The Phantom Tollbooth at 50

Celebrating 50 years of one of my favorite childhood books: Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth.

My Accidental Masterpiece

Adam Gopnik's beautiful tribute to The Broken Kingdom

As we push through the Doldrums of the current economic crisis, let's not jump to Conclusions and remember the balance of Rhyme and Reason.

2 for $22

Don't miss Open Letter's "2 for 22" deal. Choose any of two of their books from previous catalogs and pay only $22! Get them before they're gone.

Frankfurt Book Fair

The world's largest international book fair is held every October in Frankfurt, Germany. The 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair was this past week, featuring trade publishers from around the world and open to the public October 17-18. Every year, the Book Fair chooses one Guest of Honor in order to highlight the books and literature from that country; this spot can be controversial, and has previously been awarded to Catalan culture and Turkey. This year proved tense as well; China was the Guest of Honor and, according to the NYT, seemed to exhibit its struggle between desiring Western markets but despising Western dissidents.

Simple Instructions

For the wanderers, the children-at-heart, and those who simply desire straightforward instructions to a complicated world: "Instructions" by Neil Gaiman, which will be published with illustrations in the near future. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures to share of his book signing yesterday, as the auditorium was so full that the security guards would not allow me to enter. Ah, the curse of always running late.

So instead, an image of a word for all those restless wanderers and linguistic geeks out there (courtesy of C):

DC's Second-Hand Bookstores

In case you haven't noticed from all my posts about books, I adore books and I love bookstores. But beyond the large commercial chains, I'm especially passionate about independent bookstores. And I'm more-than-a-bit obsessed with second-hand/used or rare bookstores.

When traveling, I seek out such bookstores, such as Another Country in Berlin. In Vienna, I frequented Yellow Taschenbücher by the University. In New York, I was a regular at Strand. One day I will make it to the famous Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. Yes, my bookshelves are currently overflowing with more books than I have time to read, but I feel as if I come alive when I enter a bookstore to be surrounded by volumes of art and knowledge. There is so much yet to learn! (Also, seems like every time I enter, I leave with more titles that I need to add to The List).

In a tiny corner near the Eastern Market, often only found thanks to the simple sign of "Books" with an arrow, stands Capitol Hill Books. If you do not notice the faded awning, you might not even realize the name of the store that you are entering. The window is crowded with stacks upon stacks of books, almost obscuring the tiny sign that declares the place "open". Upon entering, you are at first unsure how to proceed: Choose the steep and narrow path up the stairs, crowded with tall piles of books on every step? Or take the turn to the left to stay on the ground level with a low ceiling and an unknown path ahead? A gruff voice barks out from the left: "Fiction upstairs, nonfiction downstairs!" Perhaps you peer around the corner to connect the voice with an older man at a desk that serves as a check-out, surrounded by piles of books and newspapers clipping, manually processing ever transaction with a pen and paper. Then you scamper upstairs, attempting to not knock over any of the precariously placed piles of books on the steps.


My photos of Capitol Hill books

This was my haunt in DC. Capitol Hill books only offers used books, but it is a Mecca for all bibliophiles. Once you are surrounded by your genre of choice, it is hard to suppress a childlike grin. Every title is tempting and accessible (and affordable!) and it's easy to grab a spot on the floor and start reading--just watch out for the other bibliophiles who will have to step over you to get through! The place is haphazardly arranged and feels organized by a packrat, but the character of this bookstore continues to draw patrons. You don't go to Capitol Hill Books to quickly find a specific title; you go to wander through and find a title that you never knew existed.

A bit more about the visual beauty of the place. The floor-to-ceiling books provide huge varieties but often might be precariously perched and rarely offer much space to move around. Be sure to check out the poetry room (upstairs in the back, surrounding the refrigerator and broken sink), the basement (Sci Fi, Latin American politics, Native American studies, botany, etc), and the "Foreign Language room" (a.k.a. the bathroom. Shelves of non-English books surround the toilet, but you must wait in line if someone has to use the loo).

I highly recommend Capitol Hill Books to all bibliophiles, but NOT to claustrophobics.




