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Candy by Terry Southern

Genie: a Scientific Tragedy by Russ Rymer

And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave

Superbad by Ben Greenman

The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux

THE FOUR GOSPELS by E. V. RIEU

All Souls by Javier Marias

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Member: slickdpdx

CollectionsYour library (1,627), Wishlist (35), Currently reading (3), To read (730), All collections (1,641)

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Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsAmerican Postmodernism, Asian Fiction & Non-Fiction, Books Compared, Exotic Male Dancers Who LibraryThing, Japanese Literature, Le Salon des Amateurs de la Langue, Le Salon du Faulkner, Le Salon Litteraire du Peuple pour le Peuple, LibraryThing Coffeehouse, New York Review Books — show all groups

Favorite authorsKōbō Abe, Martin Amis, Paul Auster, Nicholson Baker, Donald Barthelme, Madison Smartt Bell, Pinckney Benedict, Simon Black, William Blake, Jorge Luis Borges, Paul Bowles, T. C. Boyle, Scott Bradfield, Charles Bukowski, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Italo Calvino, Albert Camus, Peter Carey, Daniel Clowes, Wilkie Collins, Roald Dahl, Joyce Ellen Davis, Richard Dawkins, Kim Deitch, Don DeLillo, Charles Dickens, Philip K. Dick, Alexandre Dumas, Umberto Eco, Harlan Ellison, Ian Fleming, William M. Gaines, Ryan Gattis, Alasdair Gray, Alex La Guma, Thomas Hardy, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Irwin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Denis Johnson, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, John Lanchester, Mark Leyner, John L'Heureux, H. P. Lovecraft, Javier Marías, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Guy de Maupassant, Henry Miller, Steven Millhauser, Yukio Mishima, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Moorcock, Haruki Murakami, Álvaro Mutis, Vladimir Nabokov, Orhan Pamuk, Thomas Pynchon, Bruce Robinson, W. B. Seabrook, William Seabrook, Dr. Seuss, Charles Simic, Gilbert Sorrentino, Alexander Theroux, Su Tong, William T. Vollmann, Voltaire, Nathanael West, Colson Whitehead, Marianne Wiggins, Basil Wolverton, Stefan Zweig (Shared favorites)

About meThe bird is in the bag; the bag, in the egg; the egg, in the rock; the rock, in the little finger; the little finger, in the moon; the moon, in the hunting dog; the hunting dog, in the steamship; the steamship, in the forest; the forest, in the powder-box; the powder-box, in the ring; the ring, in the kitten; the kitten, on the desert island; the desert island, in the the blotter; the blotter, in the empty head; the empty head, in the night.
- - Paul Colinet; trans. Paul Bowles
.
Tuxedomoon - The Stranger - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV0_AFNLu...
Tuxedomoon - Jinx - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBaAe30E8...
Tuxedomoon - No Tears - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5BZOF8t8...
Monochrome Set - Jet Set Junta - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ouBnu9AQ...
.

About my libraryNow reading:

Previously read: 2009 - World of Wonders; The Manticore; Fifth Business; The Hour of the Star; Cockpit; A Night in the Lonesome October; The Dark Chamber; The Scorpions; The Mysteries of Algiers; The Master and Margarita; Fantastic Night & other stories; The De-moralization Of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values; Monsieur de Phocas; Infinite Jest; Twelve Historical Miniatures; The Cabala; The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr; The Devil Rides Out; Shantaram; Ulysses; Three Drops of Blood; The Odyssey; Melmoth the Wanderer; Voyage Around My Room: Selected Works of Xavier de Maistre; The Polar Treasure; The Pickwick Papers; Travel Pictures. 2008 - Demons of the Night: Tales of the Fantastic, Madness, and the Supernatural from Nineteenth-Century France; Dirty Snow; The Idiot; Kolyma Tales; Jane Eyre; The Horned Man; Politics and the Occult; The Blood Countess; Never Let Me Go; The Well; The Man Who Was Born Again; The Golem; The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll; The Three Imposters; The Yiddish Policemen's Union; Walk, Don't Walk; The Mysterious Island; Bad Monkeys; Unlikely Stories, Mostly; The Lone Conformist; The Magic Island; Project for a Revolution in New York; The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick; The Secret Life of Salvador Dali; Too Loud a Solitude; Waiting for the End of the World; Decline of the English Murder and Other Essays; My First Two Thousand Years; All Souls; The Associate; Withnail & I and How to Get Ahead in Advertising; Sayanora, Gangsters; The Feverhead; Slow Learner; The Scarlet Letter; Apex Hides The Hurt; Riding Toward Everywhere; The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicisimuss; The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age; The Impressionist; Darconville's Cat. 2007 - The Arabian Nightmare; Roo KickKick and the Big Bad Blimp; Indecision; My Life As Emperor; The Thought Gang; Dracula; The Burnt Orange Heresy; After The Banquet; Diamonds Are Forever; Life, a User's Manual; Cool Hand Luke; Hidden Camera; The Three Musketeers; Maldoror; North America; The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman; Parasites Like Us; Room Temperature; The Terminal Beach; Zorro; Lunar Park; Moon Palace; The Buddha of Suburbia.
.
Since I don't keep or rate books I dislike, my five-star ratings are about distinguishing between worthy books.
2 = disappointing, 3 = good, 4 = really good, 5 = great

Homepagehttp://knownunknowns.blogspot.com

Also onLast.fm, Rate Your Music

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Member sinceApr 13, 2007

Currently readingTHE GOLDEN BOUGH: A NEW ABRIDGMENT OF SIR JAMES GEORGE FRAZER'S CLASSIC WORK by James George Frazer
Miserables, Les (Signet classics) by Victor Hugo
Nights As Day, Days As Night (Eridanos Library) by Michel Leiris

Most recent activity

slickdpdx added:
The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are by Henry Petroski

slickdpdx added:
Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland

slickdpdx rated:
Indecision: A Novel by Benjamin Kunkel

slickdpdx rated:
The Feverhead by Wolfgang Bauer

slickdpdx rated:
The Manticore by Robertson Davies

slickdpdx rated:
Fifth Business (Deptford Trilogy) by Robertson Davies

i trust you had a fine holidays Slick.

posted by Porius at 12:53 am (EST) on Dec 26, 2009

For God's sake, regard poetry as a kind, wise granny, whom you can sometimes drop in on to forget for a moment all the gossip, the newspapers and the bustle of life, and to be entertained by her charming chitchat and fairy tales; but it is rash to fall in love with her...

Pushkin in a letter to his brother 1820

posted by tomcatMurr at 10:21 am (EST) on Dec 23, 2009

Thank you; although I think Brent's (EnriqueFreeque) is much better.

posted by jodavid at 10:13 am (EST) on Dec 23, 2009

(and read) HA! Nice dry little smack there slick. I've "sampled" Vidal - just haven't completely read any of his books, is all. You're on a roll today (well, not just today) with the quips!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:50 pm (EST) on Dec 18, 2009

Wowsome was right!

I just noticed, couldn't help but noticing, that you don't own any Vidal!

But who am I to pick the speck from your eye when I don't own The Golem or The Sleepwalkers? A travesty indeed!

Decided to add a slim little Colette vol. and Last Vanities to months with already very slim novellas in place. Don't think there's room for anything else, but we'll see.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:35 pm (EST) on Dec 18, 2009

Thanks slick!

And it's a done deal: we'll be adding Travesty to one of the really short read months, maybe Nov. or Dec.? And then, a year from now, we can both proudly proclaim to at least having completed one book by Hawkes!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:02 am (EST) on Dec 11, 2009

2many books is right! I'm so stoked dude. We could probably do Travesty, some actually readable, understandable Hawkes sounds like. I have four or five books by Hawkes, and I've never finished a one. Maybe Travesty will change that. Have you read it? And have you finished any Hawkes?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:21 am (EST) on Dec 10, 2009

Thanks slick. I agree about Never Let Me Go - I think Ishy is best when the protagonist is his/her own enemy and downfall, rather than society being the Bad Guy.

posted by ChocolateMuse at 5:54 pm (EST) on Dec 8, 2009

I'll post that disappearing excerpt later today. I deleted it because I thought I needed to present more of it for it to work. First, I'll introduce Tom, this morning, and then maybe expand on him in early afternoon, and then after that present the fuller excerpt.

posted by copyedit52 at 9:10 am (EST) on Dec 8, 2009

Thread is a wonderful idea. I would contribute to it with enthusiasm.

posted by Porius at 2:56 am (EST) on Dec 6, 2009

What I'd like for Xmass is one of your Frazer excerpts. One mirror-like so that I my see myself as others see me. Is that too much too ask? A Golden Bow-Wow!?

posted by Porius at 3:33 pm (EST) on Dec 5, 2009

Thanks for the message! Sorry it's taken me so long to reply -- I've been in the field, digging in Jordan, and we don't have internet access in camp. Things have been going quite well, though I'll be glad to be back in the States, if only for a bit. I hope all is well with you.

posted by marc_beherec at 12:20 pm (EST) on Nov 30, 2009

I vill purchase the Zweig. And I shall beware of pity. Have a fine Turkeyday.

posted by Porius at 5:44 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2009

I hope you have found WOW. We should probably be LT buddies on the strength of our RD connexion?

posted by Porius at 10:54 pm (EST) on Nov 24, 2009

Hi, slickdpdx. I dont think I deserve your praise. I was merely playing on a simile of Lispector's that she used twice.

posted by semckibbin at 11:36 pm (EST) on Nov 21, 2009

not smallminded at all Slick. and i am pleased that you got a lot out of MANTICORE. you won't go wrong if you read through RD's complete works. His essays are also very good. And the letters.

posted by Porius at 2:21 pm (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Slick
I don't know from Ann of Green Gables. But I don't think your aversion to Psychological Stuff is important enough to ruin your fun. RD wanted to write a Jungian thing after years of patient study. I think he succeeded but my mind is possibly smaller than yours so I should not be the one to say. I try not to take the whole thing too seriously. I am 60 years old and can't get to bent out of shape by much of anything. I read for enjoyment, and pay little attention to the book chatters etc. The sound of the words is most important to me. Poetry, good poetry, whether prose or poetry, that is the thing.

posted by Porius at 1:51 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Good, you got the right Les Miz. Nothing like a 1,463 page pb to stimulate your literary senses.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:14 am (EST) on Nov 16, 2009

So do I - though I saw it only once, in the theater. A lovely evening, all in all.

posted by benwaugh at 4:10 pm (EST) on Nov 13, 2009

Stay away from the Julie Rose translation. Wilbour is the original, more poetic translation, while the Macafee/Fahnestock is based on the Wilbour translation, sans the more poetic elements. I like the latter a lot - it's the cheap, 7.99 Signet ed.

