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October 2007
Atlanta’s Jewish Book Festival
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 16th Annual Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center is upon us, as of Saturday. From the big opener, Alan Dershowitz, to the pretty cool A.J. Jacobs and his book “The Year of Living Biblically,” on through the AJC’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Race Beat” and hot new literati Nathan Englander, there’s a little something for everyone.
Unlike the Decatur Book Fest, the MJCC’s is not all in one place or over one weekend. It’s here, it’s there, it’s two weeks long. It’s more a series of interesting author appearances. But if you care about books, and/or interesting author events in Atlanta, here is a guide to some highlights.
Alan Dershowitz. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at Zaban Park. The noted, and to some controversial, lawyer will talk about his book “Blasphemy: How the Religious Right is Hijacking our Declaration of Independence.” And given the setting, perhaps he will mention his book “What Israel Means to Me.”
Dalia Sofer and Gina Nahai. 11:45 a.m. Nov. 7 at Zaban Park. Sofer’s debut novel is “The Septembers of Shiraz,” and Nahai’s novel is “Caspian Rain.” Both deal with Jewish life in Iran.
Melissa Fay Greene. 11:45 a.m. Nov. 8 at Zaban Park. I’ve already gone on at length on the greatness of Greene’s non-fiction skills. She’ll be talking about “There Is No Me Without You,”” her book about AIDS in Africa.
A.J. Jacobs. 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at Sweetwater Brewery. In his funny and moving new book, “The Year of Living Biblically,” Jacobs writes that he is Jewish in the same way that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant. Nevertheless, the agnostic spent one year following every single law in the Bible. He even tried to stone people. I’ll have more on Jacobs and his book later.
Dr. Sherwin Nuland. 8 p.m. Nov. 10 at Zaban Park. The physician-author of “The Art of Aging” gives tips on doing it well.
Markus Zusak. 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Zaban Park. Zusak’s “The Book Thief” has gained a big reputation as a Young Adult novel about the Holocaust that adults pass around as well.
Hank Klibanoff. 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at Zaban Park. Klibanoff, a managing editor here at the AJC, talks about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Race Beat,” about press coverage of the civil rights movement, which he co-authored with Gene Roberts.
Nathan Englunder. 8 p.m. Nov. 14 at Zaban Park. Englunder’s novel “The Ministry of Special Cases” has attracted attention for the power of its theme of erasing Jewish identity.
There’s more. Check out their website and get even more info.
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Does anyone still care about “Gone With the Wind?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rhett Butler. Scarlett O’Hara. Does anyone give a damn any more?
One week from today, the new, authorized novel “Rhett Butler’s People” by Donald McCaig will be published. And If there is a buzz of anticipation, it’s a little too subdued for my ears to pick up. The book was No. 159 on Amazon.com’s Best-Seller list on Monday, as a pre-order, and that’s not a very strong showing for what’s supposed to be one of the big books of the year.
St. Martin’s has a first printing of 1.5 million, and is launching the book with much fanfare on Saturday at the Margaret Mitchell House.
Back in 1991, Alexandra Ripley’s “Scarlett” caused a lot of uproar, from fans who did and did not want a sequel to “Gone With the Wind.” “Rhett Butler’s People” isn’t really another sequel, but a re-telling of Mitchell’s love-and-war, Rhett-and-Scarlett saga from Butler’s point of view, filling in a lot of his past, and continuing the story past Mitchell’s ending to a new ending.
Even though you can’t read the book yet, you can read Jill Vejnoska’s advance on the book here.
And you can read the entire first chapter here.
I’ll be reviewing the novel in Sunday’s Arts & Books section, and I’ll keep my opinions to myself till then, but right now I’d like to hear from you: Are you excited about reading a new version of Rhett and Scarlett? Apathetic? Curious?
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7-Day Author Forecast for Oct 29-Nov. 4
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nov. 1
Peter Greenberg. “Complete Travel Guide Detective.” 7:15 p.m. at the Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book. Greenberg, travel editor for NBC’s “Today” show, shares insider secrets.
Nov. 3
Donald McCaig. “Rhett Butler’s People.” 6-9 p.m. at the Margaret Mitchell House. Well fiddle dee dee! McCaig has written an authorized companion volume, more than a sequel, that parallels parts of Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind.” Is Peggy Mitchell rolling over in her grave? The hubbub is drowning out the sound. Admission is $60, which includes the book, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Pre-payment required; call 770-578-3502. Additional books will be available for purchase. This is, by the way, the worldwide launch party for the book.
