Yes, it's my favorite thing--a short Mailbox Monday post! I've hardly acquired any books this week, and one is a leftover I forgot to list last week. But that's okay; I don't think I'm going to run out of literature any time soon.
So, as you can see, I did get to the Peter Orner event last week, but didn't make it to Gregory Maguire over the weekend. I had plans all set up, but I was visiting with a sick friend, and she needed me more than Mr. Maguire did. I don't think there will be any other lit events of note before December at this point, or at least there aren't any currently on my radar.
Things are going to be a little hit or miss on my end for the next few weeks as well. I'm leaving on a brief business trip this afternoon, and I'll be back on Wednesday night. I'm in town for a week, and then I'm flying to the east coast to spend Thanksgiving (and the week following it) with my family and friends back home. I've always got the best of intentions of keeping up my blogging while I travel, but my track record is abysmal. So, if posting is kind of erratic for the next few weeks, you know what that's about.
Right now, I'm in search of a feel-good, happy book, or my head is going to explode. I tossed aside the hateful Umberto Eco novel to read the awesome Stephen King novel in two days, but then I found myself doing anything to avoid finishing the cursed book. I read David Benioff's excellent and horrifically disturbing and depressing City of Thieves--which was also chock-full of anti-Semitism, I might add. Then, to lighten things up, I read a non-fiction book about the Jonestown massacre, A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Finally, I just bit the bullet and plowed my way through the The Prague Cemetery. Seriously, it was torturous--and not because it was a bad book, either. You'll see a review soon. The point is, I need to read something light and cheery. I am open to suggestions!
Mudbound
by Hillary Jordan
Release date: March 4, 2008
Source: Purchased at Books, Inc.
I probably won't get around to this in the immediate future, but maybe in 2012?
11/22/63
by Stephen King
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Purchased with Audible.com credit
Yeah, yeah, this is old news already. Does anyone else wonder why they didn't release this book two weeks later on 11/22/11?
From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant
by Alex Gilvarry
Release date: January 5, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher
The tagline for this satire is: High fashion and homeland security clash in a masterful debut. That sounds worth checking out to me. My friend Nicole is going to have a quandary, however. Gilvarry is being compared to Gary Shteyngart and Junot Diaz--one of her most favorite and one of her least favorite authors. What to do?
City of Thieves
by David Benioff
Release date: May 15, 2008
Source: Library
I remember all the buzz this novel had when it was published a few years ago, but it was my book group member Rachel who convinced me to read it. It is as good as she said it was, but rather more disturbing than I expected.
Books finished this week:
11/22/63 by Stephen King
City of Thieves by David Benioff
A Thousand Lives: The Untold story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
Currently reading:
I don't read anymore.
Okay, what awesome books did you acquire this week? What have you been reading? Please let us know in the comments!
So, last week was chock full of excitement between the Bay Area Festival of Science and the literary events. Man, I was busy! My two loves converged at the end of the week with a completely awesome panel discussion entitled The Science in Science Fiction held at the completely awesome Borderlands Books. The panelists were Scott Sigler, Mira Grant, and Jeff Carlson. I could try to describe to you at length, just how awesome these three were, but why don't I just post video of the whole thing later this week? And folks, I got good video for once.
So, I haven't had a chance to write up my dead mules in Southern Literature follow up yet, but I did receive nice notes from both Hillary Jordan and Bookseller Bob from Books, Inc. subsequent to my post about our evening together last week. Very, very nice.
There are a couple of cool lit events going on here in SF this week that I might try to hit. Local author Peter Orner is at The Booksmith on Wednesday. I just acquired a copy of his novel Love and Shame and Love that I'm looking forward to reading, so it would be great to hear him speak. Also, Gregory Maguire is going to be at The Booksmith on Saturday night. Perhaps it'll be less of a mob scene because it's a Saturday? Anyway, we'll see if I make it to either event. I've been pretty run down lately and really need to pace myself. Tonight I will go straight home after work like a good girl.
