Bad Chili by Joe R Lansdale

There used to be a phenomenon about a decade ago -the outlet book store. I suspect you all know about outlet malls. In a 500 mile radius, there used to be a half a dozen of these outlet book stores, where you could find relatively recent hardback novels for four and five dollars.

Though, the internet shows that these are still in existent, all of those around my usual routes have been closed for some time. I don't know what the reason would be. Perhaps the rise of Amazon or the expansion of mega-book stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble.

While, they were in existence, I stocked up on books, and still have a little surplus I haven't got to.

One of the authors I stocked up on was Joe R Lansdale. I had never read his novels (which are generally suspense, western or horror), but I was always a big fan of his comic work. He can tell stories like no other.

So, Bad Chili was my first Lansdale novel, and it hooked me (or at least reaffirmed my liking for Joe). It is as the cover states "A Novel of Suspense", but it is profane, obscene, and gross but also laugh out loud funny and an adrenaline-fueled adventure.

I hear Lansdale compared to Steven King a lot. I haven't read much King, but of what I have, it does seem apt. Lansdale's adult prose reminds me a lot of Garth Ennis, or perhaps the movies of Tarantino and Rodriguez. The other obvious comparison would be that he does for Texas what Carl Hiassen does for Florida. Their styles may differ, but I think if you like one you'd like the other.

Lansdale is quite prolific and he revisits these characters again and again, but this is a good starting point. Recommended for those who like such stories.

Turn of the Century by Kurt Andersen. This book gets a lot of comparison to Tom Wolfe and and his Bonfire of the Vanities. It's been a few years since I read Bonfire, but I really liked it, and am a big fan of Wolfe. Turn... got some good recommendations and user reviews on Amazon peg it as a book that people either love or hate (a good sign, I think). It puports to do what Bonfire does except for the internet generation.

I don't want to turn anyway from this book, but it just wasn't for me. On the positive side, Andersen is a pretty readable writer. I thought about giving up halfway through, but decided to stick it out. His writing is compelling, but there just isn't much there. There doesn't seem to be any action in the is almost 700 page book (probably twice the size it needs to be) until the last 100 pages or so (and then, it seems too contrived).

The characters are developed well enough, but the reader is never sure whether they should love them or hate them. They are generally not sympathetic enough to love; nor, despite that they are written as "rich people with problems", they are not particularly worthy of our resentment either. Is the book satire? Is it slice of life? I was never sure.

The book, now a decade old, may have lost its spark in that it is Andersen's mediation on where media is going, and in ten years of outrageous reality tv, we are almost there. Though a book that is trying to be edgy may not always age well, Turn doesn't sound any different in 2009 than it probably did in 1999 (the occasional references to vcr's and celebrity guest Phil Spector excepted). This is where the book works. It strives to be Bug Jack Barron without the sci-fi stuff.

Andersen tries to capture the present atmosphere (and near future) of media, technology, and finance. The media stuff is great, and Andersen will throw out some ideas that you could just picture Fox pitching for next season. The technology stuff is okay. It still reads up-to-date, although in 2009, some of the discussion on things like "hacking" aren't as exciting as maybe they were intended. The finance stuff is probably actually given more gravitas after the recent Financial Market shake-up.

A lot of promise here, and it is Andersen's first novel. Some may like it, but I may hold off on his work for awhile.

Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal  - Christopher Moore -   After my first Moore book around this time last year, I have been eager to read his bibliography.

Based on the name alone, I was eager to read this one.  What a great premise?  What happens between Jesus's childhood and the crucifixion?  Obviously, he would do things like learn judo and train yoga to elephants.

It is Moore, so it is his (for lack of better explanation, he is an original) Douglas Adams/Vonnegut take on the whole thing.  Like Dogma (maybe not quite to that extent), Christians might not be comfortable with this, though Moore is as respectful as he is silly, so it's possible this will be offensive.  Oh, and if it offends you, you're wound too tight.