Nov. 4
Lou Dobbs. “Independents Day: Awakening America’s Spirit.” 3 p.m. at the Atlanta History Center, 1310 W. Paces Ferry Rd. Presented by the Margaret Mitchell House. $10 admission for non-members of MMH. The CNN anchor turned chest-thumbing commentator promotes his new book with a reception, lecture and signing. Hope the catering and cleaning staffs all have their green cards!
Yann Martel & Tomislav Torjanac. “Life of Pi: Illustrated Edition.” 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Buckhead. “Life of Pi,” a novel about a boy, a boat and a tiger, won the Man Booker Prize in 2002 and was an international best-seller. This new version has color illustrations.
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Bow down before Millard Kaufman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Millard Kaufman is 90 years old. He just published his first novel.
That, in and of itself, is very cool. Then I read the book, “Bowl of Cherries,” and it’s just freakin’ fantastic. If you like fresh, inventive comic fiction, head over to your local bricks-n-mortar or click over to Amazon and treat yourself to “Bowl of Cherries.”
First, the book. It’s the life story of young Judd Breslau, a sweet, naive 20something whom we meet while he is in jail, awaiting his execution. In Iraq. And he wasn’t in the military. And his jail is constructed out of human excrement. Really. How he got there is the story of “Bowl of Cherries.”
It involves going to Yale at age 14, and falling hopelessly in love with the heartbreaker Valerie Chatterton. There’s a porn studio, and a dude ranch, and research into the power of music to change the world, and yes, an actual bowl of cherries as a part of the plot, and not just a metaphor. Readers who like Tom Robbins (“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”), but get a little tired of his antics, should like “Cherries.”
It reads like the first novel of someone who’s 25, or 35 at the most. But as mentioned, Kaufman is 90. He was a Marine at Guadalcanal, He wrote two Oscar-nominated screenplays (“Bad Day at Black Rock,” “Take the High Ground”). He co-created Mr. Magoo. Then earlier this month he was named “Hot Novelist” by Rolling Stone in its “Hot Issue” for this, his first novel.
To recap: Guadalcanal. Mr. Magoo. Porn studio. Iraqi prison made of excrement. “Rolling Stone.” It’s a world of wonder, isn’t it?
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Going through an Ayn Rand phase
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ayn Rand has worked her way back into a corner of the news lately, with the publication of Alan Greenspan’s new memoir, “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.” Greenspan was an acolyte to the author-philosopher back in the ’50s, before he was famous, let alone Federal Reserve chief, and he covers those years in his book.
Quick Cliff’s Notes for the unfamiliar: Ayn (rhymes with “fine”) Rand was a popular but controversial author whose two main novels, “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead,” put forth her philosophy of Objectivism, or putting the individual above all else. They are thick, didactic, preachy, pulpy, and the gateway to what we now call Libertarianism.
In the late ’90s, Random House ran a reader’s poll for best novel of the 20th century. “Atlas Shrugged” placed first. “The Fountainhead” placed second. Then again, “Battlefield Earth” by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, placed third, and “Ulysses” by James Joyce didn’t make the Top 10, so that tells you something about the poll. Namely, that her followers take her very seriously.
Greenspan’s memoir has revived interest in the “Ayn Rand phase” of the young, misunderstood intellectual. As Michael Kinsley put it in his review of Greenspan’s memoir in The New York Times Book Review: “Many young brainiacs of dorkish tendencies go through an Ayn Rand period.”
Much harsher is the equivalent passage from Andrew Ferguson, reviewing Greenspan’s book in The Weekly Standard. In the ’50s, when Greenspan hung out with Rand, Ferguson writes, “Her creepy philosophy of Objectivism, placing the self at the center of the moral universe, was being enthusiastically embraced, as it still is, by tens of thousands of pimply teenage boys in the dreamy moments between fits of social insecurity and furious bouts of masturbation.”
Whoa, Andrew. Wipe down the computer keys and listen up: Lots of misunderstood intellectual teenage girls also dig Rand.
Not everyone outgrows Rand, but most people seem to. I’m interested in hearing from both groups. Did you go through an Ayn Rand phase? Are you still in it? What about her books? How do they stand the test of time?
Six-word memoir winner, and a story!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have a clear winner in our Six-Word Memoir Contest: Drumroll please…
My teenage self would be pleased.
