Oh Snap!: Train Spotting

An engrossing book can make the long commute home that much more enjoyable as this man proves with his copy of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Photo by Uptown Literati

Voices: 'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere' Satisfies

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, the debut book of cub writer ZZ Packer, is heavily lauded. Novelist John Updike recommended the collection of short stories for "The Today Show" Book Club Pick; The New York Times named it one its Notable Books; newspapers like USA Today, The Baltimore Sun and The Seattle Times all heaped heavy one-worders on the prose: honest, poignant, and provocative among them.

But even as highly recommended as the eight stories in Coffee came, they still exceeded my expectations.

One reviewer called Packer’s characters, all of whom are African-Americans flirting, kissing or full-on sexing social annexation, “smart people surrounded by fools.” I am not sure if I agree that everyone else in the stories is unintelligent, but she certainly seems to have a knack for articulating society’s hypocrisies with above-it-all, other-worldy heroes.

Like Squirt, the Atlanta elementary school nerd who goes to stay-away camp with her Girl Scout troop in “Brownies.” Between the group’s queen bees, a grieving mother-chaperone, a special-needs rival white troop, and a reflective bus ride, Squirt matures and recognizes ugly realities before the story’s end.

In “Every Tongue Shall Confess,” “Speaking in Tongues,” and “Doris is Coming,” Packer takes on the morality of the Black church, pitting willful girls against the patriarchal leaders of the pulpit. But even treading those would-be stormy waters, the writer is careful not to pass judgment on the institution itself, but manages to show a particular opinion or practice as impractical, irrational or plain stupid.

“The Ant of the Self” explores a turbulent father-son relationship while “Geese,” one of the single most odd and magnificent stories ever, shows a woman in Japan that falls on hard times.

Most compelling is Packer’s ability to profile the maligned, misunderstood, sometimes downright pathetic without being overly sentimental or with pity. As suggested by the title, the people in the stories all seem to be passively wishing that they were going about life’s mundane tasks in another time or place.


--Whitney Teal

Lifestyle Gumbo: Obama's Summer Reads

Summer's for reading, but for President Barack Obama, who is spending part of the season vacationing with family in Martha's Vineyard, it's also about balancing an ambitious book list with family and play time.

The New York Times recently published the Commander-in-Chief's reading list, which, we're happy to report, is full of urban crime novels.

The Way Home by George Pelecanos

Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

Lush Life by Richard Price

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

John Adams by David McCullough

--Whitney Teal

Lit Talk: Anita Diamant

Many readers remember Anita Diamant for her unforgettable bestseller, The Red Tent, the story of Jacob’s daughter Dinah over whom the Book of Genesis glosses over. She writes with poetry and an innate understanding of women. Her latest novel, Day After Night, carries these same strengths and focuses on a group of young women who escaped from Nazi Europe to Israel during World War II. In this 2003 interview with William Novak, Ms. Diamant discusses her Jewish identity and a new mikveh (ritual bath) she has helped to start.

***

What are you thinking about these days?

Mostly Mayyim Hayyim, the new Boston-area mikveh, which should be up and running by the time this is published.[As indeed it is: www.mayyimhayyim.org] I'm spending way too much time on it instead of writing, but it's my choice so I’m not really complaining. I've never done a non-writing project before, or a community project. I've never been much of an activist, or an organization person. I've even written an essay on how much I dislike going to meetings, but now I'm going to them all the time. It’s a complicated process building a mikveh; there’s nothing about them when you look them up in the zoning ordinances.

How did this new mikveh get started?

Anita: For me, it began in the mid-1990s when I was writing Choosing a Jewish Life, a guidebook about conversion. I went to the mikveh a number of times with various rabbis as they took converts. I was also chairing the outreach committee at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, because I thought it was important for the community to have a representative at conversions, so I would try to show up at conversions of our members with flowers and gifts. Only one mikveh in the area--in Brighton, near Brookline--has been open to the liberal community for conversions, and that's only two hours a week, which makes it tough to schedule. There are other mikva'ot which aren’t open for conversion, including a new, Chabad-sponsored mikveh in the western suburbs.

You mean not open to the non-Orthodox world?

Anita: Yes, although I don't care for that phrase, because it seems to imply that Orthodoxy is normative Judaism in the way it refers to the rest of us are “non.” But the problem of most mikva'ot goes beyond that. There's nowhere to stand, to sit, to celebrate, or even to wait. I've been to many conversions, and each time I am moved to tears by the power of the moment, but I've never seen a mikveh with an appropriate space in which to mark the hour after the immersion--or before, for that matter.

I was at the Boston mikveh one spring afternoon when candidates for conversion in the liberal Jewish community were lined up outside, waiting for their turn, and while it was inspiring to see a dozen or so men, women and children waiting to become Jews, having people lined up outside is not a very graceful or welcoming entry into Judaism. Most mikva'ot are set up only for women to come individually and privately, at the end of their periods. Traditionally the mikveh is used at night for modesty's sake, and also because of how Jews count days.

You use the noun “convert,” although many people go out of their way to avoid it, speaking instead of Jews by choice.

