our books are better than we are

Okay, so my friend Nicole’s excellent and awesomely titled blog is celebrating it’s first birthday and I can’t get my shit together enough to post even vaguely regularly. Oh well. I still haven’t read Wetlands, so I can’t follow up on that, but what I can tell you is that you should read Aleksandar Hemon’s The Lazarus Project. The way information is revealed, the way the seemingly incongruous threads are stitched together to form the whole is amazing. Mr. Hemon got a MacArthur “genius” grant a while back, and I’m beginning to think these MacArthur clowns really know what they’re doing. Oh, and I’m also reading Richard Price’s Lush Life, which feels like I’m reading an episode of The Wire. Or what I imagine it would be like to read an episode of The Wire, because I haven’t watched a single one yet. (I know, I know. I really need to watch The Wire.)

Anyway, go wish Nicole’s blog a happy birthday and while you’re there, tell her what your favorite book’s been lately. Deal? Deal.

wetlands

When I first read about this novel, which was published in Germany last year and just came out here, I was really excited at the prospect of reading it. Charlotte Roche is a young, female author who has long proclaimed herself to be a feminist (not many 30-year olds would say that!), and who describes her novel as a “cri de coeur” against a world in which women’s desirability is predicated on cleanliness and good hygiene. I envisioned the novel as a brutally honest account of female sexuality and empowerment.

As I started to read more about Roche, however–that she was the host of an MTV-type show in Germany, that this was her first attempt at writing–I also started to fear that the novel’s language and insights might not be as sophisticated as I would like them to be in order to temper and add depth to the book’s explicit raunchiness (bodily fluids and avocado pits figure prominently, apparently).

Well, it turns out that Sallie Tisdale has come to the conclusion that part of me feared. In her New York Times review, she describes Wetlands as “clumsy” and having “all the nuance of Mad Magazine but less wit.”

That said, I’m still curious enough that I’ll try and get my hands on a library copy, and if I manage to read the entire thing without puking or wanting to throw it out the window, then I’ll post a follow-up review. So, to all you readers out there who are dying to know what Wetlands is REALLY like, stay tuned!

carnegie hall

So I had another New York moment last night–my first time at Carnegie Hall. Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake performed Schubert compositions. Basically, a guy sang and a dude played the piano. Imagine two little people on the stage in the photo above. (Can you tell that I know nothing about classical music?) It was both crazy (seven encores! the crowd went nuts!) and really, really lovely.

leslie baum at tony wight gallery

Anybody who’s in Chicago right now should check out Leslie’s show, “Half Life, Half Light,” at the Tony Wight Gallery. I can attest, it’s really freaking beautiful. Great title too. Maybe I should get Leslie to help me name my stories, because I suck at it.

Painting above, entitled “Tempest in a Teapot,” by Leslie Baum

ricky gervais + elmo

It seems I’ve got a thing for Sesame Street lately. Can’t wait for this episode to kick off the fortieth season in November. Favorite line: “Why do you wear pajamas before going to bed but you’re naked the rest of the time? It makes no sense.”

nate the grrr8

I went to see a Knicks game last night at Madison Square Garden. It was so much fun, I wish I were rich so I could sit courtside at every game. Here’s some footage of my new favorite player, Nate Robinson. He’s only 5’9, which makes him teeny tiny on a basketball court but, man, can he dunk.

i could watch this all day

A big shout out to Aileen and Luella for introducing me to my new favorite video.

kexp in nyc

I’m not kidding when I say that KEXP changed my life. Stop waking up to NPR in the morning, and see how much better you feel about the world. Some may call this denial, I call it, well, I don’t know what I call it. Anyhoo. The Morning Show (on 91.5 here in NYC) is freaking awesome.

i covet

I love this United Bamboo dress so much, I want to marry it. I’m also coveting a few looks from their Fall 2009 collection.

i just want to do a good job, howard

Once again, the most emailed article in the New York Times this week is about librarians. Fine by me. That just gives me an excuse to post a Party Girl clip.