Are you with Urania's infidels or with me?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:52 pm (EST) on Nov 13, 2009

AHhh There we are. Now all is right again.
Thank you

posted by tomcatMurr at 9:01 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2009

Glad to hear you liked the Davies. No particular order is important to me. I think you will very much like all of RD.

posted by Porius at 11:07 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2009

So where's my weekly snippet from the Golden Bough?

posted by tomcatMurr at 5:20 am (EST) on Nov 9, 2009

Forgot: I see you have one of Russell Greenan's novels. Did you enjoy it? I have read just about all of them and I consider RG one of the Republic's greatest novelists along with Vidal and Heller, at least of the last 50 years.

posted by Porius at 3:32 pm (EST) on Nov 5, 2009

Sl: you can have it winged to you for a pittance. And there is a great guide on the internets. JCP is not for the feint of heart or a feather bed for sluggards. There's some fine stuff about JCP in Colin Wilson's OCCULT. If you do be sure to get the latest edition as it pretty much restores the original manuscript if that is possible. It's all a greater mystery than we realize. Think of the constant state of confusion surrounding any publication of Joyce's ULYSSES!? We just can't take it too seriously, can we?

posted by Porius at 3:23 pm (EST) on Nov 5, 2009

thanks, I certainly will read another ishiguro !

posted by Macumbeira at 3:06 pm (EST) on Nov 5, 2009

Lemme know what you think about Davies. I've read with immense satisfaction all of RD. Too bad about The Powys. I hope you get around to it it's like nothing else, really.

posted by Porius at 9:19 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2009

Re: Pricksongs and Descants

Why am I not surprised?

posted by Makifat at 4:50 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2009

Colson Whitehead's back in the NYT today with "The Year of Living Postracially".

posted by book_up at 12:08 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2009

Had a bad day Slick if you haven't acted on the punchbowl I could use some.

posted by Porius at 11:30 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2009

you know where you can stick that punchbowl slick

posted by Porius at 8:48 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2009

Hi. How do you get your Profile to display a clickable cover image for a book?

posted by Carnophile at 12:46 pm (EST) on Oct 30, 2009

That does look interesting. I suspect they did indeed cut the most interesting parts.

posted by A_musing at 10:39 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2009

Yes, that is strange weird! And thanks for the link!

Great seeing you back in action all over the place. I'll be out of commission the next couple days, but I'll respond more this weekend.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:12 am (EST) on Oct 29, 2009

To hell with copyright violations I say. If a copyright violation piques people's interest then the author, translator, and publisher all benefit.

posted by urania1 at 9:08 pm (EST) on Oct 26, 2009

No, that one I won't try, I think.

Keep them coming, I love them.

But where are the Gallas?
Oh, is there anything about Formosa in there?

posted by tomcatMurr at 12:03 pm (EST) on Oct 23, 2009

Haha! I love that. I will try it next time I am overwhelmed with housework!
(where are the Gallas?)

You are almost persuading me to get and read Frazer. I had no idea it was so....mad?

posted by tomcatMurr at 8:38 pm (EST) on Oct 22, 2009

I've actually read In Search of Lost Time once already but the guide looks very well done and it's a novel that could benefit from an approachable intuitive guide.

posted by prophetandmistress at 2:36 pm (EST) on Oct 21, 2009

Poo? Gave it back to Fernando.

posted by Porius at 5:07 pm (EST) on Oct 19, 2009

Oh my God it's true! You weren't kidding. I'm going to make an announcement in the salon very soon about Rushdie being among us. I'm absolutely flabbergasted! How did you figure it out?

Oh, btw, your Scorpions review is on HR! So take that Mister!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 10:42 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2009

I've gotten notes from a couple of people who have ordered /received their copies. The book is short - a novella really - so if people hate it their misery will end soon.

P.S. tomcat does think he's Rushdie . . . and whole bunch of other people as well.

posted by urania1 at 11:44 am (EST) on Oct 17, 2009

The Scorpion sounds fantastic. The writer of The Scorpion whose name momentarily fails me sounds incredible. What's this 2,000 page tome he's been working on? Has it been published. Thank you for that link. I will be searching for this writer on my rounds.

does tomcat think he's Salman Rushdie suddenly?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:24 pm (EST) on Oct 14, 2009

yes, isn't Islam wonderful? Praised be to Lalah!

posted by tomcatMurr at 11:21 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

oh, and I've never tried Moody myself. No one I know has ever really been wowed by the guy. Border's has been having some pretty good dollar deals lately, that's good to hear they're doing it nationally. I noticed it down here and thought it was a local response to the two Dollar Bookstores that opened this year in So. CA. Literally, every book, hc or pb, a buck. Two weeks ago I walked out with 24 books!

the Algiers book sounds great. I would really like to get immersed in a good read like that.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:48 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

yes, congrats on finding something obscure and not seeing those blasted members you mention having already beat you to the acquisitional punch

I recently input an anthology owned by only three other members and, of course, ben was one of them!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:42 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

One and the same. Here's the small print above the author's name:

"A sensational novel of Washington intrigue and witchcraft by Watergate conspirator
E. HOWARD HUNT"

It also says "writing as David St. John" and attributes 3 other books to Hunt/St. John (mostly Satan/witch
related!)

posted by LudicDespair at 5:38 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

We are a much maligned species, alas.
Where do you suppose the Celebes are?

posted by tomcatMurr at 9:26 am (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

Thank you for the link. I've yet gotten to the part where Vollmann apparently scorches his, uh, package! Can't wait for that! He is a nut isn't he? But man can he write and make what looks on the map about one of the most boring counties in all of California come alive with unexpected excitement. Did you know there's also a companion to Imperial of just the photographs he took while writing this? Also sells for $55.00.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:42 am (EST) on Oct 6, 2009

Naw this particular Jay Anson only wrote two books I'm aware of, Amityville and then the followup. He was a screenwriter before that. A Journal? Is it macabre?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 11:32 am (EST) on Sep 26, 2009

Thanks!

The last three digits of my home phone # are 666. There's 666 in my license plate. I'm doomed.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 7:17 pm (EST) on Sep 24, 2009

Ah, got it.

Presumably there will be a soft-cover of the Hackney one of these days?

posted by dcozy at 9:56 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2009

Not sure what your definition of expensive is, but amazon.com has The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll on sale for $13.57, and as it's a book to read and reread, it would be a bargain at twice the price.

posted by dcozy at 9:38 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2009

Have you read Mammaries of the Welfare State? If so, please let me know what you thought. The reviews I've seen of it have all been negative, to say the least. This is in spite of (or because of) the fact that most of the reviewers seem to have loved English, August.

posted by dcozy at 1:59 am (EST) on Sep 5, 2009

Thanks for the input on Blade Runner :). I'm getting a lot of varied opinions, so I'm curious to see it for myself. One of these days...

posted by wisewoman at 4:54 pm (EST) on Aug 14, 2009

...we're so glad you could attend come along, come along...

It will never end my friend. I'd be a fu#$%ng fool to let it end.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:45 am (EST) on Aug 5, 2009

keep them next to the "use in case of fire" emergency survival kit

posted by djashley at 5:47 pm (EST) on Jul 28, 2009

How did that ever happen, I wonder. Was Cleaver attempting to change the Church's ideas about race?

posted by LudicDespair at 11:22 pm (EST) on Jul 19, 2009

Glad you like it. I found it at a sidewalk bookseller in Amsterdam.

posted by LudicDespair at 1:58 am (EST) on Jul 16, 2009

Yes, I think you're right: We are the sum of our obsessions, but only insofar as those negative obsessions empty us of the drives & motivations & passions & healthy desires & all the positive obsessions that make us productive human in the first place.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:23 pm (EST) on Jul 10, 2009

I pulled out my first edition in pristine condition I obtained at the Bookman in Orange for a paltry $10 six months before his death, which since his death has been selling on ebay as high as $300 (over $1,000 if its signed...not that I'm boasting) and opened to n 70. By Jove, you may be right. That note nutshells, goes to the core of that infinite jesting. Makes me think of the life of a monk who's denied denied denied themselves everything, an emptying out...but what then?
Very astute observation, slick. How that's group read over on facebook going?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:22 pm (EST) on Jul 3, 2009

Thanks for advice on JS and MN. It's on my list! Wonder if I can get to it and finish it before our M&M read that starts September 1.

posted by anna_in_pdx at 1:08 pm (EST) on Jun 30, 2009

Hey Slick!

Well share away on the SDs - please! And no worries on the Sierras. I've done a ton of editing on what's already there, but probably not more that five or six pages total of new material. Most added in chap 1., which I believe I'll break down into two chaps at this point, so it may look like I've added a fourth chapter when in fact I merely a cup one chapter in half that was getting too unwieldy.