It should be also stated as it is Moore, it is laugh out loud funny.  Don't believe me, Amazon reviewers give it an overwhelming vote of support.  For me, I think i prefer his other works which are set in modern day.  Lamb is about 50 to 100 pages too long.   Still, i would certainly recommend it.

Here's some quick reads:

Listen You Pencil Neck Geeks- Freddie Blassie -I have read enough wrestling books to tell you how they are going to go - "I was the first and I was the best".  This one is no different, but Blassie does have an interesting story.  For those of you interested in the wrestling world of the 1950s and 60s, you will like this read.  There's plenty of anecdotes for wrestling fans and they are good stories.  There's also recollections of his work with Andy Kaufffman, that Kauffman fans will want to check out.   

I am America (and so can you)- Stephen Colbert - This is a book in the style of the Daily Show's America (The Book).  You could almost call it a sequel.  It's not as good as America (not nearly), but if you like Colbert and the Daily Show, you are very likely to like this.

Stupid White Men - Michael Moore -  If you like Moore, you're going to like this.  Still, like his movies, even as a fan, I think there are times when he goes too far.  It is funny, but occasionally Moore's suggestions are ludicrous.  The humor wins  out for me, though.

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy  - I started to read Ellroy about ten years ago, reading a couple of his novels.  I guess I'm not sure where I stand on Ellroy.  Well, that's not totally true, Ellroy's noir makes for a fun read, even if a little goes a long way.

Such it is with this book (at least to me).  The problem with Ellroy's writing (which justifiably gets the "high adrenaline" tag) is that after awhile, this writer starts to gas out.  Parts of it I couldn't put down, but as I started to pass the halfway point, I pretty much just wanted it to end.

Still, if you haven't, you should at least try one Ellroy book.  This one was where I first noted the name, and has become a cult hit, though the commerical/critical disaster of film that was finally made of it may put a bit of pallor on the whole thing.

It also should be noted that this really isn't much of a book about Elizabeth Short, but about two men (boxers turned policemen) who become obsessed with finding the killer, and finally, her herself.  There is plenty of 40's California pulp noir- sex, drugs, crime, violence- all that good stuff.

Not one I would reread, but I would still stick to my original recommendation - everyone should try Ellroy at least once.

I am always fascinated with writers and the writing process, and I know some of you are the same way, so you might find this interesting.

Science fiction writers and where they write - Delaney, Straub, Pohl, Anthony  and more

I write book reviews here.  You would think that I would have given up by now, but there's two people that read them, so I continue on.

With Al Franken going to the Senate, I thought I would take time to recognize him here.

I haven't read all of Franken's books, but I thought I would review the part of the oeuvre I have read.

Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot (and other observations) -  This book was where Franken went from a guy only hardcore SNL fans knew to one of the big liberal villains of the day.  It is also one of my favorite books ever (garbagecanmusic   tipped me off, I remember).

As the title implies, we get silly left-leaning observations that may be closer to Howard Stern to PJ O'Rourke.  There is Franken having fun goofing on Limbaugh's fact checker.  Franken conducting Lexis/Nexis searches like Pat Roberson AND crazy.  There is Franken revealing Republican talking points (as well as 'Rush Limbaugh is fat' talking points), GOP err.. fan fiction (in which Newt Gingrich and Pat Buchanan knife each other), and a consideration about whether making jokes about Bob Packwood and his sexual misconduct problem as being fair or unfair.

As I said before, I absolutely loved this book.  The only real problem now it is over 10 years old, and the Packwood and Phil Gramm jokes probably won't hold up for people who weren't there at the time.

Why not me?  (The inside story of the making and unmaking of the Franken presidency) -  By 1999, Franken was beginning to work his way up as a political satirist of note.  For his follow-up to Rush, his next book was a comedic re-imagining of those Theodore White Making of the President books.  Franken beats Al Gore in the primary (by a campaign of fighting ATM fees), and then gets elected.  Once elected, he is forced to resign due to strange behaviour and the publishing of his campaign diaries.