Also check out a couple of spots near Dupont Circle: Second Story Books, a less claustrophobic second-hand and rare bookstore; and Kramerbooks, an eclectic store of new books and a tasty cafe.

Tasty (or not so tasty) Books

For laughs: Bad Eating Makes for Good Reading

Why am I suddenly reminded of those elaborate feasts described in the Redwall novels that I read as a kid? (Always including deeper'n'ever pie, watershrimp, and elderberry wine of course!)

Cleaning out Bookmarks

April is the cruelest month, so I might be entering a hiatus in the near future. Apologies for infrequent updates, but I'll be back as soon as possible.

For now:

Will the Real Slumdog Please Stand Up? An interesting piece about the actual man who remains the only one to win the grand prize of India's who wants to be a millionaire.

If Bernie Met Dante... As a lover of the Divine Comedy (can't you tell from my blog subtitle?), I was highly amused by this article. After all, Dante's "Who's Who of Hell" consisted of his own contemporaries, so why not update with a few of our own? If you like this idea of modernizing the timeless masterpiece, also check out this interpretation.

The Greak Geek-Off: Suvudu is hosting this contest to celebrate the recent publication of Garth Sundem's The Geek's Guide to World Domination. Test your skills and see if you can win. New trivia will be posted daily, so check Suvudu for the updated link of the day.


Finally, xkcd posted this comic recently. The bibliophile/art lover/literary dork could not help sharing. :)

March Madness

In the spirit of March Madness, the fifth annual Tournament of Books is underway. The Morning News and Powell's sponsor this "tournament", with two books that were published in the past year facing off each day. So far, the winners from the first round are 2666, Netherland, and The White Tiger. Check out the standings (on the right) and check back daily to see who's winning. May the best book win!

In basketball news, a Brooklyn indie bookstore is starting a literary summer basketball league. However, only bibliophiles can join. Rather than trying out by shooting hoops, you try out by answering a set of questions, such as "Who wrote Ulysses?" and "What is J. D. Salinger’s most well-known book?". Be ready to analyze literature while dribbling.

Finally, if you know Philadelphia, check out Philly Lush's Philadelphia March Madness. Vote for your favorite places in the city and see if Mayor Nutter or the Philly Phanatic takes home the trophy.

A Writer's Haven in Paris

This writer and bibliophile is thrilled by the offer: writers in Paris can sleep at this historic bookshop for only one small cost--they must read a book a day.

During the 1920s, the famous patroness Sylvia Beach supported many aspiring writers in Paris by setting up cots between the shelves of her bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, and offering these penniless poets a place to sleep. Many great names frequented this shop, including Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Thornton Wilder, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce (Beach helped publish Ulysses, widely regarded as one of the greatest works in the world, when no one else would).

The current Shakespeare & Company (since 1962) continues Beach's tradition. Food and a bed are offered to writers, and their only rule or cost is that they must read one book every day. The Guardian recently visited the shop and wrote a great article about the unique bookstore. Down and Out in Paris: Revisiting Shakespeare and Company

Sounds like my kind of place. Definitely worth a visit when I finally make it to Paris.


A writer's cot among the shelves of Shakespeare & Co.

Check out the full list of some of the Most Interesting Bookstores of the World.

Kindle 2: Not Yet the New iPod

As anyone who has recently visited the Amazon home page can tell you, the second generation Amazon Kindle has been announced. For the most part, this e-book reader seems pretty similar to the first, with tweaks to the software, a sleeker design, and text-to-speech capabilities.

But as the Economist points out, the Kindle is not yet the "new iPod" as Amazon hopes. Instead, it is a device for passionate readers (it can hold up to 1,500 books) and those who want the convenience of being able to purchase and read a new title in a matter of seconds. I've seen a few of these devices on the subways on New York City, held by professionals on their long commutes rather than carrying multiple (heavier) printed books. Publishing professionals long for the day when the Kindle or a similar e-book reader could be a manuscript reader (or is it already?), to make it easier to wade through the hundreds of heavy pages of solicited submissions. (Forget the slush pile).

