Books & Booze (I Mean, Brunch)

2010-06-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

July's Books

2009-06-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that right: books. You only have to read one or the other, but super-members will be awarded bonus points for reading both.

First, we're reading Ursula K. Le Guin's Lavinia. In the words of the publisher:

[Lavinia is a] retelling of Virgil's The Aeneid, told from a perspective that very often got lost in even the most compelling Greek myths: the female's.

Second, if you haven't read The Aeneid, what better time to hunker down with an epic poem than the summer?

Call out which one you'll be reading in the comments, so that we can ensure that we have enough people reading each.

Date to come, but we'll again be taking advantage of the weather and meeting up in Prospect Park.

Pnin: Follow-up

2009-06-08T08:42:00.001-07:00

As a follow-up to yesterday's reading of Pnin, I wanted to share novelist David Lodge's analysis of the book, extracted from the Everyman's Library edition. Lot's of insight on Nabokov's intentions, why the book feels like a collection of vignettes (it was originally serialized in the New Yorker), as well as thought-provoking ideas re: the importance of language as a means of assimilation. Fun!

7x20x21 Is The Best Panel At BEA

2009-05-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Thanks to the generosity of The New Yorker, I am happy to add a new tagline to this panel--"7x20x21 is the only panel at BEA with an open bar."

If you'll be at BEA, I hope you can stop by the panel I'm curating with my co-worker Ryan Chapman. Here's the deal:

*7 speakers * Each with 7 minutes to talk about anything they like * Accompanied by 20 PowerPoint slides * That move forward automatically every 21 seconds *

Here's the (star-studded) lineup:

Debbie Stier, Harper Studio
Pablo Defendini, Tor.com
Jeff Yamaguchi, Knopf Doubleday and 52 Projects
Matt Supko, ABA/Indiebound and creator of the Indiebound iPhone app
Chris Jackson, Spiegel and Grau
Richard Nash, formerly of Soft Skull Press
Lauren Cerand, independent public relations representative

Here's the details:
4:30-6PM
Friday, May 29
@BEA's Downtown Author Stage

Here's the video of our inspiration for this event, LBF's Canon Tales:

Further proof that we are way, way ahead of the game

2009-03-05T12:12:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well. Guess what top tier radio show heard about our book club and decided to review Collodi's Pinnocchio?

Yep, Fresh Air. Check it out here.

Visions of Pinocchio

2009-02-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Pinocchio was written in 1880 in a serial format but in the style of a folk tale. I imagine that Carlo Coloddi would have been happy to see his creation adapted in the free way the myths and folk tales are.

As I read Pinocchio (which was always my favorite Disney movie growing up), I specifically tried to avoid imagining this:

Of course, those of you who are reading the book know that the tone is drastically different than that of the Disney movie. I avoided this film because of the reviews, but I would now be curious if any of you have seen it:

Another American retelling of Pinocchio (I think we all can agree that Spielberg and Kubrick are good flavors that don't mix, much like cotton candy and steak tartare):

Here is a more representative Italian drawing:

Mickey Rooney, anyone?

Five things to think about before book club:
1. Whether the best works of art inspire faithful or unfaithful adaptations
2. The fact that 'children's literature' was not a genre when Coloddi wrote this, and how he both tries to instruct and undercuts that instruction at the same time
3. The role of the Blue Fairy, and the feminine in general, in this boys' story
4. How the Gepetto/Pinocchio relationship is an allegory for artist/art
5. I hate to say it, but all that psychoanalytic stuff (born as wood, shaped into a puppet, only fully human by controlling impulses, and of course the nose.)

Grace Paley Book Club: the Duringmath

2009-02-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

I would just like to share a picture of the food from last month's book club, or what was pretty much left after the attendees had had their fill (and had stopped yelling at me for leading the discussion poorly...just kidding! That pretty much didn't stop. My whoops.).

Here we have wine, cocktails, some of the borscht-that-ended-up-being-tasty-but-not-especially-borschty, the remains of the bagel platter (lox, whitefish salad, an assortment of cream cheeses, onion and tomato slices), and in the foreground: kugel.

Over the following week I ate ten pounds of kugel. That is all. See you in March!

'The Crooning and Combative Language of the Street'

2009-01-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

You may not know this, but in a different life I was a poetry blogger. And one of the poets I wrote about was Grace Paley--her final collection, Fidelity, came out in 2007.

Here is a selection of audio of a Poets House tribute to Grace, including some very smart comments from A.M. Homes:

"I think of Grace and I think about how when I first read her stories I really couldn't understand them. They were lost on me and I didn't know why. And then I borrowed a record from the library--it was a recording of Grace reading 'Goodbye and Good Luck' and 'A Conversation with My Father' and suddenly listening to the sound of the reader's voice reading her own work, her intonation like an incantation made it all perfectly clear."

PS I can't take credit for the title of this post--it's a comment on Grace's work by the poet Jane Cooper.

Listen to Two Grace Paley Stories

2009-01-21T07:37:00.001-08:00

NPR's Selected Shorts featured two Grace Paley stories last weekend. Neither are from January's book, The Little Disturbances of Man, but they're pretty emblematic of the sort of writing that Paley is know for--funny, slightly sad, and very wise.

The stories are "The Long-Distance Runner" and "A Conversation with My Father." You can find information about the show here, and listen to the stories by subscribing to the podcast.

January Book Club

2009-01-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

I am blogging this live from Brooklyn, New York, the location of the next book club meeting, which will be held the 25th of this month. My neighborhood is called Gravesend, so I've selected a frighteningly appropriate book, The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley. It's about ghouls and witches! Just kidding, it's about Jews.

If you haven't started reading, you only have two weeks to go, but since the book is less than 200 pages long, NO PROBLEM! You can read that much in only 13 days. Or you can read one story and fake it, you faking fake.

Anyway, prepare yourself for some stuff that I'll make, like tea. Tea is definitely on the menu.

BREAKING: Blogger Has Awful Taste in Books

2008-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

As one of likely two book club members who read Gawker's sports blog, Deadspin, the responsibility of reporting book club-related info appearing on that site probably falls to me.

So! It turns out Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio differs greatly with book club consensus regarding one of our selections. When asked by an emailer who his favorite author and book are, he writes:

Favorite author right now is Charles Bock. Go grab "Beautiful Children" and read it 50 times. It's excellent.

50...times...? He is an Eagles fan, so maybe self-punishment is part of his DNA.

Eh? Eagles fan joke? Anyone?

A Starship Ride Has Been Promised to You By the Galactic Wizard

2008-10-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Word to the wise: Kelly Link recommended fortune cookies for our book club on November 2nd, where we'll be reading Stranger Things Happen.

I am currently amassing fortunes for all of you (see blog title for example a).

Submissions from Team Book Club should be placed in the comments.

Meet Kelly Link!

2008-10-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Good news: Kelly Link, our October book club author, is reading in Brooklyn tomorrow night!

I'm pasting the details here. Megan and I will both be there, and we'd love to see you. I'm going to ask Kelly if she has any recommendations for what we should eat while reading Stranger Things Happen. I haven't read anything from it yet, but I'm secretly hoping for something weird and cool, like Hostess Snowballs.

10/7/08

Community Bookstore

7 PM

143 Seventh Ave (between Carroll St and Garfield Pl)
Park Slope, Brooklyn | Map

718-783-3075

Subway: B, Q to Seventh Ave; 2, 3 to Grand Army Plaza | Directions

http://www.cbjupiterbooks.com

Tickets: Free

Description
The celebrated author of the fabulistic story collections Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners reads from her debut foray into YA lit, Pretty Monsters.

Some Exciting Kelly Link-Related News (Part 1)

2008-10-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Folks, there is exciting news! Kelly Link's press (by that I mean both the press that publishes her AND the press she runs) Small Beer is offering FREE downloads of October's book club selection and several other high-quality awesome books.

