The Happy Booker

Links-a-daiscal

Reasons to live in NYC #338

Tune your dial to WNYC (93.9 FM ) this afternoon and catch Richard McCann on the Leonard Lopate Show (1 to 2pm).

Catch Richard in person tonight at 7pm, as part of the powerhouse panel, “The Familes that Make Us, The Families We Make," with Charles Bush, Edwin Wintle, Tzivia Glover and Tom Dolby at Borders Bookstore in Columbus Circle.

We're sorry we won't be there. If you do attend and want to file a FOtHB Report on the event, send a note to the email address above. Thanks.

Smells like a Soundtrack

Largehearted Boy tosses the keys to the blog over to Chuck Klosterman today, as part of Book Notes, a cool feature where authors provide background music for their books. Klosterman gives readers a behind the scenes look at his new book, Killing Yourself To Live , and the music that inspired it.

Just for kicks, drop by Drake’s place, where guest blogger Dallas Hudgens tackles Klosterman's book for the Book Soundtrack feature.

(Book Dwarf, take note: Led Zeppelin is involved)

Blog-O-Matic

Best idea of the week:
Novelist Dallas Hudgens challenges artists to put their best work forward:

“We'll post artwork by other readers as well,but we need contributions. It can be a scene, character, or anything having to do with the book. Style doesn't matter, since part of the fun would come in seeing different interpretations of these things."

This first amazing painting is by talented artist, Elizabeth Osborne.

New Kid on the Block: Dan Wickett succumbs to peer pressure. Go share some commenty love on a new blog that promises to put the rest of us to shame.

It’s all about the Benjamins over at Beatrice, but this time he’s offering incentives! Go see.

On the local scene, Hebdomeros reviews Gargoyle’s big night. Ms. Storms, we're sorry you missed it!

A Little Q + A: Dan Green hangs with the ever-cool Brain Ames. Here’s a sample:

“Im not a very sophisticated guy, just someone who thinks he can tell a good story. I don’t know shit about literary forms, can’t even remember why I got A’s in English class. I just do what seems fun on paper, try to clean it up a little, throw it out if – in the end – I think it’s garbage, or share it if I think it isn’t.”

Much more coming up this week, including literary fun in NYC and some book notes on reading in translation. xxx, THB

Summer Mail Bag

We’re so enjoying the comments we’re getting (publicly and privately) on Alan’s summer reading list, that we’ve kept it in “pole position” (thanks to Sarvas, for the sport-uguese term—at least we think its sports-related?) through the weekend and beyond. If you’d like to continue to weigh in on summer reading trends the post will stay around a few more days.

One the of the fringe benefits of blogging has been the unexpected rewards in the mail. This week’s mail bag included a fantastic Mother of Sorrows T-shirt from blog-favorite, Richard McCann . The hosts of McCann’s book party were all sporting this 100% cotton fashion statement, which features the beautiful cover of Richard’s book. We don’t know if these fabulous shirts are available to the public yet, but we will keep you posted!

Also to arrive was some glamorous, socially conscious lip gloss, from the dazzling Lauren, a woman who awes us with her fashion sense and style. She is the undisputed queen of Cool and we thank her for the gift.

Not to be outdone. Our realtor was here the day Lusty Lady sent over a copy of her brand-spanking new book. We were asked, ahem, if we intended to display this on our coffee table while prospective buyers were looking at the house. Hmmm…we haven't decided yet.

Who knows what tomorrow’s mail will bring? Stay tuned...

Summer Reads: Alan Cheuse

NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse is back. Our popular guest blogger stops by today to offer his list of recommended summer reading, including fiction, poetry and short-story collections. And his titles—from Arthur C. Clarke, William Carlos Williams, Melissa Banks and more—may surprise you.

In addition to reviewing for NPR, Alan Cheuse is the author of three novels, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. His most recent fiction, a novella,"Paradise, or, Eat Your Face," appears in the current issue of The Idaho Review , and his short fiction can be found in the latest issue of the Land-Grant College Review. His essay, "A Brief History of Dialogue", currently appears in The Antioch Review. Alan will be teaching a fiction workshop this summer at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley.

So, how exactly did Alan come up with a summer reading list for NPR listeners? Good question. He stops by to give us the full scoop on what went into his difficult decision process. (View Alan’s complete Summer Reading recommendations here.)

Summer Reading: Alan Cheuse on the tough choices

The best thing—and perhaps the worst—about a lifetime of reading is that at a certain point you begin to know your own taste. And finally judgment about literature, at least about the literature you love, is that no matter how long you have studied and pondered and meditated on aesthetics, the foundation of good taste, your choices all come down to what you seek for your own pleasure, not what you think you should be seeking. Think of all the arranged marriages turned to murder, or at least, misery, based on the latter principle.

When you're just reading for yourself, which is what most people do, choosing your books becomes rather easy. You know after a while what pleases you. And what does not.

So that most of your judgments will be either one of pleasure—I made a good choice picking up this novel—or disdain (this story collection really disappointed me).

