5
Jun
2010
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float by Sarah Schmelling
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook is a rarity. It’s a book that was started from an internet post that is not only good, but surpasses the original.
2
Nov
2009
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
This is going to be one of those posts where I mostly just quote from the book. James Finn Garner, takes classic fairy tales, and makes them satirically politically correct. While occasionally that can be offensive (odd, that), it’s all in good fun.
12
May
2009
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
You may have seen a pattern in some of my reading selections. If not, I’ll spell it out for you. I’m a fan of religion. Religion, writing, and shoes. Those are at the top of my pyramid of interests. When I was in college I double majored in English (creative writing) and Comparative Religion, and for a couple of years there I worked in a shoe store. Good times, good times.
21
Apr
2009
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
The nice thing about listening to David Sedaris for so many years on NPR is that reading his essays, you can hear his actual voice in your head. And really, his essays are pretty much uncensored versions of This American Life.
21
Apr
2009
The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
In the weeks I spent back home in Michigan after my Dad died, I read this book. I had been excited to read it when I bought it a month or so before, because Alice Munro traces her family history from Scotland in the 19th century, to their emigration to Canada. The Oldfields also came from Scotland and England to Canada, and some, eventually, to Detroit. I had actually thought that if I liked the book, I’d give it to my Dad. Instead, I read it as part of my mourning.
12
Apr
2009
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The title story of Namesake author Jhumpa Lahiri’s new collection of short fiction, Unaccostomed Earth, reminds me of Brittish short-storyist Helen Simpson writing about childbirth before ever experiencing it and creating something that sounds absolutely autobiographical. The story centers around parent-loss in Bengali-American culture, but anyone who has experienced the death of a parent could agree that her telling transcends all cultures.
