a great cover. Best to quit while we're ahead.
Posted by: Bill Crider | April 13, 2008 at 04:38 PM
Ooh! Loverly.
I especially like the yellow ribbon in the corner.
Posted by: Charles Ardai | April 13, 2008 at 08:42 PM
Now there's something I didn't expect to see during my morning blog browsing. Glad you like it.
I was going to point out where I got the yellow ribbon idea from until I actually read who posted that comment. I think he knows where I looked for inspiration (which reminds me, Amazon recommended Lemons Never Lie to me this morning and my book pile is running low).
Posted by: Antony B | April 14, 2008 at 05:59 AM
Very nice idea! I always knew this dame was dangerous. But we need a real pic of Sarah on the cover. The yellow ribbon looks a lot like the one used by Hard Case Crime, don't you think?
Posted by: Patrick Balester | April 15, 2008 at 01:18 AM