Anita: I think "convert" is an honorific, a title of honor, and I see nothing wrong with it. Being a convert, or a Jew by choice, if you prefer, should be a term of the highest praise. For someone to choose this identity and to embrace it--it's a gift to the rest of us. Neither term is great: "convert" makes me think of currency, and "Jew-by-choice" is a little awkward. In the Torah and in classical Jewish writings, the word is ger, which can also mean stranger or sojourner. "Proselyte" comes from the Greek translation of ger, but it's far too archaic.

Where do you think our discomfort about converts comes from?

Anita: According to Jewish law, we are not supposed to make any distinction between someone who is Jewish by choice and someone who was born Jewish. Evidently, Jews have behaved badly toward converts for a long time: there is mention in the Talmud about Jews making fun of them and talking in demeaning ways about their "pig-eating ancestors." And yet the great majority of comments about converts in the Talmud and the Midrash are favorable, such as, "The convert is dearer to God than Israel." When a convert wrote to Maimonides, asking whether he could recite prayers that included the phrase, Elohei Avoteinu, God of our ancestors, Maimonides answered with a resounding yes, saying, "There is no difference whatever between you and us."

***

The rest of the fascinating interview is available here. Ms. Diamant will be touring the east coast in the upcoming weeks:

Thursday, September 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Newtonville Books
296 Walnut St.
Newtonville, Mass. 02460
617.244.6619

Monday, September 14 at 7:00 p.m.
McNally Jackson Books
52 Prince St.
New York, N.Y. 10012
212.274.1160

Tuesday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Book Revue
313 New York Avenue
Huntington, N.Y. 11743
631.271.1442

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo by Mark Ostow

Bookmarks 8.25.09

Miniature Book Society Grand Conclave in Princeton, N.J. (August 27-31) – A miniature book is defined as a book that is no more than three inches in any dimension, and the vast majority of them are mind-bogglingly cute. At the Wyndham Conference Center this month, the gurus of the art and those with any interest in it will powwow over conferences, exhibits, and social mixers.

Once Upon a Crime’s Anthology Launch Party in Minneapolis, Minn. (August 27, 8:00 p.m.) – The bookstore Once Upon a Crime will have a launch party for its latest anthology of mystery stories this week. There will be no authors reading, but there will likely be detective aficionados sleuthing around with magnifying glasses and trenchcoats. And there will definitely be refreshments.

Publishing Workshop in Reno, Nev. (August 27, 6:00 p.m.) – This workshop, held at the office of LRP/LeRue Press, is ideal for aspiring writers who have high hopes but aren’t quite sure how to get a foot in the door. Gotta start somewhere, right?


2009 Hawaii Writers’ Retreat in Honolulu, Hawaii (August 28-September 3) – Can you even imagine a more idyllic location for a writers’ retreat than at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach in Honolulu? And not only will this retreat be surrounded by palm trees and macadamia nuts, but there will be a highly acclaimed staff of seminar leaders specializing in many genres.

Festa del Libro: A Children’s Italian Book Fair in Corte Madera, Calif. (August 29-30, 9:30 a.m.) – This book fair, held at Book Passage, is a treat for children, Italian students and native speakers, and anyone who enjoys a beautifully illustrated children’s book. Italy’s foremost booksellers will send their finest specimens over, and local bakeries will provide biscotti.


--Emmaline Silverman

Photo: Corbis

The Russki Files: Awesome Women

Russian literature is not exactly known for its heroines. The vast majority of its protagonists are men—brooding, unstable, superfluous men who are too intelligent (or think they are) for the vapid society into which they were born. Behind the heroes, however, there are often women slinking about, pulling strings and being generally awesome. (Spoiler warning below.)

Tatyana Larina (Eugene Onegin, by Aleksandr Pushkin) – Some readers will surely identify with Tanya, a shy and bookish girl who rejects the superficiality of society. When the charming dandy Eugene Onegin comes to dine at her family’s manor, however, she falls head-over-heels in love with him and writes him a letter expressing her adoration. He coolly rejects her. But years later, when she is a mature, married Moscow woman, he realizes his mistake and tries to win her over. Remembering her past and how she has been hurt, she rebuffs his advances. Essentially, Tatyana Larina embodies my long-standing fantasy of being able to tell my high school crushes who paid no attention to me, “Sorry, I’m not interested.”

Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova (Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky) – Sonya’s life is miserable—an alcoholic father who forced her into prostitution, few friends, no respect—but through her quiet, somewhat fanatical spirituality, she finds strength. This strength converts into a magnificent command over others, and without the influence of her gentle, serene, righteous force, Raskolnikov would never have found the power to confess to his eponymous crime.

Natalya Ilyinichna Rostova (War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy) – Natasha Rostova is, in the context of War and Peace, the ideal Russian woman—and she is not a submissive, reticent, wifely type either. She is impulsive, spontaneous, full of life and light, always game to sing and laugh and make friends. As a young woman she is very beautiful, but once she becomes a mother, she cheerfully lets herself go and becomes dowdy and plump. This does not stop her husband Pierre from being madly in love with her. In fact, it is nigh impossible for anyone to read War and Peace without falling a little bit in love with Natasha.

