B Is For Beer

Tom Robbins is one of my favorite authors (Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, Villa Incognito and Still Life With Woodpecker are nearly perfect comedic novels).  His books are both well-written and hilarious and that is an awesome, but rare combination.

So, it seemed that if anyone could make beer making both funny and interesting, it would be Tom Robbins.  I was optimistic when I picked up his newest book - B Is for Beer.  It is described as a "children's book for grown-ups/grown-up book for children".  About beer.

Unfortunately, even the master was not up to the task.  As tasty as beer is and as terrific as his other books are, in B Is for Beer the making of beer is not that funny or interesting.  In fact, the book is down right boring!

This Is Where I Leave You

In the post-Thanksgiving carnage, if you are feeling like family is more trouble than it is worth, then This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper might be the cure.  By comparison, most situations might seem better.

While the book is moderately amusing (it is no Ant Farm by Simon Rich, however), I am most impressed by the creativity required to construct the most normal screwed up family ever.  Seriously, every character is a basket case and every relationship is a serious mess.

With dysfunction as a comedic platform, there are some funny bits.

When the narrator announces that his soon to be ex-wife (she was having an affair with his boss) is pregnant with his child the various family members have the following reactions:

Mom: If it's a boy, I hope you'll consider naming him for your father.
Linda: That's wonderful, Judd.  I think you'll be a great father.
Wendy: Jen is three months along?  She doesn't even have a baby bump yet.  You'd better make sure she's eating.
Phillip: Wade may have won the battle, but you won the war.  At least your boys can swim!
Tracy: That's wonderful, Judd.  If you frame this with a positive attitude, it will be the greatest experience of your life.
Paul: This means I might have to rethink my theory that Jen left you because you're gay.
Phillip: I'm going to be an uncle.
Wendy: Dumb shit.  You already are an uncle.
Phillip: I meant again.
Mom: Presumably, Jen's relationship with Wade is intensely sexual.  This could very well be the end of them.  Her priorities are going to change.  You could start fresh.
Barry: New York is preparing the documents.  We'll have to massage the interest rates a little bit, but we'll push it through.  Believe me, in this economy, everyone wants this deal to happen. (160)

Barry, the workaholic and totally checked-out brother-in-law, provides the most laughs.  It is too bad he leaves the book in the middle.

Can Yucel And Chuck Klosterman's Nemesis

There is a poem (or portion of a poem) called "Living Life in Reverse" that I wrote about here.  I really wanted to know the name of the author and an anonymous person posted a comment letting me know that the author's name is Can Yucel.

This answer was provided awhile ago, but at first review I thought it was a "Seymour Butts" (reminiscent of the Simpson's) type joke (i.e. I thought it was a joke/spam meaning "Can You Sell").  Anyway, that is not the case and after a quick look it seems Yucel is an interesting author and a very difficult Jeopardy! question.

Now, my other question should have been answered much more easily.  I wanted to know who Chuck Klosterman's nemesis is (as described in Killing Yourself to Live) and I wrote about that here.  As it turns out, his name is Rex Sorgatz (apparently).  Per his LinkedIn profile, he could definitely be included in a list of Minnesota digerati (even though it looks like he lives in NYC now).

But, I have to admit (after reading the profile), I am a little disappointed that Klosterman has no idea what Sorgatz does (unless that is part of the 15% of the book that is not true).

A Better Twilight

It is not because I was an early devotee of Anne Rice that I have not read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  While I do think that the idea that an old (yet hot) vampire would go to high school is silly, that is not the reason either. 

I cannot participate in this popular culture phase as it is simply too hard for me to keep track of all of the vampire stories flooding the media so I am banning them all.  I will not be watching any of the movies either (though I did, totally by accident, purchase the special People issue that was 100% devoted to Twilight the movie).

But, when I came across Twilight by Katherine Mosby, I decided to read Mosby's Twilight instead (despite my total resistance to all things Twilight).  It was so worth it.  Set in Paris at the end of the 30s, it is an excellent view in to the slow dissolution of civilization as world war approaches. 

In many ways, it reminded me of The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears, which was one of the best books ever. The Dream of Scipio is more comprehensive (it is set in more time periods), but both books are love stories with a back drop of collapse.

F Scott Was Kind Of A Dick (but zelda was worse)

Like a lot of people, I consider The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald to be one of the most perfect literary novels (meaning fiction that does not include time travel) in English literature. Plus, I find the 20s fascinating and generally like all novels and non-fiction set in or about this time period.

So, after reading Sometimes Madness is Wisdom by Kendall Taylor, it was disappointing to think that the nearly perfect literary novel was written by a horrible jerk. In addition, his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, comes across as one the most vapid and annoying people EVER! But, that is the portrait that Taylor draws.

I may need to read a different biography (or just stick to Wikipedia) or I may need to give up on literary biography completely.

