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I'm seduced by the first sentence, as always. Only this leads me further into seduction, with the first few sentences drunkening me to love this work: "Context is everthing. Dress me up and see. I'm a carnival barker, an auctioneer, a downtown performance artist, a speaker in tongues, a senator...
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American Vertigo
by lz in Reading Archive on 31May2006
Rambling observations from the Frenchie on the US, following the example of Democracy in America. His thoughts on San Francisco only covering the Power Exchange and the inherent contradiction of "The Castro" being named after Fidel when it's the gay capital. Alcatraz also detailed, by way of a boat ride...
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Meet You In Hell
by lz in Reading Archive on 27May2006
Historical lookback at the partnership of Carnegie Steel and Frick Coke. Paints both men as ruthless businessmen with outside interests (Carnegie's interest in giving away his massive wealth, Frick's art interest which survives today in the Frick gallery in NYC). Quite a few chapters focused on the Homestead strike where...
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Somewhat gripping tale of Cayce Pollard's journey to London, Tokyo, Moscow and beyond, unravelling the mystery behind the footage (video footage released in pieces on the Internet, by an unknown director, of unknown actors, in unknown locations). Cayce's unhealthy reactions to certain logos and symbols (Michellin Man, Prada). The notion...
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"I was a young man, starving and drinking and trying to be a writer. I did most of my reading at the downtown L.A. Public Library, and nothing that I read related to me or to the streets or to the people about me. It seemed as if everybody was...
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The last chapters of this left me with a worse impression of the book than the rest of it-- good sportswriting overall, but why weave in so much maudlin father-son stuff? Also enjoyable recounting of Southern life, Bojangles, BBQ, the cynicism underlying all that southern sweet talk. Blythe (a TarHeel)...
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Looking for Alaska
by lz in Reading Archive on 13May2006
For some reason, this is also classified as a "Teen" book-- I guess because the main characters are all juniors in a high school boarding school in Alabama. Well-written, broken into 2 halves "Before" and "After", with each subsection denoted by days before or days after the big event. Pudge,...
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How I Live Now
by lz in Reading Archive on 13May2006
Quick read, written for teens, recommended by Ellen. Daisy moves to England to stay with her cousins and then is caught up in the war. She falls in love with her cousin, Edmond, but is separated from him during the occupation. Nothing spectacular, but readable....
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Published in Poland as Heban, this version was translated by Klara Glowczewska. Kapuscinski is a Polish journalist who spent 4 decades reporting on Africa. This is a collection of his thoughts and stories from that time. As I am dripping with sweat and feeling like a foolish gringo in the...
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Liar's Poker
by lz in Reading Archive on 02May2006
Decent work by Lewis, but nowhere near as engaging as Moneyball. Maybe it would have been better if not a beach read; I've been devouring books beachside in Belize and this wasn't quite the pageturner I was looking for. But good nonetheless. "Alexander insisted at our farewell dinner that I...
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