You may have noticed that I'm trying to catch up on the book reviews I've been slacking off on for the past few months. So, expect more of them this week. In addition to the backlog, I did read The Time in Between, which goes on sale tomorrow and which Simon & Schuster has been promoting so heavily. I wanted to jump right into Eco's The Prague Cemetery right after, but I was defeated on my first attempt by the staggering outpouring of pure hatred in the opening pages of the novel. The character actually articulates the philosophy, "I hate, therefore I am." It's funny, but very tough to take. So I set it aside and got distracted by I YA novel which is the funniest thing I've read since I don't know when! It was Libba Bray's Beauty Queens. What a pleasure over a dreary weekend at home. Of course, I finished it in a day, and launched back into the Eco. God, it's tough going! Will this man defeat me again? I've never made it through one of his novels. I've about a quarter of the way through The Prague Cemetery, and I've already read each page at least twice. And on that note...
Out of Oz
by Gregory Maguire
Release date: November 1, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher
As noted previously, I have only read the first book in this series. I'm not sure yet if I'm prepared to catch up on the intervening books. Perhaps going to hear Maguire speak will help me decide.
Hard Target
by Howard Gordon
Release date: January 3, 2011
Source: Paper galley from publisher
Howard Gordon has all sorts of television writing/producing cred, and this is his second novel, a follow-up to Gideon's War. I have a galley of that one, too, but the book descriptions sound a little macho for my tastes.
The Time in Between
by Maria Duenas
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher
Yes, another copy. Meanwhile, I read this last week and had a mixed response. It's been a big bestseller in Europe. It will be interesting to see if S&S can duplicate that success here.
Beauty Queens
by Libba Bray
Release date: May 24, 2011
Source: Audiobook from Library
First, best cover ever, am I right? This is an over-the-top high-concept comic novel about a planeload of teen beauty queens who crash onto a mysterious island. I won't guarantee that this book is for everyone (humor is so subjective), but I had a blast listening to this! I also noticed this morning that PW named it one of the top books of 2011. Take that, Umberto Eco!
Ashes to Dust
by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Release date: March 27, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher
Wow, you don't see a name like that on a book cover every day. I think I'll have a Guess How to Pronounce it Contest in my face-to-face book group, with a winner chosen by our Swedish member. Anyway, I do not even remember what this novel is about, but I know that I was quite interested in reading it.
The Odds
by Stewart O'Nan
Release date: January 19, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher
O'Nan is one of those authors that I hear nothing but good things about. I know that he is a real favorite of my BFF, Jon. This will be the first work of his that I've read, and I'm really looking forward to it!
Besides the titles above, there were about 125 books from the NCIBA show. I haven't organized a list of them yet.
Books finished this week:
Why Read Moby Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Time in Between by Maria Duenas
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Currently reading:
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
So, what books have you acquired this week? What exciting (or not so exciting) books are you reading? Have you successfully read an Eco novel? Please let us know in the comments!
Last night did not go the way that I expected.I took a break from the science festival because after reading her novel, When She Woke, I was really interested in hearing author Hillary Jordan speak.It’s a meaty, substantive book worthy of discussion.So, not only was I looking forward to hearing from the author, but also to hearing the responses of other readers.
Anyway, my thought was, This is going to be a popular reading; I better get over to Books, Inc. as fast as I can!I arrived almost half an hour early for the event, and was somewhat surprised to see that I was the very first person there.Fine by me.I browsed for a few minutes, but I really wanted to keep my excellent seat, so I plopped myself down with my Kindle and read my book.I saw Hillary escorted to the backroom by the bookseller, Bob, and I could hear the two of them chatting quietly back there. came and went, but still I was the only person sitting in the seats.There were plenty of browsers in the store.I wondered if perhaps they were there to hear Hillary, and were waiting for the event to start.They gave no indication if that were the case.Eventually Bob came and told me that they’d wait just a bit longer and see who showed.
Well, by , it was still just me.I felt kind of bad.I mean, I was really happy to be there, but that’s tough for an author on tour.Clearly, you can’t put on the whole dog and pony show for one person.So, Hillary pulled up a chair and sat down across from me.Bookseller Bob and his associate (whose name I failed to catch) also pulled up chairs.And Hillary and I just began chatting, like real people.It was lovely!I didn’t tape or record our conversation in any way.It wasn’t an interview.It’s hard to be present in a conversation with a person if you’re trying to take notes, but I’ll share what I remember.