Why has got a lot of good reviews on Amazon, so I could be in the wrong here.  Still, I wasn't a big fan of this book.  It had funny parts, but more smirk-funny as opposed to laugh-out-loud bellylaughs.  The campaign takes up 755 of the book, and is the least funny thing about it.

Even as a Franken fan, I say 'skip it', though all of those reviewers at Amazon say otherwise.

The Truth (with Jokes) -   I never read the charmingly titled Lies and the Lying Liars who tell Them, but Franken has made the move from telling political one-liners and gags to becoming a serious commentator.  The Truth is way too partisan to appeal to anyone outside the ideology, but like similar books from both sides of the aisles, it will be very readable to those who agree with him.

For those who likes Franken radio shows, the book treads the same line- funny, but it's intent is to argue GOP talking points and offers a real criticism of the past administration.

Franken does his research here, and as much as the book is a comedy, Franken was (it now appears) plotting what would be the ideas that would put him in the Senate.

If politics isn't your thing, then you might skip this one.  If you are a liberal and are a fan of people like Franken or Olbermann,  and like someone who goes on the attack for your side of things and is looking to take the Right to task, I think you will like this book.

Having heard my dear friend John DefFrog mention him for years, I thought I would take the advice of a Big Chain Bookstore worker, and read some Robert Rankin, and specifically The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of Apocalypse.

On one hand, I was intimidated by the plot blurb on the backcover (a serial killer is in Toy City, murdering nursery rhyme characters), still the title was just too tempting.

I have to say the book starts quick though, and I couldn't put it down.  It is as the critics might say "A fun ride".  The characters are memorable, the plot is interesting, and the writing is clever.

At lack of a better way to compare it, I would put Gaiman & Pratchett's Good Omens and Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide in the same category.  If not similar, they are in the same ballpark.

Readers on Amazon don't give particularly good reviews to this book, so it's obvious not for everyone.  Still, I found it a lot of fun, and even laugh out loud funny at times.

I will be checking out more Rankin in the future.  If you like writing with clever references, smart satire, and silly puns, then give this book a try.

I am working hard to be the next JD Salinger or Thomas Pynchon, but occasionally someone like def_fr0g_42  tricks me into filling out one of these meme survey things and making me reveal something about myself.

So, here it is- the reading habits of one Al Bedsitter.

1. To mark your page you: use a bookmark, bend the page corner, leave the book open face down?

I don't like the idea of bending pages if I don't have to, so I use bookmarks.  Actually, I use bank deposit slips, lottery tickets, ATM receipts, movie ticket stubs, coupons, and raffle tickets.

2. Do you lend your books?

I don't because of a history of not getting them back.  I would consider it- given the person and the circumstance, of course.

3. You find an interesting passage: you write in your book or NO WRITING IN BOOKS!

I don't write in books. 

4. Dust jackets - leave it on or take it off?

I try to leave them on, but sometimes, it makes sense to take them off.

5. Hard cover, paperback, skip it and get the audio book?

I buy 90% of my books from book sales, bargain bins, used book stores, etc., so it's a variety.  I use to buy a couple of books new each year (Vonnegut, Amis, etc).  I generally buy paperback for the few books I do buy new now these days.

6. Do you shelve your books by subject, author, or size and color of the book spines?

You would think so, but I just have them any which way.  No rhyme or reason, but what fits.

7. Buy it or borrow it from the library later?

I go to the library alot even given the amount of books I buy.  it's about 50/50.  New books I generally get from the library.

8. Do you put your name on your books - scribble your name in the cover, fancy bookplate, or stamp?

No, I kind of think it's silly.

9. Most of the books you own are rare and out of print books or recent publications?

I buy a lot of used books, so I guess that counts as out of print; though I don't really have anything rare, or to cut to the point, anything valuable.

10. Page edges - deckled or straight?

Straight.  I don't know that I knew the word "deckled" until just now.  It really doesn't matter, though.  I'm not going to not read a book because of the page edges.

11. How many books do you read at one time?

I do generally read one at a time.

12. Be honest, ever tear a page from a book?

Not on purpose.

