Giving kids books

If you have nieces or nephews or friends with kids, you will probably be giving kids books this Christmas. Like any other form of gift giving, it is hard to know what to buy. Kids books are particularly hard since kids can easily consume piles of books at the library. Here are some good new books that they might not have seen.

Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems. This is the sequel to the excellent Knuffle Bunny , which told the story of a young girl who loses her favorite stuffed animal and because of it speaks her first word. It has great art and will make the kids laugh. The sequel tells the story of a girls first friend, which of course involves the stuffed animal.

Diary of A Fly by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. Following Diary of A Worm and Diary of A Spider, Diary of the Fly presents the lives of insects in brief humorous anecdotes. The kids will request this one again and again.

Toy Boat by Randall DeSeve and Loren Long. An allegory for facing the sometimes scary outside world, this book tells the tale of toy boat that gets lost at sea. While the art can be a tad menacing, my kids loved it and I thought the story was charming.

No Christmas cards to send

The Ramones heyday predated the MTV era, which means their video production was scant. Not only that, but the selection is peculiar. Why does Howling at the Moon have a video, but not My Brain is Hanging Upside Down? In any case, here are many if not most of the Ramones videos up to the late 80s.

I Wanna Be Sedated. The one Ramones song you have probably heard too many times. It's not to the point of Jane Says, which I immediately turn off, but like How Soon is Now, it is the only song from a huge catalog that radio seems to like.

Rock and Roll Radio. One of the early videos that simply features the band playing. Notable primarily for the Phil Spector sound and Joey's rhythmic banging on the TV.

Rock and Roll High School. A contemporary to the thematically similar Don't Stand So Close to Me ( a highlight of which is Stewart Copeland throwing a ball at Sting) This one has more narrative action than Rock and Roll Radio. From the Rock and Roll High School film, we also have I Want You Around, which is a film clip, rather than a true video. This is notable for having PJ Soles as well as being perhaps the only example of a successful Ramones ballad.

Howling at the Moon. I think this is the first case where Joey overtly states his leftist ways, no doubt to the consternation of rightist Johnny. Odd video.

Psycho Therapy. From the under-rated Subterranean Jungle, this is one of the harder Ramones songs. The video starts off fairly weak and then gets increasingly bizarre. Starring the same guy from the Howling at the Moon video.

Pet Sematery. Decadence has set in by this point, but bright lights remain like this one. When considering going forward, they might have considered Jud Crandall's advice.

There is blog on our hands again

You may have heard of this horrific development. A man working on a book called Cannibal Instincts got a little too close to his subject matter. He is being accused of killing and eating at least three women. There are some gruesome details in the link.

Dumbledore likes the dudes. Those who already like the books will shrug and those that consider demonic will now start to froth at the mouth. Of course you think having no Potter is bad? Well, no Halloween either.

Have you wondered what it would be like if Vince Neill wrote a commentary on Marcus Aurelius's Meditations? Or perhaps you pine for Danzig's thoughts on the Tao Te Ching? While these treasures elude us, we can look forward to Gene Simmon's updating of Sun Zi's Art of War.

Interpol in PDX

Interpol played the Memorial Coliseum last night. It was good, but I really prefer the smaller venues. Seeing them at the 9:30 club was intense, sitting in a large arena, not so much.

Songwise, there was lots from the new album, including an excellent Pace is the Trick. The crowd was most excited for Antics songs. The singalongs were loudest for the likes of C'Mere and Slow Hands. Turn on the Bright Lights fans only got one or two, although I was happy that they played Say Hello the Angels. That is the one that sounds like a Smiths B-side so maybe it was a hat-tip to man about town Johnny Marr.

There was a synth, back-up vocals member in addition to the band regulars. He was wearing a Panama Hat which had me worried that they might cover Mambo No. 5.

Day of Battle

If you read books about the Second World War, put Rick Atkinson's The Day of Battle at the top of your pile. If you don't, this is a great place to start. The focus of the book is on the American Army experience in Sicily and Italy from 1943-44. The British, Polish, Canadian, Free French, and New Zealand forces are also covered, but the emphasis here is on the American forces.

The book is admirably balanced between the problems of command and the daily lives and deaths of the foot soldier. Like in other wars, early thoughts of being home by Christmas were broken on the realities of the Italian terrain. The many hills and valleys, poor roads and the in depth German fortifications made the war primarily a slow moving and grinding infantry war. Allied commanders often seem like World War One generals, perplexed by the tactical problems facing them and limited resources at hand. The increasingly desperate situation of the soldier on both sides is a major theme as well.

The book covers the near-disaster at Anzio, where a large army held onto to a postage stamp sized beachhead and failed to break-out for months. A Nazi radio propagandist called it the largest self-run POW camp in the world. Atkinson goes into great depth about the Cassino struggle. The casualty heavy attempts by Allied Armies to break the German lines and the pointless destruction of Monte Cassino are heartbreaking.

The book ends with a brief discussion as to whether the Italy campaign made sense at all. Atkinson briefly argues that it did, but the grand strategic context is not the heart of this book. It is instead a warning and a memorial about the costs of war.

Random

Nerd World has an anthology of the use of the Wilhelm, a distinctive scream first used in a 50s Western.

This movie looks fun, a bit like a evil Groundhog Day, but the trailer appears to give too much away.

Give this Killers cover of Joy Division's Shadowplay a try.

Here's a book for all your scatological gift giving needs.

Too much horror business

I chanced upon Then We Came to the End at the library today and my resultant cackling must have disturbed the other riders. The novel is a hilarious (and also existential angst inducing) look at office life. I generally don't do snippets, but this one is too good not to do it. This may only appeal to office worker types, but give it a try:

Ordinarily jobs came in and we completed them in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes fuckups did occur. Printing errors, transposed numbers. Our business was advertising and details were important. If the third number after the second hyphen in a client's toll free number was a six instead of an eight, and if it went to print like that, and showed up in Time magazine, no one reading the ad could call now and order today. No matter the could go to the website, we still had to eat the price of the ad. Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day. Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die.

Open up the seven seals, the beast has come to claim our youth

The Internet has something for everyone. If YouTube is too worldly for you, then perhaps you want GodTube. There is a good deal of diversity, as you can watch Creed videos, but you can also catch this guy drinking the Creed Haterade. Sadly, I could find no Danzig hating, maybe that is considered too easy.

This play on the PC/Mac commercials shows what evangelicals think of mainline protestants.

