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Why Things Burn by Daphne Gottlieb.
The short: Poetry
The poems I liked best mixed the mundane with poetic asides. In one, the author used CPR instructions, and added in details on kissing. Vivid and unique, and it worked. The poem conveyed the body's reaction to kissing very well.
Daphne has a clever outlook on like, snarky without sounding bitter, and her voice carried a lot of poems, the date rape ones especially, into readable, compelling, universal ground that I probably would have passed over.
The only clunkers were the suicide note poems. Suicide note poems, really? By an adult? Really? Maybe they were bones thrown to a favorite 14yo niece or something.
I'm reccing this to everyone, and I don't think I've recced (or even enjoyed) much poetry outside of lyrics. Daphne has a bold voice and takes risks in style.
Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill
The short: short stories, lit genre
The long: Long ago, I read Gaitskill's Two Girls, Fat and Thin, and I loved it. Nice mix of lit-style writing with non-lit-style characters. This collection tried for that same blend, but usually failed. The characters, for the most part, never felt real (I'd read one story for about 30 pages before realizing the POV character was female, I thought he was a drag queen). A lot of them felt like the author slumming.
Maybe it's a problem inherent in short stories collections, but Gaitskill's flaws stood out as much as her good writing. Perhaps she has a kindly, eccentric benefactor who mails her 20 bucks each time she uses the word "inchoate".
The Story of English by R. McCrum, W.Craw, R. MacNeil
The short: Non-fiction, the history of the English language
The long: I was glad to see the last page of this book. A little more than I wanted to know about the subject, I guess. I would have liked more on the early history and less on its modern day divisions.
The book is a bit dated (1986), so it was funny to read predictions for the inclusion of the word "modem" into dictionaries. And the chapter on India never guessed at how the customer service industry would be affected.
A Fire in the Sun by George Effinger.
The short: cyberpunk novel
The long: First a rant of which I have ranted before. Dear SF/F writers. I want A story. One. I want to pick up a book and have it be its own contained story. Not part 45 of your 7852 part saga. That's my complaint with this book. I plucked it off of B&Ns shelves, it looked interesting. I brought it home, and 50 pages in realized it was part 2 of a still-not-sure-how-long series (I believe 3 or 4, but possibly 5). -___-
The book was okay on its own, its the story of a gangster in a futurized Islamic world, except that I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first one first, and there wasn't much of an ending because there's more books in the series. And, I figured out the over-ridding plot (5 bucks says it comes out in the next book that Marid the POV character was tricked into killing Umm Saad so that their Godfather could have her brain--- organ transplant technology is much improved in their world) so I'm not much interested in reading the next couple of book., though I might if I get low on reading material.
I've enjoyed David Feintuch's books. Mostly. I gave up on one series when it dragged on too long. But, he's always been someone I check the shelves for when bookshopping. There's been nothing from him in ages. So the other day I Googled him, hoping to find a webpage with a Coming Soon! notice. Instead I found his Wiki and he died a few years ago. Rats.
1. What are your top five favorite pop songs from the 1980s?
"Black Wall" Limited Warranty
"Favorite Shirts" Haircut 100
"Kiss You When Its Dangerous" Eight Seconds
"Don't Change" Inxs
"Blue Monday," New Order
2. What song do you feel a 1980s mix absolutely must include?
"Purple Rain" Prince
3. What group/singer do you feel a 1980s mix absolutely must include?
Duran Duran
4. Which 1980s song are you most sick of hearing?
"I'll Stop the World and Melt With You"
5. Optional question: were you alive during the 1980s? Alive and kicking.
The short: Poetry
The poems I liked best mixed the mundane with poetic asides. In one, the author used CPR instructions, and added in details on kissing. Vivid and unique, and it worked. The poem conveyed the body's reaction to kissing very well.
Daphne has a clever outlook on like, snarky without sounding bitter, and her voice carried a lot of poems, the date rape ones especially, into readable, compelling, universal ground that I probably would have passed over.
The only clunkers were the suicide note poems. Suicide note poems, really? By an adult? Really? Maybe they were bones thrown to a favorite 14yo niece or something.
I'm reccing this to everyone, and I don't think I've recced (or even enjoyed) much poetry outside of lyrics. Daphne has a bold voice and takes risks in style.
Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill
The short: short stories, lit genre
The long: Long ago, I read Gaitskill's Two Girls, Fat and Thin, and I loved it. Nice mix of lit-style writing with non-lit-style characters. This collection tried for that same blend, but usually failed. The characters, for the most part, never felt real (I'd read one story for about 30 pages before realizing the POV character was female, I thought he was a drag queen). A lot of them felt like the author slumming.
Maybe it's a problem inherent in short stories collections, but Gaitskill's flaws stood out as much as her good writing. Perhaps she has a kindly, eccentric benefactor who mails her 20 bucks each time she uses the word "inchoate".
The Story of English by R. McCrum, W.Craw, R. MacNeil
The short: Non-fiction, the history of the English language
The long: I was glad to see the last page of this book. A little more than I wanted to know about the subject, I guess. I would have liked more on the early history and less on its modern day divisions.
The book is a bit dated (1986), so it was funny to read predictions for the inclusion of the word "modem" into dictionaries. And the chapter on India never guessed at how the customer service industry would be affected.
A Fire in the Sun by George Effinger.
The short: cyberpunk novel
The long: First a rant of which I have ranted before. Dear SF/F writers. I want A story. One. I want to pick up a book and have it be its own contained story. Not part 45 of your 7852 part saga. That's my complaint with this book. I plucked it off of B&Ns shelves, it looked interesting. I brought it home, and 50 pages in realized it was part 2 of a still-not-sure-how-long series (I believe 3 or 4, but possibly 5). -___-
The book was okay on its own, its the story of a gangster in a futurized Islamic world, except that I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first one first, and there wasn't much of an ending because there's more books in the series. And, I figured out the over-ridding plot (5 bucks says it comes out in the next book that Marid the POV character was tricked into killing Umm Saad so that their Godfather could have her brain--- organ transplant technology is much improved in their world) so I'm not much interested in reading the next couple of book., though I might if I get low on reading material.
I've enjoyed David Feintuch's books. Mostly. I gave up on one series when it dragged on too long. But, he's always been someone I check the shelves for when bookshopping. There's been nothing from him in ages. So the other day I Googled him, hoping to find a webpage with a Coming Soon! notice. Instead I found his Wiki and he died a few years ago. Rats.
1. What are your top five favorite pop songs from the 1980s?
"Black Wall" Limited Warranty
"Favorite Shirts" Haircut 100
"Kiss You When Its Dangerous" Eight Seconds
"Don't Change" Inxs
"Blue Monday," New Order
2. What song do you feel a 1980s mix absolutely must include?
"Purple Rain" Prince
3. What group/singer do you feel a 1980s mix absolutely must include?
Duran Duran
4. Which 1980s song are you most sick of hearing?
"I'll Stop the World and Melt With You"
5. Optional question: were you alive during the 1980s? Alive and kicking.