Choose Your Own Adventure (for grown-ups)

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. I had a neat collection (all in order) and had a variety of strategies for making sure that I read each and every ending.

Flash forward to today, and Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton is the adult version (with a little bit of Sliding Doors). It is a great book (and I read all 150 endings).

One of the endings features the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. A quote from that ending is as follows:

The Walker Art Center is a series of large brushed aluminum buildings next to a sculpture garden, which has a giant fiberglass spoon holding and enormous red, ripe cherry. It's common knowledge that people like to have sex on that spoon. (467)

This is something that I did not know!

The Longest Day Of 2009

The summer solstice is just around the corner and every year around this time I think of The Great Gatsby.

This might be my favorite quote in all of fiction:

"Why candles?" objected Daisy frowning. She snapped them out with her fingers. "In two weeks it'll be the longest day in the year." She looked at us all radiantly. "Do you always watch for the longest day of they year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it." (16)

Me too!

Chuck Klosterman's Nemesis: Okay People, One Of You Must Know Him

Even though I have no particular affinity for rock criticism, Chuck Klosterman is one of my all time favorite writers. This is true despite the fact that I get very few of the references (more about this later).

I believe that everything he writes about actually happened.

Granted, Killing Yourself to Live is billed as 85% of a true story, but I still choose to believe it all. I believe he calls it that to be funny not because it is not really 100% true.

So, this is what I need to know. In Killing Yourself to Live, Klosterman refers to an unnamed person that he calls his Nemesis. There is some entertaining stuff in this area plus Klosterman details a shouting match and other conflicts.

In addition, he writes the following about his Nemesis:

My Nemesis asks me a few questions about why I am driving across America, but he is only mildly interested in my answers. He has a job that involves the Internet, and it sounds difficult and boring; I ask him questions, too, but barely listen to his answers. He's had this job for at least five years, and I still have no idea what he does. (159)

Here's the extra piece: Chuck Klosterman's Nemesis lives in Minneapolis.

Who is he?

The Nemesis must be roughly 37 years old, living in Minneapolis (originally from North Dakota) and working in "the Internet". This is not a long list.

Who knows him?

The Quote Of The Day By Way Of Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is packed full of quotes. One after the other and so on.

But, this one seemed to work for today:

I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library. (50)

It Is Not About Women Giving Up Their Careers

While it might be the case that The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer has one of the best titles in all of fiction, it is not one of the best "feel good" books in all of fiction.

Though, in all fairness, it is not that the book promises to be "feel good" (guess there is that). But, it does promise to be about choice in the vein of a fictionalized The Feminine Mistake by Leslie Bennetts (mentioned that here).

The description says that the book is about the "opt-out" generation (i.e. women who have promising careers who give them up to stay home with children).

After reading it, things change.

It is not really about that. In fact, it is not really about women (though, most of the characters are women).

The Ten-Year Nap is about massive "existential angst". And, believe it, every character has it (the women, the men and even the kids are so wound up they seem nuts). It scores a 10+ on the depression meter.

Killing Yourself To Live

Despite the fact that I could not have enjoyed Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman any more (wrote about that here) and I have had this book for years, I had not gotten to Killing Yourself to Live before last week. I finally read it.

Awe-some (insert inflection).

The book is worth (easily) five or six blog posts (mostly in quotes that I'll get to later). The thing is, however, that I am not a music person. This is funny to me because I don't really get half the references, but still absolutely adored this book.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

I was certain that the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was based on the Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (wrote about that here).

But, as it turns out, it is based on a short story (of the same name) that was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I need to investigate (starting with reading the short story).

The Varieties of Romantic Experience

I was attracted to the Varieties of Romantic Experience by Robert Cohen because I liked the title. It is a collection of short stories and it sounded like it might be one of those books that is like a yummy bag of jelly beans.

But, here is the problem. This book needs an edit. And, not an edit like the Reincarnationist by MJ Rose (which I wrote about here) needs editing. There are at least two typos in the first story alone. Really?

Quote Of The Day By Way Of Poetry

I have always been a fan of Robert Frost.

In light of the financial events of the past two weeks and the generally disapointing performance of both Presidential candidates at the debate, I keep coming back to one of his poems.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

The Perfect Summer

The Perfect Summer by Juliet Nicolson is awesome.

It is a tour de force of people and events in "England 1911, Just Before the Storm" and reads like a suped-up retro Twitter aggregate. I loved it.

"Twittering" from 1911 are a variety of well-known people (Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf and dozens others). But, the book also details less famous people whose stories could create a series of additional books such as Lady Diana Manners, Mary Macarther, Rupert Brooke or Elinor Glyn.

Plus, The Perfect Summer is littered with anecdotes of the time and place and the regular people who worked and played and lived and died that summer.

This is a must read.