When I put together the summer reading piece (with the help of a gifted editor)I have to enlarge my sense of my self and include books I might not normally read, such as young adult fiction and mysteries, for example. As it happens, I am an old science-fiction hound and I go to spy fiction and good thrillers like the sherbet between courses of a gourmet meal. So I'm ready to embrace the best genre books I can find in any given season. So the list isn't such a stretch for me.

Where things get a little tricky is in the choice of novels and story collections, mainly because there are so many good possibilities. If a novel is good enough to get on the summer list perhaps it deserves as full review instead of just a cameo appearance on the summer list? But then the cameo includes the writer reading from his/her own book, and that fixes a book in a listener's mind in a heightened way, I think, perhaps even more so than when a book receives a full, positive review.

My main objective in creating the piece comes down to suggesting what books may give the most pleasure to readers who may have a limited amount of time to give over to fiction and poetry. Summer is a special time for reading, or so the myth goes. We give ourselves over to the sun and quiet, and sink our minds, our imaginations, in a good bunch of stories or a novel. We put our own life-story on hold and become the life-story of some intriguing characters, always a good therapeutic thing to do, I think. So I try to be judicious and at the same time—if this is possible—as generous as I can be when I make these choices. Other peoples' time off—the time out of time that it takes to read—is as precious to me as my own. I want them, as the old Harry Golden phrase would have it, to ENJOY.

DC-Area Lit Events & Happenings

Don’t forget the Gargoyle #50 Launch party at Lubber Run Amphitheatre in Arlington tonight at 8pm.

Featuring many poets and fiction writers from the nearly 500pp issue. Sandra Beasley, Barbara DeCesare, CM Dupre, Moira Egan, Lauren Fanelli, Dave Housley, Sonja James, Matt Kirkpatrick, David Kresh, Melvin E. Lewis, Steve Moyer, Lisa Schamess, Riggin Waugh, Kathi Wolfe are among those who will be reading.

For info: www.arlingtonarts.org; (703) 228-1850 or the 24-hour hotline (703) 228-6966.

If I Only Had An iPod...

Welcome to "if I only had an iPod…" an occasional series where visiting authors drop by the blog to test drive my iPod.

We don't need Fortune magazine to tell us we're living in an iPod nation. We know we can dress up our iPods, knit covers for them, load ‘em up with great poems, speeches, and rants, dock them in the bathroom, and even be ecologically responsible and recycle them at any nearby Apple store. At this point, even the Queen has joined the iPod revolution.

But where are you going to find out what your favorite authors are singing in the shower? Right here, on the Happy Booker. Only right here.

Today’s special guest DJ is San Francisco author Michelle Richmond. Richmond's books include the award-winning story collection The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress and the novel Dream of the Blue Room, just out in paperback.

Michelle takes time away from baby and touring to share some musical selections with us. A special note to those in the Bay area: You can catch Michelle tonight with Rachel Pastan reading at Diesel Books in Oakland, CA. Don’t miss it!

Guest DJ, Michelle Richmond

I never used to be able to listen to music while writing. I found the lyrics too interesting and therefore too distracting. I wrote my first two books to a soundtrack of waves (my Miami Beach apartment), car horns (my Upper West Side apartment), the N-Judah (my Castro apartment), and macaws (a studio in Costa Rica).

Then, six months ago, I had a baby. Oscar loves music--the louder the better. He also hates to be in a room alone. I'm currently editing my new novel, Ocean Beach, for publication, and the only way I can carve out a few minutes a day to work on it is to bring the baby into the home office with me and crank up the Music Match program on my desktop. Often I find myself typing with one hand while holding Oscar in my lap, bouncing my knee to the rhythm of his favorite songs:

1. Nick Cave, "Brompton Oratory" Nick Cave's "The Boatmen's Call" is a gorgeous, sad album. "Brompton Oratory" is probably my favorite song about Sunday church and oral sex, though not in that order.

2.Jem, "Wish I" Jem's disc, "Finally Woken," is the perfect summer album. I discovered it, along with everyone else, on one of my
favorite websites, www.kcrw.org. If you click on Morning Becomes Eclectic and root around for awhile, there's a great video of her recent in-studio performance.

3. Luna, "Superfreaky Memories" Guitar, bass, and drums, and for me, all of a sudden I'm back in 1999. "... it's winter in New Jersey, and Christmas in New York."

4. Badly Drawn Boy, "Another Devil Dies" Someday I hope to learn an instrument and start an all-girl Badly Drawn Boy tribute band. In my vision, we tour Japan and then conquer the world. This one is from his best and most recent disc, "One Plus One is One."

5. Athlete, "Wires" This is the newest single from the band's second disc. According to the British press, it has become something of a big hit, a love song complete with happy couples making out when it's played at the concerts, which is somewhat suprising considering that the lyrics are about a very ill infant in ICU. Then again, Ronald Reagan played "Born in the USA" during his 1984 reelection campaign, and many people still believe that "Puff the Magic Dragon" is a loveable cartoon animal. "Vehicles & Animals" is also worth finding.

