Entries from February 2009 ↓

Laura will be reading at the 1,000 Words reading series (hosted by Mel Favara) this very Monday. Here’s the release. The website is here – but it’s not updated yet. If you haven’t been to one – it’s a very fun series.

Here’s an incredibly wonderful piece on creativity, the origin of, and more specifically on surviving it, from Elizabeth Gilbert at TED. For those who are not smitten with her by the end, you are stronger than I.

How exciting is that? Well, I’ll tell you – I’ve been dancing drunk on top of my desk since Friday afternoon when I first saw it, and now I’m not sure how to get off, and I think I’ve done some irreparable damage to my keyboard and stubbed a toe, and no one will hand me any more liquor, but other than that it’s pretty damn cool. Now -hand me that bottle please?

The reviewer, Ed Park (author of Personal Days) talks about Charles Portis and quotes side-by-side from one of his books and Couch, which is fun to see. I was given True Grit by my friend Mel Favara (of 1000 reading series) last year and loved it – I’ll have to pick up the others.

At any rate, here’s the review of Couch in the LA Times.

Thanks, Ed!

(incidentally – here’s Ed Park at length on Charles Portis: Like Cormac McCarthy, But Funny)

Today is launch day for a book I’ve been quite excited to read — written by friend (and editor!) Jedediah Berry (seen looking entirely the wrong direction in this photo):

There are a number of reasons why this promises to be a most excellent book, not the least of which is: the lead character is a bicyclist who rides with his umbrella! While Jed lives in Northampton, this book was obviously written for bikey, rainy Portland.

Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief said:

“Jedediah Berry knows magic. The Manual of Detection combines the intricacy and thoughtfulness of Borges and Kafka with the page-turning excitement of a detective thriller. . . . It made me laugh, thrill, think, and wonder.”

This book might be extremely important reading in case you accidentally find yourself a detective in a complex mystery. (no affiliation!)

There is a great website for the book (www.manualofdetection.com) built by the same guy who does a ton of great websites for books -  Jefferson Rabb.

A publisher who did not publish the book,  the curiously named ‘Small Beer Press‘ – is hosting a mystery contest to win signed copies of the book. I’ll be picking mine up tonight at Powell’s Books (I’m going to see TC Boyle read – see you there?). Here’s The Manual of Detection at Powell’s.

Best of luck, Jed!

I just love this image:

via This isn’t happiness and Let’s Go Mets

Happy President’s day.

Every time I hear “happy president’s day” I think of a laughing president, playing at the beach maybe, or at a cocktail party, telling jokes and being gay. It’s a nice image.

Want to know how many of y’all’s blogs I subscribe to? That answer and more is covered in my interview with Charles Tan of Bibliophile Stalker.

Thanks Charles!

Also: this morning the pseudo-fog was lovely over the school and afforded a photo of a white sun, which Sylvie called the moon.

Click for large version.