Absurd Books

My Aunt Colleen knew we loved books, so when she visited from Pawtucket, she'd bring a box of goodies for us. Each book had a tiny label in it that said the name of her local book shop ( Little Acorn Book Shop) and the address. The effect these labels had on me was to make me want to visit the Little Acorn Book Shop. (but I never did, and the way things go, it probably no longer exists.) I pictured it to be a cozy, perfect little shop, anyway.

She gave us both new and old books, and in one gift box was a mint condition copy of a book called Charley Weaver's Family Album-- Out of all the books Colleen gave us, this was the most absurd one. We didn't even know who Charley Weaver was.

Everyone in Charley's family looked exactly like him. Charley was the alter-ego of Cliff Arquette, an actor who was famous I guess when radio was a huge deal. The book jacket states that Jack Paar brought Charley out of retirement, to appear on his new television show.

He is the grandfather of a group of actors, those Arquettes -- (the first names escape me.) Anyway, years passed and the book was lost, and I forgot it existed, or so I thought.

A few summers ago I was hanging out with friends, talking about books and pop culture, and this book popped into my head. I tried to describe it, how silly it was, but I couldn't. Later a friend went online and found a copy through the Amazon.com website. She secretly ordered it as a little joke gift for me and surprised me with it some days later.



It arrived and my friend brought it over to my house. We sat on the patio, where she read this page aloud to me, and we poured over the photos in the book laughing like idiots.




That night she and I attended a fund raising event. Sitting at our table, we started getting the 'stupid giggles' over something in the book, and a serious looking man approached us and wanted to be let in on the joke. Without thinking, we tried to describe this book to him, which only resulted in our laughing so hard we almost cried.

The man had never heard of Charley Weaver, explaining he was much older than us girls and wasn't up on all the latest people in pop culture. (!) The man turned out to be a judge, and spent the rest of the evening talking with us. We stopped trying to explain who Charley Weaver was, but every time we made eye contact, we'd get the inappropriate giggles again, so we forced ourselves to just look at and listen to the judge tell his stories of being a judge. (none of which I remember.)



I put the book away, and many months later when I glanced through it again, I noticed a tiny label in it. Could it be?

William Somerset Maugham

I went through an intense Somerset Maugham phase after reading Of Human Bondage. Who am I kidding? I'm still going through a Maugham phase. I re-read one of his short stories this week. Like Steinbeck, he's highly re-readable because he really understands people and creates true characters. I still don't think I've read everything he's written, but I have read everything I could find in libraries and bookstores. You can find some of his work at Project Gutenberg.



This one looks interesting & it was well reviewed.

Self & Elf

I need help, but am keeping these books to myself ~ no suggestions or quotes.

It's funny how self improvement books often shed a light on the flaws of others. A friend of mine was telling me about a marriage therapy book that she and her (now) ex husband both read while still married. He thought she was the one needing the exercises in the book, and began describing her as passive - aggressive. She told me the book described his behavior to a T -- "Totally passive- aggressive." Both thought the other needed to change and viewed themselves as the sane calm person "putting up with" the controlling one. It was sad, because they are both really good people who both missed the point of the book.

I've done this with self help books too. Suddenly I'm labeling my closest friend an emotional vampire and it's time to confront her while ignoring my own inner vampire. Maybe my pretty good relationship with someone I truly care about is toxic and must end now. The scary thing about self help books is the sheer number of victims they manufacture when they are supposed to empower the SELF. They also give people the freedom to bore others with stories of betrayals they've endured, all those backstabbers out there. (self reflection is hard.) When it comes to self improvement books, they should be handled with care. There is nothing more boring than someone who has memorized a Leo Buscaglia book but uses it to tell others how they should act instead of being gentler and more loving themselves.


I have found books on death/dying/grieving very helpful and have purchased them for myself and others. When my cousin suddenly became a widow I gave her three carefully selected books. I told her to please forgive me, and not be put off by my gift, she could put them aside and maybe one day she'd want them. I didn't hear a peep about them for 7 months or so, then she e mailed me to say they really helped her a lot although, yes, the gift really irked her at first. She forgave me for being presumptuous, but I don't think I would ever do that again. Buying self help books for others is a real Buttinsky thing to do, not a good deed at all, despite my possible goody good intentions. Self help books should be purchased for oneself.



The Elves and the Shoemaker: Who hasn't wished that some of their work could just be (magically) done for them?