(NOTE: I don’t believe there are any plot spoilers for the novel below, but we do talk some about the world she has created.If you’d prefer not to know anything going into the book, you’ll probably want to save this until after you’ve read it.)
I told Hillary all the things I’ve told you guys: how much the book scared me, how it really pushed the buttons of my personal fears.Then I got to ask her the question that I’ve been wondering ever since I read When She Woke.I said, “I only remember one reference to any religion other than Christianity.It was a fleeting reference to a Mormon spree killer.What happened to the rest of America?Where are all the Jews?The Hindus?The rest of the melting pot?”
Well, first, she quite rightly reminded me that Mormons are Christians, too.D’uh.I forget.I’m just a Jewish girl, what do I know?But then she also clarified that while the boundary between church and state had been broken in her novel, the entire US hadn’t become fundamentalists.Her character Kayla was a good illustration of that.And she reminded me that abortion was not illegal in all the states in her novel, a fact that I had noted when reading it.So, when I jokingly asked again where all the Jews were, she smiled and said, “New York and California.”And that really is it.In her fictional future, things are just that much more polarized than they are today.It’s the same gulf between San Francisco and Amarillo, but multiplied many times over.
Hillary spoke of how this country is always swinging back and forth on the issues brought up in her book. Right now, things are pretty conservative, but there is reason for optimism. Marriage equality is gaining ground. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was defeated. Hillary reminded me that despite McCarthyism, Jim Crow laws, and other episodes in our past, the country always seems to do the right thing eventually. It was nice to see that despite her dark subject matter, she's an optimist at heart.
At one point, I said something about the comparisons her novel is getting to The Handmaid’s Tale and she rolled her eyes.I called her on it and asked what that’s about.Clearly, it wasn’t disrespect for Margaret Atwood.So, Hillary listed a few similarities between the two books (which you can discover for yourself), but then she noted several significant thematic differences.She had a point, and I can certainly see how hearing the same comments over and over again—which is exactly what happens on book tours—can get pretty old.
Around this time, another woman showed up.She was a former colleague and friend of Hillary’s from 20-some years ago.Apparently the parking situation was brutal that night.Hillary’s friend hadn’t finished the book yet, but she joined in the conversation, and shortly thereafter Hillary’s cousin Robert arrived, followed later by her media escort and two more cousins.Each person had the same issue, parking.Made my modest bus ride feel downright brilliant.Anyway, as each new arrival joined in, our circle discussion became a little bigger, but still very casual.I was the only person there without a personal tie to her, and I didn’t want to drag things out too long to keep her from her social time.I’ll mention only a few more things we wound up discussing.
I commented on the fact of criminality being depicted by skin color, and the racial overtones inherent in the idea.“You think?” said Hillary, with a hint of snark in her voice.I asked if there had been much discussion of this among the readers as she toured.Some, but not too much.She told us that she’d actually had conversations with doctors and geneticists about whether you could dye a person’s skin like she’d proposed.Apparently, it wouldn’t be that hard, and you could probably do it, if not today, then in the very near future.This didn’t surprise me at all, and I commented that if you could transfer the bioluminescent qualities of a jellyfish to a pussycat to make it glow in the dark (It’s been done.), then dyeing a human red shouldn’t be a problem.
Hillary reminded me that her first novel, Mudbound, was all about race.I said, “Yes, I haven’t read it, but my online friends have been raving about it.(You know who you are, PBTers.)I asked Hillary to sell it to me. (‘Cause clearly given the circumstances, I wasn’t going to walk out of there without purchasing a book.Why?Because we love our independent booksellers, right?And we also like nice lady authors who take the time to chat with you one-on-one.)
