Every day, humans ask themselves many perplexing questions. I cannot help answer most of these questions; e.g., "Wtf Republicans?" But there's one question I can answer: "Wtf's going on with Autowin Book Club?!!?!" I admit, my attention to ABC has lately fallen to the wayside 'cause of my Chaotic Life. But! No more! I've just started to read this month's pick -- Lauren Slater's Lying (buy online, it's hard to find in bookstores) -- and we're gonna have a lot to talk about. Have you started it? Did you buy it? Let me know so I can plan accordingly. Does September 20th work for everyone as a "finish date"? Is that too far away? (I'm trying to provide room for y'all to buy it if you haven't yet) I don't think this is the type of book we can discuss midway, we're gonna wait 'til the end to blabber about it. [Sidenote: Did you know that Slater and Rosie are buddies? I feel like I might actually be able to wrangle an interview this time, so let me know if you have any questions.]
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quote: "A home has many purposes, but it should primarily be a place where you can cry and run a good fever." (Lauren Slater, Lying)
links:
1) "The Republicans, very clearly, believe that real people are idiots.": Judith Warner's The Mirrored Ceiling. (@the nytimes)
2) Writers don't want fame, they want recognition. "Writers are hidden beings. You have never met one – or, if you should ever believe you are seeing a writer, or having an argument with a writer, or listening to a talk by a writer, then you can be sure it is all a mistake.": Cynthia Ozick's Writers, Visible and Invisible. (@standpoint magazine)
3) And ANTM's Cycle 11, like the seasons themselves, begins: Rich's There will be "fieeeerccccce!"(@fourfour)
4) Kafka's time management skills -- also lacking: "When Felice wrote to him...arguing that a more rational organization of his day might be possible, he bristled.... 'The present way is the only possible one; if I can't bear it, so much the worse; but I will bear it somehow.'" : Zadie Smith's review of The Tremendous World I Have Inside my Head (@powell's books)
5) Test your knowledge of Junot Dìaz's references to "games, comics, animated series, and pop music": "Rather than teaching our incoming students to feel proud because they aren't geeks, we hit them with a geek entrance exam, inspired by our colleague Junot Diaz's The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.": Henry Jenkin's How Big a Geek Are You?
6) Alex Carnevale does right on two very different topics (@thisrecording):
a. Lindsay and Samantha: In Which You're In her Talons Now And She's Never Letting Go.
b. Great Political Speeches: The Ten Best Political Speeches Ever.
7) Carlytron's been working on this project creatively from start to finish, and it premiered on Logo on September 4th. If you missed it, watch it here: Lady Gaga on NewNowNext Pop Lab. (@logo-online)
8) "What’s the difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals? In matters outside the bedroom, American culture and law are at last acknowledging that there is none." : Andrew Sullivan's My Big Fat Straight Wedding. (@the atlantic)
9) How the Republicans fell in love with a pregnant, unwed teenager: Lynn Harris' That Girl? (@nerve.com)
10) From Katy Perry to Tila Tequila, girl-on-girl chic is all the rage. But is Lindsay Lohan the real deal?: Sarah Horne's Girls Gone Wilde.(@radar online)
11) The Netflix rentals Slate readers just can't bring themselves to watch: John Swansburg's Regretflix (@slate.com)
12) After ten years Google had achieve a stunning presence on the world wide web. Its ambitions are even wider: Mike Harvey's Google's birthday: In search of technology's new frontiers (@times online uk)
19 comments:
I got Lying last weekend and finally started reading it the other day. The only thing I don't like about the Sept. 20th finish date is that I'll be separated from my computer from then til probs the 25th while everyone's discussing it. But if that's the best date for everyone else, I'm down with it. I'll just check in from the bberry and maybe email you my thoughts? [if you'd be willing to post them in a comment for me since the comments page takes hella long to load]
September 20th works for me--I haven't tracked the book down yet.
Yoyoyo.
I haven't bought Lying yet because I've got to read stuff for enlgish lit in school but I'll buy it as soon as I can and I'm getting money soon to so I can actually buy it aha.
In english lit we have a list of authors to read and we either pick two of the authors novels or two authors and compare and Virginia Woolf is on the list so I'll either choose her or F Scott Fitzgerald. So if I were to do two Virginia Woolf books what should I choose? I'm thinking Orlando and something because then i can do autobiographical and something else but I don't know what the something else it because I haven't read any of her stuff and because I';m drunk right now aha.
Also we get to do creative writing and write in the style of another author so I'ma do Jack Kerouac and do the whole spontaneous prose thing cause I'm cool like that.
But not really cause I'm actually lame.
aha ignore me. but not really cause I do actually like NEED to know what to do for the english literature thing and cause you're so wise and like one of my favourite writers I feel you might know best.
Also, Firefox is saying I spell things like favourite and colour wrong because you yanks leave out the 'u' but I'm not and it's annoying me.
you know how i only skim posts for my name? for a split second, i thought rosie o'donnell and a.c. slater were friends.
i have to get back to staring out my window at the rain now.
I got "Lying" from the library. I read it last week, and it made me wish I'd bought it. (And I will, eventually.) I mean, I'm gonna renew it so that I'll have it on the 20th. 'Cause I liked it a lot, more than Wao. And may I say, good choice!
(Also, if you're taking a poll for moonkiller, I vote Mrs. Dalloway.)
mk - mrs. dalloway. if you can do "a room of one's own" as a book, maybe go for it -- it's not very long, so it might not count as a book. I didn't love Orlando, but I might be in the minority on that. to The lighthouse?
awww thanks for the link, boo.
I'd like to let everyone know that not only did I read LYING, but I actually finished it on September 2. See, Riese, I read books when I stick to the assignment! :)
I actually only underlined about 3 places, but one of them was the "home" line. So true.
im not going to lie, i didnt buy the book, and i wont. im in the middle of an autobiography that is 800 pages long, and im one of those people who cant read more than one book at a time. but you can be sure that i will comment and pretend like i know whats going on. check out the time i am posting this! its late. its actually an hour later than what it says, cause we're in different time zones. thats the only thing that gets me, i will post something, then look and it will be off. gets me everytime! =)
okay i totally meant it was an hour later than what it says. got to correct myself or i might look dumb! man im not making any sense. time for bed
dang, i meant an hour earlier! i cant get it right. forget it!!
the rosie/slater link doesn't work, just fyiz. obvs i've read it, have a lot of feelings, etc and i'm ready for book club wheneves.
Can we take a moment for how "Girls Gone Wilde" might be the greatest title for anything, ever?
Why is there not a LesBlog with that title?
I was a good student and have already finished 'Lying'. It was good. I cant wait to hear peoples' thoughts and feelings...
I need to read something else now, so Ive started 'Tipping the Velvet'. I love it so far, but it's a hard read for me. Lots of detail, and if I lose focus for even a second, I find myself reading the page over again.
Anyway, I'll try not to mix the two stories up by Sept. 20th when we start discussing...
lovin' the hand-drawn header graphic, btw.
also also, still acquiring Lying, but I promised to come out and play this month, and I intend to keep that promise.
going to ride the LA subway downtown to check out Lying tomorrow. 20th here i come.
any way we could do it for the 19th or 22nd instead of the 20th? weekdays leave me here all day at my desk wishing for nothing more than a good book discussion...
I started Lying the other day, and have pretty much flown through it, falling in love pretty much on page 51. Sept. 20 works for meeeeeeeeee.
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