If at first you don't succeed

Reading the Day of Battle with its stories of mishaps at Anzio, Salerno and other Italian locales, I recalled a book that has long sat on my wish list, America's First Battles. The book looks at the first land battles of the US Army in conflicts from 1776 to 1965. In each case the first battle, such as Kasserine Pass, Manassas and Long Island, the US Army fared poorly and eventually developed into an effective force for that particular conflict. The book examines why this is the case. Iraq would make for an interesting inclusion in a future addition. In that case, a spectacular initial battle was followed by years of falling behind.

On the topic of Manassas, it is a little strange that the US Navy has a USS Chancellorsville, named after one of the greatest victories of the CSA over the USA. It's hard to think of other circumstances where the losing side is so honored. This site mentions that Churchill wanted an HMS Cromwell, but the Crown wasn't keen. Cromwell had to make do with a tank.

Bombing Bari

I tend to wrongly think that all the interesting World War 2 stories have already been told. In the Day of Battle, Rick Atkinson describes the German bombing raid on Bari which should get one of those wartime disasters treatments like the Curse of the Narrows or Halsey's Typhoon. The basic format of these books is that a combinations of mistakes, bad decisions and bad luck lead to horrific disaster and heroic response.

As this article describes, the Luftwaffe, considered a spent force in late 1943 Italy, managed a raid on the southern Italian port of Bari. Thanks in part to lax air defenses, the Germans bombed and sank a number of Liberty ships in the harbor. One of these ships was loaded with the chemical weapon mustard gas. The Allies wanted a retaliatory weapon in Italy in case the Germans went chemical. No one told local authorities so many died or suffered until the local medical crews understood what was happening. The port itself was flattened and many service- and merchantmen and civilians were killed or injured.

There is an out of print book on the subject, but this is a story that needs a new book.

Atkinson

I haven't finished the book yet, but I can say that if you have any World War 2 readers on your holiday list, then Rick Atkinson's the Day of Battle is a great choice. The author's clear, prose and focus on people as well as a avoidance of jargon and technical minutiae will help those with limited knowledge of the war enjoy the story. Those who've read more deeply will appreciate his exploration of the inter-service and international rivalries, the challenges of command and the story of an Army learning how to operate.

The development of the Army starting in North Africa, moving to southern Europe and then on to Northern Europe is the major story line of Atkinson's book. He pays a lot of attention to the senior and mid-level generals of the Army, emphasizing their leadership or lack thereof. This emphasis is nicely balanced by frequent discussion of the foot soldier and civilian view.

The book is a follow up to Army of Dawn and describes the American war in Sicily and Italy in 1943 to mid-1944. The other Allied forces in Italy are not ignored, but the emphasis here is on the American effort. I'll have more to say later, but this is a can't miss book for anyone interested in World War 2.

Hey Wow

The other day I visited a friend's house here in Portland and I was surprised to see a Connells poster. I associate the band with the 1980s Southern Alternative Rock scene that centered on IRS period REM, not so much in the Athens sense, but in the broader jangle guitar rock sound. Apparently they are still involved in said southern rock scene, as here they are playing my very own Norfolk's Town Point Park in 07. Equally strange, the drummer married one of childhood babysitters. Here is an actual video I missed for 74-75. Not my favorite, but reasonably representative.

Another band I associate with this scene is the dBs, and here is Amplifier which remains an excellent song and a decent video to boot. The very good Like This has been reissued which has Amplifier and my other fave Spy in the House of Love.

Ok, so I made up the category of southern alternative rock, but that is how it is organized in my head.

Very Large World War 2 Histories

I have Max Hasting's Armageddon on my bookshelf and I plan to read it soon. On the World War 2 front, Rick Atkinson's Day of Battle is first in line, so Mr. Hastings will have to wait. I can see my Very Large History pile growing as Hastings has yet another one coming called Nemesis, the Battle for Japan 1944-45. It's UK only and the Antony Beever (Stalingrad, Fall of Berlin) review is one of those that talks about the subject matter instead of the book itself.

More Chiang

When it comes to buying, some books are for true fans only and Ted Chiang's The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate qualifies. Now this is a great story, that I think most short story readers would like. So why can't I recommend it for purchase? Because it is 50 short pages at $25. You can read it in about 15 minutes. Of course, this puts it in graphic novel territory, so maybe that price is reasonable to some. The book is published by Subterranean Press which specializes in creating lavishly illustrated editions.

Chiang's short story is out of print, so if you can get it at the library, then by all means do do. It is a story about fate and attempting to manipulate time to get what you want. It is about as good as the stories found in Stories of Your Life And Others, but it doesn't exceed them. Given that Stories is one of the finest short story collections available, this isn't a bad thing.

We sell them guns, we sell them tanks

I had heard that Charlie Wilson's War was being made into a movie (trailer here), but I didn't know it had Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. All the better to get people into a foreign policy movie. While Steve Coll's Ghost Wars is the definitive book on American involvement in Afghanistan from 1979 to 2001, the late George Crile's Charlie Wilson's War is one of the most entertaining books about foreign policy that you will ever read. The trailer will give you a sense of the oddity that was Rep. Charlie Wilson.

Seeing the Light

There are some books where it is easy to identify why you like. In Berlin Noir, Philip Kerr builds claustrophobic feelings about life in Nazi Germany. In Straight Man, Richard Russo manages to be hilarious while providing deep character studies. It's much harder to pin down what is great about M John Harrison's Light.

It is pitched as space opera, but it isn't really a space opera book, despite a few well-written space battles and a wild future frontier built around a singularity. It is much more about three characters and their struggles to deal with themselves. None of them is particularly appealing, one is a serial killer, one is emotionally stunted personality integrated into one of most powerful warships in human space and the third is a virtual reality junkie.

The serial killer exists in 1999 and the other two stories are told in 2400. The connections between the three are slowly revealed and are not obvious. Harrison is not one to spell things out for you. He leaves much unclear, about the people, the future and even the state of reality.

It is Harrison's abilities as a stylist that sing here. He is as excellent describing a lonely beach as he is at aliens, and he is just as happy to write as each. The ideal audience for him is a relative rarity, appreciators of good writing who are comfortable reading science fiction. Mainline science fiction fans may balk at his many diversions, while sci fi hating lit readers will have a hard time getting past the space scenes.

