The Tournament of Books may be the least well-oiled machine in letters. Case in point, the tournament was set to kick off on Friday, but even then only got underway after 5PM EST. That’s why we love it so.
Round 1 began with two books that I have not read - Denis Johnson’s national Book Award-winning Tree of Smoke vs. Ovenman by Jeff Parker, which I had never even heard of. I wagered accordingly. The winner: Tree of Smoke. (Check out the hilarious commentary from the booth on this match . Warning: The commentators are working blue.)
Round 2 paired two books that I’ve read, so I felt a little more informed on this one. Roberto Bolano’s The Savage Detectives took on Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida. I was genuinely surprised at how powerful and moving Vida’s novel is (plus Vida has the greatest name ever), and I loathed The Savage Detectives. HATED it. I bet my heart on this one. The winner: Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.
I’m on a tear so far - 2-0. Tomorrow’s match features Then We Came to the End vs. Petropolis. I went against the conventional wisdom on this one and picked Petropolis to win. What can I say? I love the Russians. Read my review of Petropolis here. I just finished Then We Came to the End last week. I have not written a review yet, but I found to novel to be engaging and well written. However, author Joshua Ferris - not Russian.