Author Archives: bookdwarf

Portland Reading Report Part One: On the Way There

I began my first leg of the journey with Nathan Englander’s The Ministry of Special Cases. I had not read his previous book of short stories, but everyone always raved about and since there was a chance I might be having dinner with him in Portland, I decided to give his new novel a go. It’s set in Buenos Aires at the start of the Dirty War. The story revolves around a family: the father Kaddish Poznan, the mother Lillian, and their son Pato. The father and son don’t get along—old values versus new. College-aged Pato begins dabbling in the counterrevolutionary activites going on around him and one day he is “disappeared”. Englander spends over half of the novel setting this up and the second half follows the parents as they try to discover what has happened to their son. I admit that I didn’t like the book at first. I thought Pato was a spoiled brat—he’s very hard to like. I couldn’t get into the story. It wasn’t until I finished it that I realized what a powerful and well-written book this is. Funny how that happens.

I moved on to read Matt Haig’s The Dead Father’s Club after the Englander. Imagine Hamlet set in modern day England where Hamlet is an eleven year old boy. Inevitably, comparisons will be made to Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, not because the main character here, Philip, is autisic (he’s not), but because Haig writes the book entirely from the perspective of an 11 year old boy. Not everything makes sense to him that adults do. Philip’s father has died in a tragic car accident and his ghost pops up to tell him that his uncle killed him and that Phillip must avenge his death in the next 11 weeks before his father’s birthday. Uncle Alan has already made his move on Philip’s mother and taken over the operation of the family’s pub. While he plots his move and tries to cope with his father’s death, he also gains a girlfriend and some friends. I found this book easy to read, but not especially as deep as I wanted. Others will disagree, but perhaps this just isn’t my kind of book.

Monday Links

  • Robert Birnbaum’s discussion with Richard Ford is now available. How Ford’s piercing eyes didn’t scar him, I don’t know.
  • More Bat Segundo interviews, this time with Christopher Moore, Nick Mamatas, and Stephen Graham Jones.
  • This week we’re discussing Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The Wizard of the Crow over at the LBC.
  • Five Chapters is serializing “Land Between Two Brush Shaped Hills” by Rachel Sherman,” a story of junior high friendships, hippie parents, a small town frozen in time by a historic village, and one night where the intricate pre-teen dynamic dramatically changes.”
  • Tim Huggins has sold his store Newtonville Books to former employee Mary Cotton. I’m glad it’s being sold rather than closing. I hope this doesn’t mean Tim is leaving the Boston area.

Report: Portland has Great Donuts

I got back from Portland very late on Saturday. Note: Avoid taking American Airlines to Portland as they fly you through Dallas, TX no matter that you are coming from Boston. The trip was great. I met a lot of nice people, saw some old friends including the Written Nerd (I missed out on meeting Bookseller Chick though dammit). I spent a lot of time at various Powells stores. The famous Dave Weich of Powells.com even gave me a tour of their immense warehouse.

A highlight of the trip has to be the late night visit to Voodoo Doughnuts. Touristy? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Maple flavored doughnut with bacon on top. Doughnuts covered in Captain Crunch or Fruit Loops. Sounds evil, but they are delectable, especially after a night of whiskey.

And yes, I read a lot on the 9 hours I spent just on the planes each way there and back, but that’s for another post.

Reading List 2007

I thought I would at least recap some of the books I’ve read so far this year. I’ve managed to finish 8 books so far in 2007. Here’s the list:

  • Mergers and Acquisitions by Dana Vachon—I hate to say it, but this book seemed like a Bret Easton Ellis knock-off.
  • Third Girl From the Left by Martha Southgate—I really liked this book. It’s told in three parts, each from a different characters perspectives. Good writing and good story.
  • Bento Box in the Heartland by Linda Furiya—Memoir of growing up the only Asian people in the 60s in Indiana. Not bad, a little bland.
  • Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee—Great debut novel told from the perspective of first generation immigrants from Korea. The main character graduates from Princeton, but has trouble finding a “real” job that pleases her parents.
  • Mistress of the Art of Death by Arianna Franklin—I liked this historical mystery set in Medieval Cambridge. It was a fun read.
  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah—This one was not so fun, more in the heartbreaking category. You might have read the excerpt in the NYT Magazine a few weeks ago. It’s also the next Starbuck’s pick or something.
  • Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux—It took me a while to finish this book, not because I didn’t like it, but because I kept getting interrupted. It’s Paul Theroux at his crankiest. I like the guy, at least he knows he’s a crank, right?
  • Twins by Marcy Dermansky—Man, this book is crazy. I loved it. Each chapter alternates between the twins’ perspectives. One appears good and one appears bad, but that’s all surface. It’s a fucked up story and I finished it in a day.

Escape Plans

I’m sure you’re getting tired of me posting excuses about why I’m not posting more. Once mid-February hits, life will slow down a bit. This week I’m heading to Portland, Oregon for the ABA Winter Institute. I’ve never been to Portland, so I’m very excited about this trip.

Next week I’m off to Miami, Florida for some sun and relaxation. Anyone know any good bookstores down there? I always like to find a good bookstore when I visit new places.

I also must choose what books to bring with me on these various trips. This is so hard—what if I bring a total dud? I usually carry 3 to 4 books on a trip just for that type of contingency. I’m must choose wisely.

National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced

Nonfiction
  • Patrick Cockburn, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq (Verso)
  • Anne Fessler, The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade (Penguin Press)
  • Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin Press)
  • Simon Schama, Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution (Ecco)
  • Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew and the Heart of the Middle East (Bloomsbury)
Fiction
  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun (Knopf)
  • Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss (Grove/Atlantic)
  • Dave Eggers, What is the What (McSweeney’s)
  • Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land (Knopf)
  • Cormac McCarthy, The Road (Knopf)
Memoir/Autobiography
  • Donald Antrim, The Afterlife (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • Alison Bechdel, Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Alexander Masters, Stuart: A Life Backwards (Delacorte)
  • Daniel Mendelsohn, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million (HarperCollins)
  • Teri Jentz, Strange Piece of Paradise (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

The Germs Regrouped

I hate being sick. I felt so much better on Wednesday and then yesterday, I had to go home sick again. I’m feeling better today luckily, but I don’t have much for you, dear readers.