I really like the explanation the publisher gives for why these books are offered for free:

We love books. We want to keep on publishing good books. Weird books. Interesting books. We are curious about the future. If everyone downloads books straight to the Kindlenub in their head, we might be in trouble. But if there are still people who like to read books on paper, maybe some of them will read some of these downloads and then decide they would like the actual books. Therefore we're releasing some of our books.

That's great reasoning, and it seems like the onus is put on you, the reader. Small Beer offers these books for free because they believe in them SO MUCH that they're convinced you'll become a fan of the press, and ultimately buy more books.

Do with that what you will, Best Book Club in Brooklyn! If you fall in love with Kelly Link, as I have, I hope that you'll supplement the free downloads with a purchase or two from the press.

And even if you prefer your books in the more traditional way (ie, ink on paper), DEFINITELY check out the creative commons section of the Small Beer site, since they have audio downloads of stories from Stranger Things Happen that are very enjoyable.

October's Book Club...

2008-10-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

...is actually happening in November--on November 2nd to be exact. But whatever, I hope you can still make it!

Because of Halloween, we'll be reading STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN by Kelly Link. It's a short story collection!

In the words of Jelly Ink press: " These eleven extraordinary stories are quirky, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. Every story contains a secret prize. Each story was written especially for you."

Next Book Club: November 2nd!

2008-09-29T07:42:00.001-07:00

EDIT FROM MEGAN: We were too busy having fun to take many photos, but here are a few. Note the pineapple full of pomegranate seeds. Truly exotic!

Yesterday's book club was a blast--I think Megan will have photos here later!--and we managed to decide on the next book club's date before heading home.

Please save Sunday, November 2nd for book club festivities at chez Greko, in Crown Heights.

Trying to decide between reading Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen or Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away. Please feel free to make your voice heard in the comments below.

BookClub is coming!

2008-09-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Dearies! So, I finally bought my book today. I think probably most of you don't have it yet, so I will share a little info I gleaned today: The Strand doesn't have any, so don't bother there, but as of tonight, the B&N Union Square had 2 copies, and they say that the B&N on 82nd has it, too. I'm not sure about any other indies... anyone else been able to find it around? Oh, and you can also buy it directly from the publisher's site. It's an extremely slim, so I don't think anyone will have a problem finishing it within a weekend or so. More updates and research to come!

Sorry if this post was disjointed; I'm being a little distracted by America's Next Top Model.

Best Quote Ever

2008-09-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

"I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife." – Louise Brooks, from her autobiography, 'Lulu in Hollywood.'

I am working to have it stitched on a pillow by the book club meeting on September 28th.

I love you, BookClub

2008-08-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me a day or two ago if BookClub had disbanded. This HORRIFIED me. Of course BookClub is going strong. Just because we took a little break during the disgusting heat of the past month doesn't mean we don't still love each other. And our BookClub books. We love those too. Also, brunchy drinks. So let's DO meet a the end of September for BookClub (more on that later) but also maybe like next weekend for brunch? Who's free? Sat or Sun?

OK, as far as our official next meeting goes, it will be in late September, and the book we will discuss is called The Invention of Morel. I think it will be good. It is a MYSTERY BOOK. I found the name of this book written on a post-it on my desk a couple weeks ago, written in my handwriting, but I have no idea when or where I heard of the book. Spooky! Something to do with Borges, I guess, because his name was written down, too. And there also appears to be a Louise Brooks connection. I am a big fan of hers. Ami, share that quote you found from her with everyone.

So... more to come regarding the book and the meetup, but in the meantime, comment, weigh in, and let me know how you're all feeling. I'm still willing to be swayed toward Atmospheric Disturbances if everyone's gung-ho for it, and if you have a strong feeling about the date this next meeting should take place, feel free to cast your vote now!

Ah, here, my deeries, is a better link, i think: http://www.nybooks.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=1229
Still, I have to say that I think the less read about this book before actually picking it up, the better. Let the mystery unfold first! Background info later.

Follow up, mostly on Jeeves

2008-07-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

Just to recap Sunday's lovely afternoon in the park: Midwesterners, all of your worst fears have been confirmed. People who live in Brooklyn really do flounce about in parks sipping refined alcoholic beverages and discussing British novelists. John Edwards is right--there really are two Americas. As a former Michigan resident, I'm just pleased that I wound up in the one with Jeeves.

In case anyone wants to do some additional reading, I've got links here to things discussed:

Frankly, you should all just read this Wikipedia entry about Jeeves, because there are some fabulous facts (for instance, Jeeves once resigned a job because of his employer's eccentric choice of evening dress).
Here are the two stories narrated by Jeeves: 'Ring for Jeeves' and 'Thank You Jeeves.'
It is a real bummer that the Jeeves and Wooster television series never worked out because just look at this list of characters.

We should have August's book up soon. Megan is hosting this month, which means no end to the great streak that we've been on.

Wodehouse in July

2008-06-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to announce that for the July book club we'll be discussing stories from The Most of P.G. Wodehouse in Prospect Park on Sunday, July 27th! This will be, by far, the tweediest book club meeting we'll ever have. I'll bring the scones!

Although Wodehouse is a breeze to read, he's also extremely prolific, and as such I picked the edition that you should be able to find no matter how many (or few) Wodehouse books there are at your favorite bookstore.

Also, as this is kind of a big book, in order to make sure that everyone enjoys this month's choice and it never feels like a chore I've included a guide for what people should read and what they can skip over in this collection:

DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY READ:

All Drones Club stories
All Jeeves Stories
The Lord Emsworth story

DEFINITELY, IF THERE'S TIME:

Mulliner Stories

IF YOU'RE KILLING TIME (say, on a bus to Atlantic City)

Stanley Featherstone Ukeridge stories

NO NEED:

Golf Stories
Quick Service

More details (such as where we'll meet at the park, back-up plans if it's supposed to rain, etc.) to come!

Charles Bock Reading June 18th

2008-06-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Even more extra credit!

Charles Bock will be reading in NYC on June 18th at Housing Works, starting at 7 PM. Housing Works is a great little bookstore in Soho that sells booze, which of course means members of this book club can attend this literary event without worrying about a bad case of the DT's.

I'll be headed over for sure, and possibly even taking notes for the blog. If anyone else is interested, hit me up in the comments. A critical mass means we can even meet up for happy hour at Botanica beforehand.

*Sidenote: I found this information while perusing the website for Beautiful Children. I was actually trying to get to the bio information, but the stupid Easter eggs got in my way and I wound up in the events page. I have to say, that website kind of made me want to punch someone in the face. Cripes. I suppose it might be good if you somehow accidentally stumbled on it and had NO idea what the book was, but as far as going with the intention of, I don't know, securing information on the author or the novel, it's a no-go.

Beautiful Children

2008-05-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the first chapter if you want to get started:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/books/chapters/1st-chapter-beautiful-children.html?_r=1&ref=books

And I think Ami might be able to link you to pdf of the entire book if you want to read online.

The meeting will be at Paul's place at 247 Garfield (between 7th & 8th Aves in Park Slope) on June 22 at 1:00.

Beautiful Children

2008-05-27T12:32:00.001-07:00

Those of you clamoring to know our June book club pick (say, maybe because you're preparing to get on a plane to LA) should check the sidebar--it's Beautiful Children by Charles Bock. I'm sure Helen will set it up more thoroughly in the future, but here are some things to get you started:

Here is Charles Bock on TitlePage.tv, where he was roundly teased for wearing a concert t-shirt under a True Value button up
Here is Bock's complicated-but-lauded website
And for extra credit this month, read The Delivery Man by Joe McGinniss Jr. It covers much of the same territory as Beautiful Children, and I'd love to discuss the intersection of the two novels, as well as how interesting it is that Las Vegas is turning into a *real* city, with teenage unrest and rock bands and novels of its own.