The sentiment clearly touched a chord among readers of this blog. I emailed Libby Ware, the woman who wrote the memoir, and told her she had won. Since some people like to post here and remain anonymous, I told her she did not have to disclose her name publicly, but that she was welcome to. I also asked if she wanted to elucidate on those six brief but meaningful words, not knowing how, or even if, she would respond. I got this great email in return from Libby.
I was moved when I realized people were voting for my entry. Here’s how it came about: I was a depressed teenager, suffering from unrequited love and internalized homophobia, and dealing with other issues, including two new stepparents. (My parents each got re-married the same year.) Now that I’m in a healthy same sex relationship, at times I’ve thought if only my 17-year-old self knew what the future held, she would have had hope and been able to accept her sexuality more easily.
Recently, I was awarded a Fellowship from the Hambidge Center for the Arts to work on my novel. One Saturday at the Hambidge Center, I was walking down the path, having finished a difficult chapter that I had been struggling with. The chapter came together well and I was quite pleased with the work I’d done that day. And I thought “If my teen-aged self could see me now, she’d be so pleased.”
I’m 53 years old, working by day as a Paralegal, finishing my first novel, and in my spare time I have an antiquarian book business, Toadlily Books.
I had no idea that was the backstory when I selected Libby’s memoir for the Top 10, nor did anyone know when they voted. Now that I read that email, I couldn’t be happier with the selection. Thanks to everyone who participated.
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7-Day Author Forecast for Oct. 22-28
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is your 7-day forecast of author appearances in metro Atlanta. As always, everything is subject to change. And not just in this blog, either.
Tonight - Oct. 22
Tom Perotta. “The Abstinence Teacher.” 6 p.m. at Margaret Mitchell House. Free to members, $10 for non-members. The author of “Little Children” writes again about sex and suburbia.
Thomas L. McHaney. Leading Faulknerian scholar presents part two of his illustrated lecture series “Faulkner and the Plain People of the South.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. Sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book.
Oct. 23
Carl Bernstein. “A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton.” 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Buckhead. Former Watergate reporter has written a biography of Hillary Clinton, and her campaign wishes he hadn’t.
David R. Kaufman. “Peachtree Creek: A Natural and Unnatural History of Atlanta’s Watershed.” 6 p.m. at Rich Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center.
Oct. 24
Susan Faludi. “The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post 9/11 America.” 6 p.m. reception at Margaret Mitchell House. Free to members, $10 to non-members. Non-traditional look at what we’ve been about since 9/11, with an emphasis on gender roles and pop mythology, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author/scholar.
Frye Gaillard. “Prophet From Plains.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. Southern expert discusses and signs his new book about Jimmy Carter.
Dana Thomas. “Luxe.” Style-culture reporter for Newsweek talks about her new book about “the decline of quality in the new world of luxury.” If your Lexus won’t start afterward, you get a free tow. 7:30 p.m., Wordsmith Books, Decatur.
Oct. 25
Lance Bass. “Out of Sync.” 8 p.m. at Outwrite Books, Midtown. The former NSync band member talks about his life, his music, his sexuality. OK, everybody, settle down.
Oct. 28
Delia Champion. “The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook.” 2 p.m. at Wordsmith Books. Brunch is served. Seriously.
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Dumbledore was gay. Seriously.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Update on the whole Dumbledore is gay thing
I just found a website that is already making and selling new Dumbledore shirts. One has a drawing of the Hogwarts headmaster and the caption “I always knew.”
“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling stunned fans at a Q&A session at Carnegie Hall Friday night when she said that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay.
According to the Associated Press, her bombshell brought gasps, then applause. There was never anything overt in the Potter books to make fans think Potter’s mentor might be gay, although there are some passages in the seventh book that Rowling now points to.
Dumbledore, she said, was in love with Grindewald, a wizard he knew as a young man and ultimately defeated in battle.
‘“You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me,’” Dumbledore says in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
“Neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald ever seems to have referred to this brief boyhood friendship in later life,’” Rowling writes. “However, there can be no doubt that Dumbledore delayed, for some five years of turmoil, fatalities, and disappearances, his attack upon Gellert Grindelwald. Was it lingering affection for the man or fear of exposure as his once best friend that caused Dumbledore to hesitate?”
On the one hand, Dumbledore is Rowlings’ creation, and she can make him anything she wants. On the other hand, this whole revelation just feels very weird after we thought we knew this character. Which may, of course, be the point.
One reassurance in all this: At least we can be confident that certain folks with an anti-Harry bias will just let this one slide and not stir up an even bigger stink. Am I right?
So what do you think of the Dumbledore is gay revelation?
