Acorn Public Library Reviews

Patron Review: Super Immunity by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

2012-01-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

Want to be healthy for the rest of your life? Want to weigh the same as you did in 9th grade (provided you were not obese then)? Want to avoid disease?
Granted, most people do not want the above, but for the few, who do yearn for health and an ideal weight, get thee to the library and take out Super Immunity, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. Dr. Fuhrman is also the author of Eat to Live, which was updated in 2011. Both are worthy of your time.

Patients come to Dr. Fuhrman’s New Jersey office with allergies, viruses, cancer, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, well, every disease of modern America. And his advice is always the same: heath=nutrition/calories. Open his Eat to Live book and find the page with the picture of three stomachs. One has 400 calories of oil; the next has 400 calories of meat; the third has 400 calories of greens. The first stomach is about 1/50th filled. The second stomach is about 1/8th filled. The final stomach is completely filled.
You might get the point now. Filling our stomachs with greens, onions, mushrooms, berries, beans, and seeds, not only fills the stomach with low calories foods and satiates us, it supplies our bodies with the nutrients it needs to fight every disease under the sun.

Dr. Fuhrman’s prescription is to work up to a pound of raw vegetables, a pound of cooked vegetables, and a cup of beans daily. He calls the prescriptions of most other doctors “permission slips,” the better to keep doing what we have always done: live a disease prone lifestyle.

Today we learned that Senator Mark Kirk, a supposedly health-conscious person, suffered a stroke. Please do not end up as he has. Get Dr. Fuhrman’s books, go to his website, and live a healthy, disease-free life.

-Janice Gintzler
Acorn patron

The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown

2011-12-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

The idea of baking bread from scratch had long fallen into the same category as Beyoncé’s abs circa 2004: enviable but intimidating. But The Tassajara Bread Book has gently eased me into the art of breadmaking, revealing its ease and joy.

Tassajara is a Zen monastery in central California, and this book was developed with simplicity in mind. The ingredients lists for most breads feature four to six basic items, and the directions are straightforward and sweetly whimsical. Does this sound a little austere, perhaps a tad precious? Worry not, as there are also recipes for unabashed delights like Butter Kuchen, Turkish Coffee Cake Cookie Bars, and Coffee Liquor Butter.

This book focuses on enjoying the process as it unfolds before you. Contrary to popular belief, bread is quite independent—it does not require full-time nurturing so much as a roll and a jab a few times throughout the day. And in the end, creating something so aromatic and delicious from nearly nothing is hugely satisfying. I’ll leave it to Mr. Brown to explain:

“Bread makes itself, by your kindness, with your help, with imagination streaming through you, with dough under hand, you are breadmaking itself, which is why breadmaking is so fulfilling and rewarding.”

-Megan

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

2011-10-15T09:43:00.001-07:00

Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog explores the inner lives of Renée, an outwardly inert concierge in a fancy Parisian apartment building, and 12-year-old Paloma, a precocious resident. At work, Renée lives up to the (apparent) stereotype of the philistine concierge, indulging in the French equivalents of Cheez Whiz-covered Doritos and In Touch Weekly. At home, Renée is an entirely different beast, one who devours opera and masticates on long passages of Husserl.

Paloma also has a double-life of the mind. Outwardly, she is the docile daughter of two well-meaning but superficial socialites. Inwardly, she is a cauldron of societal dissection, caustic barbs, and--yes, dear reader--suicide ideation. Much of the novel involves Renée and Paloma wittily discussing their ideas of the world and their isolated places in it until the lovely Kakuro moves into the building and unites the building’s misfits.

This novel succeeds in being philosophically rigorous, inspiring, and genuinely sweet. Highly recommended.

Please note: This title is available on Acorn's Touch Nooks, along with these titles. Call the Library to reserve yours!

-Megan

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

2011-08-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler grew up across the street from each other in the Chicago faux-suburb of Pleasant Ridge, and were, indeed, BFFs until differing high school fates pulled them apart. Whereas Val turned her latchkey childhood into vivacious cheerleaderdom, Addie was surviving her brother’s brain-damaging car accident, the death of both parents, and compulsive overeating.