However, in the end, I really don't see the Kindle having mass appeal just yet. Amazon has been very closed about their sales figures, so no one really knows how popular the Kindle really is. But they have been promoting their device like crazy, calling it a "revolutionary wireless reading device". I don't know about revolutionary, just maybe the most well-known and well-funded. There have been many e-book readers before, so it was bound to happen that a stronger company would undertake the challenge. All in all, it seems to be a rather conservative device and pretty much what one would expect from an e-book reader.

What comes next? I really don't see any e-book reader replacing the comfort of curling up with a printed book any time soon, but it is a convenience if you need to read (and carry) a lot of books around. Perhaps if the Kindle is able to add highlighting capabilities, it will make great strides in the arena of scholarly books, appealing to students who are tried to purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks that they rarely use. Or perhaps I'm wrong, and with all this publicity and the huge push behind the device, consumers will decide that it really is popular and buy it for themselves.

Personally, I'm waiting to see if Apple will have a rebuttal for this new leap in technology. They've already enabled the iPhones to download and read public domain books for free. Will they unveil a separate device, the iRead perhaps, to really revolutionize the field?

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Jakov Lind

We have a special birthday to celebrate today. Jakov Lind, lauded as one of the greatest contemporary German writers during his day, would be 82 today. In German-speaking lands he's right up there with Günther Grass and Thomas Bernhard as one of the best of the best. However, nowadays this great writer has drifted to become an international unknown, as his German pieces are virtually unavailable in English-speaking countries. (Thank goodness for Open Letter! They will be publishing a paperback translation of his Landscape in Concrete next month).

Jakov Lind, the name inscribed below these great works of fiction, lived a fascinating life of many names and languages. He was born to an Austrian-Jewish family as Heinz Landwirth, but escaped to the Netherlands in 1938 and took on the name Jan Gerrit Overbeek. He actually spent most of the war in Germany, hiding in full view as a Dutch laborer. After the war, he became Jakov Chaklan and lived briefly in Palestine. Returning to Vienna and finding his birth-city still overrun with Nazis, the man instead went to London and there began to write at last. Though many of his works are in German, he struggled greatly with his mother tongue, considering it a murderer's language. Later he mastered English and published works in this his fourth language; thus he is sometimes considered a British writer.

His writing style reflects his tumultuous, wandering life. Often compared to Kafka, Lind successfully pulls the reader into a wild and crazy adventure, but you can never quite trust his narration, his characters' biased perspectives, or know what is truly going on. In Landscape in Concrete, there is a sense that the end comes full circle with the beginning--Bachmann is still wandering, still alone, and still looking for his regiment. So much has happened in the pages in between, but readers feel a sense of symmetry and frustration, completeness and fragmentation, insufficiency and clarity. Definitely worth the read.

There are many treasures that have fallen through the cracks thanks to the ruthless advance of time, but Jakov Lind is one of the gems glittering between the floorboards.

Book Trailers and More

Since the dawn of the internet, or since internet access became commonplace to the masses, publisher's have been struggling to reinvent their products. Books must now compete with the television, video games, movies, and now the internet as forms of entertainment. Many doomsayers have called the internet the end of the printed book. But publisher's have responded, working hard to integrate web sites and online entertainment with their ink-and-paper products.

Found this essay on The Times today, as a decent introduction to some of the latest initiatives in the publishing industry to "save the book".
See the Web Site, Buy the Book

EDIT: Here's another-- This article, from TIME, illustrates a lot of the ideas that I've been waiting to express and goes even further for some interesting possibilities. Not sure I agree with it all, but here you go. "Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature"

Nobel in Literature

Congratulations to Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, French author and winner of the Nobel Prize! Check out Open Letter's blog Three Percent for more, and be sure to check out the remarkable texts published recently by this new international press.

Tor vs. Suvudu

It's the Summer of Sci Fi!

Two separate publishing companies have decided to launch sci fi blogs within the past few weeks. Tor.com is run by Macmillan (as part of its imprint Tor/Forge) and Suvudu is sponsored by Random House but seems less connected with the company. They have similar and pretty cool concepts--provide a one-stop-shop for sci fi fans for everything related to the genre--books, news, movies, comics, and more.

