Book for October/November 2008

You Remind Me of Me

From Publishers Weekly:

Three lives viewed through a kaleidoscope of memories and secret pain assume a kind of mythical dimension in Chaon's piercingly poignant tale of fate, chance and search for redemption. As he demonstrated in his short story collection Among the Missing, Chaon has a sensitive radar for the daily routines of people striving to escape the margins of poverty and establish meaningful lives. Here, a woman's unsuccessful effort to rise above the pain of giving away an illegitimate baby, and to fight against mental illness and offer love to a second child, blights all their lives. Living with his harsh and bitter mother, Norma, and his kindly grandfather in Little Bow, S.Dak., young Jonah Doyle is permanently scarred after the family's Doberman attacks and maims him. The resulting livid ridges on his face are the outward manifestations of a deeper wound that will always haunt him. After his mother's suicide, Jonah sets out to find the older brother he has never met, and in the process, brings them both to the verge of tragedy. Jonah's older sibling is Troy Timmens, a well-meaning bartender and sometime drug dealer in St. Bonaventure, Nebr., who is devoted to his six-year-old son, Loomis. The boy will play a pivotal part in Jonah's quixotic attempts to win Troy's love. Chaon structures his plot in alternating flashbacks, and the fragmentary time structure forces the reader to puzzle out the relationships and contributes to rising dramatic tension. Chaon's clarity of observation, expressed in restrained, nuanced prose, coupled with his compassion for his flawed characters, creates a heart-wrenching story of people searching for connection.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Three Cups of Tea (reviews)

Reviews for August's book: Three Cups of Tea: One Mans' Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time (via Amazon.com)

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers' hearts. (Mar.)

From Bookmarks Magazine
While critics agree that Three Cups of Tea should be read for its inspirational value rather than for its literary merit, the book's central theme, derived from a Baltistan proverb, rings loud and clear. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger," a villager tells Greg Mortenson. "The second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family." An inspirational story of one man's efforts to address poverty, educate girls, and overcome cultural divides, Three Cups, which won the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for nonfiction, reveals the enormous obstacles inherent in becoming such "family." Despite the important message, critics quibbled over the awkward prose and some melodrama. After all, a story as dramatic and satisfying as this should tell itself.

Garfield Minus Garfield

Garfield Minus Garfield is much funnier than the Schulzians and the Pumpkinites:

First Timer....

This is my first attempt at adding anything to a blog!Thanks Wileen for putting this together. Hey, Li said there were pictures posted from our meeting.
Donde esta?
I was looking at info. on Umberto Eco (Of Queen Loana infamy, I mean fame) he is one deep dude. Very philisophical. Maybe that is why I could not get into the book. Me be a simpleton. On a side note, I am digging our new book, Beware of G-d. I hope we have an awesome turn out in April.
~Grumpus

April's book!

(posted for Grumpus)

It’s Pop Up Book Club info!

Hello Everyone,

We had a five star showing at Brother K’s Coffee Shop this evening to discuss The Effects of Living Backwards. The avg. rating for this book was 2 ½ stars (out of five) due to it being intriguing yet confusing at times.

Our next book club meeting will be at the House on Moody Avenue on April 29^th. Our next book is a collection of short stories by Shalom Auslander titled, “Beware of G-d.” (yes, there should be an “o” in between the G and d, if you are intrigued by how I wrote it you should attend book club….)

We will begin at 7:30 pm. Please feel free to invite others to join as well. We are really hoping to keep book club alive and going well with fabulously dedicated members. We need you!

Below is from Publisher’s weekly about the book:

From Publishers Weekly
The faithful look sharp or fall victim to a "surly, bossy, paranoid, violent" G-d in Auslander's satirical debut collection. The author, raised an Orthodox Jew, mercilessly spoofs the Old Testament deity: G-d suffers from migraines, stalks a modern-day prophet and appears as a large chicken, among other incarnations. Though harsh rabbinic voices echo throughout, and characters who engage in Talmudic-style debate usually arrive at absurd conclusions, Auslander's target isn't religious hypocrisy. Instead, he guns for sacred cows: literal interpretations of the Torah, strict adherence to Jewish law, and belief in an all-powerful deity who metes out punishment and reward according to man's fulfillment of G-d's commandments. At the heart of this satire, though, is the pain of true believers at the mercy of a capricious G-d. These are high-concept stories: a chimpanzee suddenly achieves "total conscious self-awareness.... G-d. Death. Shame. Guilt"—a burden he cannot bear. A yeshiva student wakes one morning with a brawny, goyishe body and is reviled by his community. A man enrages all major world religions with his discovery of original Old Testament tablets preceded by the disclaimer, "The following is a work of fiction." Occasionally, the Catskills-inflected comedy is corny, but for the most part, Auslander skillfully handles heavy subject matter with a droll tone. "Beautiful day," an adman says, making small talk at a pitch meeting with G-d. " 'I made it myself,' G-d answered loudly." (Apr.)

Heidi Julavits in The Village Voice

(posted for L)

FYI, a review of the book from Village Voice. It sounds fantastic!

http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0326,winter,45038,10.html

We're Sooooo Pot-Lucky!

February 12 we'll be holding our annual post-holiday potluck. Bring your fruitcakes! (My dog will eat anything.) Please remember that I'm a raving vegetarian and I turn into a beastie at the smell of meat in the house. Also, we have a cat, so pack your Benedril if necessary.

Yes, actually, I have been told that I suck the fun out of everything.

In addition to feasting & imbibing, we'll discuss The Effect of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits. Find details here. But support your independent bookstore when possible (you can do that here).

Location details to be emailed closer to the event.