A really good cover

I gave a few songs from Guilt by Association, the indie rockers cover 70s-80s tracks album, but none have grabbed me like Mike Watt's Burnin' For You. The 70s guitar sound (yes I know the song is from 81, but it may as well be from 76) the over-the-top rocker singing style and most importantly the Petra Hayden back-up vocals make this a can't miss cover.

As deep as any ocean, as sweet as any harmony

My school's acronym was SFS, which people joked stood for Safe From Science, due to the lack of any math or science requirement. So I took few science classes then, aside from a course on nuclear weapons technology. I regret this, as I find science fun and enriching, but I do have trouble finding books that aren't geared towards specialists or written at too basic a level. I've just started Natalie Angier's The Canon, which is meant to provide an understanding of some core concepts of scientific thinking and learning. This got me thinking about the science books which do speak to the educated non-specialist. Here are some that I found enlightening.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. A brief explanation of evolutionary theory. Told remarkably well and without the heavy anti-religious tone that has dominated some of his recent work.

The Moral Animal by Robert Wright. This one is about sociobiology which is where evolution crashes into sociology.

The Whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris. This is a lucid book about a challenging topic, cosmology, or the study of the universe and how it began and operates.

It feeds the rich while it buries the poor

If you want a crisp look at the moral and political challenges of living with terrorism, then read Marvel Comics Civil War. Every few years, the major comics companies shake up their lines and provide a macro-context with a major event. These are generally said to change everything, and sometimes they really do.

In this case, a superhero vs. villain battle leaves hundreds dead, and in response the government wants to register all superheros. Some go along and others resist the increase in state power. The choice is that between security and freedom and it is not obvious where the line should be drawn, in real life or in this comic. As in real life civil wars, the conflict becomes increasingly violent and each side takes measures they wouldn't consider in peacetime.

The art in the book is excellent and I thought the characterization was good, but I am not an avid comics reader, so I have little opinion on the specifics for each character. It was fun to see the battles between Iron Man and Captain America, the leaders of the opposing camps. There are a number of tie-in stories which provide more context to the overall story and I will certainly be reading them.

Books at the airport

If you are stuck in ATL, as I was this last Sunday evening, might I recommend you head to Terminal B? The bookstore there has an extensive selection, so you won't have to read John Grisham or flip through magazines for hours on end. If you go to the other terminals you are likely to read Grisham or one of his grocery store rack friends. ATL's no PDX with three Powell's locations, but it's good you can find something decent.

This blog post notes the airports, including Portland, where you can find used books. There aren't too many. I have been to the one in Raleigh Durham, which is quite good.

In the shadow of the moon, Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh served as a LA police officer was one of the first writers to use a more realistic approach to writing about police work. His newest book, Hollywood Station, is his first book in ten years and it is a well balanced mix of black humor and suspense.

The story centers around the LAPD Hollywood Station and it has a mix of colorful policeman including two surfer-cops, the grizzled sexists serving with female cops, the wannabe actor cop and the over his head newbie. The first half of the book is made up of alternatively humorous and grim stories of life on the police force. This is something Wambaugh emphasizes, when the police go on a call, they don't know if someone is going to try to kill them or present them with an outlandish situation. He also uses this section to detail the effects of Federal oversight on the post-Rampart scandal LAPD.

Just as the book seems to be little more than a collection of anecdotes helping us to understand the world from the cop's point of view, Wambaugh rolls out a tightly constructed suspense plot line involving meth addicts and Eastern European gangsters. Wambaugh toys with the reader, setting up tense situations only to release and then finally hitting the reader with the finale. This reminded me how little suspense is created in modern mysteries, the emphasis being more on creating gritty realism, providing surprises or further developing characters.

A number of mystery writers, especially the gritty and LA-centric ones, cite Wambaugh as a key influence and this book is prove that he still has it.

Disappointing

Global warming should be an ideal topic for science fiction. For one, science fiction does a nice job of talking about extreme events and the possible preventative action, consequence management and recovery. For another, science fiction does disaster quite well. And finally, science fiction writers love to show scientists as interested, committed, world-changing people.

With all of this I had high hopes for Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Days of Rain. While it had good parts, the author's tone was off-putting, to the point of my actively disliking the book. This is an impressive achievement as the author was trying to make points with which I basically agree. He promotes the value of public service and of science and he says we need to actively work on preventing and/or mitigating global warming.

His tone is hectoring, condescending and patronizing against nearly everyone (aside from Buddhist monks) who decide not to be scientists. Rather than trying to convince anyone, Robinson just slings a lot of mud. And then he has long passages to show how wise scientists are, only to wonder why everyone can't be like them. The writing in general is weak and the story is a bore. Stay away.

She keeps nagging at ya night and day, enough to drive ya nuts

In The Devil In White City, Erik Larson told the story of a brutal serial killer living amongst the splendor of the World's Columbian Exhibition. In Thunderstruck, Larson uses the same template, telling the tale of Marconi's development of an usable radio system counterposed with the story of the murderer Dr. Crippen. While the stories are considerably more related in this book than in Devil in White City, they themselves are a bit less compelling overall.

The story of Marconi's radio is like that of a dot-com engineer/entrepreneur. Equipped with great intelligence and daring, but limited social skills, Marconi ignored prevailing scientific theory and tinkered with radio until he got it to work. Having gained fame and fortune he then attempted something even more difficult, the transmission of radio across the Atlantic. Most of his story is centered on this, and while it is well told, Larson struggles a bit with keeping the story going over the number of pages he gives it.

I found the Crippen story to be a bit dry, especially when compared to the gruesome tales in Devil. Essentially it is the story of a unhappily married couple, with a bad end. Again, Larson is a skilled writer who gives excellent detail about life in Edwardian England and the social circumstances in which the Crippens lived. I found myself anxious for the action to begin in this story.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I am hesitant to recommend it. It is so similar in organization and theme to Devil, that if you have that book, it is likely to disappoint and if you haven't, I would steer you to the prior book. If you like Larson's engaging story telling style and you have an interest, but not a specialization, in Edwardian England, then it may be right for you.

If you have five seconds to spare...

I'd run into the name Ted Chiang on science fiction sites for many years, all referencing his Stories of Your Life And Others. I'm a bit leery of short story collections as I don't think the best means of reading them has been invented yet. Then I saw it a copy at Powell's and I went ahead and got it. I'm happy to say the advocates are right, this is a great collection.