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett -  This book completely blew me away.

It was a suggestion of a friend, and is also an Oprah Book Club selection (though I don't know enough about the OBC, but I guess that's a good recommendation).

I would recommend this book to anyone- as the blurb from Publisher's Weekly on the back it has "action, intrigue, violence, passion, greed, bravery, dedication, revenge and love", and it does succeed in all counts.

I have never read Follett before, though I am aware of him.  He's known for spy thrillers, but this is a historical fiction of the Middle Ages. 

Admittedly, I am not a fan of fantasy books (like fantasy movies, fantasy comics, but fantasy novels more often than not disappoint me) but this has a fantasy feel (no elves or dwarves, but knights and castles).

It is a large book (nearly 1000 pages) but I at no time found it boring.

It is an epic adventure, but the events are well thought out, and generally always plausible.

I don't know enough about that time period for historical accuracy, but I would bet fans of that time in history will find much to like.

I generally am not a fan of books with a lot of characters, but Follett does an amazing job fleshing out every character that I never felt at a loss to what was going on.

The book weaves quite a few stories together that are memorbale, and even wraps it all up tidily at the end.  All of the characters and their motivations are intensely memorable.

It was a very easy read, though I would not call it simple.  Follett does an amazing job of giving everything a rich description.  It is satisfying in every way.

Okay, you can guess how I feel about this book - highly recommended.  I likely will try Follett's other stuff now.

I don't think i have any vices, or at least any vices that I can't control, but I would maybe say I go crazy over books.

I am about at the point where I have more books than I am going to read, but I still can't resist buying another armload.

Mattoon, Illinois, for whatever bizarre reason is a great place for used books.  If I am near the area during business hours, I got to stop there.

So, I'm going to take few seconds to plug Hutton Bookhouse.

They have a serious selection.  A good variety of books including a lot of the more obscure authors you don't usually find in used bookstores.  They also have a sci-fi section that probably rivals any bookstore I know.

Oh, and they have autographed pictures of WWE divas Trish Stratus and Candice Michelle.  Plus, the owner tells me he owns stock in the WWE.

It's a must stop for midwest book lovers.  The owner knows his stuff, so you're not likely to pull anything over him, but the prices are reasonable, and the paperbacks especially are cheap.

I left with as many books as I could carry- including a Henry Miller book I didn't have, two more Norman Spinrad books to add to my collection, and a couple of authors I've been meaning to check out like John Varley.

Surely, the highlight of my weekend, you know, until the 90 mile per hour wind thing...

In case you missed it, JG Ballard passed away yesterday.

In modern alt-literature, there are two names that tower above everyone else- William S Buroughs and Ballard. 

So regardless of what I think of him, I have to acknowledge the debt that stuff I like owes to him.  For starters, I will give you Joy Division, David Cronenberg, and Grant Morrison, to name three.  If you want more in depth, on Ballard's influence on music goes here.

The guy is so influential his name is an adjective.  The idea of dystopia, post apocalyptic misery- of industry and technology making life unbearable- hey right down my alley.

The truth is though that while Burroughs seized me immediately, Ballard generally seems more difficult for me to grab.

I have read a couple of works- one at the beginning and one near the end of his career, and I can't say either did much for me.

The Drowned World is his first novel, generally well-regarded, a sci-fi novel as the title implies of a post-global warming (written in 1962) London that is a flooded swamp.  Cool idea, but I couldn't get into it all.

The Kindness of Women was written in 1991 as a sequel to his popular Empire of the Sun.  It scores an impressive 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, but is not a book I would recommend to anyone, and didn't do much for me.

Parts of it were good.  It's autobiographical fiction, and thelife he grew up in- Japan- controlled Shangai concentration camp in WW2 is scarier than anything he (or anyone) could imagine.

So, I haven't picked up Ballard since these two attempts, though I may give him another try one of these days.

Ballard did release a collection of mostly magazine articles of his called A User's Guide to the Millenium.  The title is misleading - it's mostly book reviews, thoughts about books, musings on cience fiction, and an otherwise assortment of things Ballard has been paid to write about.

