What Are You Reading? (5 Viewers)

Well, Arkansas wrapped up nicely. The Big Reveal towards the end caught me by surprise, but was also very believable plot-wise and logic-wise. Solid crime/noir fiction of the American south. Fun but not really nourishing, either.

Currently reading The Art Of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Despite my love of baseball and respect for Buddhism, this shit is getting old at 400 or so pages in. Harbach's narrative voice is getting more clumsy as the novel goes on and he tends to over-explain scenes and details. But only 70+ pages left...

Looking forward to Train Dreams by Denis Johnson next.
 
I love a bit of Denis Johnson. Anyway - Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. I can't believe I only just got into this writer. I recently read The Postman Always Rings Twice as well. Great stuff.
 
Right now am getting through MINI: The true and secret history of the Making of a Motor Car by Simon Garfield. Before that Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt. And before that Dylan Thomas in America by John Malcolm Brinnin. And before that The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Obviously more time to read these days having given up on most other things.
 
Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt. And before that Dylan Thomas in America by John Malcolm Brinnin.

I'll have to check out the Orr book - being that Orr's blood is everywhere here in Boston.

Great read about Thomas too. I scored a nice first of that at a used book store for under $10. That's probably all it's worth, but you don't see that title too often at used book stores. Well, you don't see used book stores much these days either.
 
The Orr book is "unauthorized" as Bobby is very private (always a great impetus for writing a book). He doesn't even want his friends to help. If they do they're "unfriended". But it's still a pretty good read. The messiness of hockey back in the 1960s, bad knees, Alan Eagleson (bad actors). And I found it in a $2 bin. New.​
Used book stores are getting thinned out. Where I got the Dylan Thomas book used to have three stores in a six block area. Now only one remains. It actually had two copies. I went for the cheaper, $4 instead of $5.​
 
This piece in The Atlantic on The Art Of Fielding pretty much nails it. And I need to read some James M. Cain soon. I have the feeling I'll be slapping my forehead too and asking "Why did I wait so long to read this writer ?"
 
Eating some crow but I've been reading some Mellick lately and enjoying it. Thanks, Justin Grimbol. Satan Burger and The Cannibals of Candyland are some very interesting reads. This Bizarro genre might be worth a look. I owe you so I'll be looking up your latest book, The Crud Masters, as way of thanks for tuning me in to this misfit/driving 100+ with no safety-belt DUI fiction.


 
This is not, what I AM reading, but what I consider to read, but wanted to gather some oppinions before:

Has anybody ever read Malcolm Lowry?
Musta been one hell of a drinker. I've read somewhere, that it took him 10 years to write 'Under The Volcano' and the whole book was only about his drinking. Don't know if that's true though. But it sounds like an interesting guy.

Is he worth reading?
 
It's one of my favourite books but it is very wordy. Some might say overwritten. The movie directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney is good.
 
You and your fruits and berries ...
holistic-orchard-book.jpg
 
I am SO GLAD that I'm not the only one OBSESSED with Mr. Phillips! I used to send him email every day but he NEVER ANSWERS so I stopped FOR NOW. GROWING BEARD you should contact me and we can trade pictures of MJP. I have many that I have found by SCOURING all the corners of cyberspace. Maybe you have some that I don't.

I am also interested in other things. CONTACT ME and I will tell you more. Can't talk FREELY here.
 
Just started to re-read "The Monkey Wrench Gang." I first read it probably 25 years ago and really enjoyed it. Hoping I like it as much this time, now that I've entered my second childhood.

This is weird I was just trying to remember the name of the book that Neil Peart, the drummer from RUSH, recommened and here you are saying it. That was weird. So I second the motion that this is a good book. If you want to read an emotionally charged book that is heart breaking, read the Neil Peart book, "Ghost Rider." Neil deals with a soul crushing family crises by getting on his motorcycle and he keeps moving to keep from losing his mind.

I had other books to recommend but not many books that I know about personally are more powerful then this one.

I also just got done reading "Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life" which was recommended by skiroolamum. I hope I spelled that right.
 
