I don’t know about others (though the common default explanation is some variation of attention deficit) but my reading habits have seemingly transformed into something unrecognizable to the Me of just a few years agoperhaps even before the post-millennial chattering class preoccupation with announcing and sifting through the entrails of change, transformation, and what it all meant.
As an exercise in self-understanding/knowledge I decided to keep a list of what I have read in the past week. Now that I look at it, the only thing I can glean from it is that my primary literary preoccupation is no longer the novel, and in fact I don’t feel compelled to finish even the various texts I begin whatever their form or genre. One other thing, I have taken to leaving books in my car and whatever bag I schlep aroundso as not to get caught waiting in some queue or traffic jam without some sort of escape appliance.
Here’s the list, in no particular order, and arbitrarily annotated:
He Just Can’t Quit W by Frank RichRes ipsa loquitur.
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama by Frank RichRes ipsa loquitur.
A Strange Commonplace by Gilbert SorrentinoAn overlooked (you know what I mean) author that I had overlookedI’m going back for more.
Vote for Obama by Christopher HitchensEven when one thinks he is wrong, Hitchens is interestingly wrongmeaning his reasons and arguments are elegant if not rigorous.
Verbage by James WoodWood sees, to his great credit, something missed by homegrown pundits.
Serena by Ron RashRash is a wonderful storyteller, whose
One Foot in Eden is a masterful tale.
Angels and Ages by Adam GopnikI read the introduction to this
New Yorker staffer’s forthcoming book linking Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, both born on the same day in 1809, with great relish.
The Given Day by Dennis LehaneSo far the best of his oeuvre.
Indignation by Philip RothRoth is worth every moment you invest in him.
The King’s Last Song by Geoff RymanAs far as I got in this story within a story I was riveted.
Hard Man by Allan GuthrieOne of those Scottish crime stories increasingly finding its way into printI read it based on Thomas Perry’s blurb, which I should have read more carefullyyet I did finish it.
Our Dumb World by The OnionThe claim that this is the funniest ever is hard to argue with especially when you can’t stop laughing.
First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century by David LidaMeet Mexico City and the brave new world,
mi gente.
Mad Dog Palin by Matt TaibbiOi Veh!!!
The Brass Verdict by Michael ConnellyThough I avoid reading series, and I thought Connelly’s standalone
The Poet was his best work, I can’t stop myself from continuing to read his Harry Bosch novels. This time Bosch meets the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller.
Make-Believe Maverick by Tim DickinsonIf even a portion of this article is true then American corporate media, of which
Rolling Stone is a part, is worse than we all suspect. If not, one wonders how this stuff got published. —
Robert Birnbaum, Oct. 24, 2008