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What book has freaked you out?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday’s Arts and Books section contains a nifty wrapup of folks talking about novels and stories that have scared them in major ways. Here are a few edited examples, gathered by free-lancer Kathy Janich, to get your synapses popping.
“The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty “I began hearing furniture moving in our attic and we didn’t even have an attic!” said novelist Sandra Brown.
“The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris. “Hannibal Lecter is probably one of the most frightening characters in print,” said Alice Dasher of E. Shaver Booksellers in Savannah.
“American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis. “It’s the most gory writing that I’ve ever read,”said Terra McVoy, manager at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur.
Also mentioned: “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, “Pet Sematary” and “The Shining” by Stephen King, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.
Mine? Thanks for asking. Even mediocre Stephen King novels, and God know he’s written ‘em and I’ve read ‘em, can have a single scene or motif or character that is just pure freaky. His good ones rock. “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub was pretty intense, as I recall.
But I think the story that creeped me out the most was “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. I was maybe 11 years old or so when I read it, the perfect age. I doubt it would bug me much now, but for kids, it’s great.
How about you? What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever read?
Don’t quit your night job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eric Clapton’s new autobiography is just out, called Clapton: The Autobiography, and it’s one of those rock ‘n roll celebrity memoirs that’s neither particularly good nor particularly bad. He writes about growing up poor, all the bands he played in, the songs he wrote, the women he loved, the years of heroin addiction and boozing, the rehabs and recoveries.
By the time I was two-thirds through, I was skimming faster and faster and showing less and less interest. But I had agreed to review it (my review will be in the Sunday Oct. 21 Arts & Books section), so I was obligated to finish it.
Rock ‘n’ roll autobiographies make big news (some at a New York Times level, some at “Inside Edition” level) but most of the time, they’re yawners.
Why does every rocker think he/she has a book inside? You got an answer, 50 Cent, Marilyn Manson, Boy George? I do. It’s because we all believe, deep down, that our life story is fascinating to everyone, and would make a great book.
Only in the case of rock stars, as opposed to you and me, there is a big publishing house to come along and say, sure, Tommy Lee, your fans have bought the Motley Crue CDs and watched your famous homemade movie, but what they really want is scenes from your childhood.
As with nearly everything in life, Bob Dylan is the exception. His “Chronicles” didn’t really answer all the questions, but darned if it wasn’t a great read.
Can you think of any rock ‘n’ autobiographies, or celebrity memoirs in general. that were actually good? Or on the flip side, what’s the worst the genre has offered recently?
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Spoilers!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s talk about spoilers.
Actually, I wanted to talk about endings of some recent books that made me cry. A real manly topic, I know. But I realized that if I wrote about the endings of the books I wanted to write about, someone would get upset and accuse me of slinging spoilers.
A spoiler, of course, is giving away the ending, or key developments, of a movie, book or TV show. You know:
Bruce Willis is dead the whole time but doesn’t know it.
Boo Radley saves Jem.
Dr. House figures out the diagnosis and saves the patient’s life. (Oooh! Why did you tell me that? I had that episode TiVo’d!)
We all know those (I hope). But if there is someone out there who’s only halfway through “To Kill a Mockingbird,” they’re pretty bummed right now. There’s nothing worse than being spoiled, particularly if it’s a book you’ve been looking forward to.
But I’m here to say that there comes a point when people ought to be able to discuss a book and not cringe for fear that someone else hasn’t gotten around to reading it yet.
We ought to be able to talk about the death of Dumbledore at the end of “Harry Potter 6,”: right? It’s been two and a half years. But is it cool yet to talk about what happened to Snape in “Harry Potter 7,” which has been out three months? And if not, when will it go from being a spoiler to a non-spoiler. What’s the statute of limitations on spoilers?
For today, spoiler stories. Have you had a book spoiled for you, and how did you react? Have you spoiled a book for someone else?
Oh look, it’s Anna Karenina. What is she doing next to those train tracks?
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Vice, vice baby
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who wants vice?
Peter Sagal hopes enough people do to goose sales of his fun new book, “The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things and How to Do Them.” It’s brand spankin’ new this week from HarperCollins, and if you are a fan of the witty NPR radio show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” yes, it is that Peter Sagal, the show’s host.
Before he goes to a porn video shoot or dabbles in online gambling (all for research, of course), Sagal explains the difference between vice and sin. “Sins are things you do that are wrong in and of themselves, whether or not you enjoy them. They are committed, for the most part, out of necessity or compulsion,” he writes. “They include theft, lying, hitting people, and being mean to your little sister.”