I'm so glad you're really digging IJ. I mean think about it, he was pretty much our age, maybe a little older, and knew and loved and parodied consumer culture like no other. I meant to tell you to check out that page - somewhere in the 200s - which lists the years chronologically, thus making the time structure more understandable. You've probably already gotten to that point. I think it just snowballs on itself, except that the snowball stops suddenly going down the slope. The depictions of addiction & that halfway house are spot on and hysterical & sad simultaneously. I too like him better than Pynchon for similar reasons - he's indeed easier to read and follow imo too.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:32 pm (EST) on Jun 29, 2009

Thanks for your comment on the review of the Ashmole bio!

posted by Archiver at 6:47 am (EST) on Jun 27, 2009

The Essays of Michel De Montaigne
Translated by Charles Cotton
Selected and Illustrated by Salvador Dali
Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Garden City, New York
1947

posted by Porius at 3:09 pm (EST) on Jun 24, 2009

Thanks for your comment on The Lectern. I have been looking at the link for ages. It's quite wonderful and whacky!

posted by tomcatMurr at 10:22 pm (EST) on Jun 21, 2009

trying to remember stuff read but not owned, now that can be distinguished. A ridiculous, and impossible task.

posted by Auto_Da_Fe at 6:52 pm (EST) on Jun 21, 2009

You are most welcome. It is our duty to educate the young, methinks, don't you?

posted by tomcatMurr at 12:12 pm (EST) on Jun 19, 2009

Hmmm. If you don't get to The Bridge of San Luis Rey first (and, of course, I heartily recommend that philosophically and even religiously thought provoking slim book), first, then I'd say, anything you have already that I don't have by Haruki Murakami. I'm reading the Wind Up Bird Chronicle (loving it!) and am seeking out anything else of his (found After Dark today for a buck at the Dollar Bookstore in Long Beach) that I can get my hands on. But since my weekend's booked with family stuff (Father's Day & whatnot) I won't be doing my usual rounds so I suspect you may beat me to the punch. But yeah, Thornton Wilder, arguably overrated as a playwright and underrated as a novelist.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:10 am (EST) on Jun 19, 2009

Check out slick gettin' all Zweig'd out! My friend, we're on the verge of sharing 200 books together...what do you think the 200th one will be?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:20 am (EST) on Jun 19, 2009

Thank you for your kind words about my reviews!

posted by lindsacl at 8:06 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2009

thanks !

posted by Macumbeira at 11:40 pm (EST) on Jun 15, 2009

The video was enchanting. Some of the images, the long ladder to the moon particularly, reminded me of Eric Carle's Papa, Get the Moon for Me.

Thanks so much,
Maki

posted by Makifat at 7:22 pm (EST) on Jun 15, 2009

Looks like we have 176 books in common. Great minds think alike ;)

posted by kswolff at 3:53 pm (EST) on Jun 13, 2009

Another great image from Somethingawful.com courtesy of their Photoshop Phridays.

posted by kswolff at 3:52 pm (EST) on Jun 13, 2009

I thought benwaugh's response to the Gracq fanboy—"somewhat interesting"—was brilliant in its understated derision (though I imagine it sailed right over fanboy's head).

posted by dcozy at 5:36 pm (EST) on Jun 7, 2009

That's hysterical how people differ, because I loved about the first 75 pages of Underworld, and then thought the rest, except for the very end, tailed off. You must not be a baseball fan, eh? Though, granted, Delillo has never done much for me. I liked White Noise, Libra a little less, and that's all I've read of him. RSH is convinced I'd like Ratner's Star, just have yet to see it anywhere in my outings. I do want to get to Shantaram soon. Saw your review - I actually enjoy the psychobabble too - have a bit of a psychobabble background myself, so that's right up my alley. Dog Soldiers, btw, is really different than Underworld. Can't say enough about that book. Lightning on the Sun is just a hair less than DS, but for a debut, wow, so sad that Bingham bit the dust so young. I wrote a mediocre review of his debut if you want more info.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:18 am (EST) on Jun 5, 2009

I think that's a great idea. Though I hope you'll still in the least contribute what you glean from your summer read into the salon's IJ read next year. I'm this close to signing up myself - more to see how they'll do it and what I could take from it come next year. What do you have to do again - just sign up with facebook and join them wherever they're at?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:40 pm (EST) on Jun 4, 2009

Whoa! I may have to open me a twitter and facebook account (swore I never would) after all. Very cool. Thanks!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:01 pm (EST) on Jun 3, 2009

Hey thanks, slick, that makes my evening! Hit a bit of rough patch with it having written pages and pages that have turned out not to be usuable, but those pages and pages, I'm finding, are all a necessary part of the process - the important thing is to keep moving (writing) forward regardless if the writing turns out to be usable or not.

Yes, a good (though very sad) shopping day indeed! Just happened to be in the area of one of my fave secondhand haunts in Hunt. Bch. (Bookman Too) only to find they're going out of business :(, but having a liquidation sale :) Everything in the store priced over $15 was selling for $3, so I was able to obtain an 1852 copy of Bulwer's Kenelm.../Godolphin. Not a bad day, eh? 17 volumes in all for under $30. They're selling their stuff on CraigsList too if you're interested; I passed on Nabokov's complete novels from like the years 64-74 (two volumes) which would've been only six bucks. I'll send you a link to the store if you're interested.

Great new thread too btw. Very cool autopsies!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:21 am (EST) on Jun 3, 2009

Wait there's more.

posted by Porius at 1:59 pm (EST) on May 22, 2009

"All About Tea (Two Volumes)" - I get a kick out of that. Two volumes!

Yay! Enough to by me a set? There's a near-fine copy in South Africa going for USD 3900.00.

:)

Book Description: New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1935, 2 vols in-4°, 26 x 18,5 cm, xiv + 559 pp ; viii + 568 pp, index, bibliography of over 1100 entries, b/w ills. Uniform green publisher's cloth with gilt lettering on front cover and spine, with original dustjackets. Very fine, nearly mint copies notwithstanding some damage at the dustjackets (small tears at top and bottom of spine, spines of wrapper a bit thumbed, cover of vol. 2 slightly soiled), and an unobtrusive tear at pp. 423 of vol.1 No markings whatsoever in the books. Still one of the most important books ever to be published on tea. Extremely rare in this condition.

posted by LolaWalser at 10:29 am (EST) on May 16, 2009

Excellent distillation evoking the essence of Ulysses.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 4:01 pm (EST) on May 15, 2009

Thanks for the link, I will certainly keep them in mind. Right now I'm content to self publish because I want to draw people to my webpages and discover my other books, Magister Templi, Modern Survivalism and Anarchist Knight:Apprentice. I already have a publisher for Alraune, maybe even two of them if John Smith chooses to do a Limited Edition.

In the meantime I'm literally working on becoming "The Ewers Translator". One or two more books should do that.

Hope you are enjoying your copy of Hanns Heinz Ewers Volume I!

-joe

posted by anarchistbanjo at 6:09 pm (EST) on May 9, 2009

Mind reader!

That's what I'd really been searching for (obviously not hard enough)...Neil Peart is mind blowing on that. Thanks!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 3:41 pm (EST) on May 9, 2009

You don't say!

Thanks for the comment on the story I wrote. I hope to get more of my stuff published, one of these days...

posted by aethercowboy at 2:13 pm (EST) on May 7, 2009

The Gods of the Thrift Store smiled on me today...

posted by dyoneo at 9:02 pm (EST) on May 4, 2009

Thanks for the comment, I marvel at your use of grammar! I recently purchased "Everyman Dies Alone", without knowing much about it. I hope to read it soon and find out just how "authentic" or "artificial" the twisted mnemonic is.

best wishes,

G

posted by Gelderbach at 4:40 am (EST) on May 4, 2009

well dang it I'll just drop what I'm doing, since I can, and fix that pronto...I'll let you know when the correct once is up

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:17 pm (EST) on Apr 30, 2009

Hello Slickdpdx,

>>How is Ushak?

It hasn't arrived yet, but has been ordered. I've read it's the author's first fiction book. New Decadent work is hard to come by, so I made sure to pick this one up.

>>Have you purchased other books from that publisher? What is the quality of the writing and the bindings?

Yes. I've ordered all their books, save one. The production quality is very good, for the price. However, I do wish they would send their books in a box rather than padded envelopes. They've all arrived ok so far, but it's just a matter of time...

I would highly recommend their book by Reggie Oliver, MADDER MYSTERIES.

posted by Dead_Dreamer at 5:39 pm (EST) on Apr 27, 2009

"That is when I learned what it takes to be a man."

posted by coffeezombie at 5:51 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2009

Every single time I've gone into one of my local used bookstores, they've got at least two copies of Theroux's "An Adultery" on the shelf. I kept thinking I should just pick up said copies, even though I already bought the nicest one, and ship them off to people who'd appreciate it. For some reason I remembered you were missing that one. What are the odds? Now I should probably actually read the thing.

posted by eswnr at 6:06 pm (EST) on Apr 22, 2009

Thank you. I'll add it to my list. :)

posted by infogirl2k at 6:29 pm (EST) on Apr 21, 2009

Thank you for the comment on the review--slickpdx. I guess I'm just one of the few unrepentant Parra advocates.

posted by lriley at 12:12 am (EST) on Apr 17, 2009

finally remembered password after months/years. just popped into head. importing database tonight. dreading the amount of possible duplication.

posted by orbis_quintus at 9:34 pm (EST) on Apr 13, 2009

gracias; yes, it's no Laura Warholic is it?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:27 pm (EST) on Apr 4, 2009

thanks for checking out my website and actually reading some of the content. truly appreciate your comments. yeah, running into exes is one of the hazards of living on this tiny, overcrowded island. working with an ex is even worse. but spanking the monkey is an excellent flick. o'russel's next two were even more excellent, i thought, two of my favorites.

think i'm about to get on a saramago binge. how's ulysses coming along? i've yet to get to that one.

i'm not on librarything very often, but i do check in here and there. i added your blog to my google reader...

posted by wordtron at 10:58 pm (EST) on Mar 8, 2009

In answer to your question over at my profile: I have a free account here, so am only allowed to list a total of 200 books in my library. I reached that point earlier this year, so am now unfortunately having to drop a book every time I add a new one (or two to three times a week, that is), which I'm first doing in chronological order, then will do by dropping the worst-reviewed of the contemporary ones. I guess that's just how it is sometimes.

posted by jasonpettus at 12:02 pm (EST) on Feb 26, 2009

Yes! Just finished it... excellent I thought - with style and content that raises it welllll above your normal rock memoir. I wasn't so keen on the end, but then again, I rarely am.

I am glad you noticed something by me - it is not that exciting though, and merely an article that I've had published in an obscure French journal. I vaingloriously put it in under by surname. But hey - it's my library!

See you are reading Fagles' Odyssey. Let me know what it's like - I gave his Iliad a run-through about ten years ago, and he made my jaw drop and skin prick in one of my most pleasurable reading experiences. I took the day off work for it and truly immersed - best way to read...

posted by eine at 2:00 pm (EST) on Feb 24, 2009

Floods plus books = library on the second floor. On Myspace Music, Talitha MacKenzie's cover of "Wheeling Island Girls" addresses the dilemma "...move your stuff up to second floor". Quite a catchy old time county blue grass tune. I recommend a listen, although I play it mostly because, in winter, I have no poison ivy rash to scratch.

posted by Ganeshaka at 11:36 am (EST) on Feb 19, 2009

Thanks for your comment on my review of Gregory Frost's Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories. Great book! I've since met Frost, and he's a great guy, too. I recommend his recent novels, Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet -- great stuff.