Chiang's stories are well constructed tales generally about perception or the mind. They also ask odd questions like what if the Biblical view of the world was correct or what if angels came to Earth in all their terrifying splendor. That story Hell is the Absence of God is a wonder. People joke about God acting in mysterious ways and he certainly does here. In that story as in others, Chiang shows a mastery of the hint and turn of phrase that leads to great surprises.

While the stories are full of wonder, the prose is spare. When describing the fantastic, Chiang describes it matter of factly, the better to examine what it would mean, for example, to be able to use more and more of one's brain.

I expect this volume would appeal to short story readers in general, as the science fiction elements are downplayed quite a bit. Haters will of course continue to hate.

Rockumentary

(via Pitchfork) Have a gander at this trailer for an upcoming movie about defunct indie rock band Silkworm. And I just realized the Pitchfork page has the trailer as well. Silkworm is one of the most under-rated indie rock, and I do mean rock, bands. The band broke up after their drummer died in a car accident.

Fans of hooks backed by thunderous rhythm sections need to own Firewater, which came out just as rock was taken over by the dread rap-metal fusion. Repent for your failure to recognize this one at the time by purchasing it now.

The song you hear in the trailer is Wet Firecracker, which is on Firewater. Touch and Go has MP3s as well.

And there stands REM

Stereogum lined up indie rockers to cover Automatic for the People. These aren't the play faster and less well covers we so often get. You may not like them, but at least they put some thought into them.

Speaking of music, I caught the National the other night. Mistaken for Strangers, Fake Empire and a number of songs that were new to me got the crowd going. I would say that it was a decent, but not great show. The stage presence was inward without the intensity of Interpol and a bit chaotic, not unlike the Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene.

The National is part of the welcome trend of multi-instrument bands that create, as NBK puts it, distinct moods. While I like a straight ahead rock song as much as anyone else, the current crop of indie mood rockers are so much more engaging.

God's Harvard

While the media attention on evangelicals and politics has declined along with Bush's approval ratings, it would be wise to continue to study this highly organized interest group. In God's Harvard, Hanna Rosin takes a close look at Patrick Henry College, the mission of which is to develop Bible-centric political leaders to change the DC, and the broader, culture from within.

Unlike many ideologically-incompatible reporters studying the evangelicals, Rosin avoids direct criticism, fear-mongering or caricatures in her writing. Instead, she lets her subjects, which include discontented as well as dedicated students, the visionary Chancellor and the staff speak for themselves. One of the strongest believers, the kind and thoughtful Derek gladly reveals viewpoints that would strike mainstream American readers as strange or even disturbing. His inability to see Bush as a potential political liability as well as an asset is odd, for a politics major, while his casual homophobia gives hints of pogroms.

A key tension that Rosin identifies is the desire to participate in and influence mainstream political culture, without oneself becoming influenced and changed. This plays out on the individual level, as students find life on the Hill to be less ideal than they hoped and on the institutional level as the school tries to balance intellectual rigor with Biblical orthodoxy. Like the Communists of the Mao era, the schools leaders move towards a degree of small "l" liberality only to swing rapidly rightward and expel any apostates.

One of the more interesting characters is a charismatic professor who clearly believes in the school's mission, but whose Jesuit-like intellectual challenges prove too much for the leadership. It's a testament to Rosin's skills that I felt great sympathy for a man whose views are most likely opposite my own pursuing a mission I oppose.

For those interested in the interplay between politics and religion, a story which isn't going away, this is an excellent read.

Book marketing

Rick Atkinson's Army at Dawn is one of best written and accessible accounts of the Americans at war. That book covers the War in North Africa in 1942-42. So I am thrilled about the good press for the follow-on volume, the Day of Battle, is getting. The book has quite the promotional website, with a trailer, and interactive maps of North Africa and Italy.

The maps are particularly helpful for military history. For non-specialists, the descriptions of multiple units moving across wide swaths of land is hard to comprehend without maps to detail the action. It must be expensive as far too few books in this category come with adequate maps.

Funny

In discussing the inevitable 00's retrospectives, the smart and funny Reihan Salam posts his candidate for the best advertisement of all time.

Short stories

Stephen King looks at the state of American short stories and calls it alive but not well. His solution? Buy the book he just edited. He notes you can also subscribe to the various journals and magazines that publish short stories, but this is an expensive proposition.

Short stories are a tough sell, as the authors are little known and reading short story collections is tough. Most include different authors and the switch of voice can be jarring. In the case of a single author collection, the range of quality tends to be a problem. I don't mind skipping a story or two, but if it gets too much, I put the whole collection down.

Internet journals that can maintain strict quality control may be the best means of distributing short stories. The costs to the publisher and reader are minimal and the short duration makes reading them online tolerable. At the very least it can help these writers develop some name recognition.

A few Sunday items

It's hard to tell from the trailer whether it will be any good, but the Signal is getting some buzz.

If you like free online games but want something a bit meatier than most, have a look at this.

George Packer has some good news about finally helping the Iraqis that have helped our Army and State Department.

Pop Songs 07 writes about Pavement's ode to REM and disagrees with SM about Time After Time.

Oh my

Are you female and peeved that you are unable to stand and safely pee? Well, check out this sales pitch for the Shenis (yes that is she-nis). Check out the website for Shenis poetry and the Shenis rap. Be careful, some strangeos (and perhaps your sysadmin) might consider this erotic as it features actual product use.

After the Wedding

The Danish film After the Wedding is a bit too lengthy and free with the quick cuts, but it provides a well acted, surprising story about the difficulties of confronting multiple obligations. Mads Mikkelsen, best known in the US as Le Chiffre, is Jacob, a Danish aid worker living in India. He is sent back to Copenhagen to finalize a major donation. Upon his arrival, the donor Jorgen, a seemingly aloof businessman delays the signing and offhandedly invites Jacob to his daughter's wedding. A surprise at the wedding leads to a vexing request from Jorgen.

I found the two male leads compelling and deciding which is the true protagonist isn't easy. They both have bad choices to make, but both make reasonable ones, with costs to each of them. As a study in obligation I think it works quite well.

On the downside the movie at two hours is about 20 minutes too long. The director is fond of mood setting shots, including a motif of living and dying nature, that is laid on a big thick at times. She also goes a little crazy with quick cuts, which I found distracting.

Letting my geek flag fly

Some years ago, Brunching Shuttlecocks published the Geek Hierarchy, which details the geeks who are looked down upon by other geeks. While it's not mentioned, somewhere low on the list must go People Who Play Four Hour Games about war between Sauron and the Free Peoples. Yes, along with other board games, I am happy to spend an evening playing War of the Ring.