Ten years later, Addie’s got it together, if not quite got it going on. She’s a successful greeting card illustrator, avid swimmer, and is generally happy. But she’s lonely. So lonely. Imagine Addie’s surprise when Val--now a weather girl/local celebrity--shows up on her doorstep covered in blood after a mishap at the high school reunion. Imagine your surprise when Addie decides to help her former friend conceal her crime by fleecing the hunky, brooding detective and going on a road trip to Florida.

The two reconnect rather seamlessly and with little drama, quickly resolving misunderstandings and bonding over man problems.The weird vigilante subplot then takes over, and you better believe that the detective's interest in the case is not entirely professional. In fact, he’s so smitten with Addie that he chants her name (“Addie...Addie...Addie...”) throughout. Can you handle it? (I could not.)

I listened to this on audiobook, which generally doesn’t work for me in between being cut off by large trucks, avoiding potholes, and berating humanity; but the combination of Weiner’s earnest style and soapy plot made for a good time. Recommended.

-Megan

Downton Abbey, Series One (DVD)

2011-06-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is British drama at its best -- witty and refined, but never uptight or stodgy. The series takes place at the country home of the fictional Earl of Grantham during the run-up to World War I. Significant time is spent both with the Earl's aristocratic family and their crew of below-the-stairs servants. Much of the series is devoted to the romantic intrigue and familial squabbles, but the series does sometimes delve into more serious issues such as the women’s suffrage movement or the impending Great War. While there are various plots that run throughout the entire first season, each of the seven episodes can also be viewed discretely. Downton Abbey is recommended for those who like their British period pieces with just enough modern sheen to keep things interesting (but not enough to detract from the genre's essential coziness).

-Eric

Eliot Spitzer Double Feature: Client 9 v. Inside Job

2011-05-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

The erstwhile “Love Gov” has a new gig: movie star! Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but Spitzer has been featured prominently in two recent documentaries.

First up is Client 9, which briefly covers Spitzer’s meteoric rise in New York politics, then drones on an on about his fall. As attorney general, Spitzer earned the nickname "The Sheriff of Wall Street” as he actually managed to fine, imprison, and otherwise unsettle captains of industry for their misdeeds. His work earned him both popular support and powerful enemies; the former electing him governor in 2006 with nearly seventy per cent of the vote, and the latter--the film alleges--leading to his undoing. Spitzer is an incisive, candid interview subject, but he is used sparingly here. The film focuses on the tawdriest elements of the escort scandal and most ridiculous peripheral players instead. Why? I have no idea.

Next is Inside Job, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in February. Here, director Charles Ferguson’s surveys the logistics of the global financial near-collapse. The film has a definite, fire-breathing perspective, as Ferguson, Spitzer, and a coterie of others squarely pin the crisis on the shoulders of the world’s financial elite and their governmental enablers.

Inside Job admirably distills the mechanics of the derivatives market, and the revolving door between big banks, the plushest business schools, and government. Ferguson is a fearless interviewer, and most of his interactions end with disdainful glares, embarrassed laughter, or I-wish-I-were-kidding ingenuousness. The result is a suspenseful, darkly comic ride through a subject that people used to think was boring.

-Megan

Science Fair Season by Judy Dutton

2011-05-17T18:05:00.001-07:00

Lately, news regarding the state of American education has been decidedly less than rosy. While much of the rest of the world has adjusted to the realities of the twenty-first century with determination and brio, the United States has generally responded with what seems like bewildered complacency. As Bill Gates said, “When I compare our high schools to what I see when I’m traveling abroad, I’m terrified for our workplace of tomorrow.”

Refreshingly, this book explores the stories behind the wildly impressive entries at the Intel Science Talent Search, a sort of American Idol for high school scientists. The entrants come from disparate backgrounds--small-town Texas, the Navajo Indian Reservation, affluent Connecticut, and a juvenile detention center. The projects are just as varied, and include a solar water heater fashioned from the radiator of a 1967 Pontiac, a nanotechnology discovery that led to even smaller and more powerful microchips, a methodology for predicting water tables on Mars which was later proven by NASA, training cockroaches to do the work of drug-sniffing dogs, and pioneering work on the worldwide collapse of bee colonies.

While some of the entrants were science fair veterans, most of them just encountered an interesting problem and then had supportive teachers to foster their curiosity and dedication. Dutton does a great job with the scientific and humanistic aspects of each story. I highly recommend this book to any adult or teen reader looking for an inspiring read.