Agrafena Aleksandrovna Svetlova (The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky) – Agrafena is more commonly known as “Grushenka,” which translates to “little pear.” The nickname is appropriate, for Grushenka is a pear-shaped Russian beauty who holds an astounding power over the men in the community, even sparking a paramount rivalry between Dmitri Karamazov and his father Fyodor. She has amassed a small fortune through lending money and charging exorbitant rates of interest, and has pared down to an art form the manipulation of men using her feminine wiles. Though by today’s standards this may not be considered an admirable thing, during Dostoevsky’s life, feminine wiles were really all women had going for them. I say, more power to her.

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo: Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rostova in the 1956 film adaptation of War and Peace.

Oh Snap!: Model Citizen

This model in Paris knows what's up: great books never go out of style.

--Nicole Crowder

Photo by Scott Schuman/The Sartorialist

Lit Talk: Author Jonathan Tropper

The dysfunctional family saga is one that has been touched upon many times, but every once in a while a novel comes along that revolutionizes the subgenre. Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You has been hailed as one of these novels, at once side-splitting and heart-rending and cockle-warming. In the interview below, Jonathan talks about his routine and being successful.

***

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
It's hard to pinpoint. I was always an avid reader. I remember, when I was in high school, reading The Stand, by Stephen King and thinking, at some point, that it must be fantastic to be able to be able to make a living just telling stories. But I think it was years before I actually really considered giving it a try. And then there were all those years of denial, when I wouldn't admit to myself that I wanted to try, because failure was such a large possibility. So I probably lost a few years there, and then, at some point, it just became imperative to give it a real shot. I think it helped not being particularly interested in anything else.

How did you get published?
I wrote a book that I thought was pretty good. I submitted to about fifty agencies and a handful of publishers and got rejected across the board. So I gave it up for a while, but never stopped reading. A few years later I felt the urge to write again. This time there was more urgency to it. I felt I actually had something to say. So I wrote what would become Plan B, my first novel, sent out query letters, got interest from a handful of agents, signed with one of them, and few months later we had a deal at St. Martin's Press.

Your books tend to be about people dealing with very serious, sometimes tragic life-issues, and yet they're all very funny. Why do you think you tell your stories in such a funny way?
Because that's how life really is. No matter what you're going through, there's comedy to be found. And if you ignore the comedy, than life is just one long funeral. I'm the guy who laughs at a funeral and cries at American Express commercials. You have to be open to the full spectrum of emotional responses. So I try to write books that convey that range. I want you to be moved, maybe to tears, but also to laugh your ass off.

Three of your novels are in development as motion pictures. What do you think it is about your novels that has captured Hollywood's interest?
I couldn't say for sure, but I write very character driven novels. I work very hard to create three dimensional, flawed, interesting, and occasionally over-the-top characters. And I think interesting characters are in demand in Hollywood. Interesting characters attract top shelf actors, who in turn, attract the rest of the talent, and then the financing, which is what ultimately gets a movie made. It all starts from the characters, so I think, when producers are moved b characters, they see a project that has the potential to attract talent.

Are you a disciplined writer? Do you write every day? Do you follow an outline?
I'm a terribly undisciplined writer. I do try to write every day, try to treat it like a job; show up by nine, put in a full day, etc. But it's hard when it's such a solitary process. There are good days and there are bad days. I never start with an outline, I start with a character, and after I've written about that character for a while, I start outlining the novel, but I never seem to follow my outlines anyway. So it just becomes a mess of chapters until finally, hopefully, the book presents itself. I tend to write a lot more than actually makes it into the book.
***

The full interview is available at Jonathan’s website, and you can catch him at these East Coast locations in the upcoming weeks:

Tuesday, August 25 at 7:15 p.m.
215 Sycamore St.
Decatur, Ga. 30030
404.370.8450

Thursday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Inkwood Books
216 South Armenia Avenue
Tampa, Fla. 33609
813.253.2638

Tuesday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m.
The Odyssey Bookshop
9 College St. #4
South Hadley, Mass. 01075
413.547.7307

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo: Jonathantropper.com

Around the Web: Shaved Heads + Fag Hags

For ladies seeking hair liberation, Honey brings you a few tips to ease the transition when you decide to get “chopped and screwed”: aka, shave it all off. [via Honey Mag]

She sure doesn’t sound like Nicole Kidman: a clip of Virginia’s Woolf’s voice was recently released, the only one known. [via Jezebel]

We live in a “rape culture”, asserts a new video. Could we really live in a culture of fear and political correctness? [via Double X]

A list of the Top 10 Sexiest Chefs, from Colicchio to Cora. Let’s just say I’ve got absolutely no reservations. [via Nerve]

“I can be your fag hag, and you can be my gay,” sings Lily Allen in her new album. But according to this writer, the era of the “gay boyfriend” is overdone, and simply done. [via Salon]

Catch the season premier of Mad Men on Monday? If not, beware of spoilers, in Feministing’s analysis of some of the show’s key moments. [via Feministing]

--Allison Geller

Photo: HotAtlantaBuzz

Bookmarks 8.18.09

Nuclear Poetry: ACCELERATION in New York, N.Y. (August 18, 8:30 p.m.) - Join the hippest writers on New York’s experimental literary scene for a night of drinks, reading, music, and inspiration. The basement of Elmo’s Restaurant will be transformed into a “literary bomb shelter” as the Nuclear Poetry movement gears up for its first anniversary show on September 15.

