The Confessions Of Max Tivoli

Having long been an enormous Indiana Jones fan, I was surprised that it took me so long to see the new movie. But, I was even more surprised by one of the trailers that preceded it.

The trailer I saw did not give the movie a title, but it is certainly based on the book The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (which I first wrote about here). I am totally trilled that this book is being made in to a movie (with Brad Pitt!). Greer is an amazing creative genius. If the script is faithful to the book, I am certain the movie will be terrific.

Next up, I will have to read The Story of a Marriage (also by Greer).

The Enchantress Of Florence Will Have To Wait

When I heard Salman Rushdie talk about his book Shalimar the Clown on NPR I bought it immediately. I mean right away (that day). In hardcover. In 2005. What do I have to say about it? Nothing. I still have not read it.

So, having just had a similar experience (again, NPR is the culprit) with The Enchantress of Florence, I have decided to wait for the paperback version. The thing is that I have never read any of Rushdie's books. Ever. I don't even know if I would like them.

As a result, I'll definitely buy it, but will wait until it is 20% off and in paperback.

What Do The Cigarette Girl, Shopgirl And A Random Diary From Ebay Have In Common?

Despite a variety of good reviews, I avoided Shopgirl by Steve Martin for a long time. I avoided it not because I thought Steve Martin couldn’t write a novella, but because it seemed a little unfair that he was a great comedian and a great serious writer.

But, eventually, I picked it up and it is a terrific read (short, to the point and observational). What I liked best about it was the way that Los Angeles is evoked. In that sense, it was super similar to The Cigarette Girl by Carol Wolper, which was also excellent.

What about the diary? Well, on eBay there is a brisk trade in other people’s diaries (true story) and I bought one once. It was written by a woman living in LA in the 30s and I have to say that the LA she describes produces some of the same images (albeit 30s style) as both Martin and Wolper.

This Just In From Oprah

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the newest Oprah’s Book Club selection. Set in the Caribbean coast of South America, spanning multiple years, filled with a type of romance and beautifully written. And, yet, I have never been able to finish it. Ever.

I really want to read this book and, I swear, one day I will persevere, but I never make it past page 20 or so. I have started it so many times that I have basically memorized the opening sentence (which, I think, is one of the best lines ever written):

“It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.” (3)

It is the same story with 100 Years of Solitude by the same author (Oprah’s 2004 selection). But, worse, in the case of 100 Years of Solitude I have started it twice as many times!

Guy Kawasaki Reads Faster Than Me

(plus, he gets interviews sometimes.)

When it comes to non-fiction (and maybe fiction, but I am not sure), it seems that Guy Kawasaki is always out in front and cranking out the book reviews and author interviews.

Sometimes, I have already bought the book and am wondering when I am going to read it and “boom” Guy posts something about it on How to Change the World (his blog). Or, other times, I am reading as fast as I can, but he posts about it first so I never get to it (but, I plan to). But, mostly, I am wasting time discussing Lost with the Quip and not focusing on the books.

A couple examples (in order of his posting not preemption):

He interviewed Penelope Trunk who is the author of Brazen Careerists: The New Rules for Success on his blog here just when I was mulling over purchase. I did write about The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Phillip Zimbardo here, but Guy got the interview here while I was still waiting for the Amazon box to arrive. Again, he wrote a post here on Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston before I was even past page 30.

The list goes on and on.

"Antique, Illogical And Democratically Indefensible"

Recently, the Queen of England came and went (Carter had some interesting comments here in a post titled "Send the Queen Home").

Isn’t it totally absurd that any modern country has a heredity ruler (figurehead, whatever)?

Jeremy Paxon (author of On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families) was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a couple nights ago. Paxon called the monarchy “antique, illogical and democratically indefensible” (after about three minutes of a meager justification – some indecipherable stuff about the embodiment of a nation blah, blah, blah).

It really just makes no sense.

Comedy Central Sells Books (to me)

I have used a Tivo since 1999 and have no clue what time shows are on since I haven’t watched one while it was being broadcast in almost a decade (and not just because time-shifting is a cool term).

Despite that, I do know that Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report are back to back since they are tied together in between the two shows. As a result, I tend to watch them together.

In a single night I bought The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo and Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts by Clive James after learning about the first on the Jon Stewart show and the second on the Colbert Report.

I haven’t read either yet (and kind of wonder how Cultural Amnesia is different from The Creators: A History of Heros of the Imagination by Daniel Boorstin).

I hope that both books are worth the price of hardcover!