Don't mean to be a pest, but if you like my reviews you might want to check out my blog: http://www.readingtheleaves.com. I've also just started reviewing at SFSignal -- my review of Felix Gilman's Gears of the City went up just a little while ago. (I'm reviewing Ellen Datlow's Poe there next.

I see we share an affinity for Calvino, Borges, Millhauser, Kafka and Nabokov. Are you a fan of the New Weird movement in SF and fantasy?

posted by TerryWeyna at 11:38 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

Yeah, if I get to them any time soon. I run a book club right now, and that might get in the way of the Ulysses read. I'll give it some thought.

Cheers,

CZ

posted by coffeezombie at 4:22 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

You are going all out! Very cool. Yes, that allusions book is scary but my is it informative. Did you know, for instance, that each section of Ulysses is named for a character/event out of the The Odyssey? News to me. "Telemachus" is the title of the first section of U. I'm hoping to read The O myself once I finish up The Portrait...

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:27 pm (EST) on Feb 3, 2009

My God, The Odyssey is barely the beginning! Just received Allusions in Ulysses in the mail today and its amazing seeing the multitude of tangents Ulysses referenced. Perhaps I'd be better served remaining ignorant since time is running out and I can only read so many books between now & March 1st.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:16 am (EST) on Feb 3, 2009

Did you scan the photo of Seabrook on his author's page, too?

posted by marc_beherec at 5:18 pm (EST) on Feb 1, 2009

You've got yourself a front page Hot Review. Nice.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 2:11 am (EST) on Jan 27, 2009

I haven't read Melmoth. I'm still trying to find a copy of Lasdun's, The Horned Man, that you recommended awhile back. I don't know what it is but I much prefer the hunt going used bookstore to bookstore than Amazon. I will give in eventually but it usually takes a few years. I had to give in and finally order The Royal Family, Wittgenstein's Mistress, Life: A User's Manual, and Lookout Cartridge. But that's it (so far). I've got to be desperate I'm telling you before I Amazon it. I'm going to click on that Melmoth though and undoubtedly add it to my ever always growing list of books to hunt down whenever I'm out scouring the racks.

I probably made the wise (not necessarily right, but wise) decision and deleted the Normans group once 5 people had flagged the group and one user mentioned that I'd hurt someone feelings in The Green Dragon group. I'm here to make people laugh (if I'm lucky, the stars align, and maybe people are loaded on something) not to hurt fragile feelings and start anger-fests. Did you see the group before it got deleted? I'll forward you the text if you like (though I didn't save the posts damn it, now that I think about it). It was going to get nasty if it hadn't already.

Aak! at'chu! Yeah yeah yeah. You've got me pegged man. Mucho Maxilisimo Grande. Though I do like the minimalist works of early Joan Didion (Play It As It Lays, in particular) and early Hemingway short stories and early Bret Ellis, but yeah, I'm turning 40 in March. Can you tell? Hey, how was Pickwick? Impressions please.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:26 pm (EST) on Jan 23, 2009

Actually three stars is a good mark from me. It means I liked the thing and it's worth reading. Anything below that and there's something wrong. Although occasionally I'll like aspects of a book that I don't think deserves more than two 1/2 stars regardless. My main purpose of reviewing though is usually to give a thumbs up or down to a book that might fly under the radar most days of the week. There are a few notable exceptions. ;) Lately I've been a bit cranky about some things. That doesn't mean they don't deserve it, it's just that at other times I might not have bothered to put up a negative review.
Speaking of under the radar, I liked your review of "The Feverhead", which is something that qualifies in that regard. So thanks for that and I gave you a "useful" thumbs up thingy. Haven't read it yet, but that might've put it higher up in the TBR pile.
Been through your library again -did you put up a whole bunch of new stuff in recently, or did I miss the first time around? I don't remember anyone else having the Nat Lamp DVD-Rom...

posted by arthurfrayn at 2:11 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2009

Thanks-that was an interesting story -I didn't comment on that story because it's supposed to be the source short story for the "The Crystal World" and I haven't read that yet. But I found many of the stories effective mood pieces...

posted by arthurfrayn at 10:48 pm (EST) on Jan 18, 2009

Just finished another of his collections and felt like picking up some more of his stuff.

posted by coffeezombie at 9:50 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2009

Thanks! Glad I could furnish recommendations, although I must say that "Epitaph" is the only one of those three that I'm not semi or completely stalled out on. Not to say they're bad or uninteresting, only that there's a time and a place for every book and now is perhaps not the best moment for me to be reading those...Although considering the average temperature here today was -5 degrees, you'd think I would enjoy reading an Antarctic adventure memoir (or maybe not?).

posted by wunderkind at 11:08 pm (EST) on Jan 16, 2009

How come you deleted my message? Don't you like me?

posted by thenaughtyhottie at 6:27 pm (EST) on Jan 13, 2009

Thanks for the recommendation. I've never heard of it, but I'll keep it in mind. I may never get to it, though. I have yet to read most of those books that I have on Haiti.

posted by Dan_Park at 8:59 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2009

We all have our guilty pleasures (damn, son! I've given two Michael Crichton books 4.5 flippin' stars!)! I rate stuff like Brautigan on a literary scale (sorta...I know many snobs totally look down on Brautigan's writing as downright pathetic. I myself had to give him time to really grow on me), and then Fleming on a scale that asks "How much fun did I have with this foo'?"

Let's face it, while Fleming writes what are essentially formulaic penny dreadfuls, he writes them damn well (some fancy prose he be tossin' roun').

After a 6-month-long reading slump, I think I'm gonna try to force myself back into reading. God, I miss it. Just came back here to rate my first book since November: Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, a book that started off surprisingly well (I'm not the biggest Vonnegut fan), but got worse and worse as it dragged on, and ended long after blood stopped rushing to my genitalia. /etcetcetc

posted by RSHabroptilus at 2:52 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

You're right. Damnit. I just think it reeks of rank Normaphobia. Oh, have you seen benwaugh's review of The History of Orgies? Dude's dry.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 5:35 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2009

Hello hello. Thanks for introducing yourself. I got laid-off a little while ago, so I figured I should use my free time to catalog my books. I wish I didn't have so many.

I lived in Portland for a short time (Feb 2003 - May 2004). A couple blocks south of Portland State. I sort of miss the place.

posted by Dan_Park at 12:09 pm (EST) on Jan 3, 2009

Yes, but keep in mind, if the nitwiteral literals didn't exist, then I'd be so bored. I consider it a calling engaging the nitwiterals, and a great honor when they tag me in the negative.

I've searched reviews and group posts for what you're referring to re. virg144s take on FW, to no avail. Could you direct me. Thanks!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 3:03 pm (EST) on Jan 2, 2009

thanks for your comment on my blog. It's nice to know that people read it and enjoy it! I see that you recently acquired the Life and Opinions of the tomcat Murr, the book inspired by my life and adventures. I hope you enjoy reading it.
I also see we have many friends in common. It's nice to meet a new one!
Best wishes for 2009
Murr

posted by tomcatMurr at 12:48 am (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

Some people, I tell ya. I've retaliated by having found what I think may be the perfect new cover for TBON.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 7:19 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2008

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check out Mishima's other two books. Much appreciated!

posted by Gelderbach at 4:50 am (EST) on Dec 28, 2008

Stop yer foolish dithering immediately!

Thanks

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 4:29 pm (EST) on Dec 20, 2008

Marius is wonderful. Unfortunately I've been distracted from it by my Dostoevsky group. It is so good I am relishing it a little at a time when I can steal a free moment from my other reading. Pater wrote the most delicious prose. His essays are also wonderful.

posted by DavidX at 8:43 pm (EST) on Dec 19, 2008

Colson Whitehead has a short story in the latest New Yorker, but then maybe you knew that already.

posted by book_up at 1:20 pm (EST) on Dec 19, 2008

I'd never heard of Borchert until I picked up that book this morning. His bio looks fascinating, so I'm itching to start reading. I've been in a sort of reading slump the last couple of weeks, so finding this out of the blue was really fortuitous.

What are you reading these days?

posted by Makifat at 5:07 pm (EST) on Dec 16, 2008

Hey Slick....

(I feel like I'm in a noir film...)

Have you read any Zizek or seen any of his lectures? I'm currently having a fascination with him.(A One sided one.)

I see you have Kobo Abe as one of your faves, he is what got my interested in Japanese lit. He is still my absolute fave.

jvj

posted by junevonjune at 8:32 pm (EST) on Dec 12, 2008

hello slickdpdx
first that's quite a name. the last slick heard from up that way was slick watts, buts that's another story. thanks and many thanks for the lists. i have a special affinity for the obstinate cymrics. gwyn thomas, r s thomas, dylan thomas, caradoc evans, to name just a few. the mix of humour and bathos suits me just fine. tho i will admit that these fellas don't make ideal house guests. dylan thomas visited the historian a j p taylor with disasterous results. but we wont hold it against him. i will attempt to track down some of the titles and see what i can see. thanks again for forwarding the lists.
pgt

posted by Porius at 11:04 pm (EST) on Dec 7, 2008

It does look like it'll be interesting. It's edited by Julian Hawthorne, the famous Hawthorne's son. The first half looks like it's genuine Oriental stories, while second half is a series of essays on mediums and occultism -- presumably "detectives" debunking psychic phenomena. Not bad for $1! Perhaps I'll have to get the other five books in the series.

posted by marc_beherec at 6:47 pm (EST) on Nov 26, 2008

Most of the punk rock lps are things I picked up helter-skelter many years agoa and have never parted with. I think my awareness or interest extended to Pebbles and Before Birdmen Flew and those I would actively pursue. Most of what I buy now, when I buy, is primitive (Delta/country) blues. Of course I still love brutal noise (The Stooges, The Chants R&B, The Sonics, etc.), though oddly more I find myself listening mostly to (in traffic, in progeriatric white-out) Classical, arabic music and jazz.

posted by benwaugh at 9:34 am (EST) on Nov 19, 2008

oh and fantastic new thread in TFC

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:20 pm (EST) on Nov 17, 2008

Gracias mi amigo! Porque donde esta hablamos un el meano drugioso, si.

