anorak

Ooh yeah, I couldn't get through Oracle Night - it sort of put me off Auster for good. Should I give the new one a go then?

My colleague and me were talking about Kavalier & Clay yesterday, as it happens, and she said she hasn't been able to read any more fiction since that because nothing could compare to it. Bit of an extreme reaction but it was rather wonderful. I haven't read any other books by Chabon though. What would you suggest?

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I could be your sudden let's go out

Sorry to break the atmos here, but I'm reading this:

http://www.greywolfmedia.com/

I bought it when I was pissed at Manchester Piccadilly station a few weeks ago. It's the funniest book I've ever read. Totally unrecommended.

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"The claim I want to make is that this historical moment, the one we're living in now, is the best not the worst, the most not the least appropriate moment to bring back Marx."

i really enjoyed the short story collection Werewolves In Their Youth... Wonder Boys is a good novel too, as is The Yiddish Policeman's Union, although the latter's not quite so much of an easy read

the footnotes were something of an oddity with Oracle Night, but once i got past that i really enjoyed it. ah well.

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halo my middle, a hula hoop hug

Yeah, for Chabon I would suggest starting with either Mysteries of Pittsburgh or Wonder Boys, then move on to Kavalier and Clay. Yiddish Policeman's Union is a bit more difficult, but still quite enjoyable. I loved Werewolves in their Youth, and his essay collection Maps and Legends has some great stuff in it (particularly when he argues the merits of genre fiction), but is ultimately kind of uneven.

I will keep you posted on Telegraph Avenue. So far it's winning me over more and more each time I can sneak a few pages in.

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http://www.facebook.com/CitySteps

Just finished Jake Arnott's 'House Of Rumour' novel. Nice mixing of why Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland in 1941 with UFO conspiracies, Aleister Crowley, Ian Fleming & Jim Jones!

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One thing that we've known from the start
Deep down inside, we're punk rockers at heart

Chabon is one of those authors who is so good that I am making a conscious effort to pace myself so that I don't accidentally read all his work at once and then feel upset.

I am having a go at reading a novel in Swedish for the first time, I've gone for a book aimed at a teenage audience, so as not to over extend myself.

i'm giving john updike a go for the first time and actually quite enjoying it. it's intense and kinda brooding, and i'm not sure how likeable the main character is... but yeh, it's good

saying that, i've just found out it's the second book in a series (Rabbit Redux) so i wish i'd known that before i got 100 pages in

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halo my middle, a hula hoop hug

I think I have the first one of those on my to read bookshelf, not that I'll be getting to it for a while.

Rabbit, Run changed my life a little bit - and not necessarily in a good way. His writing is sparkly, beautiful, effortless but it's a very tough read. I wanted to read everything he'd ever written after, but I had to stop myself because I was getting quite unsettled. I'll go back though. Let us know what you make of Rabbit Redux, Will.

i will do!

still trying to decide whether updike's channelling his own racism or trying to explore how his character feels

but some of the passages, whilst dense and foreboding, are a mind-blowing delight

dude sure can write!

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halo my middle, a hula hoop hug

I loved "rabbit run" ... found "rabbit redux" very demanding but rewarding at the same time but decided to give Rabbit a bit of a rest after that one ...
Might have to pick up "rabbit is rich" soon though ...

... just finished "office girl" by Joe Meno and thoroughly enjoyed it ...
I can also recommend his "the boy detective fails" which was even better ...

I finished this last week, and I agree: it's great. And painfully recognisable in places.

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Candy Twist fanzine

Finally finished 'Catch 22'! :)

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One thing that we've known from the start
Deep down inside, we're punk rockers at heart

Did you enjoy it?

Yeah! it just took me ages to read it because I tended to read it in short chunks on my 15 minute train journey to work

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One thing that we've known from the start
Deep down inside, we're punk rockers at heart

finally finished Rabbit Redux the other day. it was hard going at times, but on the whole i enjoyed it, and the last few pages amounted to one of my favourite endings to a book ever. any other Updike recommendations, anyone? less draining ones, perhaps

at the minute i'm about halfway through Chump Change by Dan Fante. unsurprisingly he seems very indebted to his dad's stuff, but it's very readable and very funny (in that bleak, tragic sorta way). can't imagine this one taking too long to read

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halo my middle, a hula hoop hug

Has anyone read Lorrie Moore? I've just finished her novel A Gate at the Stairs. It's audacious and a little bit extraordinary and I'm slightly breathless and overcome that such a thing exists.

Yes I've read Lorrie Moore. I went to a talk she gave a few years ago. I even asked her a question. She's an amazing writer.

Read Who Will Run The Frog Hospital? and Birds Of America. In fact read everything she's ever written. It's a rash thing to say but I don't think anyone would be disappointed with any of her work.

re-read a couple of short books that i found lying around the house before xmas (Ham On Rye by Bukowski and Cosmopolis byDon Delillo) and enjoyed both of them... i've not read any Bukowski for years so i was rather pleased to discover that his writing retains a great deal of power and energy. tempted to re-read all the Chinaski novels now

for the last few days i've been reading Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis. taken me a while to pick this one up, but it's worth it. i don't think he's quite as savage as he was in his younger days, and equally it's not as heart-poundingly frightening as Lunar Park, but it's still pretty darn great.

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halo my middle, a hula hoop hug