Paper Cuts has Neal Stephenson make playlist. Stephenson (the author of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and others) will read from his new novel Anathem at Barnes & Noble in the Galleria on Friday, September 26th. Check the MN Reads calendar for more information.
To celebrate the electoral season Amazon’s Omnivoracious is building a readers map of the United States by listing books from each state (specifically as many books from the state as there are electoral votes for that state) in the order in which each state entered the union. There is so much divine geeky goodness here that I can hardly contemplate it. So far they’re only four states in (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia) and have listed books by Updike, Roth, O’Connor, and Chabon). Only 27 more states until Minnesota! Who do you think will make the list?
Girl Detective reviews Minnesotan Lin Enger’s Undiscovered Country and Eddie Campbell’s graphic novel Black Diamond Detective Agency.
With Oprah choosing Wisconsinite David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle as her new Oprah’s Book Club pick, Galley Cat predicts there will be a rash of knock-offs about Shakespeare, Wisconsin, and dog breeding. I’m hoping that interest will spill over into books about Minnesotan bowling alleys.
David Gates reviews Philip Roth’s Indignation in the NY Times. The only thing that could make this better is if Mary Gaitskill and Stuart Dybek were leaving comments. In the review he warns of impending spoilers (which is why I stopped reading the review). Omnivoracious talks about the ethics of revealing spoilers. I refuse to read any of the reviews because I don’t want to know what that spoilers is and you know, it makes me want to get the book even more than before. It’s probably the best advertisement for a book ever.
The Strib eulogizes David Foster Wallace, and The New Yorker has made some of his short fiction available online. Also, Playboy.com makes his first published short story “Late Night” available online (don’t worry, there are no boobies to be seen on the short story pages).
The Times Online offers up 10 Books to Not Read in Your Life Time. Lucky for me, I have yet to read any of them. {via}
Paper Cuts has stray questions for Charles D’Ambrosio who seems to be working on a novel.
The LA Times has an interview with crabby Allan Moore about the Hollywood adaptation of Watchmen (which I am currently reading)
What’s the Funniest Novel ever? Sadly, none of my funny fiction suggestions made the cut. Boo.
Sadly, I have read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolff, but that was the old bookclub.
I’ve read 7 1/2 of the books. Never managed to finish Ulysses and never had any desire to attempt The Beauty Myth or The Dice Man. But I actually liked all the others. Well, I was about 13 or 14 when I read Lord of the Rings. Since I couldn’t even get through 20 minutes of the movies with my kids, I’m guessing the books would no longer catch my attention either. However, the rest of his list–I beg to differ.