Btw, Alexander Theroux reviewed a new translation of The Canterbury Tales in yesterday's LA Sunday Times. It's also available on their website. Rare treat to read anything by him in the paper.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:09 pm (EST) on Nov 17, 2008

Too arcane for me, wot the divil is it?

posted by benwaugh at 8:37 pm (EST) on Nov 14, 2008

I'm just about out of gas here on data entry; I have some of Nuggets, but no Rubble, and have no complete sets of anything but teeth, ma'shallah!

posted by benwaugh at 6:15 pm (EST) on Nov 14, 2008

I think I will. Intriguing indeed! Slick, I am regularly impressed whenever I see your latest read or acquisition, your knowledge of mystical esoterica and off-the-beaten-path rarities in lit are always fun to click on, check out, and learn about. The Horned Man, in particular, sounds right up my alley. I've never heard of James Lasdun; in fact, I've never heard of most of the work you input(!) until you input it, and am then able to sort of educate myself based on what you've input. Thanks for the free education! I'm quite curious, how do you find out about these texts? What are your sources? How do you discover these finds?

Is there much mention of Arthur Rimbaud in your recent acquisition, "The Book of Masks"? I still have the introductory poem from "A Season In Hell" inadvertently memorized from reading and reflecting on it so much in my late teens/early twenties. Something about that young genius' writings I just couldn't shake, still can't, so many years later since I've read him; perhaps his uncanny knack of creatively tapping into the metaphysical universe swirling all around us, his door into the unknown: surreal prose poems, language, imagination, giving the invisible a voice, a form, an identity. Cool stuff.

Always a pleasure, slick.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 2:18 pm (EST) on Nov 9, 2008

Muchas gracias! Tryin' ta get all me old lps input, then on to my wife's, whose collection includes the likes of The Manhattan Transfer & Karla Bonoff...yikes...can't wait!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 9:04 pm (EST) on Nov 8, 2008

Hi! Two things to pass on: I've discovered another Aussie woman novelist I think you might like. Her name is Thea Astley. Then, I remember mentioning another NYT op-ed by Colson Whitehead to you; if you haven't seen today's it's "Finallly a Thin President"!

posted by book_up at 12:18 pm (EST) on Nov 6, 2008

You are awesome! Thank you for your support of TFC.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 11:18 am (EST) on Oct 18, 2008

I agree re. the bodily disfigurements. He wouldn't even have had to describe them necessarily, perhaps hint at it by their reactions to seeing how markedly different people appear look outside Hailsham, or maybe how little kids outside Hailsham react to seeing them for the first time. I do think there were religious/spiritual undertones all over the place, though I'm not sure if he was intending an allegory as such per se, but I wouldn't put it past him, and if you're picking up that vibe it very well could be there. I have a daughter with special needs -- combo of Down syndrome & autism -- so I read this through a bit of a paranoid filter thinking, what if society decided my child and those like her were expendable for the "greater good" and needs of the "strong, ruling class". Much to digest in NLMG. Too much for one post...

...and don't get me started on Genoa! Good for you getting your hands on a copy. I've probably praised that book too much partly because Metcalf is so underappreciated, but still, one of the most uniquely written multiple-narratives I've encountered.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 11:14 am (EST) on Oct 11, 2008

I see you're reading Ishy's NLMG. I'll be very curious to hear your take on it. I can't say enough about that book.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 2:52 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2008

I've read a couple of trans. of the Golem, but it's been so long
doubt I'd have any useful info.
The Three Impostors is, also, an old favorite. Ever get "into"
19th cent. gothic? I'm working my way through "Dedalus 19th cent. French Horror". Some great little tid-bits in there. ;-)

posted by tros at 8:22 pm (EST) on Oct 1, 2008

The Blake JOB volume is really neat. Cheap, too (it's from Dover). I've been on a Blake kick recently, and am reading both through Edward Young's NIGHT THOUGHTS (as illustrated by Blake) and Blake's own JERUSALEM. Both are dense poems, though Blake's is on an entirely different level.

posted by jfclark at 12:17 pm (EST) on Sep 28, 2008

Delivered aridly. I like that.

posted by benwaugh at 9:59 am (EST) on Sep 27, 2008

Nah you ain't no fool Slick. I don't think the tetrology is necessarily linear based on what I've read. You're probably okay to read Jade w/out having read the first three first. Btw, just found out that Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," was actually based on Rikki Ducornet.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:33 pm (EST) on Sep 15, 2008

Actually, I first heard of Gawsworth as merely "Gawsworth" from the inclusion of his creepy story, "The Shifting Growth", in a Peter Haining anthology. Years later, reading Marias's All Souls brought me back to John Gawsworth - and I tracked down all the anthologies I could find (Marias also resurrects Wilfrid Ewart and Stephen Graham in The Dark Back of Time; both of those authors, typically "known" for very different types of writing, have horror stories included in the Gawsworth anthologies). These anthologies gather a lot of authors - many of them associated with the "decadent" 90s - whose writings are quite good and seldom anthologized (Visiak being one of the more notable them). Marias (a fellow member of the FOAM, and a force behind the Tartarus Press)is one of my favorite contemporary writers.

posted by benwaugh at 9:00 am (EST) on Sep 15, 2008

I'm doing it! I'm completely insane. Each issue, to input, since I'm itemizing every contributor & article in the comments section, is taking me 15-20 minutes each. With roughly 275 issues to input, that's what, 70-90 hours of labor? What's another 3 or 4 days of my life?

You're upsetting me though Slick. Did you just input the Jade Cabinet, vol. 4 of The Four Elements Tetrology? Don't tell me you already have the first three volumes, The Stain, Entering Fire, & The Fountains of Neptune. Well do you?! I've searched second hand store after second hand store since she's been on my radar -- three years -- (I refuse to order it, I'm old school) and all I've found of hers used is The Complete Butcher's Tales, and I live near LA! You'd think LA would have some freaking Rikki DuCornet available to the reading public!

Good for you (I guess) :(

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:47 pm (EST) on Sep 14, 2008

Thanks for the recommendations to the top 100 short collections...meant to ask you earlier for your input. I've heard of Doahl, but have yet to encounter him. I said I was done in the garage...uh-oh...I just discovered I have twenty-two (22!) years worths of National Geographics out there. Should I feed the add books compulsion/obsession and begin scanning covers this weekend? Sounds too exciting don't it?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:22 pm (EST) on Sep 5, 2008

Oooohhh, that Crucifer is a scary guy. I check my attic every night to make sure he's not there, and I don't even have an attic. I just look at the ceiling above my bookshelves and tremble. He might leap right out of a web page, your Doppelganger, the Legba Of Librarything L.o.L (LOL). You put us all at risk by entering his books. I hope 200 is not a critical mass number.

I visited your blog and enjoyed the Slits video. I actually still have the group's LP Cut somewhere in my basement. I do have a basement. They were about 30 years ahead of their time. see also http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyXGblps64...

I saw Kiss in Tuscon in August of 1977...the week after Elvis died. It was like a mini Normandy...people were setting off fireworks and flinging either frisbees or tin tambourines or both through the air. I aged about 30 years that night, twitching at the explosions, ducking the missiles, puffing and huffing.

What did you think of Laura Warholic? I use it sometimes for strength training. Twenty reps each arm.

Later,
G

posted by Ganeshaka at 7:48 pm (EST) on Sep 2, 2008

Concur. Rescued it from the silverfish in the garage. I think I've unloaded & logged everything I had out there. Time to read again.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 3:23 pm (EST) on Sep 1, 2008

Re Thomas Penman: it gets me me every time - I laugh, I cry, I marvel at the way it's all done.

posted by chickensheets at 9:33 pm (EST) on Aug 28, 2008

Yup, Cheese-Rolling in Gloucestershire - near where I grew up, and an annual festival that sees the local boys (and increasingly men dressed in superhero outfits filmed by Japanese TV crews) tear down a suicidal hill in search of a Double Gloucester cheese. When I saw this book heavily discounted in Foyles, I thought, hmm, yes - and it appears to be a local historian's attempt to write about the custom - which (if we believe the book) dates back to 'pre-Roman times'. But of course we won't believe the book, but we shall admire it for a splendid investigation into local colour and file it under 'English Whimsy/saw on Japanese TV'.

posted by eine at 3:09 pm (EST) on Aug 25, 2008

Dude, thanks for the Ryan Gattis recommendation! It's cool to see my alma mater embracing very cool writers. There's a strong, albeit mostly underground, writing tradition that's come out of Chapman over the last 25 years. Two of RGs colleagues at Chapman are published authors themselves, Mark Axelrod & Martin Nakell, both of whom I studied under. Another, Terri Brint Joseph, was an internationally known poet, known primarily though, in scholarly poetry circles, and her work, unfortunately, has yet to be owned by anyone here in lt.com. I've been opening boxes in the garage, a veritable corrugated memory lane, and came across that old Chapman journal. Thanks for noticing...nice memories.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:48 pm (EST) on Aug 22, 2008

Ah ha! I was trying to remember where I even heard of such a book! Now I remember! Weird.

posted by eswnr at 11:06 am (EST) on Aug 9, 2008

I enjoyed parts of the Immigrants book. Unfortunately it's not one of Seabrook's best. It's a collection of articles he originally wrote for the American at a time when he'd become respectable. It has its moments when Seabrook has a particularly fun anecdote or is talking about one of his favorite topics, like the occult, though.

Adventures in Arabia and Jungle Ways I'm sure you'll enjoy, though!

posted by marc_beherec at 12:00 am (EST) on Jul 30, 2008

Very cool. benwaugh does have an amazing library, and The Magic Island is a great book, despite (and because of) Seabrook's tendency to exaggerate.

I've beefed up my Seabrookiana tag if you'd like to see other works that touch on the man. He's had a couple of novels based on him (one in his lifetime), for example. I know a fellow who's working on a biography; hopefully it'll come out soonishly.

posted by marc_beherec at 2:07 pm (EST) on Jul 26, 2008

Thanks, I haven't been very active there lately I'm afraid. I have a fresh reason now however since I've just finished "La vie mode d'emploi" (with mixed emotions) and seem to recall such a thread there. So I might put the whip on my own back and get to it soon. Or maybe I should hold a carrot in front of my own nose. I really don't know which is best. (Maybe I'll try with a bottle of beer instead. In front of my nose, that is.)

