Books at Sage

The Anthologist

salomd — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:51:53 +0000

This wonderful novel by the author of The Mezzanine and Human Smoke is the story of Paul Chowder, poet of little note, who is struggling as he tries to finish the introduction to an anthology of rhymed verse. In Baker’s inimitable style, Chowder informs the reader in crystal-clear detail about the tropes and conventions of rhymed verse, a style few contemporary poets still employ. Chowder picks on some of his favorites, particularly W.S. Merwin, and looks back to Walt Whitman as he also gives us insight into the mind of a sometime-academic fighting his own intellectual impotence. I have been reading Nicholson Baker since his first novel was published in 1986. He is a brilliant wordsmith. He will be speaking at Russell Sage College in the Fall of 2010.

Nicholson Baker. The Anthologist. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009. 243 pp. $25.00. 1416572449.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

salomd — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:46:06 +0000

This brief memoir tells the horrific story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. The editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, in 1995 Bauby was stricken by a kind of stroke at the age of 43, leaving him in a condition medical science refers to as “locked-in syndrome.” He is essentially paralyzed, able only to blink his left eye in order to communicate. Bauby’s book (which was made into a film in 2007) makes little reference to the situation of his illness and instead focuses on what it is like to experience a world in which one is unable to respond. The nurses frustrate him, visitors sometimes anger him, but Bauby somehow lives on . . . but only for a short while. He passed away two days after the French publication of the book.

Jean-Dominique Bauby. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. New York: Vintage, 1997. 144 pp. $12.95. 0007790155.

Beauty Salon

salomd — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:40:29 +0000

This short (63 pages) novel, translated from Spanish, examines a deadly plague that has hit the inhabitants of an unnamed Mexican city. The narrator has converted his beauty salon into a kind of hospice where those afflicted can spend their dying days. The narrator actually tells us little about the nature of the plague itself (is it AIDS?), and instead focuses on the care and concern he has for these people he does not know. Nevertheless, amidst his exotic fish, he cares for these people as they quickly pass away. The novel seems to be a parable for modern life.

Mario Bellatin, Beauty Salon. San Francisco: City Lights, 2000 (English trans. 2009). 63pp. $10.95. 0872864731.

2666

salomd — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:38:11 +0000

This chaotic mess of a novel is the posthumous publication of Roberto Bolano, arguably one of the most important writers in Spanish of our time. His earlier work, including the very readable Savage Detectives, made him a star in his native Mexico and made him a darling in the literary and scholarly world.

This final novel, which is actually five novellas, was intended to be published in five parts. The publisher, however, subverted Bolano’s wishes and published the entire thing in one volume at one time. As a result, it is possible–and recommended–that you read the book as five separate novellas.

The first one is probably the most readable and palatable. It follows the trail of three academics searching for a reclusive German author. However, it takes about 75 pages of often-frustrating but beautiful language to finally get to the story itself. To be honest, the other four parts are not only difficult to get through, some of it is violent, graphic, and distasteful.

The story of Bolano’s death and the writing of this novel– over which he was laboring at his death in 2003–might be more interesting than this difficult and sometimes boring novel.

2666. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. 898pp. $30.00.

Everything Matters!

salomd — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:14:46 +0000

This is the second book by Ron Currie, Jr. His first was God is Dead, an interesting “fiction,” as he called it, that wondered what would happen if God took human form and was killed.

This new novel is superb. It literally follows the life of Junior Thibodeau from his birth to his death. He is born with a prophecy–one that is communicated to him by a voice–that a comet will hit the earth thirty-six years after his birth. Junior is confronted with some fairly serious philosophical issues including: how does one live his life knowing exactly when it will end. How much, if anything, matters. The book is funny in places, very surprising in others, and filled with more than a few plot twists and turns. I’m not sure what Currie is doing in the final 40 pages, and I had to wonder whether the book would have been better without them. But this is an intriguing read, and I highly recommend it.

Everything Matters! New York: Viking, 2009. 302pp. $25.95

Little Bee

salomd — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:20:30 +0000

The second novel by Chris Cleave, Little Bee has a plot that is indeed curious. The title refers to one of the characters, a young black South African girl who befriends a white woman from America. The jacket of the book is intentionally obtuse: “We don’t want to tell you what happens in this book.” It is a novel about choice, and it is a novel about consequences. I’m not going to ruin it for you either. Read it. This will be our Reunion Book Club Selection for June 2010.

Little Bee. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008. 271pp. $24.00.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

salomd — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:19:24 +0000

This book, written by Muriel Bayberry and a sensation in France, is difficult to describe. Much of it is told from the point of view of 12-year-old Paloma Josse. The double narrative structure of the novel gives us Renee Michel for the other strand: a nondescript and rather dumpy concierge in the exclusive Paris apartment building where Paloma lives. In some ways, I believe, Bayberry wants us to consider the absurd lives of the wealthy and contrast them with the mundane lives of more ordinary working folks. It is easy to see why this novel was a sensation in France, and the translation is unobtrusive and easy to read. I enjoyed this novel, but I’m still not sure what all the fuss was about.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog. New York: Europa Editions, 2008. 336pp. $15.00.

Hello world!

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:07:12 +0000

I am currently the Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at The Sage Colleges. I thought I’d use this blog to post random thoughts on my research, teaching, and life. This will also be a place to post thoughts on books.