NPR’s Fresh Air just featured Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno’s collection of poems, Slamming Open the Door, which was published earlier this year. The book concerns her life after the murder of her daughter, Leidy, who was killed in her apartment six years ago. She had been strangled to death.
Archive for July, 2009
Trailer for The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Swedish author Stieg Larsson died suddenly in 2004 of a massive heart attack – he was 50 years old. It’s sad anyone dies so young, but there is something especially unfair when that light is snuffed out as it is beginning to burn its brightest, and Larsson’s books did not begin to enjoy worldwide attention and critical notice until after his death.
After the smash success of the first in the Millennium series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, everyone has been buzzing about The Girl Who Played with Fire, just released in the US.
Here’s the new trailer for it!
A book about parking lots sells for $1,200
Friday, July 31st, 2009
The one of the most interesting aspects of this job is that I learn something about books every day.
Today, I am learning about a book called Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles by Ed Ruscha and Art Alanis.
AbeBooks sold a first edition copy signed by Ruscha for $1,200 earlier this week. A book about parking lots (car parks in my language) for $1,200 dead presidents – who’d have thought?
Of course, artlovers (and art isn’t my forte) will know that Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles is a famous photography book from 1967. Ruscha, the artist, commissioned commercial photographer Alanis to take aerial shots of empty parking lots around the city. The pair flew around and around Los Angeles in a helicopter searching for eye-catching spaces of grid-patterned tarmac on a Sunday morning before the parking lots filled up.
There are images of lots by offices, film studios, Dodger Stadium – the world’s biggest car city without any cars. Ruscha was one of the driving forces behind the Pop Art movement. Another of his classic photography books is Twentysix Gasoline Stations from 1963.
Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer is Up
Thursday, July 30th, 2009HOORAY! The trailer for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox is up! This has so much going for it. Wes Anderson directs some of the best movies out there – Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket – all really excellent movies. AND, written by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, The BFG and many more – one of the most beloved children’s book authors out there.
Stop-motion animation (awesome!) with the voices of Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston and more – I AM VERY EXCITED.
Now, the trailer!
Book-Themed Ice Cream? Yes Please, Ben & Jerry!
Thursday, July 30th, 2009They’ve done rockstar ice cream (Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road), so why not library-themed, book ice cream?
Over 4,000 people on Facebook have joined a group to support the initiative and try to encourage ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s to create the literary sweet treats. Name suggestions so far have included Malt Whitman, Li-berry Pie and the Gooey Decimal System, among others.
The reasoning (other than the obvious general awesomeness) behind the idea is to help raise the public profiles of libraries in a time when they really need it. Sounds delicious – count me in.
And suggestions from your friends at AbeBooks:
Jack Caramel-ac’s On the (Rocky) Road;
James and the Giant Peach Cobbler;
Banana Karenina;
War and Reese’s Pieces; and
Crime and Punishmint-chocolate-chip.
So come on then you literary, ice-cream-loving punsters….what else?
New Adrian Mole Book out in Paperback
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
For those of us who remember reading about the unfortunate British teenager Adrian Mole – his love of Pandora, his desperation for sex, his awkwardness on rollerskates, his terrible attempts at fashion, and his old friend Bert, rejoice!
The newest Adrian Mole book by Sue Townsend – called The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole 1999-2001 is now available in paperback, and is just as witty, self-deprecating and hilarious as the earlier installations.
Betting on the Booker
Thursday, July 30th, 2009With the Booker long list not even a week old, speculation is already rampant. When picking your favourites there are a few ways you can go about it. The first would be the traditional approach – reading the whole long-list and choosing what you think is the best book.
This would a great method in theory but in practice you reach a bit of a snag when you attempt to peruse Summertime by J.M. Coetzee or Love and Summer by William Trevor, and find that neither will be available until the fall, so unless you have friends in high places and can find yourself an advance reader copy you may be up a creek.
The next option is to trust the boys down at Ladbrokes. When it comes to sports following the numbers is usually a fairly safe bet, however in literature the bookies never seem to get it exactly right. I would atempt to argue their thinking this year but the book they’re favouring is the Coetzee offering (at 3/1) and since I can’t even read it I would be hard pressed to say I have a better understanding than they do. The Guardian published an article yesterday with the full rundown of the bookies picks, which I shall provide for you here.
Bookies’ Booker Picks
1. J.M. Coetzee (3/1)
2. Sarah Walters (5/1)
3. Colm Toibin (6/1)
4. William Trevor (6/1)
5. James Scudamore (8/1)
6. A.S. Byatt (10/1)
7. Samantha Harvey (10/1)
8. Adam Foulds (10/1)
9. Sarah Hall (12/1)
10. James Lever (16/1)
11. Hilary Mantel (16/1)
12. Simon Mawer (20/1)
13. Ed O’Loughilin (20/1)
Now if I were a betting man, I would not follow the bookies’ money but the bookish money. The final method would be to watch the sales and purchase price for first editions and signed copies from Booker long-listers which might give an early indication as to who the booksellers and collectors think has the upperhand. Obviously Coetzee and Trevor cannot be included in this list because their books are not yet available but so far it looks like The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt might be a good candidate as the dark horse. She ranks second in sales to Heliopolis by James Scudamore on AbeBooks, but collectors are picking up lots of signed first editions, which have been selling briskly up to the $100+ mark where Scudamore is only selling reading copies.