See you at the Oulipo Headquarters, I guess? Til then, a good night from Stockholm (it really is sleepy time here).

posted by pierrot at 7:13 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2008

Thanks man. Had 'em forever...forgot I hadn't input 'em. Happy to be buds.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:44 pm (EST) on Jul 21, 2008

I noticed you added mine to your interesting libraries. I'm pleased you like it.

I'm also interested to see you're reading The Magic Island. Seabrook was a fascinating character -- and a minor obsession of mine. I'd be interested to hear what you think of what was even at the time an extremely controversial book!

posted by marc_beherec at 2:15 pm (EST) on Jul 13, 2008

I agree, but I'm a sucker for that kind of book. I guess they saw me coming. Have you read any Luc Sante or Nik Cohn? I'm reading Nik Cohn's The Heart of the World (sort of an offbeat walking tour of Broadway through it's history) and I love his style.

posted by book_up at 7:07 pm (EST) on Jul 10, 2008

Summer has been treating me alright. I nearly raised my fist in triumph when I saw the Wilson book. Cheap as well, if you don't mind being made more jealous. I read that same Orwell essay, by the way, which is why I picked up the Raffles. I've also been looking for "Fantomas," but the only editions around are the one put out by Penguin, so I may have to pick it up new. The Dali book has long been on my wishlist.

Cheers, and I hope your summer has been going good as well.

posted by coffeezombie at 1:06 am (EST) on Jul 9, 2008

Hi there slick,

Our little dude will be starting tt-ing very soon too. My wife went over today to B&N to pick up the latest Wickham re-release, and found "Where' the Poop?" by Julie Markes. Besides being a funny title for a book, it looks like a good one to read to your child to help them see that tt-ing can be fun (which the funny animal pop-out pictures attest). The book ends with a pop out picture of a toilet and, you guessed it, flip up the flap and...voila..."there's the poop!"

For parents, try out the overly optimistically titled "Toilet Training In Less Than A Day" by Nathan Azrin. Helped us a great deal with our daughter several years ago, though it took longer than a day I can assure you.

I tell you, RSH is a blast! His enthusiasm for good writing is infectious. I think at times we're competing to see who can write the longest, most bombastic post. He's winning hands down -- and that's a compliment in my book!

Great hearing from you! We've obviously got a lot in common. I'm envious at how you've fixed up your profile page. Say, while I've got you, can you help enlighten my tech-savvy-ignoramusness by informing me how you managed to edit your text with bold & italics & whatnot, and how you inserted your covers & links in your page? I've been trying to figure that out for months to no avail.

Talk to you soon,
"Lola"

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:05 am (EST) on Jul 9, 2008

If possible would you tell me your opinion about "The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll"? I read it a few years ago and I haven't stopped re-reading it since. Alvaro Mutis has a few short stories translated in a book called "The Mansion" that are also stunning.

I know that I may be overexcited by Mutis, but I've never met anyone else who has read him. I was lucky enough to speak to Edith Grossman about him and she, too, was enthralled. It's a pity that so little of his work has been translated. I also spoke to Francisco Goldman about him a few years ago, who told me that Mutis was very ill and had not been writing for some time. (I don't travel in literary circles, I met both at different book fairs.) Lastly, I saw Carlos Fuentes speak about contemporary authors writing in Spanish and he included Mutis.

That's my Adventures & Misadventures regarding Maqroll.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks in Advance. M. E. Katz (Stronghart)

posted by Stronghart at 10:37 pm (EST) on Jul 6, 2008

Yes, Hiraide's For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut does look good, though I really don't know anything about it; it plunked into my mailbox unsolicited through the good offices of New Directions Press. Kenzaburo Oe, a discerning reader, has this to say: "Even in translation, his fine poetry really shines. At times I am reminded of T.S. Eliot."

posted by dcozy at 4:01 pm (EST) on Jun 26, 2008

slickdpdx--I first read Hrabal a few years ago--I served the Queen of England. I did not care it for that much. In conversations with Papalaz (who is a big fan) here Hrabal's name came back up and he actually suggested Too loud a solitude--and I actually did think it was great--the irrepressible nature of Hanta, the beer drinking, book collecting solipsistic anarchy of his character makes him a very attractive literary creation for me--the idea also striking me that there is much of Hrabal himself in this character.

As for my job--I try to do it as best I can--keeping in mind the intrusions of a rather large bureaucracy constantly trying to tweak thinks that it very often doesn't understand. I tend to leave work though at work. The end all is it's a job that has paid the bills and at least in upstate New York it is a very good one and I feel fortunate to have it despite everything. I didn't really see much connection between it and Hrabal's book but if you ever chance to read Charles Bukowski's Post Office--I would see a big connection there.

posted by lriley at 6:51 pm (EST) on Jun 25, 2008

Thanks. Apparently franknotes didn't appreciate the "benwaugh" comment. I never heard back from him.

posted by Makifat at 12:55 am (EST) on Jun 22, 2008

You're welcome. I hope you find some NYRB books you like.

posted by urania1 at 7:37 pm (EST) on Jun 20, 2008

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.

posted by wilsonknut at 5:57 pm (EST) on Jun 9, 2008

Just got my copy of The Feverhead yesterday, and I'll be reading it once I'm done with Kafka on the Shore, which hopefully will be today. Thanks for the recommendation!

posted by JackFrost at 6:11 am (EST) on May 25, 2008

Thank you again; I'm reading Dogs of God, and I can't imagine how it's escaped my notice until now. If it hasn't been shot as a film, it certainly should be. The word that comes to mind is sensuous.

posted by book_up at 10:58 am (EST) on May 19, 2008

"I think I'll hit Dirty Snow first. And I have yet to get to the Carco..."
I've been sidtracked from Carco by Paul Leppin, "Blaugast", etc. Right now I'm
getting back to Charles Williams, "River Girl". One of the best of the hardboiled writers.
I have an old Signet pb of "The Snow was Black" by GS. Love those old fifties pb's.

posted by tros at 6:32 pm (EST) on May 15, 2008

Thanks! If you see anything else similar, feel free to let me know. I've been on an experimental/bizarre book kick lately.

posted by JackFrost at 10:18 am (EST) on May 15, 2008

Thank you very much - I'll have to admit I just don't have time to read any of them right now - have got my head down for a PhD, but I CANNOT wait to finish and get stuck in. Like, for example, Beggars of Life - a book I see you've recently added. Oh, to light out for the territory, etc--

posted by eine at 8:26 am (EST) on May 12, 2008

I just got their new "supplement" to the same old catalog - lots of cool stuff I'm going to have to pick up.

posted by benwaugh at 1:28 pm (EST) on May 11, 2008

Do you know the Bat Segundo Show podcast? I just listened to his 200th interview from April 14, the subject being Nicholson Baker. It was mostly about the new book, but he touched on some of the others. I really like Baker for his eclecticism, and he had good words for this interview; said it was one of the best he'd done.

I'm going to try Ryu Murakami. I'm working on your canon list, though I don't always pick the same title.

posted by book_up at 2:21 pm (EST) on May 10, 2008

Thanks. I've been trying to review every book I've read since 2006, but I've fallen pretty far behind (something like 30 books behind). I've been making an effort to catch up and will probably be posting a lot of reviews over the next few months. Just posted a new one today for "Lady Chatterley's Lover."

Cheers,

-CZ

posted by coffeezombie at 2:04 pm (EST) on May 3, 2008

Must thank you; I'm reading The Intuitionist and I love it. Also today I see one of my favorite movies: Withnail & I, and didn't know about How to Get Ahead in Advertising. I'm going to have to keep an eye on you!

posted by book_up at 10:48 am (EST) on May 3, 2008

Noticed you've added a some Simenon. "Man Who Watched the Trains Go BY"
is an all-time favorite. I think I have a pretty complete Simenon in
trans. Hard to do with all the various editions/translations.

posted by tros at 10:22 pm (EST) on May 2, 2008

Thank you! Now, what to do with my time?

Oh yes - READ!

posted by Makifat at 12:25 am (EST) on May 2, 2008

Your lost book group led me to your library. When I saw the name Colson Whitehead it rang a bell and I knew I must have seen it in today's New York Times. In fact, he has a very funny op-ed about (and the caps are his) "The Guy Who's Where He Is Only Because He's Black". I recommend it, and thank you for the introduction.

posted by book_up at 12:56 pm (EST) on Apr 24, 2008

Hi-
I've only recently joined and decided to put up just what I've read since the start of this year. But looking at your library, I see several matches to my previously read list from your favorite authors list: Especially Auster, Barthelme, Bukowski, Camus, DeLillo. As well as others I have enjoyed reading: Abe, Amis, Sorrentino, Borges, Calvino, Whitehead. And more! Europe Central was great. Riding Towards Everywhere, not so much.

posted by ChazzW at 8:10 am (EST) on Apr 19, 2008

Glad you're enjoying the early Pynchon short stories...you'll find that he uses many music and lyrical references throughout all of his works. I'm trying to figure out a way to reference more modern sound compositions in my recent writings, but I find it to be very challenging. Maybe I need to re-read 'Silence' by John Cage(?)

Cheers & all that, Jeremy

posted by abductee at 2:35 am (EST) on Apr 12, 2008

"There's a glut of other poison sloshing around in my trough..."

So, what poison is sloshing in your trough lately? ;-)

Just finished "Depravity" (Les Innocents) by Carco. Definitely
a must read. A wild ending!

posted by tros at 2:06 am (EST) on Apr 7, 2008

Thanks for the comment about Ishiguro, I think I will give it a go (and Never Let Me Go as well) at some stage. I must reread The Trial some time as well...

posted by ian_curtin at 8:49 am (EST) on Apr 1, 2008

AND - your laudable effort has put me in mind, again, of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy - from which AT grabbed a good portion of his arcana ("Nodina", for example). It's been on my must read list forever.

posted by benwaugh at 1:06 pm (EST) on Mar 19, 2008

Another convert to (the other) Theroux - very cool re Crucifer's Library (you must be as well employed as I am). Who is the woman who's name was spelled backwards. I've read that damned thing three times and never caught it. I was always curious as to whether or not the book by "cardinal d'Arconville" mentioned in the book is more than fictional. Theroux, supposedly, wrote that novel as a revenge against some rustic doxy who spurned him (she a student, he a teacher, story of his life it has been told). I will have to check with a friend of mine over the woman's name - she still lives in the Charlottesville area, apparently.

posted by benwaugh at 1:48 pm (EST) on Mar 18, 2008

Yeah, I'm only an hour and half drive south of you. Closer to central Oregon than Portland is, but still in the Willamette Valley.

posted by coffeezombie at 1:30 pm (EST) on Mar 13, 2008

Thank you for your compliment on my recent fanzine and comic additions. Yes, I do own that issue of BB Gun for the Breyer P-Orridge article. I work with Genesis helping out with website and archive tasks.

posted by kinoeyevertov at 6:55 pm (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

You probably should. "Infinite Jest" is his best, but it's daunting and not for all tastes. I would recommend starting with a collection of essays, such as "A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again." That one in particular is a good introduction to his style and his various obsessions. It's also incredibly funny.

posted by coffeezombie at 2:33 pm (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

Thanx for the Glass analogy slick - I love Glass and Nyman and kind of see what you're getting at - I'll try it next winter (long dark evenings). Thanx also for marking my collection as interesting

posted by papalaz at 11:27 am (EST) on Mar 4, 2008

It took far longer for me to get that reference than I would have liked. This is not a good sign!