A Night of Literary Laughs in Minneapolis, Minn. (August 19, 7:30 p.m.) – Celebrate the light-hearted side of being a book nerd with a lecture on literary hoaxes, five-minute book reports, slide shows, and various activities of bookish fun. The event, which will take place at The Soap Factory, will mark the release of an issue of Granta Magazine.


Julia Child’s Birthday Celebration in Menlo Park, Calif. (August 20, 6:00 p.m.) – Kepler’s Books will ride Julia Child’s wave of popularity with this tasty open house, which will provide champagne, cake, and a chance to peruse the cookbook selection and share notes with other foodies.
URL: http://www.keplers.com/

Translate in the Catskills in Hunter, N.Y. (August 21-23) – This weekend retreat, held at the scenic Catskill Mountain Foundation, will feature seminars and workshops on the art of translation, for skilled translators and those just breaking into the career. There will also be a star-gazing session for people who are sick of city light pollution and want to stare up into a clear mountain night.

31st Annual YMCA Book Fair in St. Louis, Mo. (August 21-26) – At the Kennedy Recreation Center, the YMCA will sell books in over 60 categories at pocket-change prices. In 1978, this book fair was an understated one-day affair, and it has since exploded into an enormous six-day extravaganza, perfect for bargain-loving readers.

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo by reconstructionist/Flickr

Meet Your Bloggers: Emmaline

Emma in 2007 with her boyfriend. She likes older men?

A brief introduction:
I’m Emmaline (which rhymes with “wine,” not with “’tween”), but most people call me Emma. In May 2009, I graduated as a Russian major from a tiny Midwestern liberal arts college, and now I’m back in the D.C. area basking in the fabulous economy and burgeoning job market.

Greatest loves:
Spelling bees, movies with training montages, writing and receiving letters, shellfish, and watching funny animal videos on YouTube. Oh, and books are good, too.

Currently reading:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, recommended to me by my grandmother. It is written as a series of letters, held together by the characters’ reverence for books, and it’s really the loveliest novel I’ve read in a while.

All-time favorite book:
It’s a close call, but I’d probably have to say The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Don’t let the length intimidate you, and ignore the stigma that all Russian novels are dismal and heavy-handed. The hope that shines through the story is best summed up by the line, “In most cases, people, even wicked people, are far more naïve and simple-hearted than one generally assumes. And so are we.”

Most questionable item on my bookshelf:
Five different baby name books, all in a row. People make the obvious assumption when they see these books, but I’m not expecting—just fascinated by baby name trends over time and the cultural movements behind them.

Why I like Uptown Literati:
It gives a hip, desperately-needed makeover to the face of the book nerd—which, let’s face it, is really what we all are.

Front of Book: Summer's Last Hurrah

The best—and worst—book picks of the month from our favorite magazines.

Summer is winding down, but time still remains to cram in a few, last good reads before your tan fades or you exchange novels for textbooks.

Oprah typically has a lot to say on the subject. This month’s issue of O has many promising, if not a little heavy, suggestions. On that score there’s Methland by Nick Reding, about a small town in Iowa where images of quiet Main Street and wide open fields are replaced by the horrors of a methamphetamine epidemic. Reding doesn’t shy away from any details about this very real tragedy, but he also doesn’t remove himself from compassion and empathy for those who are embroiled in it. On the lighter side is Thomas Pynchon’s latest, Inherent Vice. While I’m not an avid mystery reader, a detective story with an intriguing hero (“a blend of classic California noir hero and committed hippie stoner”), a gripping and intricate plot, and the evocation of years past—the novel is set in the ‘60s—is just the recipe for a last end of summer getaway that starts and ends on your front porch.

One pick I’m not quite sure about is The Magicians by Lev Grossman, which at first skim reads like Harry Potter, except that the protagonist and his entourage live in Manhattan, move past first base, and drop F-bombs rather than “you-know-who”'s. A modern fantasy novel meets coming of age story, this doesn’t look like the Pulitzer, but if you’re itching for something to fill the void that J.K. Rowling so callously left after book number seven, this might be a good bet.

Catching on to the latest "Mad Men" buzz, O also features John Hamm’s book picks. Among this suave and serious actor’s recommendations is The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene, a tome about string theory and the laws of the universe that has been sitting on my shelf for years. I swear I’ll get to it one day. Hamm also suggests Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, the modern classic about an aging writer who just can’t find the words, sure to satisfy any bibliophile.

Over at Vanity Fair, the magazine’s Fanfair culture section takes us to elite beach clubs, dim sum, and dirty martinis before arriving at their short and sweet book feature. After reading an excerpt in The New York Times magazine, I’m right beside them in recommending food writer Frank Bruni’s memoir Born Round. Instead of imitating a foodie’s passion à la Meryl Streep, Bruni displays it with exuberance, along with humor, pathos, and a touch of David Sedaris-like self-deprecation, making this a read you’ll want to eat up in one bite. Less digestible but equally engaging is Love is a Four-Letter Word, a collection of short stories about break-ups. Don’t expect pints of Ben & Jerry’s and gallons of self-pity: the stories are sharp, poignant, and recounted with candor and wit. The collection also includes two mini graphic novels, by Emily Flake and Lynda Barry.

