Seven Months of Book Club Books

HELLLLLLLS YEAHHH BOOK CLUB IS BACK ON!

like donkey kong.

Why am I being called out? Have Derek pick it!

I'll lead October since I ordered that one this morning.

I'm just messing with you Mirka.

Ok, you're off the hook because you want to be the discussion leader for October.

I'm so excited about this.

what about something epic like The Passage for January, even though a few of you (mirka, derek) have already read it?

Not to be a downer but that book is way to long for a Book Club book.

I just read a review of Blank Gaze and I really want to read that book now.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/21/DDML11R7LH.D...

fair enough. i figured it would be too long. not everyone can eat up 800 pages in a week.

Imperial Bedrooms?

When's Chuck's new book coming out?

Tell-all? hahahaha. should we do that maybe?

what about Imperial Bedrooms though. surely we should do that?

No I meant the one that is coming out after Tell-All. What's it called? Damned?

It will be Imperial Bedrooms if I can't find something else. How about that?

I loved the book. But I don't know. I'm unsure if a lot of other people here did or will.

sometimes it's good if people don't LOVE it because then it makes for good discussion. so many people here love Bret's previous books, especially Less Than Zero. I still haven't read it, so i'd be so down on it.

I haven't read Tell-all yet either.

I'd say Damned will come out in May '11.

How about Paul Auster - Invisible?

"or another truly unsettling book, try Invisible. The most startling love affair takes place between the protagonist, Adam Walker, and his sister. Before you say "ugh," read the book. In wry reportorial style, Auster tantalizes the reader by describing what appears to be the same set of events from three separate perspectives. Even though each narrative is credible, they all conflict with one another. There's an unsolved murder, or maybe not; an enigmatic Columbia professor with a girlfriend who's crazy, or maybe not; and Adam himself, who is or is not a reliable storyteller.

Invisible is vintage Auster — beautifully crafted with characters who elicit empathy and pity, and a plot that challenges even the most flexible of nonlinear readers; by the end, you have no idea who has actually had affairs with whom, let alone whom to believe in general. No matter how savvy you are, when you're done, you'll need to return to the beginning to see if there is a way to untangle this Mobius strip of a narrative. What's engaging here is not only the compassion you'll feel for Adam and some of the other characters, but also the tug of justice unfinished."

Oh - that might be a good one.

I have that already waiting to be read. I love Paul Auster's prose too!

what about God Hates Us All?

Sorry Matt, you suggested Candy already. So I think I'm going with Invisible by Paul Auster.

We can still add Lunar Park tentatively for March if nothing new comes up before then. Remind me when it's time

Wow. I have such suggestive powers. If only i could get that to work on women...

Lunar Park? do you mean Imperial Bedrooms?

no need to apologise, Pete, i'm just throwing the suggestions out there, trying to aid the process.

haha yeah oops!

And that's it. We have six months worth of books!

And one of the narratives in Invisible is told in the 2nd person (I think). You might like that Matt.

i'm scared to buy a book off the internet. but i will try to get Transubstantiate...
i'm excited and scared about this!

buying books off the internet is amazing. do it.

Pete, you should be the discussion leader for Invisible because you love Auster. i still haven't read him, but i lowered The New York Trilogy in my pile and Oracle Night is sitting up there under The Quick and the Dead. all recs from you, sir.

Maybe Brandon would like to lead his own discussion for OOT? seems like something he might be into.

I'm a shitty discussion leader!

I've also done a bunch of them in the past. That's why I like seeing other people do them.

maybe someone like Razor or Lizardking. they're always actively reading and participating in discussions. call out? yes, please.

also, i am pretty worried that i will be a woeful leader of the discussion. what am i to do?

Nah, man. I might pop in to field a question or two, but I don't think the person who wrote the book should lead their own discussion. Keeps you guys free to say whatever you want about it.

Pete had a good idea for the discussion leader, so he'll probably announce it if this person is cool with it.

is it Richard? because i thought he might be down to do it, seeing as though you to are label mates now.

steven hall, and that bizarro johnson guy lead their discussions, didn't they?