I just noticed looking through your library that your reviews convinced me to buy Parasites Like Us and add Cool Hand Luke to my colossal master "to read" list a while back. It was a prophecy, I swear. Or something.

posted by eswnr at 6:12 pm (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

i can handle the blame. enjoy!

posted by wordtron at 12:02 am (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

Hello, I was thinking the same about you-- I like your tag "my canon" and the selection of books so tagged. I set up a "top 10" but it's limiting. I got to know Simic personally many years ago. His output and continuing success still impresses me. I was happy to see your library including Bukowski, Sorrentino, McSweeny's, Barthelme, various poetry, and J Safran Foer, all at the same time. Breadth and depth! I like the exercise of writing short reviews (I leave them in the "comments" column until I think they're done) because it helps me to remember what I found notable about some books which I may have read 30 or 40 years ago. Enjoy LT, I know I do. --Jay

posted by abirdman at 5:23 pm (EST) on Feb 28, 2008

http://www.nybooks.com/nyrb/movingsale

posted by wordtron at 10:24 am (EST) on Feb 25, 2008

i AM bankrupting myself on those NYRB books. but it's worth it. nice collection, yours.

j

posted by wordtron at 4:59 pm (EST) on Feb 24, 2008

'Darconville's Cat' is an incredible novel...it lead me (eventually) to Gaddis' 'The Recognitions'. I'm still working through A. Theroux's newest work 'Laura Warholic', but am enjoying it. I am always interested in the books you add to your library (whether wished for or otherwise).

posted by abductee at 2:01 am (EST) on Feb 22, 2008

well, I'm just finishing it, and am totally bowled over by the stuff on Shostakovich. Very moving stuff. And I agree with you about the portraits of the two generals. I'll check out some of your other recommendations for future Vollman reading.

posted by tomcatMurr at 10:44 am (EST) on Feb 15, 2008

You would be surprised how man werewolves there are out there. I always seem to keep busy.

posted by coffeezombie at 12:54 am (EST) on Feb 15, 2008

Great library!

posted by NativeRoses at 9:35 am (EST) on Feb 13, 2008

I see you've read "Perversity". It's been quite a while, so I'll have
to re-read it one of these days. I'm having fun with several new-to-me
Carco stuff.
Also love the John Carter/Burroughs stuff. Just re-read those a few years ago.
Try "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons. Warning: highly addicting 4 vols!

posted by tros at 1:18 am (EST) on Feb 9, 2008

thanks for your message. It's nice to know that my blog is appreciated. I haven't managed to collect many IOs recently because I haven't been reading 19 century literature for a long time, but it's fun coming across them when I'm reading.
I notice that you have Vollman's Riding toward Everywhere in your on deck category (that's like a TBR pile, right?). I'm currently reading Europe Central by him and it's incredibly good. My first Vollman. i will be interested to hear your reaction to RTE, and your recommendation for his other work.
Best wishes, Murr

posted by tomcatMurr at 9:59 pm (EST) on Feb 6, 2008

If I remember well, it was a sculpture realized by an asian women. I can't remeber the name. I found the picture on flickr or Google image, but I haven't been able to find it again, even on my computer.
If it exists somewhere, it must be something to see.

posted by timacor at 5:24 pm (EST) on Feb 1, 2008

Hi slickdpdx.
First off, I'm impressed by the size of your library.
For your question, if you mean an english bible translation, I personnaly use (even if I usually read it in french) the New International Version, and also the New King James.
I hope it helps.
By the way (since you are the first one to write to me, you'll get my questions too), have you ever managed to (or tried to) get an early reviewer book? I have tried since I'm with LT (only 5 months or so) but never got one so far. I'm just wondering the odds of success...

posted by timacor at 9:09 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2008

Welcome to Books Compared. You have a really intriguing list of favorite authors. I'm looking forward to your comparison of Hunger vs. The Arabian Nightmare.

posted by margad at 8:15 pm (EST) on Jan 26, 2008

Hey, sorry about that strange URL for "Zardoz" on the front page -- I don't know why it's publishing a wrong archive address. The correct URL is http://www.cclapcenter.com/2008/01/movie... . By the way, you're not just making things up in your review of "The Maltese Falcon;" Peter Lorre's character was indeed gay in the original novel, one of the several "lewd" aspects that led the Hays Code committee to banning the original 1931 version of the movie, prompting this "cleaner" 1941 version that's now become so famous. I left more details over at your original review, in the comments.

posted by jasonpettus at 12:26 pm (EST) on Jan 25, 2008

Again, thank you very much for the positivity! It is hugely appreciated. I recently finished reading Tanizaki's The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi on a recommendation from a friend; it was brisk (maybe 160 pages or so) and genuinely excellent, frequently confounding my expectations of historical novels, although I suppose this might be a novella despite what its publisher says. I can't say I recommend Arrowroot, sadly (it came bundled in my edition of The Secret History...), as it is more of an essay-narrative quoting actual sources, as opposed to the tactfully fabricated ones employed to further suspend the reader's disbelief in TSHotLoM. Look it up if ever you're seeking a palette cleanser between long narratives.

posted by ryangattis at 10:08 am (EST) on Jan 8, 2008

Judging by your comments on Rice, I think you'd really like Lantern too, as it's also set in early contemporary China.

Su Tong's next is coming out in hardback sometime in the middle of February. It's apparently based on an old Chinese myth and thus set in the pre-modern era. Howard Goldblatt is on board again as translator, and it promises to be excellent all around!

posted by Trismegistus at 12:52 pm (EST) on Jan 6, 2008

Isn't Su Tong excellent? I've actually read both Rice and Raise the Red Lantern, but My Life as Emperor is by far my favorite. I hope his next novel also exhibits a similar leap in skill--it'd be phenomenal.

I'm still holding off on rereading the Taran books, because I want to have somewhat forgotten them before I pick them up again (I pretty much knew every word as a child)...it's the next best thing to reading them for the first time again!

posted by Trismegistus at 9:41 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2008

Thanks for the kind words. I'll be fine as long as I can find ways to turn my pain into comedy.

posted by coffeezombie at 2:26 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2008

Cheers slick dp - I wanted to write reviews of the physical books I had - the actual copies, and that Ballard was such a major one in my life. But... once that was written and a few others, I slacked off. I kind of worry about how may hours there are in the day. It's either too many or too few, but either way, it's the not the right amount. Had a breeze through your blog. Good things + impressive. I'll read again. Myself have just picked up a copy of a book called 'Fishlore' - just an informative book about fish, but there's a humorous twist to the writing which has addicted me. Keep Zoning + Trailing, dudre.

posted by eine at 6:16 pm (EST) on Jan 3, 2008

Pickwick is really the further adventures of Toby Shandy. Enjoy!

posted by erkie2007 at 1:54 am (EST) on Jan 1, 2008

Hey Slickbird,
Thanks for finding my virtual collection and for your note. Any comment from a Committed Electic like you is much appreciated. I see you dig Murakami--it's hard to top The Wind-Up Bird, isn't it? Makes you feel like hanging out in a well... Anyway, I add books to my LT library only after I "review" them, which as you saw entails much cud-chewing. So, it will take me a while to drag in all 100 works from the list--the centathlon is a long slog...
Mike

posted by MichaelMenche at 12:33 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2007

btw I see that Pickwick Papers is in your library but haven't you read it? It's wonderful. I also recommend Tristram Shandy.

posted by erkie2007 at 1:24 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2007

Hi slickdpdx,

Thanks for connecting. I've enjoyed going through your library. So far, I've just been cataloging books as I read them, kind of to keep score. I'll eventually put everything in that I actually have. Mostly it's classic lit, although during the past couple of years I've started to get interested in the Japanese novel.

posted by erkie2007 at 1:19 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2007

Glad the books got there ok - I have some others to send yr way (I'm a nut in that I nab up copies of books I like a lot in order to redistribute them to peeps I think might enjoy them, and to further my own agenda, whatever that may be - ha!).

Yeah, I bookmarked 'Entropy' for you as it is my fav short-story. To a certain degree it's like ripping out 20 or so random odd pages from one of Joyce's longer works, but the mechanics beneath it are a bit more complex; also, whereas Borges can be overtly-technical, I find this to be a far more realistic, nay, flowing immersion. My 2 cents.

You Bright and Risen Angels by Vollmann was such an eye-opening experience for me when I first read it. I think that book, along w/Gravity's Rainbow, really opened me up to moving beyond first-person human-based narratives to that of inanimate (and lesser-animate?) POVs. Or somethin' like that - (oh I sooo need to go to bed now).

Maybe some of this made sense...hee. I'm off to make some New Year resolutions; some to keep, some to break. - J.

posted by abductee at 1:15 am (EST) on Dec 29, 2007

Thank you for your complement on my review of Kangaroo Notebook by Kobe Abe. I enjoy reading his books very much and hope you do too. Have a wonderful New Year!

posted by ihavereadthat at 10:52 am (EST) on Dec 26, 2007

Thanks for the tips.
Boyle´s East is East did I already have at home, but no time to read it. I really loved the Water Music and surely want to try another Boyle.

Bad Monkeys is the only book by Matt Ruff I have not read, but the others were fantastic. Crazy, but funny and exciting. My favourite book by him is Fool on the hill, which is, in my opinion, very well-written and related to shakespeare, lord of the rings, stephen king (allthoug I don´t like him) and many tales.