Ballard makes an interesting essayist though, and this (non-fiction) book is one I could (and do) pick up from time to time.

I have read or at least perused some of those late 60s and early 70s writings that made Ballard the name he is (as well as some short stories), and if they may not quite set my world on fire, I have to admit they are unlike anything else.

In short, Ballard's the guy who wrote Why I Want to F--k Ronald Reagan and that was in 1967.  Respect.

I've had a few book posts lately, so this meme from def_fr0g_42  seems timely.  I have to say one of my favorite memes to come around in awhile.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Dave Barry, most likely, due to his output.  I have read just about everything Kurt Vonnegut has written, but I don't actually own many of his books.  There a half dozen writers I have a lot of books of, but I think this meme will cover them before it's over.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I own two copies of Norman Spinrad's "A World Betwen".  A lot of Spinrad is out of print, so I pick up anything with his name on it.  So, I have two of the same book by accident.  As my "haven't read" pile grows and I continue to buy books, I am bound to run into this again, but so far I think it is the one.

I own a couple of copies of Tropic of Cancer, because I later got a Henry Miller collection that also contained it.  The same way with some of Oscar Wilde's works weremade redundant by a "collection".

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
I don't know what you are talking about.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Love is not the word, but I (not so) secretly want to be The Count of Monte Cristo

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Easily, PJ O'Rourke's Bachelor Home Companion

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I read a lot of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (screw gender roles) when I was young.  Ray Bradbury's Illustrated Man was the very first book that really grabbed me like no other.  Of course, once I was 14 or 15, I read (and was enthralled) with Slaughterhouse Five and the compellingly voyeueristic (but probably not true) Go Ask Alice.  There was no going back at that point.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
I read a not very good bio on Exile-era  Rolling Stones.  I was also hoping for more out of Lecarre's Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Discovering Christopher Moore has been the most exciting thing.  Practical Demonkeeping was my first taste.  "Discovering" Moore, David Sedaris, David Foster Wallace, and Carl Hiassen in recent years have all been wins.

9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
I'm with defFrog, read whatever you want.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I don't know how they figure that stuff out- it seems pretty stuffy- but if pressed to pick. there probably isn't anyone better with the English language alive (at least, for my money) than Martin Amis.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
As long as I can remember (ten years, anyway), they've been talking about making Confederacy of Dunces.  One of (if not) my favorite books.  I have a feeling that a movie wouldn't be able to capture the book, but who knows.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
See, I Told You So

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I don't think I ever done any of these things, and if i did, I don't know if I would share it.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
I am sure there is something, but not sure what.  I'm not above it.  This isn't what they're asking here, but I have read some L. Frank Baum in recent years, which is not something (in theory) designed for my age.

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I think Thomas Pynchon wins here.  I'm probably not coming back to him, but who knows.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
How many have I seen?  A high school production of Twelfth Night, I think.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I don't know that I have read enough of either to comment.

18) Roth or Updike?
I generally like Roth.  Never read Updike.  Don't really plan to.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Love Sedaris.  Don't really like Eggers.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
I find them all a bit difficult, but if forced to choose, I'm going with Chaucer.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Haven't read Austen to my knowledge. Liked Eliot.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
My reading is particularly male heavy.  Female writers from the last 50 years in particular are missing.

23) What is your favorite novel?
A Confederacy of Dunces gets the nod here.

24) Play?
Morrissey says he stole at least 50% of his lyrics from Shelagh Delaney, and it's true.  My other favorite playwrights are equally Moz- related: Joe Orton, Noel Coward, and Oscar Wilde.

25) Poem?
Off the top of my head, I will go with "This be the Verse" by Philip Larkin.

26) Essay?
Not sure here, although it is probably something by Bill Maher

27) Short story?
Not sure here either, but probably something by Vonnegut, Rod Serling, Philip K. Dick, or HP Lovecraft.  All are great.