Michael Sonbert is going to be the discussion leader for Out of Touch.

And yeah Steven Hall and Jeremy Robert Johnson were discussion leaders for their own books. If the author is down - I'm cool with it. But there is the factor of it's hard to say, "This part sucked," knowing you're saying it to the leader.

fuck that. i'm gonna be honest. i have gripes for Transubstantiate and Out of Touch and i'd love to discuss them whether the authors have access to the thread or not. thing is, if i had a novel published, i'd want you guys to pick at it. nothing is ever perfect, and something can always be changed, and you can never please every single person. that's the nature of the game we're playing, and i'm sure both Richard and Brandon understand that and even appreciate it. so, yeah, i enjoyed both books, but like with any books i read, i ask questions to myself, and i wonder why they decided to do a certain thing. i think that's what is good about it. something that i find to be pointless, or unnecessary, someone else might have loved. i love how much we're involved in the story. how we interpret it. that's what i love about the well written word.

cool to have Michael as the discussion leader. he'll bring it, that's for sure.

I know for a fact that both Richard and Branden want you guys to give an honest opinion.

I wasn't saying they may have a problem with it. I was saying that the people discussing the novel might be intimidated with being harsh knowing the author is reading it.

yeah, i knew that's what you meant, but it just sparked me to thinking about how i won't be holding back. not that i have anything horrible to say, but more just discuss choices the author made and why they did certain things, and how i think it effected the story overall, etc.

have i mentioned that i'm really looking forward to discussing Transubstantiate?

No! Are you?

haha

TOTESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

^^^This.

You guys should feel free to rip it to shreds if that's what you feel inclined to do. Or gush. Or feel totally neutral. Some people would have difficulties with that if they know they're saying it to the author. It turns into less of a disscussion and more of a "how can I say what I want to say without offending this guy?" or "how can I say that I loved this without looking like a complete kiss-ass?"

The author not being there removes the elephant from the room, so to speak.

I know that there's going to be dicussion about why Richard and I did certain things or wrote parts a certain way, etc., but you guys debating/discussing this is ultimately better than the author coming in with an answer. I think that might be a little bit boring for you guys. Sometimes the best discussions have no definitive answer. However, I'm not totally against taking a direct question, nor do I think Richard is. If it ever comes down to a group of people wanting to verify something or settle a debate, then yes, that's probably where I'd be okay stepping in if I was asked to.

I think Sonbert's going to do a great job with this, though. He knows this book pretty damn well, so he should have some great stuff to talk about...plus, he's not here nearly enough.

I know. it's going to be cool having him around for a whole month. it was cool when he hung around when his speak-up was on. fucking cool guy.

I'm stoked to finally meet the dude. That's gonna be a crazy weekend.

i hope you party so hard your tietz fall off.

damned is one of the books im really REALLY excited for. like godspeed and saint heretic. or anything cormac mccarthy decides to one day finish. i know it's a year-such away, but i'd be down like a clown to lead that discusso !!

I honestly don't think it will be all that good outside of the setting and premise, but I certainly hope he suprises me. The description of it sounded horribly immature and just more bodily fluids for te sake of givng the kids what they want.

I'm much more excited about Godspeed an Saint Heretic.

Like I said though, I hope he shoves my foot right down my throat.

I'll keep you in mind for any of those.

Cool! The bookclub is back. I hope Imperial Bedrooms makes it into the mix. I've been wanting to pick up a copy of that.

Still nobody for January?

It's yours

Did you want to give it a go Timberly? You like Paul Auster?

I don't know anything about him, but if no one else steps up, I'll do it. I mean, if I can talk about nuances in literature with kids in high school, surely I can do it here.

oh, so when chris says imperial bedrooms it gets chalked in, but when i mention it it's all, sorry matt, etc. boo. but also, yay! because i want to talk about it. and read it.

And I really did want Imperial Bedrooms on there. I just didn't want us two to decide the whole thing. haha