Top 10 bestselling Booker Prize Long list nominees on AbeBooks
1. Heliopolis by James Scudamore
2. The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
3. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
4. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
5. The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
6. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
7. The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
8. How to paint a dead man by Sarah Hall
9. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
10. Not Untrue & Not Unkind by Ed O’Loughlin
As usual, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
91-year-old Out-Reading Library Supply
Thursday, July 30th, 2009“Avid reader” seems a misnomer for 91-year-old Louise Brown. At a staggering 25,000 books borrowed from her local library, “voracious reader” seems more apropos.
Over the years, Louise has read at least six books a week and more recently, that has escalated to 12 books. Problem is, she’s now out-reading the library’s collection.
What amazes me is during 60 years of borrowing from the library, she’s never had one overdue fine! Not a shilling, not a bob, not a pound or a pence has this woman had to pay for returning a book late. In about half that time, I’ve shelled out enough to launch my own library.
I admire Louise, I truly, truly do.
New Life for Old Books – The Artwork of Su Blackwell
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009The Telegraph has a feature on Su Blackwell an artist who makes amazing paper models from old books. Drawing inspiration from the book’s subject or a picture or some phrase she’s picked out of the book, Blackwell creates her spectacular pieces of art which sell for up to £5,000 each.
Lucky girl – she’s an artist AND has to read books for her work!
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal – Author Defends Book
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
It’s no accident! My book is a non-fiction narrative in my own unique style! That could be what author Ben Mezrich’s FaceBook status message states.
Mezrich is facing criticism for his book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal which details the creation and rise of the popular social networking site. Reviewers of the book are saying that it’s a fictionalized account of the founding of FaceBook and not a non-fiction work.
Mezrich defends himself saying, “It’s a non-fiction book. It’s a true story. I am a narrative non-fiction writer in a way that other people don’t write. I’m trying to create my own genre of non- fiction.”
FaceBook’s spokesman counters, “Ben Mezrich clearly aspires to be the Jackie Collins or Danielle Steele of Silicon Valley.”
Mezrich is insistant that he followed standard journalistic practice yet he apparently didn’t interview Mark Zukerberg, the founder of FaceBook. Critics also say thta Mezrich doesn’t properly explain how Zuckerberg transformed from a somewhat anti-social student to a huge internet success.
Ben Mezrich speaks with Bloomberg about The Accidental Billionaires:
Worst, childrens book, ev-var
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
The American Scene is having a “friendly” debate about the worst children’s books ever.
At first I was about to pounce on the Brothers Grimm… citing all of the murder, torture, disease, and misery (and right before bedtime). But then again *I* grew up on Grimm’s Brothers and I think I turned out just fine, now didn’t I?
So after a small think, I realized true evil lies not in the hard life lessons the plague has to teach but the god awful fluff like the Pokey Little Puppy, the Babysitters Club, and that entire “genre” of corporate product placement books for kids. You know the ones that you know were only created as a means to sell more candy and plush toys… Now that is what makes me want to wretch.
What’s your vote?
Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s book Gets it Through Her Thick Skull
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Remember in 1992 when a scuzzy mechanic from New York had an affair with a scuzzy 17-year-old girl who then shot his wife in the face?
If you said “God, no!”, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, the sleazy story of Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher (the Long Island Lolita) that screamed all over the tabloids is unfortunately still taking up precious memory space.
The wife in question, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, didn’t die after being shot in the face. She was partially deafened and suffered some facial paralysis, but she made it through. And now, 17 years after the whole incident, she’s published a book, the horrifically titled “Getting it Through My Thick Skull” (did I mention she was shot in the face?). The book’s full title is Getting It Through My Thick Skull: Why I Stayed, What I Learned, and What Millions of People Involved with Sociopaths Need to Know. About the book:
Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s anonymous life as a suburban wife and mother in sleepy Massapequa, New York, on Long Island, ended in May 1992, when she was shot in the head on her own front porch. The ‘Long Island Lolita’ saga sparked a media frenzy that has not died to this day. As the years passed and Mary Jo steadfastly stood by her man while Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher continued to make headlines, one question lingered in the minds of women everywhere: Why did she stay for so long? In Getting It Through My Thick Skull, Mary Jo finally answers that question fully and convincingly. The answer is simple, yet it took almost three decades of turmoil: She was married to a sociopath. And while Mary Jo’s face and story are known all over the world, she’s just one of countless women who have become similarly enmeshed with a partner who wreaks utter havoc on the lives around them.
Using her own experiences, Mary Jo helps readers determine if they are indeed involved with a sociopath and offers hope and help for them through her tragic and triumphant life lessons. In addition, readers will be inspired by Mary Jo’s comeback: A true reclamation and re-creation of her life from the inside out. Through private details of the resiliency and rebuilding she has forged over the past sixteen years, Mary Jo shares with readers for the first time:
-Her addiction to painkillers and her recovery through the Betty Ford Center
-Her overdue decision to leave Joey and start over again on her own in California—3,000 miles from her support system
-Taking control of her physical, spiritual, and emotional health and learning to feel attractive and in control again, despite the scars and trauma of the gunshot
-Her highly controversial and public forgiveness of Amy Fisher
-The new love in her life and how she found the courage to trust, believe, and find hope in a committed relationship once again
Not my cup of tea, but good for her for getting out of there and getting on with it.
Amy Fisher, now a porn star with three children, wrote a book too, called If I Knew Then…
I imagine the full title to be “If I Knew Then…. I Wouldn’t Have Slept with a Gross Friend of My Father’s, then Shot His Wife in The Face”.
Booker Prize long list
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009The Man Booker Prize judges have announced this year’s long list, paired down from 130 novels.
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
How to paint a dead man by Sarah Hall
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
Me Cheeta by James Lever
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Not Untrue & Not Unkind by Ed O’Loughlin
Heliopolis by James Scudamore
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Love and Summer by William Trevor
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