Both were launched in time for the San Diego Comic Con. Tor seems a little more established and interactive right now, with message boards and more frequent posts. However, Suvudu promises to incorporate such features and much, much more with a second launch around October. (In their defense, Tor has been working on their site since Feb-March '08 whereas the Suvudu initiative just started earlier this summer). Should be interesting to see how these shape up! With this competition to give fans the best service possible, it's a good time to be a sci fi fan. I've fallen away from the genre, but might have to get back into it!


In other news, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is back online! Check it out at Hulu. Joss Whedon, of Firefly and Buffy fame, continues to amaze.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Ulysses is often considered the crowning work of Modernism and consistently ranked as THE best book ever written. As such, many readers pick up the text determined to check it off their list of classics but are not warned of its difficulties. Thus, they drop it in frustration and leaving scathing reviews across the web. I ran into a number of these reviews (many of which were written by readers who never finished the text) and was determined to set things right. I enjoyed writing it, so I'll cross-post my review here. Enjoy, and I hope it helps alleviate this situation even just a little.

For reference, I recommend this edition of Ulysses (link to Amazon).

--------------------------------------
ULYSSES by James Joyce
First published in 1922



It is hard to classify Ulysses, and even harder to actually make it through. The book makes you work--it's not about the plot, but about the *experience* of reading.

In this book (I hesitate to call it a novel), the Plot decides that it's tired of being obvious and in the forefront, packs up its bags, and goes on vacation to let the words and Language itself take the centerstage. And Language has a ball--it's as if the words start dancing, laughing, and making fun of the reader as they play games. Just flip through and you'll see what I mean. An entire episode ("chapter") that's written as newsletter headlines? As a Q&A? as 50 pages of ONE SENTENCE?! Let alone the sentence-by-sentence text itself.

Language not only plays a game, but pushes its limits. In the experience of reading this text, you become very aware of where language breaks down. It's hard work to be a reader of Ulysses and have to piece together the puzzle of what's going on. Indeed, many times there's no way of knowing, but that's part of its beauty. This is not a pre-packaged cut-and-dry novel; this is a reflection of the realities and conflict in life. You need to become comfortable with confusion, conflicting voices, and not knowing what's going on. Test the waters with T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" or similar modernist works.

That being said, I still strongly recommend it. I read this text with a class, which was most helpful--our learned professor was a guiding light through the confusion and twists and turns and discussions helped lead us through. But there is an infinite sense of peace and accomplishment as you reach the last pages. Like the characters, you were lost, but found your way. The chaos of the world threatened to close in around you, but you found connection.

These words may mean nothing until you have survived the experience, but in the end you will find them to be some of the most beautiful words ever written: yes I said yes I will Yes.

-----------------------------

For a similar challenge dealing with the experience of reading, I recommend: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Also see: Waltzing Matelda: Belated Bloomsday

Beyond Genres: Recommendations

Tell me about a book that you read recently and enjoyed or a book that is an all-time favorite. Don't try to guess my tastes; what is one book that changed your life?

This is the question that I posed to friends, strangers, students, parents, family, and professors, creating the following list of recommendations from all genres. Popular book organizers (like Shelfari, GoodReads, and LibraryThing) allow users to display what they have read, and the sites generate a list of recommended books based on (similar to) what you have read. However, sometimes you desire something completely different that is still a good read. Thus, I started collecting book titles.

This list has been in the makings for years, but it only officially took off this past spring in Wien. For the first time, I have transcribed my pile of recommendations--notes on post-its, ticket stubs, napkins, or whatever scrap was handy--to form a full list. These are books were read and loved by a myriad of different people, with a vast variety of interests and tastes. If you are reading this, please continue the list and leave a comment with a favorite book of your own!

I purposely have not sorted by genre, and only grudgingly separated the non-fiction books at the bottom. Yellow titles or authors refer to those that have been strongly recommended by multiple people. Enjoy.