The shoemaker never took advantage of the elves, he never completely gave up even when times were tough. He just needed some help. He was always willing to do some of the work himself.

I remember this story from childhood... why is it I never got tired of hearing it? Maybe because my dad would always describe in detail different shoes, and always make the story humorous.



*xu zek tody slype ... lum mum piu... I won't be buying a self help book for you.


The great sins of the world take place in the brain: but it is in the brain that everything takes place . . . It is in the brain that the poppy is red, that the apple is odorous, that the skylark sings, (and that we love and hate each other). —Oscar Wilde




*scrabble dictionary words

The future will be better tomorrow.

- George W. Bush

Oates and Acorns

Joyce Carol Oates has written more than 50 novels...
and over 400 short stories. I think I've only read one of her novels, and one short story. She was quoted as saying writing was not her top priority, her husband was.



The Man who Planted Trees by Jean Giono. An eco fable, I received this as a gift in 2001, a book on tape that I listened to over and over again in the car. I can't recall what happened to it, but the story was very uplifting. To sort through a sack of acorns and plant mighty oaks...well worth reading. Here is an animated video of the first part of the story. (Thanks R.L.!) This is a great gift book for anyone.

Easy Reader

Who else remembers Morgan Freeman on The Electric Company as Easy Reader? He was our favorite!


Top to bottom, left to right --
reading stuff is out of sight!

Easy Reader that's my name
reading, reading, that's my game
I groove on all the words around
as long as they written down
reading heavy reading tough
I never seem to get enough...


I'm a first class gen-u-wine readin' freak~ ~ Easy Reader


I wonder how many kids learned to read and to sharpen their reading skills by watching Sesame Street and The Electric Company?

Here's a short, fun Reading vid.


(Photo from The Electric Company Archives)

To All The Books I Have Not Read

After looking at this book in a library last week, I decided to do a little research on Joseph Conrad. We own some of his works, but have never read one that I know of ( assigned reading of a short story or novella in school is always possible.) In my mind I placed him with Melville and London, without knowing anything about him or his writing style. I vaguely recalled the film Apocalypse Now was based on Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which is in my bookcase.) I didn't know that he was a British author, a Polish author who learned his perfect English in his twenties.


John Updike died. One of my favorite short stories, A&P was written by him. I read it when I was a very young teen, with great interest. And yet I never continued on, to see what his novels were like. Someone even gave me a copy of The Witches of Eastwick and I lost it before opening it. I think I left it in a cab. (If I ever got back all the things I left in cabs I'd have a big pile of hats, gloves, scarves, umbrellas, about twenty eight books, and one nice jacket.) Anyway, Updike wrote a lot of novels, I should put at least one of them on my library list.

To all the books I have not read, I cannot fit you in my head, I know you're on the shelf, and I often tell myself, I'll get to you one day...

--sung to the tune of --To all the Girls I've Loved Before-- (Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias. ) Here's Johnny Carson messing with Julio & the song.

.

a bit of a poem by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

The Turtle Chapter

The third chapter of The Grapes of Wrath is the turtle chapter. I didn't know about it the first time I read the book. It was another school reading assignment, we all had used copies of the Viking Critical Library edition, and I was the fourth student to carry my copy around. It was nicely battered, yet inside the pages were suspiciously pristine. We were supposed to read the book one chapter at a time, which was impossible for me, so I read on, going back to check the assigned chapter before the class discussions. I knew not to offer much in the discussions, so as not to be bullied later by kids who loathed "goody two shoes reader types." I mostly listened in every class anyway because I was shy and whenever I had to stand and answer a question in class my voice would quaver or I'd stammer or forget what I was going to say. Forgetting what you were going to say was horrible. My mind would simply go blank as I stood to speak (we were required to stand.) And there was always the chance of somebody behind you softly whispering reee-TarrHd (followed by muffled giggling.)

The first time I read the turtle chapter I was in awe. I went back and carefully re-read it. It was unusual. Hmmmm... I wondered what kind of class discussion would follow. Not good, as it turned out. Not many kids liked the chapter. Dull, hard to get through--endlessly boring. I was sitting there, thinking it isn't even three pages long, and they act like it's a hardship to read.