Elle gives us three books that won their Reader’s Prize 2009: Laura Moriarty’s While I’m Falling, Cathy Marie Buchanan’s The Day the Falls Stood Still, and Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts. The first two are undeniably well-written, but the basic premise of female protagonists whose lives are falling to pieces—in Moriarty’s, a young woman in college and in Buchanan’s, a girl from a well-to-do but ailing family in Niagara Falls who falls inevitably in love—don’t pique my interest for a last summer page turner. I’m voting for Dunant’s Sacred Hearts, sucker as I am for period drama. The book takes place in an Italian convent where things are not as holy as they seem. Careful research and plot drama make things come to life behind this convent’s walls.

Here’s to summer’s last few rays.

--Allison Geller

To Woodstock: Peace & Love

Uptown Literati is celebrating one of the most seminal events in history, and certainly of the turbulent 1960s. Woodstock reached beyond Max Yagur's dairy farm in the sleepy corner of Bethel, NY in 1969 to rock the world with its rallying cry for peace, love, and music. It's since spawned movies, books, and has inspired countless men and women to take up the guitar and start bands of their own. Today, we remember Woodstock in words and images.

Bobbi and Nick Ercoline at Woodstock in 1969.

Photo by Burk Uzzle/Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery, New York

One of the greatest to ever blaze the guitar, Jimi Hendrix.

Did you know Hendrix and his band improvised their now classic version of "The Star Spangled Banner"? I guess when the man of the hour says just play, you do just that.

WOODSTOCK PERFORMERS: THEN & NOW

Joan Baez

Richie Havens

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (later only Crosby, Stills, and Nash)

Did you know that Woodstock was only the second time that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young had ever performed together? Get it!



Melanie

Sly & The Family Stone

(Check Sly with the mohawk action. What a difference 4 decades makes!)

Sha Na Na

Ravi Shankar

Photos: Getty Images, AP Photo, and Corbis.

--Nicole C.

Voices: 'Potato Peel Pie Society' Enchants With Sweet Letters

I picked up Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on a recommendation from my grandmother, a witty and well-read lady herself. “It’s an epistolary novel, so it’s written entirely in letter form,” she explained. “And it really is the loveliest novel I’ve read in a while. The thing is, it’s all about books—reading books, writing books, loving books.”

Naturally, I couldn’t resist this endorsement. The book truly is a tale of reading, friendship, and romance. It is set in a broken England, post-World War II, suffered more than the Channel Islands, including the Isle of Guernsey, the inhabitants of which were starved and occupied by German soldiers for years. When one of writer Juliet Ashton’s used books, Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb, falls into the hands of a founding member of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, letters begin flying over the English Channel and life-altering friendships are written with the ink. These friendships initially are based on a love of books—Charles Lamb, Seneca, Jane Austen, and the sisters Brontë are among the Society’s most beloved authors—but go on to face even more powerful issues: loss, heartache, the horrors of wartime. It is touching to watch Juliet find such kindred spirits in Guernsey’s Society through a series of letters, and downright uplifting to learn how the Society found solace in each other and in literature during the hell that was the Occupation.

Juliet Ashton is a heroine of the best kind, a protagonist to fall in love with. She is brilliant, feisty, funny, loyal, and a truly kind friend. She is also prone to flashes of rage, such as throwing a teapot at a reporter who made uncouth insinuations about her dead fiancé. By no means is she perfect, but she’s the sort of woman I’d love to take out for coffee—or cocktails.

(Actually, as a side note, I believe that my fondness for Juliet is partly due to the resemblance she bears to a heroine I adored in my formative years, one Miss Betsy Ray of Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books. Both are smart, fun-loving writers who thrive on friendship, write diligently to pen-pals, and have questionable culinary abilities.)

The epistolary quality of the novel both charmed and impressed me. Charmed, because I am an inveterate letter writer myself, and if I could, I would pen all my correspondences by hand on violet-scented stationery. And impressed, because I know it is not easy to write an epistolary novel well. So much of story-telling involves showing as opposed to telling (the mantra of creative writing teachers everywhere), and people tend to tell rather than show when they write letters. But somehow, Shaffer and Barrows’ novel is both vivid and genuine, with highly distinctive voices, seamless pacing, and masterful building of suspense. Not once did I feel as though I was reading an epistolary novel written by two women in 2008. The whole way through, I felt as though I was really reading a long series of correspondences, as though I was privileged enough to be let into the secrets of these people’s lives.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a light, fast-paced, but still very fulfilling read. There are plenty of laughs and, for people like me who have an uncontrollable weeping reflex, maybe a tear or two as well. And be warned: Go buy some stationery before you read the book. If nothing else, it will make you hungry to write a lengthy and loving epistle to a dear old—or brand new—friend.