The List
-Khaled Hosseini, Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
-Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
-Margaret Atwood, (esp Blind Assassin, Robber Bride, and Handmaid's Tale)
-Milan Kundera, Unbearable Lightness of Being

-Neil Stephenson, Snow Crash (also The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, and the three-volume Baroque Cycle)

-Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach and Atonement
-William Gibson, Neuromancer (followed by Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive)

-John Cowper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance

-Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast novels

-Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

-James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

-Keith Donohue, The Stolen Child

-Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things and Good Omens

-Charles Dickens, Bleak House

-Ovid, The Metamorphosis

-Albert Camus, The Fall (and The Stranger)

-J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
-Michael Ende, Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte)

-John Crowley, Little, Big
-Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
-Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
-Herman Hesse, Demian
-Kim Stanley Robinson, The Years of Rice and Salt
-any & all Kurt Vonnegut
-William Goldman, Princess Bride
-Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
-Frank Beddor, The Looking Glass Wars
-Peter F Hamilton, Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained
-Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
-Wayne Barlowe, God's Demon
-The Bhagavad Gita
-Cormac McCarty, The Road
-Bret Easton Ellis, Less Than Zero
-Jon Meacham, American Lion
-John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
-Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
-Lois Lowry, Number the Stars
-Eloise McGraw, The Moorchild
-Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Non-fiction:
-Steven Beller, Rethinking Vienna 1900 [To counter Schorske's widely-read Fin-de-Siecle Vienna]

-Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea

-Michael Pollan, Omnivore's Dilemma

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
-David Sedaris, Naked

-Susan Faludi, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

Contributers: AR, MK, MW, BB, PW, KS, Mrs. S, KM, Prof. G, Prof. H, LS, LG, CR, DC, EB, PM, GN, BB, MA, KS, FP, KS, MS, SW, MD, DP, KC, and many others... THANK YOU!

Keep this list going, and comment with your own favorite texts or authors. What are some of your all-time favorite books? What's something that you read recently and loved? What book startled you or changed your perspective on life? What would you recommend (to anyone) from any author, any genre?

Bibliophiles rejoice!

There's a new bookstore in town!  Zoomii Books just opened its doors this week... well, figuratively. Zoomii is a new concept by web developer Chris Thiessen. I love this site already.

Catering to those of us who love entering a bookstore and browsing the shelves to find a new read but prefer Amazon prices, Zoomii is not just a virtual bookseller but a virtual book STORE (the books are on categorized shelves showing their covers and everything!). Just click, drag, and scroll to move around and browse the thousands of books. All books are from Amazon's catalog and all purchases go through Amazon, but Zoomii is a fun new way to find great books.

There's still kinks (sometimes the graphics take a while to load, some of the books are miscategorized), but it's a start. Even though I will still prefer the unique feel of small independent sellers (the musty smell of the volumes, the dimly-lit room, the old creaking board below your feet, the comfy chairs in the corner to curl up and sample an unrestricted "excerpt" before purchasing...), I buy the majority of my new books on Amazon. I'm not sure yet how much I'll use Zoomii when I'm not browsing, but heck: It's a lot of fun just to play with.

Check it out!

Belated Bloomsday

As a Lit nerd, I am upset that I somehow forgot to celebrate Bloomsday this year. Bloomsday, or June 16, is a day to celebrate James Joyce and one of his greatest works, Ulysses. In this text, which is often ranked as the greatest English novel of all time (though it is debatable whether the form is actually a novel), Joyce follows his main character Leopold Bloom on the streets of Dublin through the course of one ordinary day. June 16, 1904. Because of this incredible work, that ordinary day has become extraordinary.

I was actually in Dublin in 2004 only a few weeks after the centennial celebrations of the day--traditionally, a pub crawl through Dublin. I also noted that browse plaques had been installed by the sites mentioned in the work; that's right, everything in Ulysses takes place on real locations. Joyce was meticulous. Even though he never returned to Ireland after 1912 (Ulysses was published in 1922), Joyce did his research well and ensured that every location in the text is a factual 1904 location--streets, pubs, you name it! Pretty intense.

Though most of the world has never heard of Bloomsday and could care less, one rare bookshop in Philadelphia also holds celebrations for the day. This is the Rosenbach, which houses one of Joyce's original manuscripts. I want to this celebration last summer, and it was very well put-together--entertaining and enlightening! Plus, it was a huge gathering of English nerds. Naturally, I felt right at home.


So here's to you, James Joyce. Hats off to you, your works of literary genius, and the entire Modernist movement that Ulysses inspired. Happy Belated Bloomsday!