two umbrellas

If you’ve never read Infinite Jest but always wanted to, now’s your chance – it’s an Infinite Summer (and you’ll have a support group!). I wish this was going on when I read it. Once and done for me (for now) I’ve still got Cervantes and Proust to tackle. (via)

Speaking of DFW, hipsterbookclub has an essay by the woman who designed some of his books. From my experience in publishing, it can be an intimate relationship. A touching essay.

The Seven Types of Customer: After working full-time at a Borders in Philly, this made me laugh, and laugh, and laugh…

Happy Bloomsday! Colum McCann has an essay on reading Ulysses.

The messy layers of human experience get pulled together, and sometimes ordered, by words.

I recently finished Damion Searls’ What We Were Doing and Where We Were Going**, which I loved. Amazon’s book blog, Omnivoracious, has an interview in two parts. I highly recommend it.

**Update: Here’s my review over at WFTC.

I’ve got another review up at WFTC. It’s Mary Gaitskill’s Don’t Cry. Here’s a bit:

I’ve only ever read two of Mary Gaitskill’s story collections: Bad Behavior, her first (published in 1988), and Don’t Cry, her latest. Both are highly charged works of fiction — strong, full of sexuality, intensity, and intelligence. After reading both of these collections, I have come to the conclusion that if I ever had the chance to meet Mary Gaitskill I would be quite intimidated. Her writing is tough and confident, somehow masculine and feminine at the same time, which doesn’t make it feminist — it makes it authentic.

The NYT has a fun essay by Geoff Nicholson about food and eating in literature.

I’ve realized that the moments of literary eating I like best are the ones in which the characters suffer because of their food. In “Gravity’s Rainbow,” for instance, there’s an early scene in which the wartime inhabitants of a London maisonette enjoy bananas served in myriad forms, including mashed bananas “molded in the shape of a British lion rampant.” This is good stuff, but the truly magnificent scene in the book has Tyrone Slothrop sampling various hideous English candies, flavored with the likes of quinine, pepsin, eucalyptus, tapioca, until, choking, he’s offered a Meggezone, “the least believable of English coughdrops.” This is a real product, a nasty little black lozenge, still available, and if my childhood memory is reliable, Pynchon’s description of its effects — “Polar bears seek toenail-holds up the freezing frosty-grape alveolar clusters in his lungs” — gets it about right.

The article led me to Nicholson’s blog, Psycho-Gourmet. Very funny, indeed. But I read my blogs with Google Reader – now stylishly updated by mr. twoumbrellas with Helvetireader. I have a folder for food blogs and a folder for literary blogs. Where, oh, where should I file this one? I think I’ll put it with the food blogs; but I love when literature and food collide.

I know it’s a bit late, but I went to the Free Library Festival a few weeks back. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the size this year. Usually the vendors stretch all around the library but only one block had vendors:



There was still a good offering of local university presses and bookshops. Harvest Books was giving away free books (which means you couldn’t get anywhere near the stand). I had never heard of Harvest Books before and didn’t realize they were in the Philly area. I’ll definitely have to check out their warehouse someday or order online: Hooray, local booksellers!! There were also some magazine stands: N+1 and McSweeney’s made appearances. Here’s another shot:



I didn’t make it to see any of the authors this year. A disappointment, I’m sure, but I was suffering from an allergic reaction to an Rx which made me look and feel like a poorly copied Seurat – there’s always next year. Although with the small size of this year, I am hoping there will be a next year…So, don’t forget to support your local library!!

Mark your calendars: Colson Whitehead will be reading at the FLP on 05 May 2009 at 7.30 (FREE at the Central branch). While I wasn’t too thrilled about Apex Hides the Hurt I’ve heard good things about John Henry Days and others…so, don’t take my word for it.

My review of Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun at When Falls the Coliseum is up. Here’s a bit:

There are so many things that could be potentially cliche about Nami Mun’s Miles from Nowhere: the title, the cover, the characters, the plot — just about everything. The main character, Joon, runs away from home when she is twelve. Her father has left the family, which drives her mother to insanity. After leaving her mother, Joon goes down the inevitable path of drugs and prostitution as she copes on the streets of New York City. But there is something keeping this novel from falling into the trap: Nami Mun’s writing.

My ‘New Lit’ column will appear the first Wednesday of each month. Check it out…

Check it out. The dates are 18-19 April. The new logo is cool, too. There’s a pretty long line-up of authors scheduled, including: Joyce Carol Oates, Joe Queenan, among many others.

With having the Parasol around, I find my personal time has become somewhat limited. So I decided to divide my time a little further by creating another blog: feeding claire that’s dedicated to feeding my daughter, of course, but also my adventures in being a new mom. If you’re interested in food and have kids, feel free to give it a look-see…