Haters will laugh, but there is great tension in trying to hold back the Orcish hordes. In this game both Legolas and Gandalf died before the ring was destroyed. This game has to be good otherwise we wouldn't put up with the rules. I've played three times and I only just know think I can play it correctly.

All of this makes me want to go back and read the books, my memory of the story is confused by the movie, methinks.

Movie blogs

There are lots of good ones out there, but AMC has put out a few of note: Sci fi Scanner, Monster Fest, Shootout Blog, and the Future of Classic.

I guess they know, I'm not no company man

Have a gander at this disturbing trailer for Midnight Meat Train. Pluses include creepy look and feel and Vinnie Jones is the bad guy. Minus is that this is a Clive Barker story. I can't speak to Barker as a writer, although I think I read some of the Books of Blood back in my heavy horror reading days.

What I can speak to is the crappiness of Barker-based movies. Nightbreed is a true stinker and once you get past the gore of the Hellraiser films, there really isn't anything there either. To be fair, it is not as if the Stephen King-based movies have people cheering in the aisles.

Caligula would have blushed

Lydia Lunch's Paradoxia is a voyeur's delight, consisting of shocking stories from Lunch's history as a Magellan of sexual exploration. The tales, purportedly from her past and one hopes at least partially embellished, are varied and would give the editors at Penthouse pause.

The book is subtitled "A Predator's Diary," and this isn't exactly true. The classic vision of predator is a killer that hunts on weak victims. In her case, the appropriate image is the T-Rex battle of Jackson's King Kong. Lunch styles herself as essentially male in her aggressive, conquering sexuality and she tends to form with relationships with people as aggressive as herself. The results are often unpleasant. When she does get busy with the weak, she takes an almost mothering approach. Although she says that she always leans toward the bad side, this means the socially out of bounds, rather than the evil.

Lunch's prose is often appealing clear and unadorned. When describing sex, she gets appropriately over-heated, but she occasionally gets overblown when describing the mundane day to day of life on the fringes.

NYT loves Portland

I don't know if you have noticed, but the New York Times loves Portland, take a look at this article on the PDX dining scene. Long time Portlanders may grumble that they are portrayed as yokels who eyes were opened by outside wisdom, but aside from the that, it should please people.

Escaping the reading doldrums

I in one of those reading doldrums where nothing is working. I started New Stories From the South 2007, but found that short stories weren't clicking. I also tried P.J. O'Rourke's book on Adam Smith, and while it was funny, it just wasn't hitting the reading spot. These were both library books, and for me at least, the bar is not set very high for taking these home.

With new books, I tend to be certain about a desire to read them in the next few months. As it happens it might be years, but purchasing a new book requires an urgent element for me to buy it. Used books are the chance buys, the books that are probably worth it, but may end up going back to the store. With library books I need only the tiniest hint of a desire to read the book to take it home. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I am happy to do this, as often enough I find a gem. The downside is, I often end up with a pile of books I don't want to read, at that time at least.

Anyway, I found my groove with Thunderstruck, the follow up to Devil in White City, and Paradoxia, a autobiography of sorts by rocker-poet Lydia Lunch. So far it makes Motley Crue's The Dirt look it was written by clean living Ian McKaye. It includes a strange theory as to why the Coke bottle shape has changed over time.

Akashic books 10th Anniversary Event at Powells

On October 7 at 7:30, Akashic Books, the mission of which is the "reverse-gentrification" of the literary world, is sending three authors to Powells to celebrate it's tenth anniversary. Chris Abani, author of Song for Night (which I reviewed here, ) Joe Meno, author of the re-released Tender as Hellfire and Felicia Luna Lemus , author of Like Son. Abani's reading should be riveting, as his prose slips from beautiful image of home or the outdoors to the horrific realities of war.

With three readings in one, you are bound to hear something you like, between a youth soldier lost in war-torn Nigeria, a coming of age in New York story a trans-gender tale a daughter who fulfills the family destiny as a son.

Tears of Autumn

The Tears of Autumn is a sober cousin to the paranoid 1970s spy films like Three Days of the Condor and the Parallax View. Like them it investigates a conspiracy, in this case the assassination of President Kennedy, but reveals it more a case of policy failure and politics as usual than the dark-forces-a-work view prevalent at the time.

Like many other books, this story features CIA operative Paul Christopher who believes that he knows who killed Kennedy and why. When he is not allowed to investigate, he resigns to pursue his theory. While this sounds cliched, it plays differently. Christopher is blocked for trivial reasons by the more powerful and he proceeds to investigate by having conversations with the right people and conducing simple, non-violent covert action. Don't look to McCarry for tales of a mild-mannered superheroic spy. Instead look at how spies use intelligence and manipulation to get what they want.

The assassination story is well constructed and is complicated by actors who are unaware of each other. Like so much of McCarry's stories, it has the great feel of reality, perhaps because of the often mundane details. The manner in which the assassins cover their tracks is not through high tech means, but simple process that makes sense once explained.

This novel has relevance today as a key part of the action is the tension between long time professional government employees and the powerful politically appointed policy makers. There is a tension in all administrations, but as is becoming all too clear, some administrations simply ignore professional advice and input when it doesn't suit them.

If you like spy novels, you owe to your self to read Charles McCarry. For more have at look at my thoughts on Secret Lovers and the Miernik Dossier.

The song that encapsulates the 90s

NBK and I were debating which song most defines the music of the 90s. I submit that it is Fastball's The Way. NBK posits that is Life is a Highway by the Lunatic Fringe Guy.

It keeps calling me

Note: This post is about the sequel to Descent and as such contains spoilers regarding the first book. Go read Descent if you haven't already.

The way Descent, one of my favorite thrillers of all time, ended, I didn't think a sequel was really possible. It seems weren't quite as finished as we thought at the end of the previous book. Deeper, the sequel, begins with Ike, one of the main characters of the first novel being drawn back into Hell. Hell, or the Subterrain, as it is called is the center of the novel. This vast underground world was discovered in the prior novel. The discovery prompted a war between humanity and the creatures, the source of many of our myths, living there. Humanity won and the Subterrain is populated with settlers, ragtag armies, lost scientific expeditions, bizarre cults, and Chinese and American armies playing hide. And what would Hell be without Lucifer?