Just a few more pictures...

2008-05-19T14:56:00.001-07:00

Sunday Afternoon

2008-05-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone for coming to Sunday's book club meeting. I had a really fun time and I'm glad the book was well received and managed to serve as a basis for a good discussion. As I think I mentioned today, the book has pretty much everything but zombies.

I took a few pictures and figured I should post them to the blog.

I know there was nothing Polynesian about the book but I do love a chance to break out the tiki mugs. I think learning a few good drink recipes is the next step.

Shek made fantastic guacamole. Apparently, it's the only thing people in California eat.

After we finished talking about the book a few games of Apples to Apples were played. I think Ami threw down a card for "body surfing." No one gave her points for that! Shame on that person for not letting the book's theme tie into our game.

I hope everyone had a good time and I'm looking forward to the next meeting.

Veering off topic for a minute

2008-05-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ami has been riding a nonstop wave of excitement since learning this month's book served as inspiration for POINT BREAK. Today she pointed me toward this very exciting news about the film's sequel!

Please thank her for bringing this info to our attention as it keeps me from a rambling post about the excesses of the 1970's.

From Buying A Board to the Spicoli Effect

2008-05-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

As Ike learns early in the novel, not all surfboards are created equal. The surfboard has undergone quite an evolution since its initial development in Polynesian culture. TAPPING THE SOURCE's young protagonist from the desert doesn't realize he should've purchased a noserider instead of a gun. Ehow.com didn't exist in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Ike and Michelle don't come from the most stable backgrounds. The same can be said for pro surfer and actress (John From Cincinnati) Keala Kennelly, who "[grew] up fully immersed in the culture on Kauai, she lived in a geodesic dome designed by her bohemian mother, who split from the family one day while Keala was at school and left a note on her pillow."

A few weeks ago Kem Nunn and others got together at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for a discussion about "Surf Culture." The "tendency to portray surfers as unintelligent slackers," aka the "Spicoli Effect" was addressed.

In 1982 some high school kids made an 8mm movie about a day spent surfing. A lot of it was shot on the waves at Hunting Beach (note the oil drilling platform in the background of some of the shots).

If Monday's entry about the history of HB wasn't enough as for setting the scene, I found a few other great photos:

HB in 1957
The Sheraton Beach Inn, 1964
Both of those photos are from this collection of found photos, which chronicles the travels of a local HB family from 1953 to 1968.

HB in 1986
OP Pro Surf Contest Riot, 1986
(Things got a little out of control, apparently.)

For Sunday's gathering I don't plan to have surf videos playing in the background. You'll have to make do with the following:

A teaser for the film THE FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE

The opening sequence to OFF THE WALL II (the music is great)

This may be stretching things a bit, but I like how the theme lightly ties in with the novel - Punk vs. Surfer Moped Chase (1981)

Hang loose!

About May's Author

2008-05-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

"It's hard to get people in New York to take books with surfers and bikers in them seriously."

As Megan noted , TAPPING THE SOURCE garnered a National Book Award Best First Fiction nomination for Kem Nunn. Published in 1984, it's been suggested the book was an influence for 1991's POINT BREAK. When asked about that, someone commented Nunn was "taciturn on the subject."

James Frey calls TAPPING THE SOURCE one of the top 10 books to read about Los Angeles.

In addition to being a novelist, Nunn has worked as a screenwriter. From what I've been able to gather, he's done quite a bit of rewriting (including the 1998 Kevin Bacon / Matt Dillon thriller WILD THINGS).

In the mid-aughts, Nunn hooked up with David Milch and served as a writer for DEADWOOD. The connection between the two continued as they co-created the HBO series JOHN FROM CINCINNATI.

Slate.com did a story about what JFC gets right about surfing.

In 2004 Kem Nunn spoke with Bookbuffet about TIJUANA STRAITS, the third book in his "surf-trilogy" which appears to have influenced JOHN FROM CINCINNATI. In the interview (audio files available) he discusses what it was like growing up in Southern California and how he came to surfing.

(FYI: All the above links are spoiler-free, go ahead and click 'em.)

All this really has me stoked for Sunday’s book club meeting, brah!

From King City to Huntington Beach

2008-05-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

During the novel, Ike travels from just outside King City, CA to Huntington Beach, CA. I thought it might be helpful to take a look at these two places on the map. Driving distance between the two cities is five hours.

View Larger Map

In addition to the heavy surfing backdrop, TAPPING THE SOURCE pays a good amount of attention to motorcycles, particularly Preston's Harley Davidson Knuckle. The Knucklehead was introduced in 1936 (the same year as the one owned by Ike back in San Arco). The Knucklehead is so named because part of it resemble knuckles on the back of a hand.

To learn more about the history and pleasures of the bike, skip to 1:28 in this video from Discovery's THE GREATEST EVER:

And if you can't get enough of that sound, check out this clip of a guy kick starting a 1942 knucklehead.

Another presence in Huntington Beach that doesn't go unnoticed is that of the oil fields and pier. Oil was discovered there in 1920. The pier has also been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. (see the history of Huntington Beach and this awesome photograph from the 1960s)

And to get a sense of HB in 1985, take a look at this image of a few storefronts.

Interactive Book Club

2008-05-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

I wish the title of this post referred to surfing lessons. Or maybe a mechanical surfboard in my living room? Heck, maybe it references some Wii surfing game that doesn't exist?

If you've finished the book, you know there will be healthy discussion about Part Four. Megan suggested everyone come to the meeting (THIS SUNDAY - 1PM) with a new ending for the book. She suggests "this could be anything from one sentence to a fully written 50-page project, depending on how much time anyone wants to put into it." I fully support this idea and can't wait to hear what everyone comes up with.

Beyond reading the book, that's the assignment for this one and perhaps the key point of discussion.

Pick up TAPPING THE SOURCE already. It's the story of a teenager's quest to find his sister. And it's about surfing and motorcycles and so much more. If you want to borrow my copy, send me an email.

May is Surf Noir Month!

2008-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Everything I know about surfing I learned from watching Australians hang ten on ESPN during the summer of 1989 and by freaking out to the appearance of Dick Dale on Beverly Hills, 90210. I haven't let that get in the way of selecting a book for May's book club meeting.

Let's read TAPPING THE SOURCE by Kem Nunn.

How can we go wrong with something described as "surf noir?" From the notes I've read online, the book is about a guy who grows up in California's desert then moves to Huntington Beach where he finds the seedy underbelly of the surf world and tracks down rumors of his sister's murder.

You've got less than a month to purchase and read the book. Due to Memorial Day and other late May commitments, the meeting will be held SUNDAY, MAY 18th at 1pm.

I'm hosting the gathering at my apartment in Fort Greene.

Booze is up to you. As for the "brunch" portion of our day, I'll order a few pies from the word-burning oven at Graziella's. (Sadly, there is no California Pizza Kitchen in Brooklyn.)

Look for a discussion guide and reminder in a week or two.

Awesome Bookclub yesterday! Pickled things!

2008-04-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Bookclub was so fun and very yummy yesterday, thanks to Anastasia's wonderful cooking and even more delicious (who'd have guessed?) horseradish-infused vodka! Unfortunately, as usual, we didn't think to take pictures until after most of brunch was consumed. Also, I think that I left the camera on night-mode from earlier in the weekend, and as a result the pictures are a little blurry. Know what wasn't blurry, though? Our incisive commentary on the book and our sharp wits that even the booze couldn't blunt. It was a long, relaxing Russian Orthodox Easter Sunday for all of us. Um, I can't really think of much else to report, so i'm going to include one last picture i just found on my phone, of Alexis' scary cat from time before last:

Oh, and May bookclub will take place in Prospect Heights at Marc's.