So, Hillary gives me a nice description of Mudbound, during which, oddly, she highlights that it features a dead mule.Perhaps I or others looked perplexed, because she then told us that she had read an article, years ago, in The New Yorker or some other publication, about all Southern literature featuring a dead mule.She said that she’d love to read it again, but she’s never been able to find it.Someone asked if she’s Googled it, and people started suggesting search parameters.Hillary said, “Am I an idiot?Of course, I Googled.It wasn’t there.”And this will segue to a whole follow-up post, because this one is already far too long.Suffice it to say, Hillary told me if I could find the article, please drop her a note.So, of course, I was going to look into it.
Someone asked if a film of When She Woke had been optioned. Not yet. Producers can be skittish about financing films about abortion--The Cider House Rules, excepted. What she did share was an idea of creating a television series set in the world she'd created. It wouldn't have to feature Hannah, it could be about all sorts of different people in her dystopia. She suggested calling it "Chromeville." You know, it's a pretty awesome idea. How amazing would a series like that from HBO or AMC be?
I don’t even know how long we’d been chatting, but by this time, there were nine people in the circle.Hillary’s girlfriend said, “Hey, are you going to read?” and so at that point, Hillary read the first chapter of When She Woke, and with her permission I recorded her.Once the camera was off, she recited from memory something very funny.She’d referenced earlier a very successful speech she’d made to a large crowd in Austin.(We’d been discussing how the book had been received in Texas.Fine, apparently.)She said there’d been one part that brought the house down, and after she read her opening chapter, she performed a self-parodying version in which Hannah doesn’t find her hands covered in blood, but in bloody Mary, and then the horror of discovering that it’s virgin Mary.In the nature of nightmares, this one segued into a scene in Hooters involving Rick Perry and several other Republican leaders.You’ll thank me for not describing it further, but I can assure you that it was as big a hit in San Francisco as it was in Texas.It was the perfect note to end our evening on.
I asked Hillary to sign my galley of When She Woke and my new copy of Mudbound, which I’m looking forward to reading.She nicely inscribed both copies, and I left her to her friends and family.Hillary and I had exchanged cards earlier in the evening, so our follow-up contact will involve me seeing a lady about a mule…
This novel scared the hell out of me.I don’t know if it scared me more as a woman or a Jew, but suffice it to say that Hillary Jordan’s update of The Scarlet Letter set in a near-future when the United States is a fundamentalist Christian theocracy touched on my deepest fears.
In Jordan’s novel, our Hester Prynne is Hannah Payne.Hannah doesn’t have to wear a scarlet A, it is her skin itself that announces her crime—not just adultery, but murder.She has aborted her unborn fetus, and for that she has been sentenced to live as a “red” for the next 16 years.She is behind bars for only a month, but her skin is dyed a vivid, artificial red for all to see.And the life of a “chrome” out in society is both hard and dangerous.Those fine Christian citizens often take matters of social justice into their own hands.
Hannah’s formerly sheltered world is quickly turned upside down, and there’s a compelling and fast-paced story at the center of When She Woke that had me reading deep into the night.But there’s a lot more going on within these pages than just the events of the plot.There are several levels of social commentary going on here.Obviously there’s some rather pointed discussion of religion versus secularism and personal rights.But the very fact that criminality is depicted by skin color opens the door to all kinds of racial subtext as well.And certainly there’s much to be said about the role of women in society.Here, for instance, is a quote that jumped out at me:
“’College wasn’t an option for me,’ Hannah said.There’d been no money for it.But even if she’d been able to get money for a scholarship, her parents would have opposed her going.They’d taught her that her highest purpose as a woman, the purpose to which she’d been created, was to get married, be a helpmate to her husband, and raise a family.She had grown up believing that.But sometimes she couldn’t help thinking wistfully about what it would be like to have four years to do nothing but learn.”
This novel pushed a lot of the same fear buttons in me that The Handmaid’s Tale did decades ago.I doubt this novel will become the sort of modern classic that Atwood’s has, but I applaud anyone prepared to foster discussion of difficult and painful ideas in an intelligent forum.Write about this dystopia, talk about this dystopia, so that we don’t have to live it.As Hillary Jordan has illustrated, it’s all too easy to imagine.