With all of that, it sounds fairly ridiculous. As it happens, it works quite well as the focus is on the grim struggle for survival in an underground world. The plot follows two stories underground and one above ground. Underground, a mother leads a crusade to rescue her kidnapped daughter. Ike's wife Ali, a trained linguist and experienced explorer, leads a smaller group to attempt the same thing. Aboveground, the United States and China engage in increasingly dangerous saber-rattling over control of the Subterrain.

It helps to go in realizing that this is clearly the middle book of a trilogy. The book ends with most of the above plots resolved but with dramatic developments that set up the next book. Keeping that in mind, I am happy with this book. I think this is Long's best book since Descent. It nicely balances the epic view with personal experience. Context setting and world creation is important in this sort of book, but Long doesn't overdo it. He also manages to create a decent amount of suspense as to what is driving the plot.

I heart Multnomah County Library.

I posted this item on PDX Pipeline about the Read for the Record event Sept 20 at the Multnomah County Library. The very same day the Central Library is holding a Keep Portland Weird Event. What a place!

Update: Ummmm, that would be OCTOBER 20 for Keep Portland Weird. I think perhaps we need a Help Tripp Pay Attention Day as well.

Just a drive into the dark stretch, long stretch of night

Ken Bruen's The Guards features a stereotypical noir anti-hero in story true to the noir spirit. The hero, Jack Taylor, is a alcoholic and former policeman who cleans himself up, only to fall again. He has trouble with women, including his mother, and he is incredibly erudite, which allows Bruen to namecheck favorite poets and writers, in particular mystery writers. We've seen this character many times before, but the story is fresh enough to allow us to overlook it.

While recovering from one binge and preparing to commence another, a grieving mother asks Jack to investigate the supposed suicide of her daughter. He eventually does, bringing woe onto himself and many others. The mystery is eventually solved, although not truly by his own efforts. Mysteries often feature a colorful, tough guy character who serves to deliver the violence that would our hero look bad. The colorful tough character is here, but he is as dangerous to Jack as he his to the villains.

While Jack is stereotypical, watching his failed relationships with people is tragic and moving. His attempts at romance fail by his own actions, he fails his friends and can't tell who his true friends are. While Bruen doesn't dwell on it, a poignant meeting with his estranged mother, is terribly sad and illustrates Jack's culpability in his own outsider status. In many novels of this type, there is an element of romance about the lone wolf, there is none here.

Give something new a try

Although I have much love for Interpol, I am really not that into their videos. The link between the song and the video is often tenuous at best. Have a look at the new one No I in Threesome. Given the plaintive nature of the song, I suppose the video is a warning. If you ask your lay-dee if another can join you in the sack you are going to be a lonely old man. This one is in the spirit of C'Mere. That song about unrequited love features nature boy and the snow fairy. Longing for the unobtainable I suppose.

The pinnacle of Interpol video goodness is Obstacle 1. The urgency of the signing is matched by the manic dancing of sweater girl. This video's evil descendant is Evil, which features the scariest dancing puppet of all time. Slow Hands is OK. The action is slowed and sped up, which emphasizes the high tempo wonder of the song. PDA is decent, it's a sort of frenetic combination of the Ring and a Peter Gabriel video.

It's time the tale were told

There is much debate about whether Iraq is or is near a state of civil war. Internecine violence is among the most horrible as it quickly moves to attacks on civilians. Although set in what appears to be the Biafran War or some future sequel, Chris Abani's Song For Night is a harrowing examination of the effects of civil war on children.

The story is told from the perspective of a boy solider. Radicalized by the murder of his mother by members of another ethnic group, the boy signs up as mine hunter. When he wakes up after a mine explosion, he crosses enemy territory in hopes of finding his unit. Along the way, he tries to make peace with what he has become. Essentially a good person, he has participated in mass atrocities, although he has also tried to stop them. On a macro level, this is the story of war, the good commit evil. The question is whether they themselves become evil for it.

The boy character is well developed. He alternates between a soliderly world weariness and a desire to curl up in his mother's arms. There are times when he appears to be a bit too wise, for a child so young. While we can certainly expect him to be well versed in weaponry, tactics and the way people react to violence, he occasionally puts forth social analysis that would be beyond the education of a young child. These instances are rare, but they do jar a bit.

Robert Jordan, RIP

Robert Jordan has died. Now there are many reasons to dislike the Jordan books, known as the Wheel of Time, among which I would point to his teenage wet dream portrayal of women and relationships, his use of a single action (tugging a braid, dice rolling, etc) as a character indicator, and of course the fact that the later books are thick as phone books without anything of consequence occurring within them.

These negative points must be balanced with by the fact that Jordan sold a lot of books and helped re-invigorate a moribund fantasy market, with a number of genuinely fresh ideas. We might not have the rich fantasy scene we have today without the work of Jordan.

And of course, we may never know how the Wheel of Time will end.

Rock Photographer at the Ace Hotel

This is last minute, but Pat Graham, author of Silent Pictures, will be signing books at the Ace Hotel tonight at 5:30. The book features concert and backstage footage taken primarily in the 90s of indie rock acts like Fugazi and Modest Mouse. It should be fun.

What about the voice of Geddy Lee?

In one of Pavement's finest moments, the question is asked as to whether Geddy Lee talks like an ordinary guy. Well apparently Broken Social Scene is the fact checkin cuz, as seen in this video, which has Geddy Lee judging the voices of various BSS members (and in a bit of video referencing this video clearly borrows from the Yo La Tengo Rock School video.) He does in fact talk like an ordinary guy.

Weekend trivia

To entertain yourselves while I camp at the lovely Cape Lookout State Park, you might want to answer these trivia questions. I am shooting for hard, but not so hard as Jimmy's at Beulahland (although question six is straight from Beulahland.) Email or post your answers below. No Internet use allowed.

1) With which number album did Danzig stop using numbers in the title?

2) What are the names of the main character elves in a Year Without Santa Claus? Bonus, what former Portland band shares a name with another character?

3) Which war was ended by the Peace of Westphalia? In what year was it signed?

4) What is oxygen's atomic number?

5) What is the longest river in Europe?

6) In what country would you find the Rub' al Khali? What is it called in English?

7) Who is the current prime minister of Germany?

8) Necco, the candy maker, is a contraction of what name?

9) Who appeared in all of the following films? Alien, Singles, Steel Magnolias and the Rookie.

10) What is the publication order of the following Stephen King books: Tommyknockers, Carrie, Cell, 'Salem's Lot and Insomnia.

