Just finished:

Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies

The guy who compiled it is kind of a douche, but it was fun to read.

Now reading Geek Love.

kerble:

Have you read Preacher? It's a series, not a GN, but you can get all the trades (8 of them). It's awesome.

Also, Fables is fantastic.

And I'll third or fourth or whatever 1602.

Started reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Like it so far.

i'll 2nd the Bandini Quartet. subtle and perfect.

Fury by Clive Holden is really great. that will get another pass i'm sure.

also devoured a good bit of Paul Auster's catalogue. the NY Trilogy many times...

Calvino and Arthur Rimbaud due to this thread!

An Unexpected Light by Jason Elliot is a great travel book i found, well, while travelling...

currently into The Dark Tower VI (which he felt the need to write himself into. kinda lame, no?) and A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley.

this is possibly my favourite thread. thanks.

LBx wrote:i'll 2nd the Bandini Quartet. subtle and perfect.

Interesting the difference when you get to 'Dreams from Bunker Hill', though. For those that don't know it was the last book Fante wrote, dictated to his wife as he was blind. And it's quite markedly different from the other Bandini stories - suddenly Arturo has confidence, he uses the word 'fuck', and he's something of a connosieur when it comes to ass. It's payday today so I think I'm going to pick out some more, non-Bandini Fante because I'm intrigued to see how he writes outside of that character.

Since finishing that I read a book of writings by E. B. White, mostly short pieces from the New Yorker. Really delicious stuff, crafted finely but seeming effortless. I love John O'Hara for this too, the ability to place a few words exactly within a sentence so that a minimum of material carries an incredible punch.

i highly recommend Atomement by Ian McEwa

kebabdylan wrote:i highly recommend Atomement by Ian McEwan

Part of the film they're making of this is being filmed up here. Apparently some of it happens on the Dunkirk beaches in the war? So they're recruiting a load of chavs to be soldiers and filming it at Redcar. Best thing for 'em, another war. Heh heh.

I'm diggin' "Raj" by Lawrence James right now.

Just finished The History Of Forgetting by Norman H. Klein. This is a pretty good overview of Los Angeles circa 1875-1997, in the vein of Mike Davis' City of Quartz with more of an emphasis on the combined loss of architecture and memory. The middle part of this book utilizes a little bit of meta fiction (meta history?), but overall a really good read. Highly recommended for City Of Quartz fans.

Starting in on Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link, a recommendation from Mr. Classical.

-Jeremy

Chapter Two wrote:

kebabdylan wrote:i highly recommend Atomement by Ian McEwan

Part of the film they're making of this is being filmed up here. Apparently some of it happens on the Dunkirk beaches in the war? So they're recruiting a load of chavs to be soldiers and filming it at Redcar. Best thing for 'em, another war. Heh heh.

yes part of the novel involves war...

Just finished 'Straws and Prayer-Books' by James Branch Cabell. Non-fiction. One of the wittiest turn-of-the-century writers I'm aware of...his discussion about the 'motives of the artist' is spot on and hilarious.

Incidentally, Mr. Cabell was the subject of a high-profile lawsuit concerning the 'obscenity' in Jurgen, one of his better known works. Mark Twain was a stalwart supporter, as were many other contemporary writers. Reading about it, I'm reminded of similar lawsuits concerning William S. Burroughs, Henry Miller, and Peter Sotos.