-Megan

The Beer Trials by Seamus Campbell and Robin Goldstein

2011-05-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Most of this book is devoted to reviews of 250 different beers, using the results from semi-scientific blind-tasting panels. This book is something of a sequel to Goldstein’s The Wine Trials, and the fact that beer is now seen as worthy of the same treatment as wine is an interesting sign of how much perceptions of beer have changed in the past, say, ten years.

The reviews cover beers of all types, from the cheapest mass-produced lager to the most intense craft-brewed India Pale Ale, including brands from Belgium, Britain, Germany, Japan, and more. Each entry is generally concise, informative and witty. While they certainly can’t cover every beer out there, and while they try to stick to nationally distributed beers (thus meaning you won’t find local favorites like Old Style or Alpha King), they still do a good job at covering all the bases.

There’s also about fifty pages of introductory material on beer styles and flavors. All in all, this is an immensely rewarding book for anyone interested in the world of beer.

-Eric

Attention All Movie Fans!

2011-04-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Cinephiles: rejoice! Ebert Presents: At the Movies just got a new, very spirited reboot. Your excellent hosts are now Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com. Each week, they review high-profile theatrical releases, under the radar indies, and their favorite new DVDs and Blu-Rays; and patriarch Roger Ebert drops by to lend his inimitable style to a select film.

Following in the proud footsteps of yin/yang, Hepburn/Tracy, and Jagger/Richards, Lemire and Vishnevetsky’s differences make a potent, delectable brew. While Lemire is an animated, highly knowledgeable movie fan, Vishnevetsky is an encyclopedic, unsparing connoisseur. The result is many zingy, thoughtful discussions and sharply humorous insights. Like this one, on which Vishnevetsky weighs in on the je ne sais quoi of Keanu Reeves (of whom I am a passionate defender, but that will have to wait for another post): “He has this air like he’s an amnesiac who doesn't really remember who he is, but he doesn’t want anybody else to know.”

The show is on WTTW on Friday nights at 8:30, and you can watch all of their reviews here.

-Megan

Recent Staff Picks

2011-04-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

We admit it; we have our favorites. Find your next great read with these staff recommendations!

You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier (Nonfiction)

Lanier is one of the pioneers of the Internet and a contributor to the creation of virtual reality. He passionately argues against online collectivism and the lasting implications it will have on our creativity. He attacks social networking sites, Wikipedia, Creative Commons, and Web 2.0 as a whole.

-Mike, Youth Services

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Fiction)

Fingersmith is a Victorian novel of orphans, thieves, bizarre aristocrats, and spiraling betrayals. In short, it's the perfect complement to a cold day and a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

-Megan, Reference

Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky (Nonfiction)

This book, at first, seems as if it is just a simple idea elegantly executed: an atlas of fifty tiny islands in the middle nowhere. However, this book is much more than a pleasant novelty. Schalansky has taken the history of these islands and turned each one into a beautiful, disarming gem of a story.

-Eric, Reference

The Way of the World by Nicolas Bouvier (Nonfiction)

Nicolas Bouvier's account of his journey in an unreliable Fiat from Geneva, Switzerland, to Afghanistan expresses the joy of travel. Bouvier deserves a place with Patrick Leigh Fermor, V.S. Naipaul, and Jack Kerouac at the top of the travel writing genre.

-Mike, Youth Services

Freedarko Presents: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac (Nonfiction)

Freedarko is a zany, brainy, basketball-obsessed collective; and their book is full of eclectic portraits of the NBA’s stars and villains, as well as odd and delightful stats and insights.

-Megan, Reference

The 150th Anniversary of the Civil War

2011-04-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

150 years ago today, the shots that started the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Delving into the history of the people, places and events of the war is a great way to commemorate this important anniversary-- and the Acorn, of course, has plenty of books to help you out!

Take a look at some of them in SWAN, our online catalog. There's also plenty of great information on the web describing the best Civil War books. And remember, there are plenty of great novels about the war as well!

-Eric

Q&A with Pat Kucher, Head of Technical Services

2011-04-04T12:32:00.001-07:00

Pat Kucher, the Head of Technical Services, will retire on August 1 after twenty-four years of service. Pat is responsible for processing and cataloging Acorn’s materials, as well as selecting movies, television shows, and paperback books. Here, she shares her Acorn experiences, and tells us about her favorite books, movies, and destinations.