Steinbeck's book was not just a social history of the dust bowl and migration to California, we were told. The turtle symbolized the struggle of the migrants and the environment they were fleeing. Our teacher reminded us that the turtle's shell is a house or home and protects the turtle. Home is where Tom Joad returns, only to find his family huddled in the dusty shell of their home. When the home is lost, security, comfort and healthy conditions are lost.

A few powerful individuals are able to withhold security and comfort from the much larger group. The turtle keeps going, through the dry dust because there's nothing else to do, giving up is not an option.

My high school copy of the book had an interview with Steinbeck in it and letters he'd written concerning the story. This bit was my favorite: Steinbeck answering a question about the migrants.

I admire them intensely. Because they are brave, because although the technique of their life is difficult and complicated, they meet it with increasing strength, because they are kind, humorous, wise, because their speech has the metaphor and flavor and imagery of poetry, because they can resist and fight back and because I believe that out of those qualities will grow a new system and a new life which will be better than anything we have had before.
~ John Steinbeck

I fell in love with Steinbeck after reading that.

Steinbeck said he created four layers in the book, and that readers could take from it whatever they wanted, (the mythic, the social history, the symbolism, and whatever else the reader could find in it.) What a genius.

Incidental Reading

I call it my incidental reading, the books I find while at the library for another purpose (To write in a quiet study area, to hear a lecture, or meet up with a friend.) I used to always have to leave with a book, which lead to library books piling up at home, a huge stack I couldn't possibly get through, and then there would be fines for overdue books.


On Wednesday I found a small volume that contained essays about Spalding Gray written by friends and family, also some of his unfinished writing. It was very sad, but at the same time, Gray was fascinating and had much to say. I saw him in NYC as the narrator of the Thornton Wilder play "Our Town" and after that, one of his monologues, which I have to say, were brilliant, because they got you thinking about so many things. (Saw another one on the Sundance channel after his death.) I remember when Gray went missing. It was a big deal here, because he was more than well known, he was well liked. Later we heard he jumped from the Staten Island Ferry.

So I read these essays in between my planned reading.

( Gray played the Grape Nuts munching psychiatrist who won't listen to Liev Schreiber in the film Kate & Leopold. )

Besides reading this way I've learned to read just a chapter of someone's memoirs at the library. I read a chapter of Hume Cronin's this week. I don't have to bring every book home.

Scribner's Rocked

"I worked at Scribner’s bookstore from 1967 to 1972. The Strand was just a short period after that, and I didn’t like it. I worked in the basement, and it wasn’t very friendly. Scribner’s, though, was beautiful. People there took being book clerks seriously—you had to read The New York Times Book Review. I read a lot of French poetry: Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Nerval. Paul Bowles. Biographies of Yeats or Diego Rivera. And I could look at all the art books I wanted during lunch."
~ Patti Smith

I felt the same way about the Strand, back then there were 8 Miles of Books and a slight element of unfriendliness. Now there are 18 Miles of Books and it feels like a mega-store, selling toys and crap.

Scribner's was always my favorite, and the staff was incredibly upbeat and helpful. When it went out of business a series of clothing stores came and went, and now it's a cosmetics shop. The interior is beautiful still.





Rock of Ages ~ A very readable little volume that begins with swing, blues, and country to show the roots of rock. I was given this book one Christmas ages ago, and since then there of course have been updated versions to include new forms of rock, new performers and to update the stories of older rockers. It's pretty much all you need unless you want to study the subject very seriously. (written by Ward Tucker & Stokes) There is also a large format illustrated History of Rock put out by Rolling Stone Magazine, but it has less information and I didn't find it all that interesting compared to this little gem.

H. G. Wells Tt-tt!

I've never seen the word tut used like this before, solo. I've only known it as the exclamation Tut-tut. Later in the book, one of the characters says " Tt-tt! " as an exclamation. Kipps was written in 1905 and is a comic novel. I've been distracted by other reading and so am just finishing it tonight.

Glad I discovered so many titles by H.G. Wells. A few of the light novels are on my to read someday i hope list.


This Tut-tutting reminds me of one of my favorite ice cream flavors. Tutti Frutti (which generally means all fruits to the Italian ice cream maker.) Tutti Frutti is similar to my other favorite ice cream flavor Spumoni. If done correctly, spumoni is tutti frutti with chocolate, pistachio and whipped cream within the ice cream. It's the foamy whipped cream that gives Spumoni its name (spume = froth or foam.) Both come from old Italian dessert items that were served with liqueurs, biscotti, and/or ice cream.