Anastasia or anyone else, please feel free to add more details to the blog about our meeting of bookclub stalwarts yesterday.

EDIT: I almost forgot!!! We also learned about a totally cuddly but slightly melancholy friend of Anastasia's from the old country. His name is Cheburashka and she translated a song he sings about himself for us. Sorry you missed it? Pretend you were there, minus the live translation services she rendered, and cry a small tear, after clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ZRcgRm4ds.

Musing on Russian Easter

2008-04-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our April pick Book Club date will fortuitously coincide with the Russian Orthodox Easter. FYI, the correct protocol when exchanging Easter greetings is the following between two people:

"Christos voskres!" (Christ has risen!)
"Voistinu voskres!" (Indeed, he has risen!)

Followed by three alternating kisses on the cheeks (Russians like to do everything three times, as it is the divine number of the Trinity). Anyhow, it's just an excuse to kiss.

Our BookClub is so talented! And funny! And cute, too!

2008-04-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

Anyone wondering what Ami, Megan, and most notably Alexis, will be doing tonight should check out the event described below. Stalkers welcome, right, Alexis?

FOCUS - A live talk show/spoof of The View (and various other lady talk shows)

Tuesday, April 22nd, 9:30pm

Guests: Sarah Mather, American Idol Hollywood-semi-finalist and Bones Rodriguez, Star Trek Enthusiast and author of the recently released Captain Kirk's Guide to Women.

Giveaways! Cheap beer! Ladies!

The Magnet Theater

254 West 29th St. (between 7th and 8th)

Anyone who was wondering how their Tuesday could possibly get any better should come out with us to see Alexis do her thing!

Just when you thought we could not get any dorkier

2008-04-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Megan and I will again be bringing our unique combination of booze and (insert brainy activity here) into your life.

Trivial Pursuit (Millennium Edition) this Friday, April 18th, at Buttermilk in South Slope. Game starts around 9 or so. Team play, and the losers buy the next round.

New Blog!

2008-04-02T12:16:00.001-07:00

Like taxes, members of the opposite sex, and the weather, poetry is one of those things that tends to get more attention in the spring. Capitalizing on this natural inclination toward reading the best words in their best order, I'll again be running FSG's month-long poetry blog. Please visit early and often!

www.fsgpoetry.com

See you in the comments!

Memoirs of a Muse, by Lara Vapnyar

2008-03-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Our April's pick will continue to explore the themes of literary dreams, the origin of inspiration, search for self-actualization, and immigration (voluntary exile, if you please).

"As a fatherless girl in Moscow, Tatiana becomes fascinated by the great Russian writers, especially Dostoyevsky. As an adolescent, she is told by a lecherous teacher that she will become "the muse to a great man." When she immigrates to America to pursue a graduate degree in history, she chooses to fulfill her destiny as a muse instead, readily abandoning the stifling immigrant enclave in Brighton Beach for a writer's Central Park apartment." Needless to say, her chosen object - a young New Yorker who is more interested in fashion, dining out, and TV - is not exactly the budding Dostoyevsky. The book is allegedly a great parody of a self-obsessed male artist, as well as a "withering critique of the immigrant experience".

The book club will be hosted in Greenpoint - one of Brooklyn's staunchingly Slavic neighborhoods. Being myself a recent (and Russian) arrival in New York, my curiosity is peaked both in regards to the book and to the menu:

-delicious blinis
-herring
-potatoes
-pickles
-shots of ice-cold vodka
-horseradish martinis
....and more

Where and when: April 27, 1:00pm, 146 Milton Street, #2, Brooklyn (Take the G train to Greenpoint Avenue - but check the MTA weekend advisories first...)

What Were YOU Doing Last Sunday?

2008-03-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Because members of the best damn book club in Brooklyn were eating this:

Jealous??

Michael Silverblatt Rules Book Interviews 4-EVA

2008-03-19T16:01:00.001-07:00

Ever since listening to this Bookworm interview with Junot Diaz, I think of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao differently.

The interview raises what I see as essential questions about the book and the intention of the author. I tried to type them up exactly as they were phrased on the show, but I don't think I captured them all completely--definitely listen to the show to get the full questions and discussion around them. (Warning: there are sort-of spoilers in the interview, so maybe wait until you've finished the book.)

Was it possible for Yunior to ever love Lola? Does his failure to love her brother Oscar represent a failure to love not only Lola, but Dominican history as a whole?
Is this book--Yunoir says my book--is this [book] a warding off of the curse (fuku) or is it the next generation of the curse?
We're usually not very tolerant of other small lives, even if our lives have been small. And sometimes we'll be tolerant of a small life, and then next thing we know we're not longer tolerant...Being human--one of the things Oscar's character keeps asking is is being human something that you do once, you make one choice and it proves that you're human? Or is it a choice you have to keep making through your whole life? I think most people like to pretend you reach a certain age and you become a human. I've always felt that every day life puts you in a box and says are you human today or are you an animal?
Or does the book ask, are you human today, or are you an addict (to sex, to a fantasy world, to a dictatorship)? Are you fighting the daily fight or have you given up to an addiction?

Seriously, this interview is amazing and absolutely a cliff notes on what we should talk about at book club. Here it is embedded, because that's a cool thing bloggers do:

Some thoughtful print coverage of the Diaz

2008-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I just got done reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and started going through all the press that was written on it. Thought you all might be interested.

The thoughtful first:

Powells.com interview with Diaz: "That's more a product of very hard work than any skill. Certainly I wanted that voice to come off as fluid, but I'm sure there are people out there for whom this stuff comes easy. For me, this is the product of thirty rewrites."

LA Times review: "People talk about the Great American Novel and the immigrant novel. Pretty reductive. Díaz's novel is a hell of a book. It doesn't care about categories. It's densely populated; it's obsessed with language. It's Dominican and American, not about immigration but diaspora, in which one family's dramas are entwined with a nation's, not about history as information but as dark-force destroyer."

Really, it's a love novel."

Slate.com interview with Diaz: "And as a footnote: No one can write a straightforward political novel about the Trujillato and capture its phantasmagorical power. That's another reason I had to go hard-core nerd. Because without curses and alien mongooses and Sauron and Darkseid, the Trujillato cannot be accessed, eludes our 'modern' minds. We need these fictional lenses, otherwise It we cannot see."

NYTBR (A. O. Scott): "Díaz’s novel also has a wild, capacious spirit, making it feel much larger than it is. Within its relatively compact span, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” contains an unruly multitude of styles and genres. The tale of Oscar’s coming-of-age is in some ways the book’s thinnest layer, a young-adult melodrama draped over a multigenerational immigrant family chronicle that dabbles in tropical magic realism, punk-rock feminism, hip-hop machismo, post-postmodern pyrotechnics and enough polymorphous multiculturalism to fill up an Introduction to Cultural Studies syllabus."

And some not-so-thoughtful, but maybe worth reading for discussion's sake:

New York Times (Kakutani)

Salon.com (Roland Kelts)

Wondrous Book Club March 30!

2008-02-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our March pick is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

I for one, am very excited to read this one... as it was on numerous Best Books of the Year lists...

PW said: "Junot Diaz's dark and exuberant first novel makes a compelling case for the multiperspectival view of a life, wherein an individual cannot be known or understood in isolation from the history of his family and his nation"

I'll email the directions/address, but you will have to trek to Astoria (it doesn't really take THAT long). And there will be delicious Paula Deen French Toast Casserole Yumminess (With extra butter and cream of course).

This Is What We Call A Win-Win

2008-02-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know we are all publishing types who have yet to hit it big in terms of $$$. However, I think there is something you should all know about:

These are available for sale from the blog The Written Nerd, which is written by Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, aka the events coordinator for McNally Robinson,* aka someone who was incredibly friendly to me and Josh when we met her earlier this year at a mixer (even though we had both been drinking two-for-one red wines for the better part of the evening at Botanica and were, as they say, feeling no pain).