I just got done reading Buk's "Absence of the Hero." I thought it was OK. It didn't have that hypnotic effect that his poetry books have on me. He was more or less writing like a regular writer in this book. There were some 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man and I had already read that stuff before. I'm I glad I got the book and read it? Sure. Sure. Did I think it was an awesome book? Not really. However if you're a Buk fan you gotta read all his stuff so you can be in the know. There were a few good stories in there and I'm glad I know about them now.
 
Finished, You get so Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense, on Kindle, on toilet. The only place I have the patience to read. Great stuff and I learnt about Li Po, but I still prefer Bukowski. Just started on the Bone Palace Ballet. Unfortunately I've been suffering from constipation for weeks and the beer isn't even helping, so not reading as much as I'd like.
 
This is true about reading on the toilet. It is bad for you. I had a biology professor back in 1982 or 1983 teach us about this. Without going into the details because it's sounds ridiculous when you try to explain it, but trust me you're not supposed to sit on a toilet seat unless your there to do your "business."
 
Well I've been doing this since I learnt to read about two years ago, so far no problem. Seriously though, when I finish my "business" I stop reading. The only problem with the kindle is, when you run out of toilet paper there's nothing to wipe your ass with.
 
Autobiography

In my childhood trees were green
And there was plenty to be seen.

Come back early or never come.

My father made the walls resound,
He wore his collar the wrong way round.

Come back early or never come.

My mother wore a yellow dress;
Gently, gently, gentleness.

Come back early or never come.

When I was five the black dreams came;
Nothing after was quite the same.

Come back early or never come.

The dark was talking to the dead;
The lamp was dark beside my bed.


Come back early or never come.

When I woke they did not care;
Nobody, nobody was there.

Come back early or never come.

When my silent terror cried,
Nobody, nobody replied.

Come back early or never come.

I got up; the chilly sun
Saw me walk away alone.

Come back early or never come.


- Louis MacNeice
 
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Wait Until The Spring, Bandini or Dreams from Bunker Hill. The Road to Los Angeles is good too (and funny) but rather than being a true part of the quartet it's more of a prototype for the other Arturo Bandini novels and the family characters etc. don't match up with the other books. They're all good though, in my opinion. His other novels / novellas are good too.
The chronological order of the quartet is: Wait Until The Spring, Bandini then The Road to Los Angeles followed by Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill
 
I've been reading the prize-winning submissions to The Paris Review. They're all terrible.

If the first paragraph of your story begins by informing the reader about how you were a Phd student at Stanford, please stop writing.
 
Are you going to read the other three Bandini's before any of his other work, Joseph K? I love them all, but my favourite is definitely Wait Until Spring Bandini. It's beautiful, bittersweet and it hurts reading it at times, you care so much for the characters.
One thing I discovered recently which delighted me, was that he was influenced by W. Somerset Maugham's book: Of Human Bondage when writing Ask The Dust (also brilliant).
I've posted a link for you, hope you like it, ( it's 6 mins or so and from the 1940's, rather than 1930's) documentary drive around the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles, where Arturo Bandini and of course, John Fante lived and worked. I love it; it just gives you a sense of place and time.

 
Well Sports Fans, I just got done reading "Pulp" and I see what everybody is talking about as to how it is not a very good book. My own feelings is that Buk was old, really old and he was just messing around. He was messin with us, the readers. I think he did this book for shits and giggles. He was just fartin around.

There were moments where he had me smiling or laughing so I am glad I read the book. I just ordered a used copy of "Shake Spear Never Did This" for 20 smakers. Me looking forward to getting that. I will drink coffee at my kitchen table while reading and I will glance to my right at times to see the squirrels and birds eating the seeds on the ground that I have thrown and there will be moments of joy in my life thanks to Mr. Bukowski.
 
Started reading Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, just into the third chapter but I am ready to jump ship, a friend gave it to me to read, saying I would like it, I hate to abandon a book, is it worth going on, it might be early days because it's pretty hefty?
 

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