11. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson 2005
A masterfully constructed novel, Out Stealing Horses lingered for a long while with me after I read it. Petterson somehow simultaneously tells a story of heavy consequence – Word War II resistance, an abandoned family – with one of the simple everyday joys and sorrows of rural solitude. The flashbacks are staggered perfectly to create suspense, and there are undertones of both humor and sinisterness.
Here’s part five of the Boing Boing Holiday Gift Guide, a roundup of the bestselling items from this year’s Boing Boing reviews. Today’s installment is nonfiction books.
Don’t miss the rest of the posts: kids’ stuff, fiction, and comics
.
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease by Gary Taubes.
Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden.
A People’s History of the American Empire By Howard Zinn.
Check out the website for the complete list of nonfiction picks.
Jennifer Haigh’s latest novel is The Condition.
–Name a childhood hero.
Either St. Francis of Assisi, or Catwoman.
–Name a work you wish you’d written.
The final paragraph of “The Dead.”
–If you had to order your work by how successfully you completed what you set out to accomplish, what would that list look like?
I feel the same way about all my books: whatever its flaws, each is the story I set out to tell.
–Name a work of yours whose reception you’ve been surprised about and why.
In my second novel, Baker Towers, nobody is wealthy or famous. Nobody commits murder; nobody even shoplifts. They’re coal miners! The mine collapses! In some ways it’s my favorite of the novels, but to this day I am stunned and grateful that anybody published it.
–Correct a misperception about you as a writer in fifty words or less.
I’m not sure anybody has a perception, let alone a misperception.
–Name a trait you deplore in other writers.
Sentimentality.
–Name your five desert island films.
The Lives of Others
Days of Heaven
Army of the Shadows
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Battle of Algiers
–Name a book not your own that you wish everyone would read.
Light Years, by James Salter
–Name a book you suspect most people claim to have read, but haven’t.
Joyce’s Ulysses
–If you could choose one of your works to rewrite, which would it be and why.
My college application essays were not good.
–Share the greatest literary secret/gossip you know.
I understand that some writers are fond of the drink.
–Name a book you read over and over for inspiration.
The Richard Yates story, “Oh Joseph, I’m So Tired.”
–Name the writing habit you rely on to get you through a first draft.
Denial.
–Name a regret, literary or otherwise.
It would be indelicate to name names. They know who they are.
–Name your greatest struggle as a writer.
Starting a new novel. The first year just about kills me.
–Name a question you get about writing to which there really is no good answer.
“How do you know when a book is finished?”
–Name a question you wish you had been asked.
“Will you adopt my corgi puppy?”
The Boston Globe interviews Ha Jin about his amazing new collection of short stories, A Good Fall. Ha Jin will read at Newtonville Books on Sunday, December 6th at 2pm with Richard Hoffman. Join us for a great event!
This is a sort of random post, but the book seemed so intriguing that I wanted to share it. I was listening to Weekend Edition on NPR as I was driving to the store this morning, and the featured segment profiled a book I had never heard of before, Rheta Grimsley Johnson’s Poor Man’s Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Louisiana. Johnson, who worked as a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution, fell in love with the Atchafalaya Basin in central Louisiana while working on an unwanted assignment in the region. She ended up quitting her job and buying a house boat in Henderson, La. with her husband. Her memoir describes her surprise love affair with the region and its denizens, and includes fascinating descriptions of local culture and colorful residents. Listen to the clip and check out the book!
Although it came out in 1994, I just recently read Andre Aciman’s Out of Egypt, and it has easily become one of my favorite memoirs. In his memoir, Aciman, a notable professor of literary theory at CUNY, recounts his experience as a young boy coming of age in Alexandria during the sixties, who suddenly must leave everything behind when Anti-Semitism drives his family out of Egypt. Aciman’s rich prose reveals the consequences that come with the diasporic life-including his nostalgia for Alexandria and the fear he constantly experiences of forgetting his past. Aciman’s description of quirky family members and his detailed recollection of daily happenings also add to the work.
The New York Times today released its list of the one hundred works of fiction and nonfiction it deems “notable” for the calendar year. There are many familiar titles (and several authors who read here, including Paul Yoon for Once the Shore, Jayne Ann Phillips for Lark and Termite, and Stacy D’Erasmo for The Sky Below, ) and a few surprises as well. Congratulations to all the authors whose works made the list. You can find the list here.
Mikhail Chekhov’s memoir of his brother’s life has now been translated into English and will be released on the 22nd. Publishers Weekly has given it a great review. The book reveals the humorous side of the playwright and short story writer and also includes the specific events that inspired Chekhov to write some of his short stories.
Unbeknownst to most of us, some of the world’s greatest writers have developed the unique and uniquely 21st century ability to tweet from beyond the grave. The Rumpus tipped me off to Roberto Bolano’s twitter feed, and a quick search turned up Mark Twain and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Bolano one is especially good!
Hudson Booksellers has selected its Best Books of the Year in four categories and named The Help by Kathryn Stockett its Book of the Year. The titles were nominated and voted on by Hudson staff. Beginning December 1, the winners will be displayed prominently in all 65 Hudson Booksellers and in the larger of the 350 Hudson News newsstands in airports and other transportation centers in North America.
Nonfiction:
Last Words by George Carlin
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Lit by Mary Karr
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
Either You’re in or You’re in the Way by Logan and Noah Miller
Stitches by David Small
Emergency by Neil Strauss
Fiction:The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Spooner by Pete Dexter
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Fool by Christopher Moore
The Song Is You by Arthur Phillip
Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Powered by WordPress