Vice, on the other hand, you indulge in for the pleasure it gives you, he states. Some activities can be both (drinking, gambling), but there needs to be an element of getting away with something, and of sybaritic satisfaction, to qualify as a vice.
Definitions dispensed with, Sagal goes off in search of vice, which isn’t a tough order in today’s culture. He visits a swinger’s club in a normal suburban home, with his wife, for an up-close-and-personal account that makes you want to wipe down your seat cushions, indulges in over-the-top gluttony at an expensive restaurant, hangs with pit bosses in Vegas. He’s mainly a reporter and observer more than a participant in all this vice; he is also still married when the book ends.
I don’t expect anyone to have read the book yet since it’s just out, but surely you can sound off:
What’s your favorite vice?
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Vote for the best six-word memoir
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to everyone who entered the Six-Word Memoir Contest, this blog’s version of the original concept at Smith’s Magazine, and keyed to the upcoming book “Not Quite What I Was Planning.”
The range of entries was amazing. There was a lot of humor, some cockeyed philosophizing, plenty of God, and the usual amount of utter cluelessness. (Six words, people. Six. Words.) Some were very positive, some broke my heart, and some I puzzled over.
But with 270 or so entries, the only way to pull off a popular vote is to limit it to 10. And I am the limiter. Many people clearly poured their essence into these, and if you did not make it, I’m sorry. I tried to come up with a range of nominees, and I had to eliminate some that were extremely clever but felt more like a philosophy of life than a memoir.
Here are the 10. I will leave voting open until midnight Oct. 21. Please vote one time (yes, I can tell). The winner, as stated before, gets my advance copy of “Not Quite What I Was Planning” and immeasurable satisfaction.
Best Six-Word Memoirs. Vote for one.
Looked for love, wives caught me.
I grew in confidence, I think.
I missed life. I was working.
Bein’ ruint frees you up some.
Valedictorian now teaches bottom of class.
She was all that. I wanted.
Lost leg, gained perspective and weight.
My teenage self would be pleased.
Husband and children were not enough.
Mama: beauty queen. I favor dad.
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Seven-day author forecast for Oct. 15-21
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is your seven-day author forecast for metro Atlanta. All dates and appearances are subject to change.
Monday Oct. 15
Jean Edward Smith. “FDR.” 7 p.m. at the Jimmy Carter Library. Smith, the author of biographies of Ulysses Grant and John Marshall, discusses and signs his new book on FDR. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.
Tuesday Oct. 16
**Warren St. John. “ESPN Guide to Psycho Fan Behavior.” 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Buckhead. Includes tips on painting your torso in team colors and tearing down goalposts.
Wednesday Oct. 17
Jimmy Carter, “Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.” 5:30-7 p.m. at The Carter Center. The former president signs his latest book, a look at his post-presidency career.
Alex Harris, “The Idea of Cuba.” 6 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Harris, a former Atlantan, is a writer and photographer who has traveled to Cuba many times. He will show his photos of Cuba and discuss the country.
Thursday, Oct. 18
* Rob Riggan. “The Blackstone Commentaries.”* 7:30 p.m. at Wordsmith Books in Decatur.
Judson Mitcham and Seaborn Jones. 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. Two Georgia poets read from and sign their latest collections.
Saturday, Oct. 20
Michael Largo. “The Portable Obituary.” 7:30 p.m. at Wordsmith Books.
Sunday, Oct. 21.
Derek Nikitas. “Pyres. 2 p.m. at Wordsmith Books. Local author discusses and signs his debut novel, a literary thriller.
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Write your six-word memoir contest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can you write your whole life story in just six words?
That’s the challenge that lots of people, including some real authors, have been taking up on the website Smith magazine since last year, with sometimes very creative results. Like these:
Says deaf boyfriend: you’re too quiet.
Still a very bad Mormon. Yay!
Boy, if I had a hammer.
The best of these six-word memoirs have been collected in a new book, “Not Quite What I Was Planning.” It doesn’t come out till February, but the publisher, HarperCollins, sent me an advance copy and I fell so in love with it I had to blog early.
Some are from famous people.
Revenge is living well, without you. (Joyce Carol Oates)
Well, I thought it was funny. (Stephen Colbert)
A few more examples from regular folks:
Still lost on road less travelled.
Found true love, married someone else.
Eight thousand orgasms. Only one baby.
Once you start reading these, you feel compelled to do your own. Here’s mine:
She said yes. Everything else followed.