--Emmaline Silverman

Lit Talk: Author Carleen Brice

Kind-eyed, loced Carleen Brice, the author of the highly-acclaimed novel Orange Mint and Honey, published her second novel, Children of the Waters, in June 2009. Children of the Waters tells the story of two sisters’ parallel struggles through prejudice, disease, and family through subtle but finely tuned writing. In the interview below with "One World Books" (from the Reader’s Guide to Children of the Waters), Carleen shares the surreal joy of her success and her thoughts on book clubs.

***

One World Books: Carleen, it’s a pleasure getting the chance to sit with you and talk all things books, now that you’re a seasoned and award-winning novelist! Perhaps the best place to start would be to ask how you feel about the success of your first novel. Orange Mint and Honey earned the First Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, debut novel honors from the African American Literary Book Club, was an Essence book club pick, there’s been interest from Hollywood—and of course, admiration from readers everywhere. Did you have any idea that this would happen?

Carleen Brice: I hoped, of course, for good things to come, but it’s pretty surreal when it happens. When they called my name at the awards for the African American Literary Book Club, and people at my table—who I had just met that night—screamed for me, it was amazing. The whole process has been incredible. I’m overjoyed and honored that my work has received so much attention. But the best thing has been reader response—I’m so grateful to the people who’ve taken the time to email me or write reviews online.

One World Books: Can you tell us a bit about your visits to individual book clubs to discuss Orange Mint and Honey? How did that come about? How did you find the experience?

Carleen Brice: Book clubs contact me through my website, www.carleenbrice.com, or approach me at events and whenever I can, I make it a point to attend in person or via phone. It’s wonderful to hear the discussions first hand. When you’re writing about your characters, it’s just you and them in a room. It’s really fun to see other people relate to them and treat them like they’re real—feeling sorry for them or getting mad at them—just like I did when I was writing.

At first people are a little shy because the author is right there, but eventually they loosen up (the drinks served at book clubs might have a little to do with that!) and start saying how they really feel about the characters and the plot. I encourage that honesty (though so far it’s easy to do because nobody has hated it). It’s fun to hear one person say “I thought it was wrong for them to act out in the church the way they did.” And then someone else say, “I understand it. If I was Shay I would have been hollering too!” It makes me feel like I did my job when some of the group is siding with Shay and some of the group is siding with Nona, which happens at every single book club.

One World Books: Did any of the early feedback you received about Orange Mint and Honey impact the way you wrote this novel (which, by the way, is simply stunning)?

Carleen Brice: Thank you! I wouldn’t say the feedback impacted how I write. I feel like I learned a lot writing my first novel, but writing this book was a completely different thing so I don’t know how much was applied to it. My goals were the same: to make people think and feel and for them to be entertained. It was inspiring to see how people responded so well to my first novel. Gave me hope that readers are interested in the same kind of characters and stories I am.

***

The full interview is available on Carleen’s website, and you can catch Ms. Brice this week in Denver:

Sunday, August 16 at 6:00 p.m.
West Side Books
3434 W. 32nd Avenue
Denver, Colo. 80211
303.480.0220

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo courtesy CarleenBrice.com

Oh Snap!: Reading Railroad

Travelling by rail is the way to go, when you look stylish, snag a window seat, and bring a good book.

--Allison Geller

Photo: Clutch

Bookmarks 8.11.09

Marvel Comics 70^th Anniversary Party in Arlington, Texas (August 12, 7:00 p.m.) – Captain America and Spiderman may still be young and muscular, but their creator, Marvel Comics, is turning 70 years old. Marvel’s birthday party, held at Lone Star Comics, will be a chance for old and young fans to geek out, chill with superheroes, and eat birthday cake.

Monsoon Voices in Phoenix, Ariz. (August 14, 7:30 p.m.) – Literature is a very sensorial thing—sometimes it’s better when heard and seen along with the taste and smell of a cappuccino. So on August 14, head to Unlimited Coffee for an issue of Monsoon Voices, “the live literary magazine of poetry, prose, and song.”

Jane Austen Ball in Alexandria, Va. (August 15, 8:00 p.m.) – This ball, held at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, is sure to fulfill the fantasies of every Mr. Darcy lover in the D.C. area. There will be period dancing, music, and dress, and the chance to relive the beauty and grace of England’s Georgian countryside. Reservations required.

From Bugs to Beasts: Storytelling through Collage by Eric Carle in Washington, D.C. (through September 1) – Who among us was not enchanted by the colorful collaged illustrations The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a child? This exhibit, open at the Stanford in Washington Art Gallery, showcases both the process and product in the artwork of Eric Carle. His famous works and lesser-known pieces alike are on display.

Golden Legacy: 65 Years of Golden Book Illustrations in Omaha, Neb. (through September 6) – Little Golden Books have been a favorite with parents, teachers, and children since their debut in 1942. This exhibit, at the Joslyn Art Museum, will feature gorgeous, original illustrations from the series.

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo: Catalina magazine

Meet Your Bloggers: Rachel

About me:
· I learned to read when I was four years old, and have been an avid reader ever since. I have enough books to start my own library, and I’ve seriously thought about taping call numbers on their spines.

· Reading is a very tactile experience for me. I prefer hardcover books to paperbacks, and I rarely read mass market paperbacks because they don’t feel right in my hands.