Q: You’ve worked at Acorn for twenty-four years. What an accomplishment! How has your job changed during that time?

A: I started before we were computerized. The computer has certainly made the biggest impact on my job. Also, the types of media the Library offers have really changed. We used to have books on cassette, now we have digital books.

Q: What’s your favorite part of your job?

A: Opening the boxes of new books.

Q: You’re a voracious reader. Who are some of your favorite authors?

A: I love Michael Connelly for the terrific police and courtroom drama. I also love the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich for laughs. Jodi Picoult is another hands-down favorite. She handles controversial subjects thoughtfully and without bias.

Q: You choose the Library’s feature films and television series. What are some of your favorites?

A: My favorite movies are Gone with the Wind, The Notebook, and The English Patient. The last good movie I saw was Inception.

I really enjoy the some of our television series—especially Mad Men and The Tudors.

Q: I know you love traveling as well. What’s your favorite vacation spot (so far)?

A: Nassau in the Bahamas. I’m planning another visit there in June. Jamaica is great, too! Really, I’m happy anywhere there’s a Sandals Resort.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself or your time at Acorn?

A: I love to read and started coming to Acorn when it was just a small A-frame building. When I decided to get back into the workforce after my children were old enough, I thought it would be the perfect place to work…and it was. I plan to retire this summer, but I’ll never retire from reading!

Thank you for your many years of dedicated service, Pat! You will be greatly missed.

-Megan

The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books Edited by C. Max Magee and Jeff Martin

2011-04-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Magee and Martin have assembled a talented bunch of young, happening authors (including Joe Meno, Benjamin Kunkel, Victor Lavalle, Emily St. John Mandel, Deb Olin Unferth and Reif Larson), along with a few seasoned veterans (David Gates and Jonathan Lethem), to ponder the question of how the book will be affected, in the coming years, by changes in technology and society. The quality of the work here varies quite a bit, as you might expect from this type of anthology – some pieces are affecting and/or exhilarating, some are bland, and there a couple of pieces that are sub-McSweeney’s throw-aways. Overall, however, this collection is extremely interesting and offers a broad view of what some future literary stars think might happen in their future.

One of the more interesting aspects on this book is the confusion displayed as to what it is, exactly, that they are supposed to be writing about. The main divide seems to be between those who focus on the death of the physical book (even if the book lives on in some sort of digital capacity) and those who are focus the death of reading itself. But even within the latter camp, there are many divisions – are we talking about the eradication of all sustained reading? Or just of the “right” kind of reading (i.e. “literature”). Also, many of the authors here seem to conflate the death of the book with the death of the novel, which I suppose is somewhat understandable since most of these pieces are written by novelists.

Each author here seems to be writing about a different thing entirely, as they ponder the future of the book, and some of the individual pieces are filled with all manner of contradictions and ambiguities in themselves. But perhaps this muddle is appropriate when talking about an unknown future, and most likely it is exactly what the editors had in mind – since this confusion is contained right there in the book’s title and subtitle.

-Eric

Talking It Over by Julian Barnes

2011-03-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Julian Barnes takes a go at the alchemy of a particular love triangle in this insightful, witty novel. Sturdy Stuart is an earnest, levelheaded banker (note that the book was published in 1992) and devoted husband to Gillian, a placid, somewhat inscrutable art restorer. Oliver, Stuart’s longtime friend, is a pedantic train wreck (think of an unholy Christopher Hitchens-Russell Brand alliance) whose untethered existence gives him plenty of time to systematically disrupt the happy couple.

Stuart, Gillian, and Oliver take turns narrating; so each character gets a chance to explain--and reveal varying degrees of delusion. This technique shows off Barnes’s deft understanding of human dynamics, as well as an unsentimental objectivity that makes for bracing realizations. Further, his elegantly adventurous facility with language rendered the book a remarkably good time. Highly recommended; and, so far, so is the sequel.

-Megan

Beautiful Books

2011-03-21T10:09:00.001-07:00

The internet is abuzz with the fear and/or hope that print books will go the way of the clay tablet and the papyrus scroll, and it is certainly undeniable that ebooks do have certain significant advantages over their physical forebears. However, one of the things books made out of paper have going for them is the fact that they can be pleasurable objects to hold, to look at, to smell. Sometimes, they are even beautiful.