Let's put our heads together, and start a new country up

You may have tired of reading of Iraq, but I recommend you read Rajiv Chandrasekaran's Imperial Life in the Emerald City (now in paperback.) The book's focus is on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American agency that ran Iraq for the first year following the invasion. It's a hugely depressing story of mostly well-meaning people making horrible decisions as they try to turn a wrecked country in a first world liberal democracy with Milton Friedman's dream economic system. We see people closing state run companies that employ thousands with no recourse, attempts to privatize drug sales while hospitals lack generators and of course the disastrous de-Bathification policy.

These policies probably never would have worked, but the Administration didn't help by hiring a bunch of C listers. Like the Maoists, the CPA believed that people were Better Red than Expert. Leading figures in their fields were kept out and barely qualified (often barely out of school) people were given critical roles. The single most important policy initiative of the decade was treated, well, just like Katrina. Critical roles given to ineffective people.

At a macro level, the failure of the CPA reinforces the myth that the Defense Department is the only foreign policy organization that works. The US already over-relies on the military (read Bacevich) and this experience might validate that approach in some ways. The US needs a balanced foreign policy that takes advantage of the capabilities of State, the CIA, the Defense Department and others. It just needs to ensure that skill is more important than political loyalty.

Here be dragons

Imagine a novel that takes the World War 2 rivalry between the RAF and the Royal Navy and then places that context in the Napoleonic era. Now, replace the airplanes with dragons and you have Naomi Novik's novel Her Majesty's Dragon. I'd heard good things about the book, but it was Peter Jackson's decision to option the book for a film that clinched my reading decision.

The story starts with a British naval boarding party seizing a dragon's egg from a French frigate. The captain of the ship is chosen by the dragon to be its rider and the Captain soon finds himself transferring from the Navy to the Aerial Corps. Much is made of the cultural clash, with the Navy man shocked at the loose ways of the airedales and even more shocked that some of the officers are women!

As a Napoleonic era novel, there is of course combat and it is well described. The dragons are crewed like WWI fighters with hand bombs and personal firearms used to attack other dragons or the enemy. Of course there are also claws and the occasional breath. The combat is actually de-emphasized as much more of the novel is about training and the bonding that comes to dragon and captain.

While a bit light, this is certainly entertaining and will appeal to non-doctrinaire fans of the Aubrey-Maturin series as well as fantasy readers.

Justice

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels (which are great fun) feature a police force which can enter novels in order to prevent literary crimes, such as the kidnapping of Jane from Jane Eyre. It would be nice if books were also a punitive option. For example, these filthy (both literally and metaphorically) individuals should be sentenced to 20 years in a Chester Himes novel.

I'm pretty sure Albini wrote Pigeon Kill and Seth with people like these in mind.

Making good friends with you

Ooooo, take a look at this very early Pixies promo vid for Tame. I like the longish Black Francis hair. The Pixies were never that known for videos, but through the power of YouTube here is some Pixies fun for your enjoyment.

Monkey Gone to Heaven - on Letterman for the reunion. - original video here.

Velouria - This is the hopping on rocks in slo-mo video that host Dave Kendall (what's he doing now? Working on something called Porn Valley) dissed.

Digging for Fire - Not all that exciting aside from the Kim Deal getting dressed in leather part.

Alec Eiffel - Really good song, really bad video. Making good videos doesn't make no SENSE.

Here Comes Your Man - An attack on the notion of videos.

Tell me why why'd you have to lie

If not for the fact that perusing Sky Mall was my alternative, I might have put down the Lies of Locke Lamora. Set in fantasy version of Venice at the height of its wealth and power, the main characters are the jolly sort of thieves who steal for the sheer love of it and shout out things like "What! Ho! The merry chase begins!" I normally find happy go lucky thieves intensely tiresome, but the story is so good , that my reservations were quickly overwhelmed.

At first the story appears to be a serious of capers in which our intrepid anti-heroes rather handily relieve the wealthy of their goods. The story becomes one of political intrigue in which the gang, named the Gentlemen Bastards, find themselves in between the city's crime boss, the spy master and a rising star in the criminal firmament. The tone changes to become less light hearted and more violent, although never at the level of the grimmer fantasy writers, like Martin, Mieville or Erikson.

The novel has an odd structure. It alternates between the main story and the past history of Locke Lamora and the Gentleman Bastards. Normally, I would expect this past story line to set up some confrontation or revelation, but it really just exists to show how the criminals became so adept at theft. Perhaps realizing that the main story line is more interesting, the past story chapters get shorter and shorter as the story progresses.

This is a minor complaint though, the story's plot takes such fun and interesting turns that this is a must for fantasy turns. Take a break from the grim and try this one.

The unceasing tide of books

For my weekend visit, I had four tasks. Number one was to attend my friend's wedding. Number two was hang out with some other friends. Number three was to eat a Five Guys burger. And number four was to hit the Arlington Goodwill book rack. Why that place? With flat prices of $.170 or less and donations from the most educated citizens in the USA, it is hard to go wrong. For less than the price of a six pack of Lagunitas, I walked away with the following.

Book Lust by Nancy Pearl. How can I write a book recommendations blog without stealing other people's recommendations?

The General's War by Trainor and Gordon. The team that brought you Cobra II tells you what's what about Gulf War the First.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Dana. Dana was a sort of 19th century Ted Conover. He was an educated man but signed up for the rough world of the sailor and then wrote a book about it.

Utopia by Lincoln Child. He writes a fine thriller.

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard. It won an award and her a good thing or two.

The Gates of Africa by Anthony Sattin. I'd never seen hide nor hair of this one before, but it reminded me of Barrow's Boys so I took the chance.

Whoreson by Donald Goines. I've always wanted to read Goines, and who can resist a title like that one?

Maybe I will read one or two of them this year.

Best spy novels ever?

Charles McCarry is one of our most under appreciated living authors. Its shocking that he is not as well known as Le Carre or even Furst. McCarry served in the CIA and his background shows in the details of his spy novels. His first novel the Miernik Dossier is a terrifically engaging work recommended to anyone who likes literary thrillers.

While the story, involving the trip of Polish official who may or may not be a spy to Sudan is excellent, the book shines in its verisimilitude, even in its organization. The book is portrayed as a dossier concerning a case. It contains reports from the main characters, analysis by their superiors, transcripts of surveillance reports and other documents. This handily dodges the problem of the omniscient observer, as well providing a fascinating look at how intelligence agencies communicate with and use intelligence assets.

