April Fools and I am reading...

The Valachi Papers are actually mentioned in "Cosa Nostra". Not the book you're recommending, but the actual report on the mafia written by the former mafioso Joseph Valachi. He wrote it for fear of being murdered by his former associates as he was imprisoned. Valachi was apparently the first person who revealed that the Sicilian mafia in America went by the name of "cosa nostra". All this is maybe said in your recommendations as well.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations!

That is the book. It's a compilation of pieces from his report mixed with interviews of Valachi, as conducted by Maas.

Started Against the Grain by JK Huysman for my history class. Still working on Contortionist's Handbook, The Subtle Knife, and War and Peace. All three of those are great.

Finished Post Office and I wasn't disappointed. I want to jump right in on more Bukowski but thought I better take at least a one book break.

Today I started reading Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis.

My Dead Body by Charlie Huston.

I changed my mind.

nice!

Just got done with "The Colony" by Jillian Weise. Very well written, fast-paced, great story...ends just a tad too abruptly, though. Not to spoil it, but something very major happens, and then the book immediately ends. It kind of left me going, "What the fuck?" I still recommend it, though.

"Dermaphoria" is up next.

I'm taking a break from Sometimes a Great Notion to read The God Delusion, because the latter is a bit addictive and I can't put it down.

Ive started The King Of Methlehem by Mark Lindquist. So far Im loving it, maybe I should put it aside for my trip on Tuesday.

i simply can't decide what to read right now. i have a lot of books that i'm excited to read, but i just can't pick one.

i think i'll go a little one. i love those little one night stand books. maybe Franny & Zooey, or The Great Gatsby--but i'm so excited to read my first Murakami, Borges and Marquez, so...

I'm digging John Fante's writing style.

i'm digging how you always a) have good taste in books and; post pictures of the books you're reading. it should probably be a requirement.

Necrodelic wrote:

I'm digging John Fante's writing style.

Amy Digits LOVES Fante. Which reminds me I need to read The Road To LA by him soon.

i imagine your to-read pile is like a 50-foot wall. just like mine. you'd think we'd be able to read faster than these bastards could write.

so, this is more Book related general discussion/pointless annoucnements (hmm, maybe i should make that a thread?), but it probably wasn't worth making a 0-2 reply thread, so here it is:

Melina Marchetta, author of classic aussie novels Looking For Alibrandi and Saving Fancesca has just released a new book called Piper's Son. sounds fucking good. i read an interview today and she was saying how she has spent so much time, whilst writing the book, crying. crying over her characters and their grief etc. seems so full on. should be a good read, if anyone is interested in some new Aussie Lit. i'm sure Sam will be into this, i'm pretty sureshe digs the Marchetta.

I'm still reading 'The Delivery Man', i forget the author's name. Also i've been reading 'The Black Dahlia', which is a good read. I'm surprised at how many James Ellroy books i haven't actually read.

Joe McGinniss wrote The Delivery Man. I loved that book, let me know what choo think of it?

Finished Crooked Little Vein by Werren Ellis. I really liked it. Highly recommended.

Started Factotum by Charles Bukowski.

After that I think I'm going to start Parasites Like Us by Adam Johnson.

I think Ive decided on my holiday books, Dont Cry by Mary Gaitskill and Unlubricated by Arthur Nersesian.

[Insert poorly placed and unnecessary rape joke]

sorry

Just read the first half of The Stranger by Albert Camus.

I just finished Dermaphoria, and it was just an amazing read! Beautiful written with a mind twisting story. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

I think I'm going to start "fear and loathing in Las Vegas" next.

i think i might read TCH again, too. i was pretty keen to read KMJ but i've been palming off my copies left and right since i finished them.

The book Im reading, Peth Pownings - The Sea Captions Wife is amazing so far. I hear she is touring around in the states there. I defently think if you like a good romance not corny or cheesy ones but like a fiction love story its really good, And pick it up.

I just find the story perfect and they way she writes it is magic.