28) Work of non-fiction?
Either something by Hunter S Thompson or the not-so non-fiction In Cold Blood

29) Graphic novel?
Without a doubt, Kyle Baker's Cowboy Wally Show with Baker's Why I Hate Saturn a close second.  V for Vendetta is up there, too.

30) Who is your favorite writer?
I've covered most of them here already.  Those I have missed mentioning so far, but are up on my list are Neil Gaiman, Stephen Hunter, Hubert Selby Jr, and Mark Leyner

31) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I couldn't say

32) What is your desert island book?
Wouldn't it be either the book I've read the most (#5) or my favorite novel (#23)? 

33) And ... what are you reading right now?
The Pillars of the Earth  by Ken Follett

 

It's been a busy week, but before I spring a half-dozen wrestling posts on you, I figure I better tell you about the rest of my weekend.

Each year during March Madness, I got together with a couple of buddies, usually order pizza or whatever.  Not too exciting I know, but we've done it 3 or 4 years now, and I really look forward to it.  I'm not a college basketball expert at all, but I admit you get some exciting games this time of year.

Today, I hit the semi-annual Planned Parenthood book sale.  It really is like nothing else.  I go to that twice a year, and I hit the Clive library sale, I really don't need to hit the bookstore the rest of the year.  I think there are more books at the Book sale than at the local Borders or Barnes and Noble.

Bad news: I waited until the sale had been going on for a few days.  Good news: At this point, it's half-price.

I don't know that I took as many books home as I planned, but I can't complain.  15 books. 10 dollars. 2/3's of a box full.  Only a couple people notched off the "been meaning to read' list (Cormac McCarthy for one.)

My box was heavy with what I always go for- which means light (Dave Barry) and t the left (Michael Moore, Al Franken, Jack Germond).

I, within the last eight years have went over board with the books.  I've got more books than I could possibly read in the near future.  It doesn't stop me from buying more, but at least, admitting to a problem i the first step.  The only bad thing is that I don't really consider that a problem.

It's been about two years since I last did this, and with some new people here and a big book sale coming up this weekend, I think it's time to bring it out again.

Recommend a book or an author.  It could be an all-time favorite of yours or something you read recently that caught your fancy.  It may be something you might think I like, but I am open to anything.

I don't always listen when people recommend movies, music, or tv shows, but books are something different.  Serious business.

Feel free to add your recommendation below.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames- by David Sedaris   Since first reading Sedaris, I have been interested in reading his whole catalogue.  I probably haven'tread enough to give a good review, but let's just say I don't think anyone will find Sedaris' latest disappointing.

It's a very engaging book, very readable, and Sedaris is laugh out loud funny. 

Sedaris is once again not for the easily offended, but as dark humor goes, he reigns supreme.  All the stories are good.  "What I Learned" is maybe the one story that could be considered a mis-step, but even it has its charm.

Recommended!

When I want to read a book, I either buy it, or make sure I have it back to the library on time.  In Iowa, overdue books are Serious Business.

I was not familiar with Richard price, having not read him, nor seeing Clockers, Freedomland, or HBO's The Wire. 

Price writes gritty NYC novels, and has earned praise from people who have done gritty NYC best - Hubert Selby Jr. and Lou Reed.

So, i started with his most recent book Lush Life.

Okay.  I'm sold.  So, he wrote the opening dialogue to Michael Jackson's Bad video, but admittedly, that's more Jacko's fault if it doesn't work.

I am on the Price bandwagon.  Lush Life is 450+ pages, but felt like half of that.

The main criticism of price is he doesn't develop his characters, and I have to admit I agree with some of that.  I think he developed them enough, but for the first 50 pages or so, I was wondering where he was headed (and what characters were who).  The last 100 pages (where I finally felt some sense of where the characters were) were can't-put-down reading.

You don't read Price for plot or characters, though.  His strength is his dialogue and his descriptions, of which he is excellent.

I perhaps don't read enough of crime fiction to be able to compare Price, but he certainly reminds me of Brian Michael Bendis's comic work -
just amazing dialogue, suspenseful build-up, and a gritty mix of realism and pulp with some occasional dark humor, though occasionally veering on more style than substance.