ANYWAY, Jessica is working to get funding for a bookstore that she's planning to open up in Brooklyn--in *our* Brooklyn: Prospect Heights, or PLG, or maybe even South Slope. There's more about her business plan here. The money she raises from these shirts will help make the store a reality so that we won't have to trek so far to pick up our book club selections--it's a win-win!

I will be wearing my Book Nerd shirt to April's book club. And I hope that you all will be too! (How nerdy is that???)

* I always post to this section of the McNally Robinson website because I kind of can't process all the conflicting feelings it brings up in my on my own, and I want other people to have to read it, too. LOVE the bookstore...classism I am not so fond of.

A Reading Guide for Sunday

2008-02-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is getting excited for Book Club on Sunday! I am going shopping on Wednesday evening to provide us with all sorts of Roman/Italian goodies to eat, so get your requests in now! There will be olives, red wine, cheeses, biscotti (traditionally Roman), lasagna (not so much traditionally Roman, but good anyway.) If some sort of venison or game is available, I may get it, though I do have to say most of the food Ovid eats at Tomis is distinctly unappetizing.

As far as the book is concerned, I'm excited to dig into it and see what y'all think of it. In the hopes of guiding our discussion, I thought I would provide a few questions for people to think about as they read (don't worry, no spoilers). I would appreciate if everyone could provide 500 word typed answers for circulation at the meeting.

1. Ovid is most famous for the Metamorphoses, a set of poems with transformation between states of being as its main theme. In Malouf's book, what is Ovid transforming into, and what is the Child transforming into? How are these transformations related?

2. What does the Child himself represent? Why does he appear only at the edges of Ovid's life, in very early childhood and again near death?

3. Malouf is an Australian, and according to Wikipedia, "wrote this novel when issues with the treatment of the Indigenous people of Australia was under question, and the White Australia Policy and paternalistic mentality were inherent in society." What is Malouf saying in this novel about colonization, and interactions between powerful and 'barbaric' cultures?

4. My favorite passage in the novel is this one:

"But we are free after all. We are bound not by the laws of our nature but by the ways we can imagine ourselves breaking out of those laws without doing violence to our essential being. We are free to transcend ourselves. If we have the imagination for it."

Disregarding its potential as a Successories poster (I'm picturing a hawk flying over a dewy golf course in autumn), do you agree or disagree with this statement? Is there such a thing as transcendence of the self, or is one always within one's personality? Discuss, preferably with embarrassing personal stories.

5. As Malouf writes in the revealing epilogue, this novel has no basis in fact, besides that Ovid was exiled to Tomis. What do you think Ovid, an urbane poet not known for his belief or sincerity, would think of this presentation?

That's all I got for now, folks. I hope that people are enjoying this book that I very much love, though I would be curious to hear the opinions of those who don't feel that way as well. And we shall eat and drink well, regardless.

See the previous post for directions to my place on Sunday, and hope to see all of you there!

Mike D

Book Club in Exile

2008-02-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

On February 24, Book Club is leaving the borough of Brooklyn for the first time! Journey to the isle of Manhattan, a dark and strange place with alien customs that are opaque to outsiders.

To best reflect this momentous occasion, I have chosen a favorite book of mine whose main character is highly literate and has been exiled to a foreign land, a dark and strange place with alien customs opaque to outsiders.

An Imaginary Life, by David Malouf

Jacket copy:

In the first century A.D., Publius Ovidius Naso, the most urbane and irreverent poet of imperial Rome, was banished to a remote village on the edge of the Black Sea. From these sparse facts, Malouf has fashioned an audacious and supremely moving novel. Marooned on the edge of the known world, exiled from his native tongue, Ovid depends on the kindness of barbarians who impale their dead and converse with the spirit world.Then he becomes the guardian of a still more savage creature, a feral child who has grown up among deer. What ensues is a luminous encounter between civilization and nature, as enacted by a poet who once cataloged the treacheries of love and a boy who slowly learns how to give it.

This book is great, short, and one does not need to know anything about the Metamorphoses to enjoy it. (Though anyone whose Ovid knowledge is half as deep as Clara and Andrew's Monkey King expertise would be most welcome to share it.)

This book, about a Roman poet, also allows us to eat Italian food and drink red wine. And as Malouf is Australian, Foster's will be supplied as well.

I know this will be the best-attended book club yet, so I'm sure all of you are eager for the details, so here's the nitty-gritty:

When:
February 24 at 1:30.
Some of you may note this is the same day as the Oscars, which anyone is welcome to stay and watch afterwards.

Where:
391 Convent Ave, Apt. 2

How to Get There:
Take the A-C or B-D to 145th Street. Exit on the north end of the subway (onto St. Nicholas Avenue). Walk one block west to Convent Avenue. 391 is between 146th and 147th Streets.

To Bring:
An empty stomach, an eagerness to drink, a passing familiarity with this (short!) novel and perhaps a thematically appropriate food. Or not.

I hope to see all of you there. As I missed the last meeting to see a family member get married, Megan has moved my book club grade down to a D. I'm hoping that a successful hosting can pull me back up to a C+.

Mike D.

Aunt Hagar's Cram Session

2008-01-22T09:09:00.001-08:00

With the next Brooklyn book club meeting in less than a week, you should be heading into your last fifty pages. Unfortunately, you're still stuck on page 12, fighting through "In the Blink of God's Eye."

That's why we got cramming! With limited time to get through 14 thirty-page stories, it's time to get your priorities straight. Figuring out which stories are superior and which are little more than filler, however, is virtually impossible without magic. Lucky for you I've already read the whole book, so I'm in a good position to recommend a good alternative to unreliable, scattershot methods like "random guessing" and "reading the stories in order."

If I had to do it again, and I only had time to read a third of the book, these are the stories I'd tackle first:

Old Boys, Old Girls

Bad Neighbors

A Rich Man

All Aunt Hagar's Children

Blindsided

For my money, those are the five best. If you have more time and want to dig a little deeper, here are another five that probably won't kill you:

Common Law

Spanish in the Morning

The Devil Swims Across the Anacostia

A Poor Guatelmalan Dreams...

Resurrecting Methuselah

And honestly, I would only read these last four if I wanted to capture Edward P. Jones at his least impressive:

Tapestry

In the Blink of God's Eye

Root Worker

Adam Robinson

Good luck, folks, and happy cramming! Hope to see you at 1:30 this Sunday.

January book club: brooklyn again!

2007-12-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

I hope no one minds if we do an adult read for next month (kidding, Josh...who could have known that a colorful picture book was actually intended for children? Crazy).

Anyway, since I'm a short story fan and I grew up in the DC area, I'm going with All Aunt Hagar's Children, the most recent story collection by Washington author Edward P. Jones. You'll know him from his Motherfucking Pulitzer Prize.

I can only find an Amazon link to the LARGE PRINT paperback version, but trust me, it is around in regular paper back. It looks like this:

Not sure you want to tackle almost 400 pages of the working class black experience in 20th century DC? No prob...read one or two stories and you're good to go, just like in college.

I'm scheduling the meeting for Sunday, January 27th...for those of you who might be worried, that's the week after MLK Day (and the Conference Championships) and the week before the Super Bowl. For once, you won't have to choose between a three day weekend, football, and the book club.

Ahem! For the second time, the club will be in South Slope Brooklyn, with the address and exact meeting time to follow via email. I would also like to add that I'm really excited about the menu.

Your Favorite Books of 2007?

2007-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

In light of the totally boring, completely predictable, and remarkably similar "official" lists of the best books of 2007, I thought it might be interesting for people from Books & Booze--The Best Damn Book Club in Brooklyn--to chime in.

If you have a minute, put your fav books that you read last year (doesn't matter when it was published) in the comments. I'd be really interested to hear what they are.