It seems that books were, long ago, always beautiful, sometimes mysteriously so. Today, the attractiveness of their product seems to be, at best, an afterthought for most publishers, but there are exceptions that seem to consistently pay attention to the design and quality of what they put out. For instance, New York Review Books has built an intense cult of followers, partly due to the quality of the work they publish, but also largely due to the sheer delight of handling their volumes. The Library of America puts out authoritative versions of our nation’s greatest literature, and their books are always solid, sophisticated, handsome.

Of course, there are also beautiful libraries and bookstores (such as Buenos Aires' El Ateneo, pictured above), and, while the structures may be magnificent, where would they be, really, without their books? Also, take a look at some of the most beautiful pictures of books and bookshelves you will ever see, at the saucily named (but entirely worksafe) Bookshelf Porn.

And then there are those people who have turned books into art, or even architecture.

-Eric

Movie Review: HeartBreaker

2011-03-18T13:36:00.001-07:00

Alex (Romain Duris) is a professional match-breaker in this frothy, giddily entertaining French film. His impeccable record is challenged when he’s enlisted to end the engagement of Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln). Jonathan’s a philanthropic billionaire (and British, ladies!), but still not nearly good enough according to Juliette’s father, who hired Alex.

So Alex and his suspiciously, ridiculously high-tech associates (his sister and brother-in-law) pull out a variety of amusing stunts to capture Juliette’s aloof heart, and absurd hijinks ensue. Alex uses every weapon in his arsenal, including but not limited to Juliette’s weakness for George Michael and Dirty Dancing.

Much of the movie’s charm can be credited to Duris, a remarkably agile and versatile performer who is something like a French Heath Ledger. It will be interesting to see who will be cast in the impending American remake. My money is on Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Alex and Amanda Seyfried as Juliette. (Kindly spare me your Jake Gyllenhaal and your Scarlett Johannson!) But I’ll savor this delightful original now and save the teeth gnashing for later.

-Megan

Is this the history of science fiction?

2011-03-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Artist Ward Shelley has created a fascinating (and also, perhaps, a little ludicrous) infographic (seen above) that displays the history of science fiction. Shelley portrays SF as something of a many-tentacled blob, which is probably both accurate and appropriate. He starts off with fear and wonder (presumably the basis for science fiction in the human psyche) and then goes on from the Enlightenment, and the Gothic novel to pulp fiction and modern movies.

Apparently Shelly created this map as a submission to the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science Exhibit for 2011, which has the theme "Science Maps as Visual Interfaces to Digital Libraries". This map is amazingly detailed, and you could spend hours and hours wandering through its many back streets and alleys (and if all the names and terms on the map were actually somehow linked to some sort of digital library, or even wikipedia, this could become a never-ending journey). Should you want to investigate this future, there’s a rather enormous image of the map here.

-Eric

Movie Review: Exit Through the Gift Shop

2011-03-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

The Oscar-nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop takes an unconventional, entertaining look at a bygone era of street art. Directed by Banksy, the enigmatic (e.g. shrouded in darkness and disguised by a voice decoder) superstar of the movement, the film follows the scene’s most inspired figures as they adorn unsuspecting buildings and billboards with wit and whimsy. Commercialization comes quickly, and with varying results. Banksy cashes in, Sotheby’s style; Shepard Fairey (of the ubiquitous Obama “Hope” image) is promptly sued by the Associated Press; and Thierry Guetta--a wannabe Andy Warhol for the porkpie hat set--goes about industrializing street art’s winking subversion with a team of workers and an Ikea-sized showroom.

Exit Through the Gift Shop effectively explores the wonders of artistry, inevitable commodification of youth culture, and the thin, stubborn line between clever and stupid. Spirited, slightly ridiculous fun.

-Megan

Examined Lives by James Miller

2011-02-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

In Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche, James Miller plucks twelve revered philosophers from the Ivory Tower and places them under the biographer’s unsparing microscope. The findings? There is a blowhard (Socrates), a disgraced politico (Aristotle), a robotic goody two-shoes (Kant), a humorless hypocrite (Rousseau), a humble vagabond (Emerson), and a delicate dandy turned grunting madman (Nietzsche).

