What You're Reading
Ok, it seems that, for the moment at least, the Book Club forum is a bit dead. So, because the other threads are too specific, here's a vague one: tell us about yourseff w/r/t what you're reading and what you think about what you're reading. At this very moment.
Today, at the library, I checked out William T. Vollmann's "The Royal Family," and Celine's "North." A few days ago, I bought Michel Houellebecq's "Whatever" [ugh — for the title, not for the book itself, but the translation sucks]. This is all in addition to schoolwork, which also sucks. Ass.
That's your cue.
Memory Babe, a critical biography of Jack Kerouac.
I didn't realize Burroughs had any connection with Jack. Shows ya how much I know.
Also, I didn't know about anything allegedly homosexual about Ti Jean.
[url=http://smithandstephenson.net]Another LitBlog[/url]
I am reading Raymond Carver's collected works and am enjoying them very much.
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
Dead-Eye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut.
i love the hell outta Kurt, but i haven't read him in a while and i haven't read all of his stuff. Dead-Eye Dick is reminding of how awesome he is.
After i finish this, it's Jennifer Government.
I guess my profile answered these questions but i wanted to give my opinion anyway 
Along with the "as complete as possible" works of Dashiell Hammett, I'm reading "Can't be satisfied" by Robert Gordon, a biography of Muddy Waters.
And I am satisfied.
Jordie, can you suggest any Raymond Carver stories from those collections? I've read the Cathedral and What We Talk About When We Talk about Love, and I really, really liked them both.
This is called Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories and includes stuff from several collections as well as some uncollected stuff.
I don't think there's been one I haven't liked, but particuarly I have enjoyed:
The Student's Wife
What Do You Do in San Francisco?
Fat
Neighbors
Put Yourself in My Shoes (this one directly followed Neighbors and they have a kind of similar theme, I have to wonder if he wrote them one after the other)
Why, Honey?
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Wow! Maybe my favorite!)
Distance (this one kind of reminded me of The Student's Wife)
I love his work, just love it.
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
Also They're Not Your Husband...
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
Naked, by David Sedaris. It's a book of short stories. I love this guy. His sense of humor is perfect, and just my kind of LOLs. I laugh out loud at this book, just like I did with Barrel Fever, and especially Me Talk Pretty One Day. He's from North Carolina, which I appreciate for a few reasons.
His stories are indulgent, ironic, very honest in a side-ways way...being himself in a balancing act of being the voice of someone who desperately needs to be all things, and knows it. It's just how I feel about myself. The desire to be brilliant, beautiful, creative and one-of-a-kind while knowing the truth yet believing in the fantasy.
I'm reading Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski and I'm really into it. This is my first Bukowski book and it won't be the last.
I just finished Carl Hiaasen's SICK PUPPY today. Tomorrow I will start Vonnegut's SLAPSTICK.--- everyone is reading Vonnegut.
I have like 50 other books just sitting around that I need to read, like:
FAY- Larry Brown
Day of Creation- JG Ballard
Pest Control- Bill Fitzhugh
The Knockout Artist- Harry Crews
Naked: Stories- David Sedaris
I need to stop dicking around and start reading this shit.
"Excuse me sir, Did you wash your hands after you took that big heaping dump. You know that sign, that sign says ALL employees MUST wash their hands after using the restroom, What part of that do you not understand?"- Malcom X
"Would you care to lick my sweaty baulz after they have been dipped in the finest venerial juices and sauteed in my own ass-sweat, madam?"- Winston Churchill
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by SpacedOut_Fetus [/i]
[B]Tomorrow I will start Vonnegut's SLAPSTICK.--- everyone is reading Vonnegut. [/B][/QUOTE]
Not everyone. Slaughterhouse five and Breakfast of Champions were all i felt my Vonnegut experience needed, though i did hear him speak at Oklahoma City University a few months ago and will say one thing:
Damn he's getting old.
[url=http://smithandstephenson.net]Another LitBlog[/url]
Maddetchke Malorkus, i couldn't agree more about Sedaris. What a wonderful writer. All i've read of his is Me Talk Pretty One Day but now i'll have to go out and look for more. i recommend him to anyone who is interested in books of very frank, very personal short stories.
"Lucifer", the dark lord gets a chance to inhabit a human body to prove himself to god that he can live a legit life. A really good read. Written by Glen Duncan.
Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.
[url=http://www.angelfire.com/az2/eraserheadpress/mellick.html][img]http://www.angelfire.com/az2/eraserheadpress/carlbanner.gif[/img][/url]
I've actually never read a Vonnegut book before (for shame). I picked up Slaughterhouse Five once, because of the title. Since then, however, I haven't had any interest in any of his books. Maybe it's the last name that turns me off — Vonnegut. Yuck.
Vonnegut is a cult of his own. I don't own any of his books and if I do come in contact with one its something i always use as trading material when i haunt the bookshop.