What’s your six-word memoir? Let’s have a contest. Send in your six-word memoir by midnight Oct. 15. I’ll pick what I think are the 10 best. Then I will post those entries, and everyone can vote on the best one.
The winner will get my advance copy of the book “Not Quite What I Was Planning.”
But contest aside, this is a great opportunity to express yourself creatively. Go to it.
OK, folks. The nominations have been closed. That was really amazing. Thank you all, and now on to the voting.
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And the Nobel goes to …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Update:
The Nobels just announced that Doris Lessing won this year’s Lit prize.
The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced tomorrow (Oct. 11).
We tend not to value the Nobel in Literature all that much in America because, frankly, so often if goes to weird foreigners we’ve never heard of. I know that sounds very philistine, but it’s the truth. Even if you are extremely well-read, the Lit Nobel can be a bit challenging.
The British book-making outfit Ladbroke’s, which takes bets on all manner of things, has posted a series of odds on its website, handicapping authors. Philip Roth is the odds-on favorite this year at 4-1 (USA! USA!). Listed second, at 6-1, is Claudio Magris, an Italian novelist and essayist.
Folks I’ve read, at least a little: Joyce Carol Oates is 8-1, Thomas Pynchon is 10-1, Margaret Atwood is 20-1, Ian McEwan and John Updike are both 40-1, and J.K. Rowling is 100-1, probably because Ladbroke’s thinks it can get people to wager on her, rather than because she has a real shot.
Among the many, many Who Dats? Thomas Transtromer, Ko Un, Cees Nooteboom and Hugo Claus, all of them given more of a shot than Updike.
Granted, this isn’t like handicapping the Oscars. But this is The Book Page. So, who do you think should win this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature?
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Meet Jenna Bush
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have a new favorite member of the Bush family - Jenna. Yes, she’s one of the twins (along with Barbara) who got so much tabloid time 5-6 years ago for a little drinking and hell-raising in college. Anybody here who didn’t do some of that in college? Didn’t think so.
She is now 25, engaged, has worked as an inner-city elementary school teacher in Washington, D.C., and has written her first book. It’s a surprise - a really gritty portrait of a real teenager whom Bush met while working for UNICEF in Central American. Ana, a pseudonym, is 17, an orphan, a single mother, and HIV-positive. She’s been sexually abused, in and out of foster care, and through it all has a great spirit.
I talked to Bush on the phone about Ana and her book, and came away really impressed with her. You can read the interview here, and/or go see her tonight at the Barnes & Noble in Alpharetta. They’re saying 7 p.m. but I would get there way before that if you want a signed book. And even if you don’t go, consider buying the book for a teen you know.
I really do not want to talk about Jenna’s father in this blog, but if you have anything to say about Jenna or the book, have at it!
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Online book club #1: “The Road”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Welcome to our first online book club. This is an experiment to see whether and how this might work in a blog format. I’m just going to throw it out there, and y’all tell me what works and what doesn’t.
Our first book is “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy. It’s a selection of Oprah’s Book Club and made the top books lists of many publications in 2006.
We will be discussing the ending, so if you are averse to spoilers, bail out now.
“The Road” is set in a post-apocalyptic America. The landscape is burned, ashen, with almost none of the natural abundance we take for granted. We never are told what has happened, but it’s reasonable to assume a horrendous nuclear war.
Our characters are two, mainly — a nameless father and his nameless son — and the people they meet on the road. They are traveling, moving toward an ocean, trying to stay alive. The father is also trying to pass along a pre-war moral code to the boy in a world where morality is playing second fiddle to survival in most cases.
In many ways, the book is enormously simple, almost fable-like. But as we move along and feel the intensity of the father’s love and the fierce bond between the two males, “The Road” grows in its power.
In the end, the father dies, possibly of radiation poisoning, although it doesn’t really matter. The boy, whose age we don’t know, is rescued by another family, and goes on without his father.
Normally we’d do one question at a time, but I want to jump-start things, so here are five questions. Hit whichever one you feel like and we’ll see where it goes.
Did “The Road” leave you feeling sad or uplifted?
What is McCarthy saying about humanity?
There are few females in “The Road.” How would the book have been different if it was about a mother and her daughter?
McCarthy’s language is very intense. What does this style add to the story? Did the strangeness detract for you?
Where do you think the book takes place geographically? When they end up on the beach, where are they?
Oct. 8-14: 7-Day Author Forecast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is your Seven-Day Author Forecast for the week of Oct. 8: All events subject to change.