There are many German authors, which are very good, you might know Thomas Mann and Günter Grass, who has even won the literature-nobelpreis. But one of my favourite is Daniel Kehlmann, his book, "Die Vermessung der Welt" is pretty new and really great. I don´t now, wether it has been translated in English, but I hope, if it is, that nothing of the beautiful and humerous language is lost.

I hope this was helpfully and please forgive my bad English :)

Cheers

posted by mondschaf at 8:40 am (EST) on Dec 15, 2007

Deleted it. I'm paring down my online presence.

posted by coffeezombie at 10:35 pm (EST) on Dec 12, 2007

Thanks - that might be a better idea. I just happened to notice that LOC had lps - so I went to town. They seem to have gaps in their holdings or entries, though. I would like to keep the media separate.

posted by benwaugh at 8:18 am (EST) on Dec 11, 2007

Hey - glad you liked the the tajine - and it does take more effort than I'm used to expending (pasta in boiling water... sauce on top), but it is delicious. If you'd like, I'll scrounge up my recipe for Harira (a Moroccan soup and, I believe, a Ramadan staple). I have not yet made the Turkish dish - but will give it go over the holidays.

posted by benwaugh at 9:53 am (EST) on Dec 10, 2007

I was hoping you'd know - and must confess, I ain't tried it yet.

posted by benwaugh at 5:15 pm (EST) on Dec 1, 2007

Heya. I only archived mine because I was bored (who'da thought). Here, by the way, is another recipe someone posted privately (unless it's a secret recipe, I don't think I'm guilty of a gravy indiscretion):

Kiymali Ispanak (spinach with minced meat; Turkey)

Super easy and tasty.

1 pound frozen spinach (because I'm lazy like this)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
some oil
1/2 pound minced meat
1/2 cup rice, washed
16 fl ounces broth
salt and pepper
1 tsp red pepper
1 1/2 cups yogurt (the thick, creamy kind)

Heat the oil and fry onions and meat until the meat is dry...make sure to crush the meat properly. Add rice, spinach and broth, red pepper and salt/pepper to taste, bring to cook and let it simmer for 30 minutes. If it gets too dry, add a little more water. This isn't a soup, but should be juicy. Add spices if necessary and serve with yogurt. Serves 4.

Mubattan (stuffed potatoes; Libya)

This is from Kulinarisches Arabien (although I already made some improvements, or at least I think so ;)), and while it's a little laborious, the results are SO worth it.

1 pound minced meat
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tblsp parsley, chopped
2 bread rolls, soaked and squeezed
salt and pepper
1 tsp cumin

Mix everything well to create the stuffing for the potatoes. Cover and put aside.

6 big potatoes, peeled
oil for deep-frying
flour

Slice the potatoes into 1 cm thick slices (a little less than 1/2 inch). Lengthwise cut some kind of a pocket into them, making sure you don't hurt the second long side. Salt the potatoes generously inside and outside and let them rest for 20 minutes (in the meanwhile, you can prepare the tomatoe sauce). Dry them with some kitchen towels and fill them with the prepared stuffing; the stuffing should be around a good 1" thick. Turn the stuffed potatoes thoroughly in flour, brush off the excessive and deep-fry until golden brown. De-fat a little by putting them on a kitchen towel for some time, and enjoy :)

4 big tomatoes, peeled, without kernels and chopped
2 onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
4 tblsp tomato paste
2 tsp parsley, chopped
salt
1 tsp harissa
oil

Heat oil and fry the onions a little; add everything but the parsley and make a tomatoe sauce. Add spices to taste and when done, the parsley. Serve potatoes with the sauce (serves 4).

posted by benwaugh at 9:31 am (EST) on Nov 30, 2007

I'm a binger, not a purger - I just archived 'em. And now, voila:

posted by benwaugh at 2:21 pm (EST) on Nov 29, 2007

Yes! I always look at peoples' bookshelves when I go to their house. (Ugh, grammar clash) Thankfully, my friends are eccentric enough to not mind my sniffing their books. Sometimes I get weird looks at libraries though.
I love buying library discards. They've been read by so many people and they're so full of personality.

posted by lilbrattyteen at 1:03 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2007

Hope you're enjoying "The Thought Gang". It is one of my favourite reads from the past couple of years.

posted by plaugher at 6:16 pm (EST) on Nov 16, 2007

Ha, sry for the delayed response; yes I own 5 copies of CoL49 - I collect different versions of TRP's books, so I have multiples of each lying around.

Yes, I have a sickness; but it is such a good one...

posted by abductee at 3:48 am (EST) on Nov 12, 2007

Thanks for the comment about my comments about the Sorrentino book. I wish I'd noticed it sooner, but after an initial burst of enthusiasm, I haven't been spending much time on LibraryThing of late. I'll have to get around to entering the rest of my books and posting more reviews soon.

posted by lucienspringer at 6:11 pm (EST) on Nov 6, 2007

yes, I have read the three musketeers before ... i can't argue with you about the cover, but it is an interesting piece of packaging.

posted by wfzimmerman at 8:05 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2007

HC is part of my organizational system. I have a separate shelve for hardcover books (divided further into fiction and non-fiction), so the "HC" prefix indicates that a book is on my hardcover shelve, and it makes it easier for me to find titles.

posted by jellyroll at 1:01 am (EST) on Oct 29, 2007

Rotten does have a lot of great content, once you get past the deeply skeevy vibe of the place.

posted by gregtmills at 3:39 pm (EST) on Oct 25, 2007

I have to admit, I don't feel as strongly about [Dracula] as I did about [Frankenstein]. I'm just about finished with it and while Stroker is a great job building up tension in the first part I feel the ending is dragging. Plus all the Victorian sensibilities around women are really starting to get to me. Oh, mustn't upset the little woman, don't tell her anything. It makes me wish Dracula liked men instead.

PS anytime you see a post, it's the Mistress ('rissa) since I'm the one with the fabulous desk job.

posted by prophetandmistress at 4:03 pm (EST) on Oct 18, 2007

By the way, like the profile pick. What's the story on it?

posted by coffeezombie at 11:27 am (EST) on Sep 21, 2007

No worries. I've found a few people on this site and Last.fm (the only social sites I use, since I can troll for book and music recommendations. Just need a comparable site for movies and I'm set).

Happy cataloging to you.

posted by coffeezombie at 11:26 am (EST) on Sep 21, 2007

Thanks for the comments on "Parasites Like Us." And your review. And the link to my review.

I gave the book to a friend, who thought it old hat, just more whining by college people about their rather silly lives. Since that is, in a sense, the take-off point of the book -- the vacuity of collegiate success, the vacuity of our civilization's alleged high-water mark -- I was a bit surprised that he couldn't read further.

But one thing I've noticed: people have different tastes and different tolerances!

(Now there's an almost vacuous response! It's certainly laboring the obvious.)

posted by wirkman at 1:57 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2007

Yo. Nice to see your taste in books is as good as your taste in music. Cheers.

-zombiereligion.

posted by coffeezombie at 9:11 am (EST) on Sep 20, 2007

3 of the yo-yo books came with 1 yo-yo and 1 yo-yo book came with 3 yo-yos!

Yes, I collect yo-yos (and yo-yo books). Am I a champion yo-yoist? Uh-h-h no, no just so-so.

posted by LordNigelKnickKnack at 8:12 pm (EST) on Sep 19, 2007

It looks like a dream I've had. Every night for the past 30 years.

posted by benwaugh at 12:34 pm (EST) on Sep 12, 2007

Well, quite frankly, I have no idea. I've just ordered it. But, Ewers is the creepiest and the most amusing writer of decadent horror fiction you could ever hope to read. Back to the Ant People. I was going over my Ewers stuff of an evening and discovered that another of his books I have not yet read, The Wonders of the Ant World, is a toned-down for "young readers" version of The Ant People. My hopes are high. His story "The Spider" joins decadence and bugs pretty efficiently.

posted by benwaugh at 10:34 am (EST) on Sep 6, 2007

Thanks for linking to my idiotic blog.

U R nice.

Greg (Bastard of Art and Commerce)

posted by gregtmills at 12:35 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2007

You're very welcome. Let me know what you think when you finish it.

posted by ryangattis at 12:34 pm (EST) on Aug 21, 2007

Thanks so much for the positivity, Slick. It's humbling to know people with such taste as yourself enjoy my work and it definitely gives me energy to keep plugging away on what I'm crafting now. By the way, have you read After the Banquet, by any chance? That's one of my very favorites of Mishima's. Kazu is one hell of a character, and certainly one of his finest protagonists.

posted by ryangattis at 1:46 pm (EST) on Aug 14, 2007

I am honored that you listed my library as "interesting". Good to meet a fellow devotee of Wolverton.

posted by LordNigelKnickKnack at 12:36 am (EST) on Jul 25, 2007

Confessions: My copy of Those Who Return is bound in green cloth: rather unattractive. My copy of the short story collection is a series of freely downloaded print-outs: unwieldy and unattractive. And I was shocked to find, at this late hour, that someone had republished these. I am assuming it's a Kessinger sort of slap-dash public domain snatch: old translations, heady glue fumes?

posted by benwaugh at 3:10 pm (EST) on Jul 24, 2007

Thanks for the heads up!

posted by pepektheassassin at 10:04 pm (EST) on Jul 12, 2007

Nice to see someone else has a copy of 'Devil in the Dooryard!' Thanks for posting the cover.

posted by SidWainwright at 6:49 am (EST) on Jul 1, 2007

I'm surprised we aren't matched better... I was looking at your author cloud and most of the names are people I enjoy, or people on my booklist to pick up. I'll have to go through the names carefully and pick out those few I have not heard of.

posted by princemuchao at 11:38 pm (EST) on Jun 11, 2007

Why thank you very kindly. I try.

posted by MarquesadeFlambe at 10:22 pm (EST) on Jun 4, 2007

Hi.
I really like your library! I saw you recommended Gilbert Sorrentino as a good po-mo writer. Is there any specific book you would recommend?

-The Mistress

posted by prophetandmistress at 12:42 pm (EST) on May 15, 2007

weirdly, i have around four (probably five) different copies of this book. It might actually be the one that i own the most of.

posted by orbis_quintus at 9:16 pm (EST) on May 10, 2007

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