[url=http://smithandstephenson.net]Another LitBlog[/url]
i hereby renounce any known or assumed relationship with the cult member known as patioman.
what am i reading...hmmm...well, since there's a lot of sedaris love going on, i'll mention that i re-read me talk pretty one day on thursday. i needed some good ol' belly laughs. i'm still plowing through more matter, by john updike reading essays at random. and last night, because i had nothing new to start, i picked up fight club (how cliche) because i've only read it once. i'm scheduled for a library visit this week, probably wednesday, so i'll update my list at that time.
fetus, how'd you like sick puppy?
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by moe.ron [/i]
[B]fetus, how'd you like sick puppy? [/B][/QUOTE]
Taken out of context, that sentence would be VERY odd.
even in context, it's still pretty odd.
I try to stay away from how to write books but i couldnt believe I actually found this one and decided to buy it because of the names.
Fiction Witer's Handbook, by Halie and Whit Burnett with a preface by Norman Mailer and Epilogue by J.D. salinger
[url=http://smithandstephenson.net]Another LitBlog[/url]
I'm reading The Bell jar, The Divine Comedy, and Diary ...... yay .....
"I did it because I'm a dirty dog"
4 Books going on at the moment *chin up*
Finnish-version of Choke
Bukowski-collection book (new one, don´t remember the name)
"Bull God" by Whoever (not very interesting, tells about the Minotaurus in Creece
and "Hyperion" (must read to any scifi fan!!!!!!)
[SIZE=1]It Does Not Matter[/SIZE]
WTF!! vonnegut is the shit, to say you have never read anything by him or use him as trading material is out of your minds. AHHHH
I know she's kind of a hippie (okay, she's really a hippie) but I liked Anne Lamott's book on writing.
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
She's not just a hippie, she's a devoutly Christian hippie. AHHH!!! Actually, I kind of like her too.
I'm reading Anne Rice's the Witching Hour....this book is long and boring. If it doesn't start to pick up soon I'll stop reading it all together.
I just finished Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham...it was okay for a cookie cutter murder/crime book, (those being one of my many guilty pleasures). And now I'm reading my mom's book I promised her I'd read. I'm making her read Diary (not very hard to convince her obviously) and she's making me read Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. It's okay, just a story, nothing fancy, at least so far.
I'm about to start Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman after Fall on your Knees...and after that I have no idea. I have so many books on my shelf, and on my list to get (which is constantly growing). That probably describes everyone on here though.
Sick Puppy was very cool Moe. Ron not Hiaasen's best but a damn well entertaining "noir"-ish read.
Also Vonnegut's SLAPSTICK was awesome, read it in 2 days. (I deserve a medal) It wasn't as good as its half-brother CAT'S CRADLE but still an awesome read though a little bit more weirder and confusing than your average Vonnegut I thought. I heard they made a movie out of Slapstick and I was going to rent it this weekend then I found out Jerry Lewis plays the lead role in it, WHAT IN THE FUCK!?--- Eventhough I haven't seen the movie I do recognize blasphemy. Maybe I should rent it just so it will make the Breakfast of Champions movie look like The Godfather in comparison.
"Excuse me sir, Did you wash your hands after you took that big heaping dump. You know that sign, that sign says ALL employees MUST wash their hands after using the restroom, What part of that do you not understand?"- Malcom X
"Would you care to lick my sweaty baulz after they have been dipped in the finest venerial juices and sauteed in my own ass-sweat, madam?"- Winston Churchill
Did you read that book of Anne Lamott's, Traveling Mercies? I read it. It was interesting reading about all the messed up places she has been in life. Like she said at one point she realized she could either stop drinking, or stop driving. "That was a no-brainer." She began taking the bus and walking everywhere.
She would do cocaine and nitrous oxide with married dentists in cheap hotel rooms. All kinds of shit, she was really messed up there.
She lives down the road from me. I've never met her but friends of mine know her through their kids' school.
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
That was her Christian book obviously...
but it was still interesting...
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
i ADORE anne lamott. i almost picked up her newest book (fiction) yesterday, but decided to go with some other stuff instead. i'll get it eventually.
i'm currently reading believer magazine for the month of september. i just picked it up last night, and i got home pretty late, so i didn't really have a chance to read much of it. however, the product review for the unicorn was hilarious!
I actually haven't read much of her fiction, except for All New People. Fiction-wise, she isn't really my type of writer. However, I've loved some of her regular columns on Salon.com., and I might have check out that Traveling Mercies book, based on your recommend. [problem is, low on money, so I'll to probably have to resort to borrowing a coffee-stained copy from the library. I LOVE buying books.]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by etownpunk [/i]
[B]I'm reading Anne Rice's the Witching Hour....this book is long and boring. If it doesn't start to pick up soon I'll stop reading it all together. [/B][/QUOTE]
I read Interview With the vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen Of The Damned ...... after that I just got so sick of those fucking vampires bitching about being immortal and I just stopped .... they've gotten really boring and seem like they never stop
"I did it because I'm a dirty dog"
I enjoyed Rosie... if I am remembering right that's the one about the tennis player... right? Moe?
Who's reading AM Homes? Have we talked about her yet?
"I've never caught a jewel thief before. It's very stimulating."
Frances Stevens, To Catch a Thief
"Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known."
Lisa Fremont, "Rear Window"
I really like A.M. Homes as well. I've read The Safety of Objects, The End of Alice, and In a Country of Mothers. I've owned Music for Torching for a while, but I've never been able to get into it.