6. The Beautiful South, "You're the One the I Want" This is from their recent covers disc. High school sex has never sounded more mature, melancholy, or desperate.

7. Kid Loco, "A Little Bit of Soul" Who doesn't like to dance?

8. Kings of Convenience, "Homesick" I've never been to Norway, though I like to think that it sounds something like this.

9. Belle & Sebastian, "Wrapped up in Books" Considering their band name comes from a French children's book, it's no surprise that Belle & Sebastian have a lot of great songs about reading and writing. Of course, this is the only one that comes complete with its own literature video game. Go to www.wrappedupinbooks.com to compete.

Happy Listening!

Poetry Event

Tonight in Baltimore Crucial Rooster writer, Reb Livingston reads with Amy King, Lauren Bender, and Kevin Thurston at AREA 405 Gallery. Don't miss it!

All Around the Blogosphere

We’re a bit slow this morning, having been out last night at a party in honor of Richard Bausch, who is leaving George Mason for the wilds of Memphis. A one-time Iowa Idol candidate, it seems the University of Memphis made him an offer he just couldn’t refuse. Hello, Graceland…

While we're slowly getting our act together over here take a look around, there’s plenty going on in the blogosphere to keep you link-hopping all morning. Here’s a brief sampling:

The Happy Booker gets the kids out of the house and into the world of high art, via The Washington Post.

Fulmerica Radio is up and running, with Okkervil River, The Mountain Goats, and Kathleen Edwards in heavy rotation this week, even while its author is busy test driving Drake’s wheels. (Note to Drake: Are you crazy!?)

More music and moonlight at Largehearted Boy, where our pal Quinn Dalton serves up some steaming hot booknotes. Fresh stuff.

And no content could be steamier than what you'll find at Lusty Lady, a hot and frothy blog who sent us a ton of traffic yesterday, making it a banner Monday. (Welcome LL readers! Please come in and make yourselves at home—just remember to keep things tidy and use a coaster!)

Dan, our man of the blogosphere, is at it again. He beats us to the punch, interviewing THB contributor Lisa Selin Davis about her Belly. Intrigued? Click here. Dan also reviews Belly here. Catch Dan's interview with Laila Lalami, our fellow LBC’r, here (He also reviews her new book here). Does this man ever sleep?

Well, we're off to the mud shack for a hot cuppa. Here's what's coming up at THB this week: More cool iPod programming, guest bloggers, and a return visit from blog-favorite, NPR critic Alan Cheuse. So stay tuned! xx, thb

FotHB Report — Colleen Curran’s Big Night

Recent iPod programming visitor Colleen Curran celebrated the release of her first novel, Whores on the Hill, last week at New York’s Slipper Room.

We were sorry to miss the fun, but, luckily, friends of the Happy Booker (FotHB) are everywhere. So here’s the full FotHB Report from novelist Lisa Selin Davis, who provides us with the scoop on Curran’s Slipper Room Soiree. (There will be plenty of information here in the coming weeks about Selin’s first novel, Belly—stay tuned!)

Au Curran, by Lisa Selin Davis

Colleen Curran’s Whores on the Hill may take place in Milwaukee, but the celebration of its release last night at the Lower East Side’s Slipper Room was a resolutely New York affair. The emcee for the evening — a drag comedian named Murray Hill (which is also the name of an unhip east side of Manhattan neighborhood, which sits just below the U.N.) — kept posing for the camera, espousing hope that s/he’d find her/himself in the New York Post’s celebrity-ridden Page 6 the next day, but it wasn’t that kind of event.

Instead, it was a very sweet tribute to a book about very naughty Catholic school girls — if it weren’t for the slight tinge of morality tale, the book might please Playboy readers as much as adolescent girls. Young girls in plaid skirts and ripped fishnet stockings were recruited to read excerpts from the book, and the Pontani sisters (another New York institution —one of the sisters happened to be the author’s roommate in college) performed their delightful burlesque numbers. With Carmen Miranda fruit hats towering above their heads, the three sisters forced strange smiles on their faces while they shimmied and shook their hips.

All the while, the author sat diffidently at her table, a smile sneaking from her lips. When Murray Hill offered her the chance to take over the microphone, she politely declined. Murray prodded her — 35,000 copies, he kept saying. They printed 35,000 copies, come on up here. But she continued to smile and shake her head. The rest of the first novelists in the room -— none of them yet worthy of Page 6 coverage either — who had until that point felt part of the joyous celebration, began to murmur among themselves. Thirty-five thousand copies? they asked, quietly comparing contracts by the bar. Luckily, the entertainment portion of the evening was over. Folks could speak loudly to one another, and, more importantly, speak loudly to the bartender, asking this time for a double.

Better Than A Cosmo Bedside Astrologer

In case you were wondering…

You have an entrancing kiss~ the kind that leaves
your partner bedazzled and maybe even feeling
he/she is dreaming. Quite effective; the kiss
that never lessens and always blows your
partner away like the first time.


What kind of kiss are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Thanks to Reb, the evil poet genius)