Reading Nonsense

When I was a kid, I'd spy these advertisements disguised as witty humor and I'd always be disappointed. They were never funny, and sometimes they were creepy. Sometimes I'd imagine they'd be saying completely bizarre things, and since they were clearly hallucinating a giant canary, why not?




I asked friend to make up some new words for the cartoon. He said "that's the worst drawing of a penguin I've ever seen!" Then he wrote some new captions for me. He did a pretty disgusting job!

Inauguration Reading

A new beginning. I've been reading Michelle an interesting book on Michelle Robinson Obama by Liz Mundy and Promises to Keep by Joe Biden. I saw the authors talking about their books and reading excerpts on Book TV and that got me hooked. I grabbed the Kindle and started reading. Biden is an excellent writer with a story to tell. I thought I was going to take a break from biography and memoirs. Not yet.

People are talking about this new way of thinking: ( after eight years of it's totally OK to be dumb and closed-minded. ) Now maybe it's a new beginning, a time to smarten up in all sorts of ways. be smarter about how we live, work, eat, and play. Be more open and compassionate. Have a respect for science.

There will be hard times ahead. We may need to rethink what The Good Life really means.

going uptown to visit miriam

I love looking at maps of NYC neighborhoods, staring up at skyscrapers, and wandering around the city aimlessly. I've heard about the WPA Guides, but never owned one until now. **Thanks, Tut-Tut!** It's very interesting. (I'll show some of the inside next weekend.) The first time I heard about WPA guides was when Steinbeck mentioned them in his book Travels with Charley. He owned a full set of them, and often wished he'd brought them along on his journey.








just wanted to share my favorite nyc poem with you, i know there are many nyc poems, but this one is my personal favorite and has been since high school.

this one
is my

favorite.


going uptown to visit miriam by Victor Hernandez Cruz


that line ...i hope i don't see sonia on the street... makes me smile every time. every time i read this poem i'm there on the train.


Born in 1949, Cruz moved to NYC at age 5 from Puerto Rico. He began writing poetry as a child and had his first collection of poems published in the 1960's. A Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican) he began using what is now referred to as "Spanglish" in his writings very early on.

Marge and George

A line of poetry from Marge Piercy's memoir, Sleeping with Cats. Marge and her man live with five cats in Massachusetts. I just sampled a bit of the book via Kindle after trying to remember the title of a Marge Piercy novel I read a long time ago. From the sample I'm curious enough to go to the nearest library- (which not only owns a copy, but also has 43 other books by Piercy.) Looks like a Marge Piercy read-a-thon might be in my future. Her memoir got excellent reviews except by a few people who assumed it would be strictly a book about cats. Obviously cats are important to Piercy, but this is her memoir, after all.

Prolific poet and novelist Piercy retells her life from the bottom up, starting in working-class Detroit.
~ Library Journal



A little something from the Letters page of The Financial Times.

But I care not for the people who live now and will not be living when the long-run comes.

I remember reading Middlemarch and Silas Marner, but the George Eliot novel I liked best was The Mill on the Floss even though I've been told it isn't 'as good' as Middlemarch. I have only the vaguest of vague memories of Silas Marner since it was assigned reading in school.

Educating Avid

This book has been with us forever. Purchased second-hand, it's a 1977 printing of a 1930 classic.


My favorite for a winter day is any soup you can make in ten minutes.

Can a soup be prepared in ten minutes? Certainly, if you follow the guidelines. The longest part is bringing the water to a boil. But that time doesn't count. ~ Edouard de Pomiane (there are twenty soup recipes in this little book.)


A joke from a jokebook I purchased in Ireland (some local guy was selling this booklet of jokes and stories he'd collected over the years.) I'm very big on buying all the local author offerings, and so I have a lot of little religious books, 'history of the area' type books, fairy lore, and local guidebooks that tell you how to find Holy places like St. Brigid's Well, The Hidden Dolmen, St. Kevin's Holy Stone. I'm very fond of these books.


I'm still reading the books I mentioned in my last post.


Please do enjoy a bit of a book related clip from Educating Rita

Reading That Leads to This

Reading "The Odd Women" by George Gissing lead me to Kipps by H.G. Wells. (An excerpt was in the back of the Gissing book.) I had no idea just how prolific Wells was, or that he had written comic novels. Isaac Asimov called Wells The Shakespeare of Science Fiction; and I always thought of Wells as someone who wrote a few good SciFi novels. You can find more than eighty of his works available on Kindle. I'm starting with Kipps, a 256 page novel based on his own life experience. (95 cents.) I'm really enjoying the story.

