The newspapers talk about reading in seasons, most recently about summer reading. Do your choices differ according to the season? Do you have cold-weather titles or warm-weather authors? Do you tend to re-read during one season over another?
I want to get into Don Quixote this summer, because of the anniversary this year. That doesn’t fit the normal “summer reading” profile.
In the San Francisco Chronicle, author Keith Thompson describes his departure from political liberalism.
A turning point came at a dinner party on the day Ronald Reagan famously described the Soviet Union as the pre-eminent source of evil in the modern world. The general tenor of the evening was that Reagan’s use of the word “evil” had moved the world closer to annihilation. There was a palpable sense that we might not make it to dessert.
When I casually offered that the surviving relatives of the more than 20 million people murdered on orders of Joseph Stalin might not find “evil'” too strong a word, the room took on a collective bemused smile of the sort you might expect if someone had casually mentioned taking up child molestation for sport.
My progressive companions had a point. It was rude to bring a word like “gulag” to the dinner table.
And on reaction to 9/11 and subsequent decisions:
Susan Sontag cleared her throat for the “courage” of the al Qaeda pilots. Norman Mailer pronounced the dead of Sept. 11 comparable to “automobile statistics.” The events of that day were likely premeditated by the White House, Gore Vidal insinuated. Noam Chomsky insisted that al Qaeda at its most atrocious generated no terror greater than American foreign policy on a mediocre day.
Either Site Meter has technical issues or traffic at this site dropped like the Hindenburg this weekend. Perhaps it is the beginning of summer. In a weak attempt at stoking excitement for the upcoming week, I thought I would let you know what is in the pipeline.
In my ongoing campaign to emulate Robert Birmbaum, I decided that traditional Q&A’s via email just didn’t cut it. So this weekend I sat down with writer and Ohio State Professor Michelle Herman for a face to face interview. It was a gorgeous day and we had a pleasant and interesting conversation. As soon as I can transcribe the conversation I will post it here for your enjoyment. I will also be posting reviews of her work; from her first novel to her latest non-fiction. If things go well we will have a little Michelle Herman week here at Collected Miscellany.
Of course, life might intrude and I might not post much of anything. But such are my goals starting the week out.
P.s. Wednesday is my 35th birthday. If anyone is feeling particularly generous they could always . . . or they could . . .
Poet Donald Hall on growing old, in his poem “Affirmation”:
“Let us stifle under mud at the pond’s edge
and affirm that it is fitting
and delicious to lose everything.”
For we began with nothing and will leave with nothing to go on to worship our Creator.
“Today,” Tim Challies wrote yesterday, “I thought it would be moderately fun (at best) to ask people to list the books that are currently on their desk. Just a list of the titles and authors.”
And some bloggers have followed suit.
Being an influencial aerodite in the literary pantheon, my desk has a handful of books in which you will no doubt be interested though you probably have yet to hear of them.
Falls the Shadow is author William Lashner’s newest novel, released in hardcover by William Morrow. This is the latest in an excellent series featuring Philadelphia lawyer, Victor Carl. This Friday’s Review will take a look at Lashner’s books, including Past Due which is now available in paperback (see Kevin’s review here).
Lashner fans waited six years between the release of Bitter Truth and Fatal Flaw, an interregnum that caused the author to be forgotten in the parlance of the publishing world. His first two novels were published by Regan Books, an imprint not known for thrillers. Other than Jess Walter, I can’t think of another thriller writer under the Regan banner. Morrow and Regan are both owned by Harper Collins, so for Bill Lashner all’s well that ends well.
The series protagonist is Victor Carl, self-described as self-absorbed, self-serving and selfish. Burdened by these humble traits, Victor becomes likable by circumstance, and by contrast to the collection of unpleasant types Victor meets along the way. Lashner takes his time with his stories developing Victor’s flaws and impulses into rich characterization. The plots are complex; Past Due involves a crime twenty years in the past coming full circle to the present. Victor’s father is dying and tells a remarkable story from his youth about the woman who got away. Lashner makes good use of the first person narrative, offsetting Victor’s seedy world with enough interior monologue to both propel the plot and evolve the character. Don’t worry, Victor isn’t going to arc his way out of the sleaze, but he is going to ruminate on the effects of greed, corruption, and moral turpitude that sustain his practice.
Philly’s mean streets, long history, and leafy Main Line offer plenty of the ingredients for classic noir. Lashner puts us there without going overboard, always maintaining a certain ironic affection for the town. We see the world through Victor’s bloodshot eyes. It’s dark, murky, always surprising. Six years is too long to wait for the next one.