Baby Got Books

Reviews o’ Plenty

I’ve fallen way behind on actually writing reviews of the books that I’ve read this year. There are four books that are getting pretty close to past their effective review dates (read in February). None of these is particularly new, so I’ve decided to put together a round up to get myself caught up as quickly as possible. Here we go:

First up: George Saunders Pastoralia. Saunders seems to enjoy a dedicated cult following. Whenever I see his name written on a blog anywhere, praise is sure to follow. I don’t know if Pastoralia is the best entry point for the Saunders oeuvre, but it was the first of his books that I got my mitts on. It’s a short story collection that mixes “experimental” writing with relatively straightforward narratives to great effect. I enjoyed the collection, and I’ll keep an eye out for more of Saunders fiction. His new non-fiction book, The Braindead Megaphone has gotten great reviews as well.

Neil Gaiman’s collection of short works, Fragile Things, is up next. It is a collection of short stories, poems, and a novella. I’ve read one of Gaiman’s novels (Anansi Boys) and have been meaning to get more deeply into his work for some time. This collection spans Gaiman’s career, and I don’t know that there is anything brand new here. It’s a mixed collection. Some of the work collected here is excellent, in fact many of the stories have won individual awards. It’s a nice compendium to pick up if you’re interested in checking out a breadth of the author’s work in one shot.

I followed up Neil Gaiman with more Neil Gaiman. Another of my reading goals has been to tackle the comics canon in a semi-systematic fashion. Couple that with my interest in Gaiman, and it seemed only natural to delve into the author’s career-making Sandman series with Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes. This is as far as I’ve gotten into the series, and it’s too soon for me to tell if the series will ultimately live up to the hype. What I’ve read so far is intriguing, and I plan to read more of the series. I’ll keep you posted.

And finally: After attending the Rob Sheffield reading way back when, my neighbor handed me Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno. She thought that the author’s styles of recreating the musical past were similar and that I’d enjoy the novel. Meno has put together a book that is an excellent snapshot of the end of punk that is pitch perfect in recreating 80′s high school angst. It’s an enjoyable coming of age story about finding your own identity that has the ring of truth and awkwardness.

Phew. I wish I had time to post on each of these separately. C’est la guerre.

Books, Fiction, Review | Tim | April 3, 2008 8:46 am

8 Comments

By heather (errantdreams), April 3, 2008 @ 10:01 am

I love the Gaiman works. I’m a sucker for some of his short stories… well, for lots of his stuff. He comes up with some unusual and nifty ways of looking at the world.
By Frank, April 3, 2008 @ 12:56 pm

I’m probably the Saunders fanatic who urged you to get with the program. Next, get to his debut novel, CivilWarLand In Bad Decline, for a pure taste of what Saunders lovers love best. The Braindead Megaphone is enjoyable, too — it collects his nonfiction, essays and travel writing for various magazines — just not “pure” Saunders. And then there’s another great collection of stories, In Persuasion Nation. Plainly, I have drunk the Kool-Aid.
By Tim, April 3, 2008 @ 2:03 pm

Frank, you did indeed jump start my move to get with the Saunders program. Thanks for the road map for tackling the rest of his work.
By J.S. Peyton, April 4, 2008 @ 4:19 pm

I have to confess to being one of Saunders’ cult followers. Coincidentally, I just finished reading both “In Persuasion Nation” and “The Braindead Megaphone” within the past two weeks. They were both hands-down pure Saunders excellency.

Neil Gaiman is a favorite too. In fact, I’m in the middle of reading “Smoke and Mirrors,” a collection of short stories even older than the ones in “Fragile Things.” I haven’t gotten very far, but so far it’s proving to be as fun and exciting as “Fragile Things.” I haven’t gotten around to reading one of his novels yet, but one of these days. One of these days…
By Jess Lembach, April 8, 2008 @ 7:41 pm

Hey! I’m kind of on your blog…wow…I feel so famous! I matter! I count! What a rush!
By Tim, April 10, 2008 @ 4:23 pm

Jess: And I have a book to return to you.