Well, at Least Everyone Liked the Monkey King

2007-12-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make: I kind of forgot about taking photos at this last book club.

BUT, I think that's okay, because this bulleted list of fantastic things about the book club will probably make up for it:

General Tso's Chicken
Mimosas
Orange Chicken
Wild Turkey
Three kinds of dumplings
White Wine (in a box)
Brownies made from scratch
Treats from Flower Fruit Island
Homemade Cookies
(Did I mention the Wild Turkey?)

Despite the fact that most of us found the book to be only so-so, I was pretty impressed by the level of discourse and now I am a lot less mad about last month and how everyone totally dissed my favorite book of the year at the last book club.

Book Clubbers: what is this post missing? Did I forget anything?

Because Booze is the Real High Value Item

2007-12-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Ami, for making me an official contributor to the blog. I hope I don't go too mad with the ability to post. This first comment is rather short.

On Sunday afternoon I bought the book for December's meeeting. I've not started reading it. Flipping through it, there seems to be a lot of white space so I expect to complete my reading by Saturday night. I'm not sure if this sort of thing is allowed since most of you are in the publishing industry and book sales are what you're after but I'm willing to lend my copy to others anytime after Monday morning. I figured I'd make the book available to save someone else a few dollars or also aid any who are having trouble finding the book (it turns out those graphic novel sections at bookstores are in serious disarray). Leave a comment below and we can work out the transfer details.

American Born Chinese: Origins

2007-11-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

As we get closer to the next book club meeting (December 16th), I hope that people have been picking up and enjoying Gene Yang's American Born Chinese!

Seeing as how the book features a sometimes surprising and unusual mix of Eastern and Western religions, I thought I would pass along this link. It features some interesting and illuminating explanations of Yang's motives both in creating this book and in deciding to offer his own take on the Monkey King legend.

Have people been enjoying the book? Anybody especially liked or hated it so far?

YES, the whole party was a little blurry

2007-11-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Well, congrats on another successful book club, Team Brooklyn Book Club!

Brian Francis Slattery might be pretty excited to hear that, as we are a book club full of literalists, Spaceman Blues not only inspired alien cupcakes,

but spaceship cookies as well!

(Or maybe he would be horrified. WHO KNOWS??)

Regardless, we all had a pretty good time, even though not everyone ===>
loved the book. Which I think is a pretty big thing to us to have overcome as a club. Obviously, now we are in the real meat & potatoes section of a book club, where certain people's true loyalties become apparent, and other people (The Lins, mostly) are never invited back because they are philistines.

Another one of my favorite things about book club is the way certain people get all dressed up and even put on fresh nail polish. Some people are REAL LADIES. Who can appreciate works of literature like Spaceman Blues. (Unlike some people.)
<======
Also, Megan made her special Mexi Roll-Ups (pictured) and black bean dip!

All in all, an excellent showing, everyone! I really appreciate all of the people who made the trek to Brooklyn from other boroughs. And special thanks to Yen for the salmon roe--the first I've ever had--and Marc for the Jamisons, which made for a nice switch from bubbly when it became Sunday afternoon, and really served to drive home the idea that Sundays are for relaxing.

December Book: American Born Chinese

2007-11-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

All you lovers of the Monkey King (of which there are apparently quite a few in our group) take heart, the December selection for the book club will be American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang! The book is what those in the 'biz call a graphic novel, so hopefully there aren't too many members of the book club scared off by books with pictures in 'em.

The meeting will be at my place this time, within the historic "Kensington District" of Brooklyn on Sunday, December 16th. Obviously, this being so close to Christmas, beware of my patented "Landon's Own Egg Nog." The special ingredient is...poison! No, wait, I mean whiskey. Yeah, definitely whiskey. Not poison. That would be ridiculous.

Do: Please organize your mad tornado of words

2007-11-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

I should have known when I looked at the cover of Spaceman Blues. A review from Harlan Ellison says about the book, "What a breathless, mad tornado of words." If only I had taken Mr. Ellison's warning. And so, here I am, breaking two of Josh's Dos and Don'ts for book club members. I am still 60 pages away from finishing the book, and yet have not stopped complaining. While I do not have any constructive questions to ask Brian Slattery, I do have specific and thoughtful words of advice for him. Not that he should take literary advice from me, who has and never will attempt to author a novel (or even a "love song" as he calls this book) but I suppose I'm just feeling mean-spirited.

Dear Mr. Slattery,

Do: Please organize your mad tornado of words. Many metaphors don't make sense. "Hunger that could break a horse" does have a ring of intensity, but has no meaning. Metaphors should help a reader more clearly understand your message, and are not simply an opportunity to wax poetic. Also, you're breaking Josh's "don't be pretentious" rule.

Don't: Ask me to fall in love with a character who I only meet for the first page and a half of your book. I would much more gladly follow Lucas to the seedy underbelly of New York, learning about his interesting childhood and his struggle to un-do what that cult did to him.

Do: Imagine and describe a fascinating New York distopia coexisting with our current New York. No complaints there, yet.

Don't: Throw inconsistent wacky rules into our real New York. The (upper) New York City in Spaceman Blues has no rules by which its governed. It's mostly our New York, with many accurate details I appreciate, but with confusing (not charming) exaggerations. Party-goers fling themselves from the rooftops, holding on to bedsheets to guide them to the sidewalk. People are referred to as floating a few inches off the ground. Just decide if that's a metaphor or not. I can live with the purple raincoat dudes riding on hover crafts...IF it freaks everyone out because they have never in this world seen anything so strange. Alternate realities do need rules, so we can believe in them.

Do: Give people imaginative names if they live in Darktown. Ringo 5 and Sid 69 are fine down there, but topside, detectives Salmon and Trout are getting on my last nerve.

Don't: Introduce a new character every other page if all you are going to tell me is who their grandfather was and in what manner this new character will die in 8 years. It distracts me and when I'm distracted I tend to fall asleep. Which could be one reason I'm having a hell of a time finishing your novel. I mean, "love song."

Sincerely, a woman who will now possibly be banned from future book clubs,
Clara

Who's Coming to BookClub?

2007-11-08T06:33:00.001-08:00

I wish we were reading this in Summer. But it will be a cozy meeting at Ami's this Sunday. Who's in? Comment here to RSVP for the best bookclub discussion of Spaceman Blues ever. I only have 20 pages left! How are you all doing?

The Do's and Don'ts for a Successful Book Club

2007-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Do: Actually read the book. A pretty basic one. A book club can’t sustain itself for long when only one or two members have actually read the book while every else is just pretending. One of the dirty secrets of every book club is that only half of the participants actually finish the book. Try to be that person at least, say, 40% of the time.

Don’t: Act pretentious. A big reason why people are taken aback by the idea of a book club to begin with is the residual annoyance of the guy or girl in your English class that answered every question and tried to lamely shoehorn James Joyce or Neitzsche into every discussion (even though everyone knew they had barely read them). Part of the fun of book clubs are the digressions (philosophical or otherwise) that take place, but nobody likes a one-sided, pretentious rant about some tangential topic. As a recoving member of this group, I speak from more experience than I'd like to admit.

Do: Drink early and often: Everyone is a little too polite during the first half hour of a book club. Those who didn’t like it don’t want to offend the ones that did, those who did don’t want to get too over the top in their praise. The solution: liquor. Lots of it. It loosens everyone up, helps people to be a lot more animated, and also allows them to be way more honest than they would be otherwise. Plus, it really wouldn’t be a very good book club if no egos were bruised along the way.

Don’t: Meet at a bar. Another lesson learned the hard way. The book club I was in during college would meet in the evenings at the bar, and (at least for me) it was a total disaster. For one thing, we met at our favorite bar (the Peanut Barrel), which meant that we recognized practically everyone that came in and had to either a.) ignore them or b.) stop what we were doing to chat. Inevitably, half the group would be some combination of drunk, playing pool, or trying to meet women by the time an hour or two had passed, while the rest of the group would be trying to lamely forge their way through some half-hearted discussion of the book.

