Author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angela’s Ashes, died in Manhattan on Sunday.
Posts Tagged 'books'
Sathnam Sanghera is no longer a fan of David Sedaris after reading this comment from the author:
Somebody could tell a story at the dinner table and somebody could say ‘that’s not true’. I would never say that. It is either a good story or it’s not. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.
Sanghera feels factuality is a requirement when it is advertised as such. The most notable transgression of this tenet is James Frey’s feigned memoir A Million Little Pieces, which became an Oprah Book Club entry. Frey later had to atone for his falsified claims of accuracy for the sake of drama on Oprah’s show.
Sanghera:
Sedaris is wrong. It doesn’t matter if non-fiction authors exercise literary or poetic licence, if they omit things, if they fill in details, if they play around with minor facts, even if they exaggerate for comic effect, as long as they acknowledge it in some way, and are consistent about it, but it matters hugely if they are making things up and not admitting to doing so.
- Looks like Washington, D.C. will be getting a new book store when Kultura comes back in July after trying to make it in Santa Monica, CA. Owners say D.C. is an “information town.”
- A rundown of the most notable examples of the ménage à trois in literature, which includes an purposefully uncompleted novel by Ernest Hemingway.
- And the classics are going to be twitterfied when Twitterature launches in the fall:
In it, the authors will squish the jewels of world literature – they mention Dante, Shakespeare, Stendhal, Joyce and JK Rowling – into 20 tweets or less – that is 20 sentences each with fewer than 140 characters.
I came across this at a used bookstore in Richmond. Of course, I had to have it.
Daily Rumination
Published May 31, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: books, philosophy, quote
From the book A Sport and a Pastime, by James Salter.
One must have heroes, which is to say, one must create them. And they become real through majesty, their power, which we ourselves could never possess. And in turn, they give some back. But they are mortal, these heroes, just as we are.
I just finished A Sport and a Pastime and I very much liked it. It is by far the best written erotic novel I’ve read. In my experience, sexual material can often be pretentious, sometimes to the point of writhing while reading during the more amorous parts. But Salter avoided this for the most part; presenting a realistic story of demonstrative lust.
The film based on the revered Cormac McCarthy novel:
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Mr. Doyle
Published May 20, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: books
The creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (as well as the mystery genre) turns the big 150. Happy birthday Arthur!
For us Sherlockian purists, the new Guy Ritchie film looks like a misled (and unfortunate) departure from Doyle’s work, although it may attract new fans.
But do not repine; actor Jeremy Brett will forever be the quintessential Holmes:
From a New York Times review of ”Angels and Demons”:
Since “Angels & Demons” takes place mainly in the Vatican, and is festooned with the rites and ornaments of Roman Catholicism, I might as well begin with a confession. I have not read the novel by Dan Brown… I have come to believe that to do so would be a sin against my faith, not in the Church of Rome but in the English language, a noble and beleaguered institution against which Mr. Brown practices vile and unspeakable blasphemy.
Ya burnt!
Stuart Evers upchucks at “60 Years Coming Through the Rye.”
Its gum-tighteningly awful title can only hint at the disaster lurking within its pages. Written by the improbably named John David California, 60 Years Later Coming Through the Rye, is a “sequel” to The Catcher in the Rye, taking up the story of the world’s most celebrated non-wizard teenager when he is 76. I feel dirty just writing that sentence down, and I hope everyone connected with the project – and especially you, Mr California – feels the same about what they’re about to pump into this already diseased and corrupted world.
Just started reading Craig Thompson’s Blankets. I’m no connoisseur of the comic world, but this is about the closest thing to a literal illustrated novel that I’ve read. The inter-connectivity between the drawings and the characters are really good.
It received great reviews from TIME, New York Times, and Publisher’s Weekly, among many others. For what it’s worth, I also recommend it.
Your libraries are in jeopardy.
