Author: Chris

At the Beach with David Sedaris

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Well the wait is over. I rose to the top of our library’s hold list and am heading for the beach with David’s newest book, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.

Normally when I get a book of essays, I read the title essay first, then the first and last essays if they are not that, because I assume every entertainer/author wants to start and end with their best stuff. But in perusing this book, “Easy, Tiger” stopped me. (Maybe it was the “,”?) Anyhow, David finds himself about to land in Beijing without knowing a word of Mandarin. He shares his experiences with learning other languages for those big trips and they’re something most of us can relate to. So funny, I laughed myself into a coughing fit. Others I enjoyed include: “Day In, Day Out,” “Standing By,” and “Standing Still.” David seems to always offer up that perfect blend of shock and sweet. I still haven’t read the first or last essays (guess I’m saving the best for last) or the title essay, because there is none. Of course. However, the closest I found to one was “Understanding Understanding Owls.” (No, that’s not an error.) Don’t miss it!

~ Chris

At the Beach with Tina Fey

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After submitting my beach read for this very site the other day, in which I invited my favorite, funny author (David Sedaris) to share my beach blanket, I thought how much fun it would be to spend my month of blogging inviting more of my favorite funny authors to catch some rays. Of course, I had to invite the witty, charming, infinitely amusing Tina Fey, who recently authored Bossypants—a wonderful, warm memoir that’s filled with good times. After all, how could anyone possibly be bored with the woman who created all those hilarious SNL skits and silly 30 Rock shows? And when she shows up as Sarah Palin, a fun day at the beach doesn’t get any better.

~Chris

Top Ten of 2012

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Here are some of the books I loved in 2012 and why:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon—for reminding me of the magic of books and their powerful impact on my everyday

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon—for continued, masterful storytelling

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon—for brilliantly twisting the narrative of the characters and places I’ve grown very fond of—extra points for the Cemetery of Forgotten Books!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn—holey moley

Girl Walks Into a Bar by Rachel Dratch—as funny as I expected

This Will Make You Smarter by Edited John Brockman—for over 150 scientific concepts (had to pass on some) but each typically two- to three-pages long so enough to give me something to ponder without making my head explode

The One World School House: Education Reimagined by Salman Khan—made me want to go back and do it all over again

Portrait of a Novel by Michael Gorra—written like fiction about the creation of one of my favorite fictions, The Portrait of a Lady

Canada by Richard Ford—for his style

Kayak Morning by Roger Rosenblatt—for helping me feel the healing powers of nature

~ Chris

FSG Gets My Vote

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In All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith, the author, frustrated by a bookseller in Guayaquil having to search for Austen’s books in numerous places throughout the store asks “Why aren’t all the Austen titles in one place?”  When told that the books are organized by publisher, she responds that most people care about the author, not the publisher. Keyword most.

I’m one of those readers who very often checks to see what my favorite publisher—Farrar, Straus and Giroux—has brought out recently when I’m searching for a good read. Reason being that many years ago when reading a book that really moved me, I’d stop and look to see who published it. Very often it was FSG.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux is known for its international list of literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s books and has won numerous National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and twenty-two Nobel Prizes in literature. They were the first to publish my life-long favorite, Joan Didion. More FSG authors I’ve enjoyed include Hermann Hesse, T.S. Eliot, Pablo Neruda, Czeslaw Milosz, Joseph Brodsky, Michael Cunningham, Jonathan Franzen, Jamaica Kincaid, Marilynne Robinson, Alice McDermott, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Susan Sontag and Tom Wolfe. And I’ve always savored the writing of Thomas Friedman and John McPhee.

Since I often go to http://us.macmillan.com/FSG.aspx/ to discover new authors as well as new titles, I think I’ll do that right now.

~ Chris

At Home with Edith Wharton

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Twenty years ago when I attempted to visit the Mount, Edith Wharton’s country home in Lenox, Massachusetts, it was going through a major renovation, so I was only able to walk around the grounds and admire the exterior. You can imagine how happy I was to see that Vogue’s big, fat September fashion issue features an 18-page spread of the Mount and surrounding areas. Don’t miss it. You’ll see models posing as Wharton, Henry James and Morton Fullerton in this luxurious setting, doing what the creatives did back then—write in bed every morning with their little dogs by their side (that always tickled me), gather in heavily draped drawing rooms, enjoy a secluded picnic, etc.  Of course, photographer Annie Leibovitz captures the beauty of the era like no other. I’m inspired; I’m off to reread The Age of Innocence.