Don’t: Pick a long book. This is a book club killer. Everyone’s busy and barely has time to read the books they buy for themselves, let alone the book club choice. Anything over 300 pages will, most of the time, annihilate the discussion. Not only will most people not read anything that long (or won’t have the time to finish), but anything too long is just too grand in scope to be adequately covered in a book club anyway.

Do: Meet in the Afternoon or Right After Work. This rule might apply just for me, but I can’t really think straight until about 1 PM. Any book club meeting before that and I’m pretty worthless. Similarly, the later it gets at night the more people start getting tired or their minds start to wander towards what they have to do the next day. Right after work or at 1-2 PM on the weekends is really the best way to go.

Don’t: Make fun of the book that the chooser picks (too much). Believe me, this one can come back to haunt you if you ever end up personally picking a book for your book club. Books are way more personal than TV shows or albums, and people don’t generally take too kindly to getting teased for their choice. Most people are polite enough to just trash the book itself if they don't like it; but, inevitably, someone always gets careless and crosses the line by insulting the person that choose the book. If they’re anything like me, they’ll want revenge, and they’ll be looking to get it when your own book choice comes around.

Do: Keep going even if you don’t like the book choice. Gut it out. Try to read the book, and, if you don’t like it, at least try to think of an interesting reason for not liking it. A little hate can go a long way, which is why everyone who knows Dale Peck’s book Hatchet Jobs thinks it’s just about the funniest collection of essays ever assembled. This rule might actually be the most important one, as so many book clubs get fractured by people picking and choosing which times to go. Inevitably, it leads to too many catch-all, populist book choices that attempt to appeal to everyone but actually appeal to no one. Anyway, at the very least, come for the booze.

The Mole People (They Live Underground)

2007-11-06T09:55:00.001-08:00

I have to follow up my post yesterday with one about the other aspect of living underneath New York City: the underground homeless.

The joys of Darktown stand in stark contrast to the nonfiction profiles of NYC's fabled underground homeless--regularly referred to as the Mole People. I've read Jennifer Toth's (supposedly) nonfiction account of life in the subway tunnels, and seen the documentary Dark Days, created by a man who lived in one of these underground cities for two years. And holy cow, are the bleak.

Apparently, living underground as a homeless person is a step up from living homeless on the streets: there's a roof (of sorts) over your head. Occasionally, you're able to steal water and often able to steal electricity, so there's amenities like lights and television. The title of the documentary Dark Days comes from a description a former homeless man gives of his years living in the tunnels (this is totally paraphrased): 'Living it, when I was in it, it didn't seem so bad. But now when I look back, I see that those were some dark days.'

So, obviously, there's a disconnect between what really happens to those who live underground and what we'd like to imagine living underground as being like. This was even evident in the descriptions that the underground homeless would give Jennifer Toth of areas that she couldn't go to, that were "just a little further underground":
More plausible than Ghost Cliff is the huge underground room "with a piano and tiled floor and mirrors all around" that Jamall says he found. An elderly homeless woman later described to me a similar room in which about fifty homeless people live. She adds a fountain to the decor. "Fantastic," she said.
Toth mostly gets called out on her complete credulity of these stories when she's criticized about her book, and fairly so. It seems pretty obvious that a room like this--piano and fountain and all--simply can't exist. But if we accept that this meme of a vast, unpopulated underground space is so pervasive in our culture that even the people who really live underground believe it--I think that's really fascinating.

The Dirty, Filthy Underground

2007-11-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hands down, my favorite part of SPACEMAN BLUES is the depiction of NYC's literal underground. I love the idea of a city below the city, preferably one that involves juke joints, bathtub gin, and the hard-partying folks that refuse for some reason to live in apartment buildings with the rest of us.

Right after this novel caught my attention, there was a fantastic article in the City section of the times about urban explorers, which is a fancy term for people who like to hop around below the streets of NYC looking in old subway tunnels and forgotten basements, generally for the sake of art. What I like about this article--and how I saw it relating to SPACEMAN BLUES--is the portrayal of underground New York City as a place outside the limits of most people, for the unique few. What does it mean to be both a part of the city but voluntarily removed from it?

In both SPACEMAN BLUES and this cult of urban explorers, the city underground is a glorious place. Not everyone is allowed to experience it, much in the way not everyone is allowed to experience the 'aboveground' New York, one that professes an ignorance of the below-ground sections of the city--partly because no one they know could tell them about it, but primarily because they don't care to know about it and via their position in society are allowed to profess ignorance of it. It becomes a metaphor for the culture of our city, for the way one can choose to experience only part of New York City. Both Wendell Apogee and the urban explorers in the NYT article are unique because of their position in both the surface world and the core and in the fact that they choose to experience both.

Interesting, right? What's your take on the idea of a city-beneath-the-city?

Inaugural book club!

2007-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

I do not mean to scare anyone away from this exciting book club. HOWEVER, I also don't know what anyone could do to top the joy of our inaugural book club, held at Megan's last Sunday. Michael Chabon would have been proud. As would the 7th Avenue Donut Shop, Rokeache Gefilte fish, and Moet Champage. (As that is the only booze we drink at brunch. Moet, if you still wanted to sponsor us, I've thought about it, and I think it's a go. Call me!)

Here are some photos of the insane amounts of literary cred that Megan has racked up for herself. Enjoy!

<==== As befits the theme of The Yiddish Policeman's Union, dessert was a choice of Alaska Disasta' (previously known as Baked Alaska) with a side slice of Naomi's favorite coconut cream pie.

Nat Baddington made a special appearance under his super-secret alias, even though the Potatoes had an early game. Please note the extra-classy design of the name tag. ======>

<==== The scene on Megan's dining room table as book club came to an end. Please note: matzo bread, bagels, donuts, Redi-Whip, cream cheese, canned Gefilte fish. Not pictured: the four bottles of bubbly already consumed.)

Megan, thank you for hosting. And please know that your literary cred levels are now high enough that you can just read Danielle Steele novels and eat bon bons for the rest of the year.

Announcement!

2007-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

We'll have photos and commentary from last Sunday's book club up here later today, but first: Our November book club announcement.

The book is Spaceman Blues, a book I love so much that I can barely breathe when I talk about it. We'll be meeting at my place in Crown Heights on Sunday, November 11th. Keep checking the blog for more info about Brian Slattery and my favorite book of 2007.

Hope to see you all there!

follow up to my email

2007-10-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a few bookclubbers asking who this Elijah person is.

Here's from wikipedia: "in some aspects of Judaism, there is a tradition of leaving an empty chair and a full goblet of wine at the Passover feast table to serve as a reminder of his promised return. At one point during the feast, participants may open a door in hopes that he will appear as a guest."

I am surprised some of you haven't heard of the tradition, since I thought it was pretty famous. I guess this bookclub is very goyish, or something. Anyway, since this was unfamiliar, I'm including a few pictures of the Tefillin and Mezuzah that get mentioned in the book, in case you don't know what these are, either!

