Recommended by Pat and Henry Leuchtman, this cynical and very funny story of poor William Boot, nature writer and heir to the threadbare family seat in Boot Magna, who through no fault of his own becomes a lauded foreign correspondent in a made up country in a made up war.
Very interesting to me as I have recently made a mild (and so far, unsuccessful) attempt at journalism for Jesse’s magazine. Writing for money and public consumption is both harder and easier than I thought. Sure, you make things up. But which things should be made up and which should be fact?
The boyfriend gave me this book and then seemed surprised when I declared my intention to quit my job and take up a bohemian vagabond lifestyle. It’s his own fault. Librarians need to be very careful about those little rectangles they throw around.
This NYRB classic is a sharp cold slap disguised in Jansson’s characteristic clear prose. In a small island village far north two women establish a mutually beneficial relationship. The older woman has relied on illusions and money to smooth her way in life. The younger woman has relied on her scrupulousness and honesty to make way for herself and her younger brother. Who is the true deceiver? What is honesty and what is its value? Can you stick to principles or comforts in the presence of others’ suffering?
Why are campus satires so funny? Because anyone who has spent time in a college town can picture these characters down to the ground. Smiley’s sharp writing shifts pov all over campus; a sensitive and hardworking research hog, a local farmer who has plans to revolutionize farming if he can just get past the secretary that runs the campus, a black first-year from Chicago stranded in the dorms at Moo U., a creative writing professor on the verge of tenure, his profoundly untalented student Gary, the econ professor who with a perfectly clear conscience recommends destroying the last virgin cloud forest, etc. etc. The episodic nature of these self absorbed folks comes to a satisfyingly tongue in cheek conclusion in the the spring semester, when all the storylines intersect. This book comes up often on lists of great comic novels and with good reason.
Don’t read this book if you like Chabon’s writing, it will bore you to tears. Do read if you want a mid-quality daddy memoir. I now know way too much about his homelife, but his observations come back at odd times and are insightful although of limited scope: legos, his wife’s mental illness, his mom’s sexlife (well that explains something.)
I’ll be in lovely Heath, MA until Friday morning. My plans include inspecting the property my mother left me and greg. I’m reading a book called “Working with your Woodland”- I have hopes that I can design a little Japanese style garden on the acreage and that will keep me from buying some 
Instead of writing I read this whole book. Dogfighting, overcoming adversity, true love etc. I’m putting it on the summer reading list.
This book scared the crap out of me- I have no idea what to think about it but I couldn’t stop reading it. Much like Kelly Link’s short stories. It’s a response to Harry Potter, Narnia, E. Nesbit fantasy- Brooklyn style- meaning, alcoholic, depressive and keeps talking about the green of the gowanus canal. Please read it so we can talk about it.