[i]Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas[/i] by Hunter S
i hate books like this, because they simultaneously make me want to write and feel like i should just never write anything but a check ever again, because it's all already been said.
[SIZE=1][QUOTE=ehquestionmark]Wow. This little thread got CRAZY. People telling me to abuse my girlfriend, people showing an alarming lack of respect for women as a whole, people questioning my masculinity in some kind of bizarre machoistic pissing-contest. Hell, I even got called stuffy. [/QUOTE]
[URL=http://confessionalpoe.blogspot.com]Grand Mental Station[/URL]
[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=15714&highlight=interview+insomnomaniac]Insomnomaniac: the found interview[/URL][/SIZE]
I actually like the vampire chronicles...it's just the mayfair witch stories just suck ass...Memnoch the Devil is a good book...it really puts a different spin on religion and life after death...read it if you haven't already
I read David Sedaris's "Naked." The most un-funny book I've ever read. Benny Hill was funnier. Every joke was predictable.
"Two fagets are fucking an albino alligator by the side of the road..." Now THAT'S FUNNY!
bite me
I'm actually finishing up Diary right now.
Then I'm going to start White Noise by Don DeLillo.
I liked the vampire books, even though I haven't read the last two yet. I like the characters. How long the story's lasting doesn't bother me much, because I don't consider it great writing that can be ruined w/ overexposure. It's just a guilty pleasure type of thing for me.
I started liking it when I was in high school....right when the movie came out. Before I discovered *really* good writing. So now Anne Rice's writing starts to get to me sometimes because now I have so many good books to compare it to. But it's okay sometimes.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by insomnomaniac [/i]
[B][i]Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas[/i] by Hunter S
i hate books like this, because they simultaneously make me want to write and feel like i should just never write anything but a check ever again, because it's all already been said. [/B][/QUOTE]
Haha, that's a perfect summation of the feeling it gave me too.
I'm reading A Farewell to Arms. It's pretty interesting since I know very little about WWI.
It's not easy having a good time.
Even smiling makes my face ache.
im now reading;
the rolling stone book of the beats; the beat generation and american culture.
[COLOR=Red] with a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know.[/COLOR]
I quit reading The Witching Hour and started reading Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. I love this book already and I'm not 50 pages into it yet.
I just finished re-read Slaughterhouse 5 on Friday/Saturday because I was in need of a sudden Vonnegut fix after "SLAPSTICK"-- I remember feeling that Slaughterhouse 5 was my least favorite Vonnegut book after the first time but this weekend it just totally blew me out of the water. Such a great, great fookin' book.
"Excuse me sir, Did you wash your hands after you took that big heaping dump. You know that sign, that sign says ALL employees MUST wash their hands after using the restroom, What part of that do you not understand?"- Malcom X
"Would you care to lick my sweaty baulz after they have been dipped in the finest venerial juices and sauteed in my own ass-sweat, madam?"- Winston Churchill
Cities of the Red Night by Billy Burroughs
I just finished Bear v. Shark by Chris Bachelder. It's about commercial culture, our lack of connection with the past and who would win if a bear and a shark got in a fight. It's a funny one-day read, and a nice change of pace from the two giant books I'm trying to read now, Underworld and House of Leaves.
i'm trying hard to get through Jennifer Government. the premise is wonderful but after reading so much Palahniuk and Vonnegut over the last month i find the characters in JG to be rather bland and the action sequence's to be unfulfilling. i'm only into part 2, and a really interesting little twist just happened (i think Billy NRA got mistaken for someone else, that's what it seemed like). guess i'll keep trying, otherwise i'm tackling House Of Leaves again and finishing Bluebeard.
i can see that...books are like food, sometimes tastes just don't go together.
[SIZE=1][QUOTE=ehquestionmark]Wow. This little thread got CRAZY. People telling me to abuse my girlfriend, people showing an alarming lack of respect for women as a whole, people questioning my masculinity in some kind of bizarre machoistic pissing-contest. Hell, I even got called stuffy. [/QUOTE]
[URL=http://confessionalpoe.blogspot.com]Grand Mental Station[/URL]
[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=15714&highlight=interview+insomnomaniac]Insomnomaniac: the found interview[/URL][/SIZE]
Right now..... The Mulching of America, by Harry Crews
But I will finish tomorrow and will then be on to....
Amnesia Moon, by Jonathan Lethem
Starting on Franny and Zooey - JD Salinger.
and two books I got at the library...Short People (short stories) I don't remember the author, and Scared Stiff - Ramsey Campbell.
Dunno if they'll be good or not. When I look for new stuff at the library I just pick something up that looks interesting and take it home - read a few pages and decide if it's worth finishing. I hardly ever read the inside cover flaps to get an idea of the story. So yeah...these'll probably be stupid. 
People at the library must think I'm a speed reader - checking out five or more books at one time and bringing half back the next day
i took glamorama [easton ellis] out of the library last week, so im still reading that. its quite good so far.
i also recently bought vonnegut's player piano.. vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, so i am very excited about that being up next.
[COLOR=Red] with a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know.[/COLOR]