Reading The Job by Sinclair Lewis, lead me to one of his minor works Free Air, a simple love story, a "road" book with a woman at the wheel.

Comments left on this blog lead me to read Old School by Tobias Wolff (enjoyed it) and to also order Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes on Kindle. It's nice to have a good variety of unread material in this little machine ~ it's like carrying a little bookshelf in your handbag or briefcase, and you can pick a book out according to your mood. Everyone's recommendations go on my library list, so eventually ...




A few nights ago I watched (and read) an old silent movie.


Valentino tells a story to Gloria Swanson. It was oddly riveting!

King's Daughters Libraries

Recently renovated King's Daughters Library in New York.

Founded January 13, 1886, ( yesterday was their anniversary) The International Order of The King's Daughters and Sons is an international and interdenominational organization of Christian men and women dedicated to service in Christ's name. The objects of the Order are "the development of spiritual life and the stimulation of Christian activities." I believe this organization started in the American south. Some of the original southern libraries have closed due to declining use.

Its threefold program is Religious, Educational and Philanthropic, with the purpose of training its members for Christian Service.


Motto:

"Look up and not down;
Look forward and not back;
Look out and not in:
Lend a hand."

( I feel like adding ...Gee... you're grand! )



An architectural ... attempt. It looks like an airport.

Lots of parking and conveniently located in a shopping strip with a large food market just across the parking lot.



Inside it looks like an airport, too. While very comfortable for quiet study, the collection of books is small.



In Palmyra, New York, The King's Daughters Library sent out this announcement:
Did you know you can surf the web while sitting in the gazebo on the grounds of the Palmyra Library? The library is now offering wireless internet access. Canal travelers in the summer, business people passing through, and local residents can now connect to the internet with their laptops, PDAs, or cell phones. To try out the hotspot, bring your OWWL card and laptop to the Main Desk. A Guest Pass is available for non-resident visitors..

Craggy Island Authors

"Ride me sideways was another one!" Mrs. Doyle talks about a dirty novelist here. Mrs. Doyle is actually the quite adorable Pauline McLynn.



Ardal O'Hanlon and Pauline McLynn (who played Dougal and Mrs. Doyle on Father Ted) are both authors. I read Ardal's book while on a visit to Craggy Island ( Actually Inisheer .) Later I read The Woman on the Bus ~ one of Pauline's books.


Ardal O'Hanlon's novel was re-named for sale in the United States. The terrible US title is "Knick Knack Paddy Whack." Glad I have the original.

Mobile Book Shop

Visit a mobile book store in India on Anil's blog here.

.

Reading with your Inner Child

Children's books are great for a rainy day read.

Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling was one of my favorites as a tot, and still makes my top five list. You can read Paddle here -just click on each page to move the story along.

Libraries

I used to wish that libraries always had fresh baked cookies and endless cups of tea for patrons. I found one library that has a lovely cafe, (with decent snacks and sandwiches) not far away, and within my library system. Another much nearer library has book discussions every month or so, and you should see the food they serve (bowls of fresh fruits, coffee, tea, desserts.) I was pleasantly surprised at the quality, but the quantity floored me. Only a dozen people showed up to discuss books.


There are 47 libraries in my system. I have visited 14 so far. I meant to visit them all this summer, but when gas prices went up, I stuck to libraries that were close by and had the best quiet study areas.


I am happy not to have to re-shelve. Me and Dewey Decimal never got along that well. I prefer the Harvard Yenching Classification. No, actually I prefer a big random pile of books.

Trading Books

I decided to stack all the books I don't want anymore next to my bookshelf, and friends can help themselves. I picked up two unwanted books today from a friend's stack. I picked the two smallest books -- one is called Virtues of Friendship and Loyalty edited by William J. Bennett. I also chose a smaller book ~ a tiny picture book of roses with descriptions. Something I'd never buy new, but like to look at, and one day I might leave it behind at a coffeeshop or cafe.





What I'm reading right now: The Job by Sinclair Lewis. (and also The Odd Women by George Gissing. ) Both books are about women who venture out into the workforce. So far I like them both very much. Hope to finish the Lewis book tonight, then pick up the Gissing book again.