Some fun words from the book

2007-10-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, while we wait for our resident Yiddish expert to comment, I’ll share a couple definitions I’ve looked up in the meantime. Most of these should be familiar to American English-speakers, anyway.
Dybbuk—A malicious possessing spirit, in Kabbalah and Jewish folklore (from wikipedia)
Emes—Truth, correct
Ganef—Thief
Kibbitzer— The term kibbitzer (and thus the verb to kibbitz) comes from the chess cafes of central Europe at the start of the century. A kibbitzer did not play chess, but watched other people playing, and possibly made comments on their play. (http://www.eisu2.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/kib.htm)
Latke–Potato pancake, traditionally served at Hanukkah, used here as slang for a rookie cop
Patzer—I gather that is actually chess slang! I didn’t know there was such a thing. It’s also Yiddish for “blunderer” and used to mean “poor player.”
Papiros—Cigarette
Pisher—Child, humorous (“little pisser”)
Schlemiel- inept bungler, someone who is easily victimized
Shammes- assistant to a rabbi, used in the book to describe detectives
Sholem—Peace/harmony or “Hello,” used to describe the guns the detectives carry. Clever! I think there’s a famous gun called a Peacemaker. I just looked it up, it’s a Colt .45
Shoyfar – brand name of the cellphones the characters use, from “shofar,” the ram's horn blown on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Shtarker—Strong arm
Shtetl—Small town or village
Shul–School
Tohubohu–I don’t think this is Yiddish, but it’s in the book, and here’s the definition: Chaos; confusion (from www.thefreedictionary.com)
Yid- Male Jew

Definitions mainly from http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com/ , more to come!

Oh, and i forgot! Zamenhof was the name of the guy who invented Esperanto, if you were a little thrown at the beginning of the book, as i was, by "elevatoro," etc. "For Zamenhof this language wasn't merely a communication tool, but a means of spreading his ideas on the peaceful coexistence of different peoples and cultures. Among the many works he translated into Esperanto is the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament." More on him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._L._Zamenhof–a very interesting story, and sad, too: all three of his children died in the Holocaust.

Sometimes things that don't happen are remarkable, too

2007-10-11T07:59:00.001-07:00

From the AP on the recent National Book Awards short list:

Among those not nominated: Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"; Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union"; and Richard Russo's "Bridge of Sighs." Also bypassed was David Halberstam's Korean War history, "The Coldest Winter."

Interesting that Chabon is mentioned as significant for not being nominated. I'm interested in our book club's opinion--is it an oversight that Chabon was left off the list, or kind of understandable based on the content of the book?

You can discuss in the comments, or prepare to answer on Sunday morning...

Judaism: Hope you don't mind moving every fifty years.

2007-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sitka!

2007-10-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend, furthering my attempts to be the best bookclub hostess ever, I visited the Museum of Natural History and took a bunch of pictures of traditional Tlingit clothing and weapons. Weapons perhaps not unlike Berko's hammer. But I can't figure out how to get these pictures off my phone and onto blogger, so you all might just have to pass my phone around at bookclub. So, is anybody out there reading the book? Preliminary thoughts from anyone besides me and Ami?

Publishing houses are not fit to be movie producers. Discuss.

2007-10-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Too good to keep to myself: the two 'book trailers' for The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Obviously, Michael Chabon is a terrifically talented man. And I have no doubt that the good people at Fourth Estate (British publisher) and HarperCollins are also fantastically talented.

So why do these trailer suck so hard? I mean, they're not terrible, as in, unwatchable. But they are terrible as in, why on earth would anyone not affiliated with the book already watch them?

This seems to be the main problem affecting book trailers nowadays. We're trying to be like the movies, when we don't have the money or experience or savvy to reach that level at all. There are a couple I've enjoyed: notably, Miranda July's latest, although she obviously has some expertise in the movie-making department, which may have helped.

Anyway, the two trailers for your "enjoyment":

British:

Canadian:
http://www.harpercollins.ca/trailers/trailer0007149824.html

Baby's first blog post

2007-10-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! I'm just going to assume that everyone we invited to the bookclub has been checking in on this blog every day hoping for an update. And now your patience and perserverance has been rewarded. With an update, and my very first attempt to blog. Or whatever.
This is going to be a month of firsts for me, because not only will this be the first book club meeting I ever host, it will also be the first book club meeting i ever attend. I guess I'm not much of a joiner. Although I love to read, I've come to the (slightly panicky) realization in the past few weeks that since college I don't really discuss a book in very much depth once i've read it. I am unlike many of my friends that way. I'm more of a "this was my favorite part" or "wasn't it funny when..." kind of person. Which may not lend itself to book club moderation. I am worried. Ami, you're going to have to pick up a lot of slack, I think. Should we be discussing themes and literary precedents? Should I have read all of Chabon's output before voluteering?

To make up at least in part for my shortcomings, I plan to whip up a (pretty much guaranteed to be disastrous) Baked Alaska! That should make it worth your time to come on down to Park Slope, for sure!

Also, anyone know where I can find a Yiddish-English dictionary? It's proving more difficult than i expected. I wanted to make a nice little cheat-sheet for y'all.

Recommended Sartorial Choices for October 14th

2007-09-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

This blog has just received an anonymous tip on what a certain literary revolutionary will be wearing to our first meeting on October 14th:

Despite the fact that we're reading Michael Chabon!

Arguing over Don DeLillo is nothing new. But doing it while totally hopped on up herring and bellinis just might be the new black.

A funny thing I once saw Michael Chabon do

2007-09-06T08:30:00.001-07:00

When I saw Michael Chabon read in Boston (at the Coolidge Corner Theatre) he totally answered his cell phone in the middle of his reading, and it was his wife. If only I had know that it was Ayelet Waldman, I probably would have asked to talk to her.

I also have a funny story about meeting Irvine Welsh at the Coolidge after one of his readings, and then somehow winding up in his hotel room with two other ladies, and only realizing the next day that perhaps he hadn't intended for us all to just talk about movies, which is all we did. Oops.

Books & Booze (I Mean, Brunch)

July's Books

Pnin: Follow-up

7x20x21 Is The Best Panel At BEA

Further proof that we are way, way ahead of the game

Visions of Pinocchio

Grace Paley Book Club: the Duringmath

'The Crooning and Combative Language of the Street'

Listen to Two Grace Paley Stories

January Book Club

BREAKING: Blogger Has Awful Taste in Books

A Starship Ride Has Been Promised to You By the Galactic Wizard

Meet Kelly Link!

Some Exciting Kelly Link-Related News (Part 1)

October's Book Club...

Next Book Club: November 2nd!

BookClub is coming!

Best Quote Ever

I love you, BookClub

Follow up, mostly on Jeeves

Wodehouse in July

Charles Bock Reading June 18th

Beautiful Children

Beautiful Children

Just a few more pictures...

Sunday Afternoon

Veering off topic for a minute

From Buying A Board to the Spicoli Effect

About May's Author

From King City to Huntington Beach

Interactive Book Club

May is Surf Noir Month!

Awesome Bookclub yesterday! Pickled things!

Musing on Russian Easter

Our BookClub is so talented! And funny! And cute, too!

Just when you thought we could not get any dorkier

New Blog!

Memoirs of a Muse, by Lara Vapnyar

What Were YOU Doing Last Sunday?

Michael Silverblatt Rules Book Interviews 4-EVA

Some thoughtful print coverage of the Diaz

Wondrous Book Club March 30!

This Is What We Call A Win-Win

A Reading Guide for Sunday

Book Club in Exile

Aunt Hagar's Cram Session

January book club: brooklyn again!

Your Favorite Books of 2007?

Well, at Least Everyone Liked the Monkey King

Because Booze is the Real High Value Item

American Born Chinese: Origins

YES, the whole party *was* a little blurry

December Book: American Born Chinese

Do: Please organize your mad tornado of words

Who's Coming to BookClub?

The Do's and Don'ts for a Successful Book Club

The Mole People (They Live Underground)

The Dirty, Filthy Underground

Inaugural book club!

Announcement!

follow up to my email

Some fun words from the book

Sometimes things that *don't* happen are remarkable, too

Judaism: Hope you don't mind moving every fifty years.

Sitka!

Publishing houses are not fit to be movie producers. Discuss.

Baby's first blog post

Recommended Sartorial Choices for October 14th

A funny thing I once saw Michael Chabon do

YES, the whole party was a little blurry

Sometimes things that don't happen are remarkable, too