Monday
Michelle Moran. “Nefertiti.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library.
Tuesday
Jenna Bush. “Ana’s Story.” 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in Alpharetta. Come early; expect crowds. This is the true story of a 17-year-old single mother with HIV whom Bush met on a UNICEF trip in Central America. I talked with Bush on the phone (it will run in Tuesday’s blog) and I was very impressed with her.
Sandra Brown. “Play Dirty.” 7 p.m. at Margaret Mitchell House (reception at 6 p.m.). New thriller by the best-selling author mixes sex and pro football.
Rita Mae Brown. “The Tell-Tale Horse.” 7:30 p.m. at Borders Buckhead. Popular author’s sequel to her hunting novel, “The Hounds and the Fury.”
Thursday
Egil “Bud” Krogh. “Integrity.” 7 p.m. at the Jimmy Carter Library. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book. This sounds intriguing. Krogh served in the Nixon White House during Watergate and was one of Nixon’s loyal minions, if memory serves. Now he’s written a book called “Integrity” and is signing at the Carter Library. Hmmm.
Toni McGee Causey. “Bobby Faye’s Very Very Very Very Bad Day.” 7:30 p.m. at Wordsmith Books, Decatur. The folks at Wordsmith are pushing this offbeat first novel out of Louisiana, which they call a “trailer trash mystery thriller.” Gotta check that out.
Saturday
Carol O’Dell. “Mothering Mother: A Daughter’s Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir.” Barnes & Noble Snellville. True account from the so-called “sandwich generation:” middle-agers caught dealing with aging parents and their own kids.
Tina Brooks McKinney. “Lawd, Mo’ Drama.” 7:30 p.m. at Wordsmith Books, Decatur.
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What’s your favorite banned book?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Banned Books Week is coming to end, but not, in all likelihood, attempts to ban books. The American Library Association tracks challenges to books and its website has lists of the most challenged books of the ’90s and ’00s.
Here are some selected books from the list:
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engel
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
“Brave New World” by Aldous Huxkey
“Native Son” by Richard Wright
Heck, if I ran the schools, those would be required reading. Any kid who could prove he/she had read them all by eighth grade would get a season’s pass to Six Flags and a standing ovation at school assembly.
But that’s not the topic. This is:
Which of those banned books is your favorite, and why?
(Don’t forget: Monday we have our online book club for “The Road.”)
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Today’s blog is shocking!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been four months now. Remember the night you watched the series finale of “The Sopranos?” The family gathered in the diner, that Journey song playing on the jukebox, Meadow parking, the guy at the bar who eyeballs the family, then goes into the men’s room, then BLAMMO! Black screen. Millions of people all thought the same thing: My cable just went out and I missed the last seconds!
It was a controversial ending, but I liked it because it didn’t play along with any of the scenarios viewers had fantasized about; it was ambiguous and open to interpretation; it was just a flat-out shocker; it made people think and debate.
That’s how I felt when I finished Walter Mosley’s new novel, “Blonde Faith.” The 10th Easy Rawling mystery novel has an ending that will have people talking, I guarantee it. It’s just that in the book world, several million people don’t all finish a book at the same time, unless it’s Harry Potter, so the talk will be more diffused.
My review of “Blonde Faith” will be in Sunday’s newspaper. The book should hit book stores next week. But I’d like to hear from you on the topic of shock endings. Movies do it well (“The Sixth Sense,” “The Usual Suspects”); TV does it quirky (“Newhart”).
Books, not so much. There are the old O. Henry stories and “Incident at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, but those are more twists than shocks. Before it was an awesome movie with Edward Norton, “Primal Fear” was a thriller by Georgia’s own Bill Diehl with a great surprise ending. I’ve heard the recent novel “Double Bind” by Chris Bohjalian has a surprise ending, but haven’t read it yet. Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” of course, but that’s so old it’s a cliche (the narrator did it).
“Blonde Faith’s” ending is of a different sort than O. Henry, but I can’t say any more without spoiling it. Can anyone think of a novel that has an ending that just knocked you back on your heels? Spoiler-wise, I’m gonna draw an arbitrary line: If it was published 2000 or later, don’t give away the ending. Earlier than 2000, you can give it away.
(Quick FYI: The Margaret Mitchell House event with Lorna Landvik, scheduled for Thursday night, has been canceled.
Jimmy Carter, our greatest presidential author
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jimmy Carter turned 83 yesterday, so happy belated birthday to our former president.