While the main character, a CIA operator named Paul Christopher, is reasonably certain that some of his associates at his cover employer are from friendly agencies (the British and French) he is unable to identify himself as he has no clearance to do so. All three Western spies watch the Pole Miernik for signs of a spy's tradecraft, as they try to determine if he a Polish agent or a true defector. The process in itself is fascinating, but becomes quite interesting, when they have to decide whether to facilitate a trip to Sudan, where he may or may not be trying to arm an insurgent force.

McCarry's follow on novels depict Paul Christopher's rise in the CIA's Directorate of Operations (now the National Clandestine Service.) I will be reading all of them.

A pair of classics

Late to the game as usual, I just read the Road. It's an astounding book, rarely have I been so gripped. I read it far too quickly and will have to read it again to fully digest it. This was a natural follow on to No Country For Old Men. In that book, the main character lamented the shift to a darker more violent world unfit for old men. The post-apocalyptic world of the Road isn't fit for anyone, populated, so it seems, only with the cruel.

McCarthy's descriptive power serves him well, as he paints a destroyed world lit only by the thinnest of hopes. There is a strong sense of the Biblical in the book with the main character (spoiler alert) serving as Moses. Parents may feel the book hits too close to home, but the father-son element just bound me closer to the story.

I recently mentioned to a friend that I thought Ingmar Bergman was over-rated. She tut-tuted and told me I needed to see the Virgin Spring. So I did, and she is right. The film, a story of innocence, vengeance and redemption is beautiful and bleak. The emotional power of the film is great, which makes the blasphemous remake Last House on the Left look like the warm bowl of piss that it is.

Laughs for the kids

We churn through a lot of books at the library and every once and again we randomly hit gold. My wife brought home What Did You Put In Your Pocket? and it has been non-stop giggles since. The book was written in the 50s by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers and has been re-issued with new illustrations. The School Library Journal found the illustrations too childish and distracting, but my kids enjoy them. Even more so, they love a story about someone who spends a week cramming messy substances (ice cream, molasses, pudding, etc) into his pocket. If your little ones laugh at messiness, this one will be a winner.

Sometimes I'm blogging where all the other people write

Were you aware that the Cure song Charlotte Sometimes is based upon a novel? And the Cure never told, or provided financial thanks to the author. Read the tale here.

Joanna reminds us of a candy long forgotten, the sugar filled plastic fruit. For me, this is a bit too much like Fun Dip.

Want to get yet another take on how the last six years have been really bad for the country? Read this.

Now it is not a big deal that a plane flew over the US with live nukes. This is normal, what is news is that a B-52 flew with live nukes and no one realized it. Still this Wonkette bit is worth reading for the title and the image. Fans of Cold War confrontation will be cheered by this news.

Why was Car Jamming never a single? It's so much better than Should I Stay or Should I Go.

Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting

McEwan's Black Dogs was written in 1992 and follows up the Cold War Innocent with a story that includes both the beginning and the end of the War. It is far more metaphorical than its predecessor, using the story of a failed marriage to show how we react to horror. In 1946, a young pair of newly married socialists travel to France where the bride has a run-in with a pair of malevolent black dogs. Their contrasting reactions destroy their marriage. These reactions, in one case spiritual and in other hyper-rational are stand ins for societal reaction to pure evil. And in their cases, the evil is the suffering caused by World War 2. The black dog manifest itself in the story in other ways, such as the all too common recourse to violence.

We learn about the details of their lives from their son-in-law who lost his own parents at a young age. He wants to write a biography of these people, perhaps, because he never knew his own parents. As usual with McEwan, he captures the inner lives of people wonderfully, and his narrator tries to breakdown the differences between internal perception and external reality.

While McEwan's prose is wonderful as ever and his theme is worthy and well explored, I didn't enjoy this book as much as Atonement, the Innocent or Enduring Love. That's not to say it isn't worth reading, just set your expectations accordingly.

A neverending tide

I've been in a reading funk the last few days. I started a number of books, but couldn't get into any of them. In times of such trouble, it is best to turn to stand-bys, and I went with Ian McEwan's Black Dogs. Of course, my inability to begin a book did not stop me from acquiring new ones. New books include

House of Chains by Steven Erikson. The very definition of epic fantasy, this ten book story spans multiple continents and churns through a number of characters. Decidedly not for everyone, but for the fantasy reader, it is a winner. Thanks to Brack for this one.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. One the most talked about books of last year. This looks like a more positive and comprehensive Fast Food Nation. Found at Costco.

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. Pulitzer Prize winning account of Al Qaeda up until 9/11. Those 25% off Borders coupons are too hard to resist. It was this or Aunt Hagar's Childrenand that one will likely be next.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. I've wanted these sci-fi short stories for some time and this Sandstorm review fired my interest. I was in Powells and saw they had a used copy. I couldn't say no at that point, right?

Kid fun in PDX

There are two upcoming book events to note for kids. The first is that Mount Hood Railroad (located in Hood River) is running a Little Engine That Could party on the weekends of Sept 8 and Sept 15. I took my then three year old to a Thomas Party and it included a train ride, lots of games, music and movies. It's a good time for the little ones, and it will get you out into the Gorge.

At 1:00PM on September 22nd children's author Daniel Kirk will appear at the Beaverton location of Powells. He illustrated one of my kid's all time favorites, Chugga-chugga choo choo, and wrote books like Moondog and Cat Power. Sorry indie rockers, the latter features actual cats, rather than moody, heartfelt lyrics.

A few items

Man is Denis Johnson's Vietnam epic Tree of Smoke getting some buzz. Check the NYT, (Good morning and please listen to me: Denis Johnson is a true American artist, and “Tree of Smoke” is a tremendous book, a strange entertainment, very long but very fast, a great whirly ride that starts out sad and gets sadder and sadder, loops unpredictably out and around, and then lurches down so suddenly at the very end that it will make your stomach flop) and Esquire. The LA Times takes a more moderate view. Anyway, keep your eyes on it.

In my recollection, The Mist is my favorite Stephen King story. It has the build-up, the scares, the human foibles and failures and a wonderfully ambiguous ending. I somehow forgot the whole religion angle upon which the trailer for the upcoming film. This makes me wonder about books that I fondly remember. How much is due to my reaction at the time and how much would it differ now?

Is there really an anti-pie trend about the land, as this column claims? If so, people need to get their hands on Ken Haedrich's Pie book.