 

~ Chris

Groovy

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I couldn’t leave for San Francisco without re-reading (for possibly the twentieth time) “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” the title essay in Joan Didion’s collection of essays written between l961 and l976. Like many of the essays, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” dwells on the social upheavals of the ‘60s, concentrating on a specific area, Haight-Ashbury—home to runaways, flower children, hippies. Through a series of interviews and conversations with the locals, Didion captures that decade perfectly and memorably. It’s hard to believe that it was written in 1967—forty-five years ago. Well, the travel book said that there are still some aging hippies hanging around the Haight, and judging from the photos, the atmosphere still lingers. I know my sisters and I will enjoy the journey back. Peace.

~ Chris

Meet Michael Koryta

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If you’re in the neighborhood, we welcome you to Rocky River Public Library to meet Michael Koryta on Tuesday, August 7, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. He’ll be talking about and signing his newest novel, The Prophet.

One of the best young thriller writers at work today, Koryta brings us perhaps his greatest novel. It’s a superbly plotted, suspenseful crime novel that tells a frightening tale of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary situation.

Koryta’s probably best known for his Lincoln Perry Series including Tonight I Said Goodbye (Winner of the Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel Award and Great Lakes Book Award, Best Mystery), Sorrow’s Anthem, A Welcome Grave and The Silent Hours. His other novels include Envy The Night (Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Mystery/Thriller), So Cold the River, The Cypress House and The Ridge. Additionally, three of these books have been named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and two have been optioned for film.

Hope to see you at Rocky River Public Library on August 7 at 1600 Hampton Road in Rocky River, Ohio.

–Chris

Checking Out Titles

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There’s nothing like a good title that tempts me to take down a book from the shelf, scan it, and consider taking it home. What makes a title good? To me, it’s one that makes me wonder. Looking around now, I see a number that do/did just that: Chango’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes, Edge, Bed, A Visit from the Goon Squad, The Buddha in the Attic, Baking Cakes in Kigali, Sing You Home, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  A few of them I’ve reached for in the past, read, and felt that they’ve lived up to their titles; some not so much. One title that doesn’t stand a chance with me is one with a pun. I’ve heard authors talk about slaving over the perfect title; heard others mention that their editors came up with it; and one even said that he narrowed his options by flipping coins. So there you have it. And if we’re not familiar with the author, that’s all we have to go on. Unless you’re into arresting graphics.

─Chris

Mona & Steve

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I knew of Mona Simpson long before I knew of her long-lost brother Steve Jobs. I was reading her first novel, Anywhere but Here in ’86 along with my friends and we were very excited about her work. Not only did she have a novel out at 26 years of age, but she was working at The Paris Review. Cool. Mona went on to write, and we went on to read, A Regular Guy, Off Keck Road, and most recently, My Hollywood.

During the time she went from being a struggling writer to an award-winning one, she was also developing a close relationship with her computer-genius brother, Steve Jobs. How lucky for them to connect in 1985 and befriend each other, even if it was only for 26 years.

I think of what their biological mother must feel having given up her son for adoption at birth only to find out later that he had become Steve Jobs. His biological father never found out; Mona met him when she was an adult. Yet, they were the natural parents of two extraordinarily gifted people. Now there’s a story.

─Chris

Top Ten of 2011

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These are some of the books I loved in 2010 and briefly why:

Bossypants by Tina Fey because we laugh at the same things

Starting From Happy by Patricia A. Marx for two totally lovable characters

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain for a believable and unique take on Hemingway

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks—interesting and smart

Ladies and Gentlemen by Adam Ross because “how does he come up with this stuff?”

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides for a good story that feels real

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt for a beautiful rendering of family love

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes—wow

I Thought You Would Be Funnier by Shannon Wheeler because these cartoons are still playing in my head weeks later

Blue Nights by Joan Didion because it’s by Joan Didion.

—Chris