Miller skillfully places these men (sorry, no Hannah Arendts here) within their respective ideological and historical contexts, then supplies enough fizzy tidbits to keep it popping. The result is an uncommonly efficient educational experience that somehow has both depth and levity.

-Megan

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 1 by Jacques Tardi

2011-02-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

Comic book artist Jacques Tardi is a legend in his native France, but in the U.S. he has never been anything more than an intriguing cult figure. However, in 2009 Fantagraphics, a well-respected comics publisher based in Seattle, announced that they would begin putting out new translations of Tardi’s work. A slew of releases have come out since then, and a couple of months ago Fantagraphics put out the first volume of a proposed 10) featuring Tardi’s most famous creation – Adele Blanc-Sec.

This book collects Adele’s first two adventures, Pterror Over Paris and The Eiffel Tower Demon. These are thrilling, absurd, convoluted stories, with dinosaurs hatched from prehistoric eggs, crazy cults featuring famous actors, hilariously inept policemen and endless double-crosses. This book surely has it all; in fact, some might argue that it has too much stuff packed into too few pages, and that the plot twists and switched identities are so numerous and byzantine as to befuddle all but the most astute readers. But really, one shouldn’t take this book too seriously – it’s really just a couple of rollicking adventure stories that move at a breakneck speed, backed up with gorgeous art and the breathtaking setting of Paris circa 1911.

-Eric

Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi

2011-02-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

This is a brave and disquieting account of actress Portia de Rossi's nearly lethal struggles with self-acceptance. Amanda Rogers was an intensely driven girl who changed her name, had a successful modeling career, attended Australia's most prestigious law school, and landed on a hit television series (Ally McBeal) by age twenty-four. She also suffered from an eating disorder and severely shaky self-esteem, and both went into overdrive when she faced the image-fixated scrutiny that comes with being a Hollywood ingénue.To further complicate matters, she was also a closeted lesbian who felt her career would instantly implode if her secret were revealed.

“Unflinching” has become such a hackneyed word in reviews, but it is the perfect way to describe de Rossi's book. She boldly and lucidly sifts through her psyche as it unravels, then as she painstakingly rebuilds her life. Her writing is insightful, very candid, and slyly humorous.

I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of eating disorders or the particular challenges of being different.

-Megan

2011-02-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the biggest surprise at last night’s Grammy Awards was the Arcade Fire’s triumph in the Album of the Year category. The Montreal band beat out superstars like Eminem and Lady Gaga to win for their third album, The Suburbs. Perhaps this turn of events should not have been so astonishing, since the band’s high-energy, anthemic rock is, in many ways, old fashioned enough to appeal to Grammy voters who grew up on Bruce Springsteen and U2. Pop music is a young person’s game, but the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences seems to be largely populated by people at least quadruple the age of Justin Beiber.

Fans, new and old, of The Arcade Fire should check out a recent book on the band’s record label: Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small. The book focuses on the story of the label and of Superchunk (the band whose members started Merge in Chapel Hill, NC in 1989), but alternating chapters also focus on various important label bands such as Spoon, The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel and, of course, The Arcade Fire. Our Noise is especially of interest to fans of music of this ilk, but it’s a fun read for anyone who likes to see an underdog win big (and still maintain the values it started with).

-Eric

Movie Review: Cairo Time

2011-02-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

Cairo Time is a beautiful film long on scenery but short on story and--sorry, news buffs--politics. Juliette (played by Patricia Clarkson of Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Good Night, and Good Luck) is a pampered American who travels to Cairo to meet up with her husband, a UN official who has been delayed by unrest in Gaza. In the meantime, she is entertained by the winning Tareq (Alexander Siddig of Syriana and Miral), her husband’s friend.

They tour about the teeming, majestic city, which is exquisitely captured here. She fawns at the Pyramids of Giza, drinks a great deal of coffee, attracts much male attention, and smokes copious amounts of hookah. Unfortunately, Juliette is a bit of bore, and much of the dialogue and character interactions are stilted and odd. Some kind of a thing heats up with Tareq, but Juliette turns him down, then gives him longing looks.

