I’m currently fighting off a cold so potent that you probably caught it simply by reading this sentence, so blogging may be a little light for a while. Fortunately, my colleague and critic-pal Ryan McGee at the A.V. Club has offered up an essay that should keep you busy for a while. In it, he argues that The Sopranos and every hallowed HBO drama that followed it (like Luck) have changed TV for the worse by focusing on long-form stories at the expense of individual episodes that are enjoyable on their own terms:
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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Readings...
Paul Auster: The Book of Illusions: A Novel
Going to get a copy.. loved his "New York Trilogy"... (***)J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
Order a copy here.. well, I've pre-ordered a copy.. final book, hard to believe this series and Harry Potter are coming to an end.. (*****)Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things
Just started this one.. dreams and stories, ah ha...Dean Koontz: The Husband
New Koontz thriller.. just got a copy from the library to have a "summer read"...Bill Clinton: My Life
The book of the year, from hype to Presidential lives and politics and yes, scandals.. a must-read... (****)Beth L. Bailey: From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America
Teenagers now and then.. worth a look... (***)Shelley E. Taylor: The Tending Instinct: Women, Men, and the Biology of Relationships
Paper version of an intriguing book on nurturing, "Taylor, a psychology professor at UCLA, makes the claim that 'we are fundamentally a nurturant species,' biologically programmed to 'tend and befriend' one another." -Publisher's Weekly (***)Ron Smith: The Ballpark Book : A journey Through the Fields of Baseball Magic
Recommended summer America's game reading.. see the blog item on this as well for more details... (*****)David B. Wexler: When Good Men Behave Badly: Change Your Behavior, Change Your Relationship
"A book written especially for men that provides real tools for men who have trouble dealing with the emotional demands of relationships and those affected by them. Men learn how to curb destructive behaviors and build deep, meaningful relationships. Refers to recent research about the male brain." -from the publisher... (****)John Gray: Mars and Venus on a Date: A Guide for Navigating the 5 Stages of Dating to Create a Loving & Lasting Relationship
Yes, old.. but the title caught my eye.. so, dating to loving and lasting relationship.. maybe something here, maybe.. just starting to read it now, from the library...Helen Fisher: Why We Love
Good book review in NY Times.. about her research into romantic love, chemistry, and the physical side of emotional responses to love and emotions... (***)Michael Crichton: Prey
Nanotechnology runs wild, relationship of programmer husband and scientist wife explored, good reading so far.. (****)Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon
A breathtaking tour de force, and Neal Stephenson's most accomplished and affecting work to date, CRYPTONOMICON is profound and prophetic, hypnotic and hyper-driven, as it leaps forward and back between World War II and the World Wide Web, hinting all the while at a dark day-after-tomorrow. It is a work of great art, thought, and creative daring... --Amazon description (*****)Ruth Reichl: Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
Ruth Reichl's first book, the autobiographical Tender at the Bone, disarmed readers with its droll candor. The former restaurant critic of The New York Times and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine told great stories about growing up and loving food. [This book] begins where the first book ended, tracing Reichl's evolution from chef to food writer while detailing the dissolution of her first marriage, the start of a second, and motherhood at the age of 40. The book also limns a sensual journey, Reichl's awakening to the pleasures of sex as well as food, and also to love. --from Amazon.com review (***)Ruth Reichl: Tender at the Bone : Growing Up at the Table
Recommended by a friend, former NY Times restaurant critic, memoir.. a new appreciation of the pleasures of the table... (****)Judith Sills: The Comfort Trap (or, What If You're Riding a Dead Horse?)