· I read, on average, five books a month, but quality is far more important to me than quantity. I always have a book (or two) with me, and I read every day, whenever and wherever.

· I love used book stores for the variety of books therein. You never know quite what you might find inside…. One of my favorite used book stores is Molly’s Books in Philadelphia, owned by poet Molly Russakoff.


My top five favorite books are:
· The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

· Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

· If on a winter’s night a traveler…, by Italo Calvino

· Atonement, by Ian McEwan

· The Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer

All of a sudden I realize that my favorite books are all by white males. The multi-cultural feminist in me rages at this. But, what are ya gonna do? Those are the books I love best!


Besides reading, I also like:
· Cooking. I would love to be a gourmet chef, but I have too much of a propensity for inadvertently burning dinner. Instead, I spend my time drooling over the latest issue of Food & Wine, imagining recipes I know I don’t have the skill to handle.

· Dancing. I used to be an avid swing dancer, but have since branched out to other forms as well. Who knew contra dancing could be so much fun?

· Photography. This hobby is still in development, as I learn to make better use of the awesome camera technology that’s available these days. And looking for new and exciting things to photograph gives me an excuse to travel more. Hooray!


Other somewhat random tidbits:
· The year I was born, Rachel was the sixteenth most popular name in the US.

· I share a birthday (the date, not the year!) with Lyndon B. Johnson and Pee-Wee Herman.

· My favorite non-book-related website is Cake Wrecks. Seriously. Check it out.

· I started keeping a reading log two years ago.

· I really like lists. A lot.

Why I love Uptown Literati:
It’s a collection of great voices all discussing one of my favorite subjects. What’s not to love?

Lifestyle Gumbo: Vanity Fair

This fall, models are turning over a new leaf.

Models got bookish as they showcased this season’s looks, from the pages of Italian Vogue to the backstage of fall 2009 runway shows. Tatyana Usova, a Christian Dior model, perused Proust, while Steven Miesel shot a wild and glamorous library scene for Alberta Ferretti’s fall campaign.

Could designers and models be intentionally defying the stereotype that their industry is vapid and utterly opposed to reading? Are books the next big accessory?

Whatever the reason is for this recent phenomenon, the fact remains that a good book, like a good handbag, never goes out of style.

--Allison Geller

Photo: The Cut

Oh Snap!: Hitting the Books

School is just around the corner for many of us, which means putting in long hours at the library. If only we could always look this cute while doing it.

--Allison Geller

Photo by Ziko-C via Wikimedia

Voices: Tasty Morsels of Joy Found in 'Garlic and Sapphires'

Eating out should be a joyous experience, in theory. However, the question alone of what to eat or which appetite to satisfy—the sweet or the tangy—can be daunting, even agonizing. Then of course there is the decision of where to eat: someplace fancy or someplace ordinary? Recommendations, especially those coming from someone as highly regarded as the newly hand-picked food critic for The New York Times, can take the pressure off. But it can also carry a lot of weight in the eyes of those willing to spend money at the most premier establishments in a tough city like New York. Such is the lot that Ruth Reichl has taken on in Garlic and Sapphires, and she does so with gusto and charm.

Being a notorious food critic in a city that thrives off of Page Six headliners presents challenges, and the means to combat them are paramount. In a series of humorous, light-hearted, and often times sad vignettes, Ruth Reichl recounts stories of how she disguised herself as six women while she ate in and reviewed New York City restaurants that would otherwise be sure to recognize her. In Sapphires, however, Reichl makes no attempt to placate any particular party: her employer the Times, the chefs at the restaurants she reviews, or the millions of New Yorkers whose mouths she presumably looks out for. Instead, over the course of six years Reichl unintentionally performs a social study on the varying degree of attention and respect one receives at well-regarded eating establishments based solely on one’s appearance.

In “Betty”, Reichl adapts the persona of a meek, almost invisible senior woman who she followed from the train one afternoon. The service Reichl receives as Betty while attending the Tavern on the Green is almost as deplorable as the meal itself. In fact, it is simply because she’s old and timid. In more humorous reflections, Reichl disguises herself as a stunning red head who “dumbs down” her knowledge of food by feigning ignorance during a meal with a man who has tentacles for hands and is as equally clueless and garrulous as he is wealthy.

Despite flowing in and out of characters and alter egos, Reichl's book delights as she stimulates the appetite with her luscious descriptions of everything from prosciutto to shrimp to cheese to duck, and the precise temperate at which each should be served. Readers join Reichl at the table while she digs into euphoric experiences with fresh eel, roasted lamb, rolled pasta or soup consommé. In some cases you can even imagine Reichl closing her eyes, tipping her right pinky in the air while holding a spoon, and raising her foot in glee over a robust meal. But even good meals come to an end.

For a short while, Sapphires rides on the strange irony of Reichl blithely reviewing food that she so clearly grew up being stimulated by. She doesn’t seem bothered by criticism from her editors or from angry letters and phone calls from the public calling for her resignation after slamming some the most preeminent restaurants in the city. But the reality for a critic is that critiquing can become stale and cumbersome, if you let it. At some point, even the critic needs to be reinvigorated again. Through exploring the restaurants of New York’s culinary landscape via her own alter-personas (and taking a food tour of NYC with another food critic colleague), Reichl comes to rediscover why she fell in love with food in the first place.