The film is practically apolitical, except for the mysterious and disregarded hijacking of a tour bus by the Egyptian military. I'm not sure if the director (Ruba Nadda) was trying to capture Juliette’s myopic mentality, or if she just wanted to create a fantasy for the Ann Taylor crowd; but the result is that Cairo Time is nothing but a pretty, messy trifle.

-Megan

A Game of Thrones on HBO

2011-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

A Song of Ice & Fire is a massive fantasy saga by George R.R. Martin. It's fantasy for people who don’t like fantasy – there are no elves here, and only the smallest bit of magic. What these books do have, however, are complex, fleshed-out characters and intricate, vicious political machinations that would make Washington insiders run away screaming.

Also, Martin is not shy about either brutal violence or steamy sex. And perhaps this is why HBO, home of the Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, is about to premier a mini-series based on the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones. This show is already highly anticipated, so start reading the books before it debuts on April 17th! (though note that only the first four books in the series, out of an expected seven, have been finished so far).

Here’s a trailer for the TV show:

-Eric

There is a 'Me' in Memoir

2011-02-04T14:39:00.000-08:00

Neil Genzlinger humorously outlined his rules for memoirists in this recent piece in The New York Times. Basically, if you are ordinary, more than ordinarily self-absorbed, or a bandwagon-jumper of any sort, Genzlinger would like you to step far, far away from the keyboard.

While I appreciate the remembrances of rock stars and politicians as much as the next person (possibly quite a bit more), mere mortals are able to offer what the lionized often cannot: honesty. And I think candid reflection and a genuine connection to the writer are the very things that keep readers interested in the genre. What do you think?

-Megan

Movie Review: Cyrus

2011-01-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

This quietly surreal comedy provides a refreshing alternative to scatological grossfests.

The film’s story is contained to the disruption of an insular relationship between a single mom (Marisa Tomei) and her son (Jonah Hill) by Tomei’s new lover (John C. Reilly.) Social misfit Hill, unaccustomed to sharing his mother’s time with an outsider, attempts a variety of covert strategies to oust the clueless Reilly from their lives.

The movie’s tension and comedy derive from the disconcertingly awkward situations that its cast manages to foment. The story motors along well with its weird, elusive sort of discomfort—far more vague than The Office’s routine of bumbling social mix-ups, but still somehow familiar. It’s a spare enough premise that its success follows entirely from the talents of the cast. Reilly and Hill are veteran outcast character actors and their interplay is unsurprisingly very convincing. And Tomei, cast once again as the ageless beauty paired with a creep, somehow manages to effectively enter their bizarre little world.

Cyrus is a rare film that manages to be genuinely quirky without being cutesy. Recommended.

-Review by Megan

The World in 2050 by Laurence C. Smith

2011-01-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

In forty years, the world will be a very different than it is now: the population will be about 50% greater, climate change will be in full swing, and the increasing prosperity of Asia and Africa will create voracious markets for natural resources. So, given the turbulence ahead, what kind of world is likely to emerge? Smith, a UCLA geography professor, uses the latest research and computer models to attempt to answer this question.

He focuses particularly on what he refers to as the NORCs (Northern Rim Countries) – Scandinavia, Canada, the Northern U.S. and Russia. Climate change could actually open up these areas to greater settlement and resource extraction, thus causing them to become much more important geopolitically. Smith envisions a world where swarms of ships crisscross the Arctic Ocean as it turns ice free every summer. He envisions huge cities sprouting up north of the Arctic Circle. He imagines immense pipelines shipping northern water resources to an increasingly thirsty south.

It is impossible to be certain how many of these predictions will come true. But Smith always supports his theories with plenty of figures and footnotes, and he also makes sure to always keep things highly readable and engaging.

-Eric

The Paris Review's Interview Archive

2011-01-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

The Paris Review''s storied interview archive is now available online! You'll find uncommonly candid, sometimes controversial, and often surprising thoughts from the likes of Ralph Ellison, William Faulkner, Saul Bellow, Vladimir Nabokov, Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Martin Amis, and R. Crumb. The archive is available here , with some choice excerpts below.

Dorothy Parker, 1956

INTERVIEWER

Do you think Hollywood destroys the artist’s talent?

