Did you ever get a word stuck in your synaptic spin cycle, tumbling around in your brain just begging you to use it? Ever since pal Dan Rose used the term “slackers-manque” in his review of Home Land, the Happy Booker has felt an almost Tourette’s-like itch to bandy the word about in casual conversation. In search of a new replacement word, it probably wasn’t a good idea for the Happy Booker to turn to Dan’s recent Salon article about his stint as an editor for, ahem, a certain men’s magazine. This content is “R” rated, so if you’re under 18 you should certainly not be clicking here.
Want to touch my manqué?
We’ve gotten that our of our system now. Thanks. Check out Dan’s review of Francine Prose’s new book, A Changed Man, in today’s New York Observer.
What is it with men and their shoes? They’re always talking about them, shopping for them, falling for the latest fads, styles and color. Here’s Mr. Outer Life on his trip to the local shoe emporium. Mr. OL has graciously allowed the Happy Booker to link to his “cautionary example of the unhappy outcome when one blends outrageous conceit, total ignorance and unbounded narcissism…”
Yet Another Dan: The Happy Booker must thank the inestimable Dan Green for his warm cyber welcome yesterday. Readers can experience Dan’s Reading Experience here.
MORE AWARD NEWS: The finalists for the 25th annual PEN/Faulkner awards were announced today: Edwidge Danticat, The Dew Breaker; Jerome Charyn 's The Green Lantern; Ha Jin, War Trash; Marilynne Robinson, Gilead; Steve Yarbrough, Prisoners of War. The winner will receive $15,000, the finalists $5000 each. The prize will be announced in April; all five authors will be honored during the 25th Annual PEN/Faulkner award ceremony on May 14th, followed by a $100 a plate dinner served in the hallowed halls of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
(Personal NOTE to Susan Richards Shreve: Let my Blogger Go! Come on, Susan, send the Happy Booker some comp tickets so she can supply readers with a blogger’s eye view of the event and a well-informed critique of the dinner menu. Talk to Bob Stone. I am sure he’ll be down with it.)
My writing group cancelled tonight, which means I will be free to attend the Azar Nafisi reading. In the meantime, for those of you who are also in writing groups, you might enjoy this top five list of things that keep a writers group together, from Jen’s Written Road blog.
Tune in tomorrow for complete coverage of “Reading Lolita in Fairfax.”
You're going to list the PEN/Faulkner nominees but not handicap the race? I want instant analysis as I know only you can provide it!
Posted by: Scott | March 10, 2005 at 02:23 PM
I'm buffing my Pen party shoes as we speak.
Posted by: Corrine | March 10, 2005 at 03:45 PM
That Salon article is hilarious. Kind of reminds me of how, when I was in college, somebody told me (or I read it) that a lot of authors wrote porn under assumed names because the money was good. I tried to write a porn story for beer money and my boyfriend at the time basically told me that I had failed miserably. Too much "character development" and "plot." ;)
Posted by: LadyLitBlitzin | March 10, 2005 at 08:12 PM