This douchebag state senator from Alabama Gerald Allen wants to prohibit the use of public funds for “the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.” Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the “homosexual agenda.”

Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.

“I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them,” he said.

Yeah, that will stop the gays from getting to the kids. Why don’t you just initiate home-schooling for the entire state? That way they don’t come in contact with any other bad ‘element’ like the Jews, Latinos, and African-Americans. That’ll protect the children!

(thanks Bookslut for the link)

Excuse my absence of the last week. Not only did I go to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, but I got a cold as well. But I am back, feeling somewhat better. Tonight, in fact, I am talking about books I recommend in the store at 6:30. So you can come watch me make an ass out of myself in public, as I am still sniffly and such. I will try not to sneeze snot all over you I swear. Here is more information (guess which one is me!).

I just got the office copy of the next NYTBR and what’s on the cover? James Wood reveiwing Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. There have been many of reviews of this book, but I can’t wait to read this one. I am waiting to read the new Robinson until after I read Housekeeping, which I just purchased (got sick of waiting for a used copy to show up). Of course there is not link yet to the review, but something tells me others will be commenting on it.
Oh, and there is a response from Kitty Kelley to Jonathan Bush’s Letter to the Editor. She is clear and thoughtful. Rather than address the attack on her work, she responds that Bush cites no evidence that disproves her claims. “He smears the messenger to smudge the message.” And, she says, her book was not all negative. She wrote about Prescott Bush grew in office, standing up to Joe McCarthy and championing civil rights, unlike our current president, who joined a ‘whites only’ club in Texas (I didn’t know this) and refuses to address the N.A.A.C.P. Very interesting stuff.

Well, not until next spring really. Mr. Bookdwarf and I are definitely planning on upgrading to a larger apartment. Two people and two cats just don’t fit well into the apartment I’ve lived in for over 5 years. It’s the first home I’ve had since I moved out of my parent’s house when I was 17. But that raises the question of what to do with all the damn books? Paul Bailey has an thoughtful article on weeding books out of your library. There are just some books I must keep. I’ve had the same copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology since 5th grade. Sure it’s falling apart, but it’s the reason why I chose to study Latin in high school and then to study Classics in college. So maybe I should get rid of it now. Just kidding. Anyway, I am beginning to go through the stacks of books already in preparation. It’s tough. Are there any books that y’all keep for sentimental reasons alone?

Both Maud and Mobylives wrote about the death of Edwidge Danticat’s uncle in US custody today. Apparently the poor man upon arriving in the US, asked for asylum. Since he had a visa and a family willing to take him in, it should have gone smoothly. Instead, he was taken into custody, denied his medication and visitation from his family. He collapsed during an interview to determine his ‘story’ and died alone—Homeland Security denied the family the right to visit him. And Homeland Security also denies responsibility for his death. “‘Mr. Dantica died of pancreatitis while in Homeland Security custody, which an autopsy by the Miami-Dade County medical examiner’s office revealed as a pre-existing and fatal condition,’ the department said.” Shameful. He had asked for his medication, but Homeland Security claims he had no ‘legitimate’ medicine upon him. And why deny his family access to him in the hospital? They have questions to answer most certainly. Haitians, unlike Cubans, have been routinely detained by U.S. Officials, who claim there is a growing threat in Haiti. I call bullshit. Maybe muslim extremists are going to Haiti but I smell the stink of racism. And you know this story is going the be squashed by the big media outlets.

More David Mitchell goodness in the Guardian today. Also, he mentions the novel he is working on now: “It also provided grist for his next novel, which will be set in 1982 in a small, slightly spooky worcestershire village and will feature a shy 13-year-old boy with a stammer. He promises a more linear structure, “although it started off straighter than it is now”.
Thanks Michael Schaub for the link!

I don’t want to talk about the election. (Stop sending me that dumbass fuckthesouth thing. I’ve already fucking read it. I didn’t even think it was funny the first time) This, however, crosses into the boundaries of the literary world, so I am posting it. ZZ Packer, author of the amazing Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (I am hoping she is working on a really really long novel) commented on Joshuah Bearman’s blog (never read it before to be honest) about the absurdity of writing off the red state (so sick of these terms) voters as ignorant religious hicks. She presents a clear and well-written argument on why they should not be ignored. Check it out.

Here’s some upcoming fun stuff this week:

* Tonight, Timothy Garten Ash reads from his new book Free World: America, Europe, and the Suprising Future of the West starting at 6:30 at the Kennedy School of Government (sponsored by Harvard Book Store).

* Tomorrow night at 6: 30 Steven Pinker, Atul Gawande, Chet Raymo, Daniel C. Dennett, and Mike O’Connor read selections from and talk about The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004 at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square.

* The 28th Annual Antiquarian Book Fair (also the 6th Annual Print Fair across the hall at Hynes). I’ve been for the last few years and it is wonderful. While I cannot afford many of the books, it is cool to see a first edition of Ulysses or Henry David Thoreau’s copy of Leaves of Grass with Whitman’s notes. Here’s a Globe article about it.

* Check the Phoenix for other author readings (I feel conflicted about listing events at other stores)

Okay, so the title of this post doens’t make much sense. But I read this on Bookslut and just had to say something. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are going to drag on the Code fest even longer. Thanks.

The Whitbread shortlist came out today. Alan Hollinghurst’s Line of Beauty, the recent Man Booker award winner, is on the fiction list. Jonathan Strange is on the first novel list and a likely contender. I have had a galley of Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories on my desk for a while. Has anyone heard anything about this? It looks interesting, but the pull to read it is not strong enough, if that makes sense.