Sapphires is not solely about going along on the epicurean journeys of a renowned food critic for the New York Times. It reads like a personal journal you might expect a chef or a cook or even an everyday foodie to carry. It’s filled with personal recipes, newspaper-like-clippings of several Times restaurant reviews Reichl has written over the years, stories of secret food discoveries, as well as Reichl’s family and friends. The stories are also about the glory days of the economic boom during of the 1990s that the country was sailing on, and the restaurants that tried to board, and the few that fell off the proverbial economic gangplank. Reichl’s tender retrospective on the mom and pop cooks, bread makers, fish vendors, and candy sellers who were a disappearing breed in the changing culinary landscape of New York City become—excuse the pun—the bread and butter of Garlic and Sapphires. In “Missionary for the Delicious”, Reichl blows a long kiss to bread kneaders in Queens, candy makers in Brooklyn who, in vain, toil away at making candy by hand, and to the best little-known shop in Brooklyn that sells yogurt perfect enough for making Afghan dumplings. It’s one of the books more crowning achievements, and is a testament that true satisfaction in eating belongs to those with an appetite for it.

Oh Snap!: Generation Gap

Great books are being replaced by MacBooks for the younger set, begging the question: is reading via a lit screen better than no reading at all?

--Allison Geller

Photo: The New York Times

Bookmarks 8.4.09

The Cringe Reading Series in Brooklyn, N.Y. (August 5, 9:00 p.m.) – If you thought your angsty teenage poetry, letters to celebrity crushes, diary entries detailing miserable first dates, etc. should be burned or locked up forever, you’re wrong. This reading, held the first Wednesday of every month, invites you to read them out loud before a commiserating audience at Freddy’s Bar.

Fiction Writer’s Retreat in Ancramdale, N.Y. (August 8, 8:00 a.m.) – Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership will be hosting its first Fiction Writers’ Retreat this weekend. The event will workshop novels and young adult literature and highlight the social responsibility in the writing life.

Adult Spelling Bee in Milwaukee, Wis. (August 8, 3:00 p.m.) – If you have a competitive streak and a photographic memory for words, sign up for the Adult Spelling Bee at the Divine Mercy Fun Fest. It will be held at 695 College Avenue, and the winner will take home a cash prize.

The Summer Vermont Book & Ephemera Fair in Woodstock, Vt. (August 9, 10:00 a.m.) – This book fair, held by the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association, is a gathering of the Northeast’s finest booksellers. Special guests include renowned bookbinder Malcolm Summers, who specializes in antique book repair and leather-binding.

A Keeping of Records: The Art and Life of Alice Walker in Atlanta, Ga. (through September 27) – Alice Walker is a pioneer on the front of feminism, civil rights, and literature. In Emory University’s Woodruff Library, her personal archives—letters, notes, papers, drafts—are on display for the first time.

--Emmaline Silverman

Photo: flickr

Around the Web: Chick Flicks for Guys + Feminist TV

As Funny People makes bank at the box office, read another take on Judd Apatow’s films: they’re chick flicks for guys. [via Double X]

Could Chanel N.5 be Love Potion Number Nine? A writer takes pheromone-laced beauty products, that ever-growing cosmetic gimmick, for a test drive. [via The Frisky]

Check out this interview with young modern artist Dawn Okoro, along with pics of her striking and colorful work. [via Clutch]

President Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program seems like a good idea—but could it really be hurting our country more than helping? [via Salon]

HBO takes on the f-word with a new, as yet untitled series starting Diane Keaton as a middle-aged feminist who starts a porn magazine for women. Clear some space on the TIVO! [via Bust]

--Allison Geller

Oh Snap!: Kram Session

D.C. locals browse quality reads at Dupont's Kramerbooks & Afterwords Café.

--Allison Geller

Photo: Flickr

Meet Your Bloggers: Allison

Allison, Blogger

About Me

• I’m studying English and French at the University of Virginia.

• My ideal job: travel and write.

• I am a Francophile.

• I read The Catcher in the Rye in 4th grade, when doing so wasn’t a total cliché.

• I think so-called children’s literature, such as Roald Dahl, is some of the best.

• I started a Controversial Book Alliance at my high school with some friends. We wanted to start a book club, but one that people would actually attend. Suffice to say we had some great discussions.

• I actually LIKE reading (and writing) poetry.

• I don’t understand people who "don’t read."

• I think English teachers are some of the best people in the world. I hope to marry one some day.
  

Top 5 Books I’ll Never Forget

In no particular order:

-Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

-Seducing the Demon, Erica Jong

-Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

-100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

and of course:

-The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

Other interests besides reading

Writing (poetry, personal essays, reviews, and fiction), dance (ballroom, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop), music, art, all things delicious, sitting in coffeehouses, traveling, and people-watching.

Favorite quotes by writers:

"Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde." (Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do harm to the world. )

--Voltaire

"Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine."

-- Henry David Thoreau

"Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie."

--Stephen King

"The fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world, in spite of History."

--Derek Walcott

Why you love UL

The best of the book world from smart ladies who tell it like it is—what’s not to love?