Recommended for sure.

Westerns (like fantasy) is a genre that I haven't completely given up on, though truth be told, it generally doesn't work for me.

I had always heard good things about wallace Stegner, and had meant to try his stuff out.  It could be worse, he is a Pulitzer Prize winner after all.

I made first passage into Stegner's work with the non-Western Crossing to Safety.

The plot is the life ot two couples as they live their lifes and move across the country.  From a 'this happened-then- this happened' point of view, it's not too exciting.  However, to Stegner's credit, he makes it as interesting as a Homer epic.

This is a very readable book.  I don't necessarily relate to the main characters (they're young, in love, working in the profession they love, with rich socialite friends, and vacation in Europe).  It's a bit idealistic, but it's to Stegner's credit, that you like the characters a lot and identify with them.

Perhaps, it's a lifetime of experience and the ability to look back, maybe it is Stegner's unique ability, but as life happens to the couple (and a lot of life happens to them), it all seems so romantic.  I doubt the main character at the time would have fully appreciated their situation until the years past.  Thus, it is life that we don't appreciate our young adult years (in which we worry about our career and paying bills and the like) until they are gone.

Anyway, this is not the typical story I would read.  I haven't read a straightforward happy uplifiting story in probably 15 years.  It's all been Selby and Henry Miller, Lovecraft and Irvine Welsh, James Ellroy and William Burroughs.  There's no deceit, illict sex, drug abuse in this book.

Thus, I know not everyone here will seek this out.  If you do, it is very readable and I am quite certain you will enjoy it.

Minor quibble:  the last thirty or forty pages seem to be unnecessary, as the book winds to an end.  Otherwise, this book is just about perfect.

I was reading USA Today looking at the news from each of the 50 states, and hey, my town was in it.

- A couple wants a book about two male penguins raising a chick together restricted in East Elementary School's library, on grounds the book exposes young children to homosexuality. The school denied James and Cindy Dacus' request. The couple, whose kindergartener came across And Tango Makes Three, has appealed the decision to the school board.

I looked up a few articles on this newsstory and they report the library had this book for years.  Now, this story has went all across the state and now the nation.  Hell, it probably sold a few dozen copies of the book based on this story alone.

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson - I picked this up for a couple of reasons.  First, it is often linked with Spoon River Anthology- that book (a series of poems really) like this is a collection of stories that intertwine- stories of different people in the same town exposing their secrets- and I love the idea of that.  The second reason is that it is generally acknowledged this book was a big influence on Steinbeck, Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Hemmingway, and Henry Miller.  Between the two reasons, I was sold.

So, is it worth reading?  I give it a qualified yes.

It didn't charm me as much as Spoon River, that's for sure.  However, I liked it overall.  I saw a reviewere on Amazon said they didn't get the point of the story.  This one is a bit of a bummer. If you someone who reads books solely for a happy ending (and I know some people do), you're going to be disappointed.

As the Mozzer would say 65 years later, all men have secrets.  It's the secrets that make Anderson's book - frustration, loneliness, unrequited loves, regrets, dreams.  It's a great idea for a book, and Anderson mostly succeeds, and at times, is very touching.

Being a series of short stories, I suppose you can always skip around.  Me?  I could have skipped Godliness - this four part story shows up early in the book- but once I past it, I was glad I had stuck with the book.

For a book that is 90 years old, it is readable.  I am not near qualified to say, but from my experience, it probably reads closest to Steinbeck than any of the authors I mentioned earlier on.  However, it does read a bit dense - so while the age of the book won't scare you away- it isn't always a happy read either.  Me?  I read this in fits and starts.  I think I started this book around June, and put it down for weeks at a time.  Still, that may say more about how easily distracted I am, as anything about the book itself.

So, I recommend this if it sounds like something you would be interested in.  I have to say I liked it, and many will.  It's just some of the things I mentioned that may not makes this for everyone.