Recommended by a friend, sounds interesting, and some excerpts online at her Web site, see here...Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife
The love story of Henry and Claire whose lives are punctuated by Henry's disappearance to different points in time--sometimes even back to visit Claire as a young woman. When Henry meets Claire, he is twenty-eight, and she is twenty. He's a hip, handsome librarian; she is an art student with Botticelli hair. Henry has never met Claire before; Claire has known Henry since she was six...Tim O'Brien: July, July: A Novel
"At the 30th reunion of Minnesota's Darton Hall College class of 1969, ten old friends join their classmates for a July weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing, regretting. ...[jacket copy] Good so far, from National Book Award winning writer of "Going After Cacciato"... (****)Ethan Watters: Urban Tribes: A Generation Redefines Friendship, Family, and Commitment
Interesting take on social groups, "urban tribes," friends who are not married banding together.. see also the post on the blog on this topic... (***)Susanna Moore: In the Cut: A Novel
Meg Ryan's new movie role.. erotic thriller of NY teacher of writing and murders and some great characters.. her writing is gemlike and a pleasure.. recommended... (*****)Nancy Pearl: Book Lust
Librarian from Seattle, infamous now for the "action figure" controversy, has a book out. I'll have to take a look....Jonathan Franzen: How to Be Alone: Essays
From Amazon: " 'Why Bother' is an essay arguing that our current cultural milieu of speed, shallowness, hedonism, and information-without-wisdom doesn't even allow us to see that we are losing our relationship to solitude." Recommended...Eric Darton: Divided We Stand: A Biography of New York City's World Trade Center
And this was the second book I read, trying to make some small sense of the changes that happened, and what that *place* was, really.. highly recommended... (*****)Angus Kress Gillespie: Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center
This was the first book I read after the attacks, and still one of the most memorable. It was the only thing in our Library's collection at the time about the World Trade Center.. re-issued after 9/11/01.. (*****)Richard Schickel: Woody Allen: A Life in Film
Just out, Sept 5, 2003.. more from the interview with Schickel, that wasn't included in the documentary.. see the article in the Film category on the documentary as shown on TCM... (*****)Cecile Lamalle: Glutton for Punishment
A culinary mystery.. don't ask me why, but I'm reading these as I find them.. fun, and food a part of the mystery tale.. a great opening epigraph: "We think our castles of sand are the ramparts of the universe." --John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (****)Cathi Hanauer: The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex,
Title of the year award? Not reading it yet, comes out in Nov, 2003.. a sleeper book to watch for!Gina Cascone: Life al Dente: Laughter and Love in an Italian-American Family
Earlier book was "Pagan Babies," and this one sounds just as good.. ba-da bing! the reviews are saying good things, and before there was the Sopranos, there was Gina writing about Italian-Americans in New Jersey... (****)Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon
New hot S-F title to check out.. Joel Silver ("The Matrix") has purchased the film rights..Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair
Meet Thursday Next, hard-boiled detective, in a comic time travel tale c. England 1985.. just getting into it.. first in a series, third one just out in UK.. (****)Neil Gaiman: American Gods: A Novel
Really fine mythological American tale.. captivating from page 1.. Reading it slow, which is a good sign.. (*****)David Schickler: Kissing in Manhattan
Stories, intertwined, from a Manhattan apartment building.. "The Smoker" is great, still reading through the collection.. (****)Chris Sherman: The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See
Re-reading this one, in prep for a forthcoming article to be published in "American Libraries".. Chris Sherman and Gary Price do a fabulous job.. (*****)Jim Mullen: It Takes a Village Idiot : Complicating the Simple Life
Just starting this one.. saw it noted on jessamyn's site first.. as one writer noted, "Imagine 'A Year in Provence' written by Dennis Miller." So far, funny stuff.. (***)Terence Gorski: GETTING LOVE RIGHT : LEARNING THE CHOICES OF HEALTHY INTIMACY
This is a winner.. self-help from recovery counselor, on healthy intimacy, building a healthy relationship, and learning to change.. A-plus... (*****)
Film...
George Lucas: American Graffiti - Collector's Edition
Today, I got a library copy of this old favorite, to re-view and check out the special features.. for a couple days, it's "Rock aroun' the Clock".. (*****)Michael Curtiz: Casablanca (1942)
"Of all the gin joints in all the world..." greatest Hollywood film, agree with Maltin on this.. (*****)Buena Vista Home Entertainment: Lost - The Complete First Season
.. fine DVD set, probably the best set ever made.. detailed, interesting, 7 total disks.. for any fan of the show, it's a must-have item... (*****)Buena Vista Home Entertainment: Lost - The Complete Second Season
.. eight extra hours of bonus information.. for any show fan, it's a must-have item... (*****)ABC: Lost - The Complete Third Season
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / DVD Release Date: December 11, 2007 /ASIN: B000P6YNSE / Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11 in DVD (as of 6/4/07) (*****)Benjamin Ross: RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Making of "Citizen Kane" movie, from HBO.. watched it again last night, still great insights.. makes you want to see "Kane" again.. (****)Howard Hawks, Christian Nyby: The Thing from Another World - 50th Anniversary Edition
50th Anniversary edition released tomorrow.. in 2001 "The Thing" was added to the National Film registry.. remember: "Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!" (*****)