He celebrated by publishing his 17th book (by my count on Amazon), “Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.” It’s a history of what he’s done in the 25 years since he left the White House, concentrating on his work with the Carter Center, as well as his work with Habitat for Humanity.
I know that Carter as president is still controversial, as is Carter as globe-trotting do-gooder. But his track record as Presidential author is peerless. He’s written poetry, a historical novel about the Revolutionary War, a children’s book (with daughter Amy), several memoirs, and books on his Christian faith.
His two most famous (maybe infamous) books have been:
“Everything to Gain,” the book on how to enjoy retirement that he co-wrote with Rosalynn. They had such different styles (she agonized over every word, he wrote his parts quickly and easily) that the Carters now say it’s the worst period they had in their marriage.
“Palestine Peace Not Apartheid,” his last book and by far his most controversial. It outraged many because of its criticism of Israel, and led to the resignations of some Carter Center advisory board members in protest.
John F. Kennedy wrote “Profiles in Courage.” Nixon had his “Six Crises.” Bill Clinton is back on the best-seller list with “Giving.” Put them all together, though, and they can’t match Carter’s publishing output.
Politics aside, if that’s possible, what do you think of Jimmy Carter as an author?
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The Author Forecast for Oct. 1-7
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m going try something new. Tell me if you like it or not.
Every Monday, this blog will list the major author appearances around metro Atlanta for the coming week. Then on the other days we will try to do discussion topics, where we’ve had success getting people involved, as with talking about O.J. Simpson’s book or the Mother Teresa letters.
So Monday will be what I’m calling the Seven Day Author Forecast. Topics the rest of the time.
Here is this week’s author forecast:
Monday
Jeffrey Toobin. “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. You’ve probably seen Toobin more than most authors as he’s done a ton of TV legal analysis. Got his start like a lot of them did, back in the day with OJTV. Anyone else remember young Mr. Toobin in 1995?
Kenneth Davis. “Don’t Know Much About Anything.” 7 p.m. Borders, Buckhead
Tuesday
Lorna Landvik. “The View From Mount Joy.” 6 p.m. at the Margaret Mitchell House. Quirky novel mixes humor and tragedy.
George Singleton. “Works Shirts for Madmen.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. Funny guy signs his new comic novel.
Wednesday
Ardath Rodale “Everyday Miracles.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. A new compilation of essays about the wonders of everyday life from the author’s “Reflections” column in Prevention magazine.
Thursday
Elizabeth Gilbert. “Eat, Pray, Love.” 7:15 p.m. at Decatur Library. This one will be packed, so get there early. Gilbert’s wonderfully breezy memoir about a year of adventurous living has been at or near the top of best-seller lists for months. She will also be promoting “Pilgrims,” an earlier book of short stories.
**Beth Holloway. “Loving Natalee.” 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble Buckhead. The memoir of Natalee Holloway’s mother.
Friday
Ishmael Beah. “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.” 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Buckhead. Best-selling account of how the author, at age 12, became a killer in Sierra Leone’s civil war.
Karrine Steffans. “Vixen Diaries.” 6 p.m. at Verb Lounge and 7 p.m. Saturday at Borders Lithonia. The follow-up to “Confessions of a Video Vixen.” You mean there’s more? And I will pay $1 to anyone who can prove he/she went to both the Toobin and the Steffans appearances!
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Celebrating (?) Banned Book Week
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Does one celebrate Banned Books Week, or lament it?
This year’s week, which started Saturday (Sept. 29) and runs through Friday (Oct. 6), is a project of the American Library Association , in conjunction with a lot of other groups; it dates back to 1982.
The theme this year is “Ahoy! Treasure Your Freedom to Read and Get Hooked on a Banned Book,” which sounds to me like someone was digging Talk Like a Pirate Day and got carried away. But if it gets people’s attention, fine.
Of course, metro Atlanta has been in the spotlight here recently, with a mother in Gwinnett County trying, through several layers of the appeals process, to get the Harry Potter books banned from Gwinnett school libraries. So far, she has not been successful, but she has plenty of company: The Harry Potter books are the most banned of the last few years, according to the ALA.
What else makes the hit list a lot?
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“Forever” by Judy Blume
“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier
The “Captain Underpants” series by Dave Pilkey
Captain Underpants? Nooooooo!
I’m going to assume that most people who come to this blog are opposed to censorship. But there are parents who believe they should stand up for what they believe in, in regard to their children, or faith, or both, and those people are very welcome here.
Here’s the topic:
Are there two sides to the book banning controversy?
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