A local library has a copy of Contortionist's handbook. Gonna go over there Friday maybe and pick it up. Hopefully it won't be gone.

Mines' is a libary copy, liberated.

Don't get all down on me; they was selling it, so's I bought'n it.

just bought The New York Trilogy and this:

i had to post the picture because the cover-art is just spectacular, isn't it? it's what caught my eye, and seduced me into looking inside. and what i found was this first paragrah, or two:

I want the legs.

That was the first thing that came into my head. The legs were the legs of a twenty-year-old Vegas showgirl, a hundred feet long and with just enough curve and give and promise. Sure, there was no hiding the slightly worn hands or the beginning tugs of skin framing the bones in her face. But the legs, they lasted, I tell you. They endured. Two decades her juniour, my skinny matchsticks were no competition.

gosh, it hooked me i tells ya. and Mr. Ellroy seems to like her.

i'm really quite excited about this one. it's only a baby, about 170-odd pages. so, i think i'll probably knock the majority of this one out tonight. i have a good feeling. I'm in a bit of a crime-thriller kind of mood at the moment. I haven't read any Chandler, but i feel i must.

At first it was pretty good and then i got halfway through it and it was really good. I'm still not done with it though. If this is what BEE is like then maybe i should read him.

Finished The Subtle Knife. Gonna read some "The World's Wisdom" It's a compilation of the main beliefs of the world's religions. Not all, but most, like the main three, Hinduism, Taoism, etc.

The Subtle Knife was my least favourite of the 3 but I still enjoyed it. His Dark Materials is a great series.

You should read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

That is exactly what he is like. Glamorama got soooo good at the half way mark. AM got really good about 1/3 of the way through.

Going out the door yesterday I almost grabbed my copy of Glamorama for a reread. Im going to reread all his books this year. This is the beauty of first reading half this shit while in Rehab. I cant remember most of it!

The Dying Animal by Philip Roth

hey Phil, i've been meaning to get some Philip Roth for quite some time now. every time i go to the bookstore, i check him out but never buy. i think it's because i have no idea where to start. seeing as though you seem quite fond of him; any hints on what books would be good starting points, and what should i expect?

My favorites include The Human Stain, American Pastoral, The Professor of Desire, and The Counterlife.

Expect a lot of Jewish identity crises, sex, social commentary, and masterful prose.

Don't expect a lot of violence, potboiler-type action, amazing twists, etc.

I love him, but he's certainly not the kind of author that I can imagine many Culties liking. He's a world removed from Chuck, Baer, etc.

yeah. great. just because i like Baer, Clevenger etc doesn't mean i can't like other stuff, too. i'm not very closed minded when it comes to the reads. we don't need to read all the same type stuff all the time. how boring.

thanks, man.

I'm very fond of Philip Roth. My favourite is The Human Stain. Or American Pastoral. I don't know!
I would recommend The Ghost Writer as a starting point. It's the first book to feature Nathan Zuckerman as a narrator and he's a great character. It was the first Philip Roth book I read. It was about six years ago and now Philip Roth is very definitely in charge of the lower right hand shelf of my bookcase. That's an endorsement right there. Some books don't even make it onto the bookcase. Some of them have to live in the stack.

yeah, they're the three i've looked at the most: The Human Stain, American Pastoral and The Ghost Writer. the latter is part of a trilogy, isn't it?

But yes, Pastoral and Stain are incredible.

That's gotta be a good thing. With one extremely short book (practically a pamphlet), you know whether you're in or out.

so, all up, there are six novels narrated by Zuckerman? what are they? i know i'm being lazy and i could go and find this info myself, but for the sake of book conversation, help a brother out.

Also: The Ghost Writer being the first Zuckerman novel, maybe you SHOULD start with that. Another good introduction is The Plot Against America.

all right, my main man. thanks for the recommendations. i'll be sure to pick up at least one of his books next time. probably go this Ghost Writer, i vaguely remember thinking it sounded pretty sweet.