PARKER

No, no, no. I think nobody on earth writes down. Garbage though they turn out, Hollywood writers aren’t writing down. That is their best. If you’re going to write, don’t pretend to write down. It’s going to be the best you can do, and it’s the fact that it’s the best you can do that kills you. I want so much to write well, though I know I don’t, and that I didn’t make it. But during and at the end of my life, I will adore those who have.

T.C. Boyle, 2000

INTERVIEWER

When did you first begin writing?

T. C. BOYLE

In a class in college. As a junior I walked into an elective class that consisted of all the lame, halt, and disaffected crazies on campus, one of whom was a reincarnated Egyptian princess and had the tattoo on her ankle to prove it. Hallelujah, I thought, this is just where I belong.

Stephen King, 2006

INTERVIEWER

Is there really much of a difference, then, between serious popular fiction and literary fiction?

KING

The real breaking point comes when you ask whether a book engages you on an emotional level. And once those levers start to get pushed, many of the serious critics start to shake their heads and say, No. To me, it all goes back to this idea held by a lot of people who analyze literature for a living, who say, If we let the rabble in, then they’ll see that anybody can do this, that it’s accessible to anyone. And then what are we doing here?

Mary Karr, 2009

People who didn’t live pre-Internet can’t grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. I stopped in the middle of the SAT to memorize a poem, because I thought, This is a great work of art and I’ll never see it again.

-Megan

The Ultimate List of Lists of the Best Books of 2010

2011-01-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

We're more than halfway through January already, but it's still not too late to check out the best books of last year. And a perfect way to do this is through the website Largehearted Boy. He has compiled every "Best of 2010" list he could find online. This turns out to be several hundred lists!

You can find all the standard lists from major publications such as the New York Times and Publishers Weeklyyou can also find some interesting specialized lists. Want to read the best Golf books of the year, or the top Cryptozoology titles of 2010? These lists have got you covered!

So here it is: Online "Best of 2010" Book Lists from Largehearted Boy.

-Eric

Best of 2010: Eric's Picks

2010-12-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Five Favorite Books that I Read in 2010

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr – Classic noir style meets Nazi-dominated Berlin. What’s not to like?

The City and The City by China Mieville – Classic noir style meets weird Eastern European literature and an original sci-fi premise. What’s not to like?

Bodyworld by Dash Shaw – Trippy, disturbing, beautiful, disgusting.

Mathilda Savitch by VIctor Lodato – The voice of the title character dominates this novel – a voice that is ferocious, naive, witty and teetering on the precipice of some kind of myth-tinged darkness.

Nothing by Janne Teller – Danish tweens try to prove that life is not meaningless. Starts off simple and almost sweet, but things slowly veer into frightening and violent territory. A timeless parable.

Five Favorite Albums of 2010

Hidden by These New Puritans – Booming percussion fused with contemporary classical music fused with post punk, all stemming from an ambition too big to ever possibly be sated.

At Echo Lake by Woods – They are sort of just another indie band from Brooklyn, but somehow they hit all the right notes.

Minotaur by The Clientele – A minor work by a band capable of distilling longing and loneliness and slow wonder into sublimely beautiful pop songs.

Your Future, Our Clutter by The Fall – This is about 40% as good as the music The Fall was putting out in the early 80s, which means it’s still better than just about anything else.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West – Actually this is quite awful. Or is it genius? I can’t tell and I’m not sure that it matters.

Best of 2010: Megan's Picks

2010-12-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

Books

Fiction:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Egan elegantly weaves together a collection of characters bound through rock ‘n’ roll, then ravaged and saved by the caprices of time. It’s written with Egan’s exquisite empathy, keen insight, and astounding range.

Nonfiction:

Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens

Life by Keith Richards

Serious, vicarious fun from two people who have crammed several fascinating lifetimes into their respective at-bats. Think of it as a neat compendium of guitar tips (Richards), tax and legal advice (Richards), dangerous international travel tales (Hitchens), word games (Hitchens), a physics primer (Richards), and howlingly witchy insults (Richards/Hitchens).

Music, Movies & Television:

Album:

Congratulations by MGMT

Don’t let the neon face paint and Rambo-meets-Pee Wee Herman outfits fool you: MGMT is one of those bands with millions of ideas and lethal execution. While this album doesn’t have the immediate dance floor stompers found on Oracular Spectacular, it has spooky surf rock (“Someone’s Missing”), riffy prog-rock (“Brian Eno”), and precisely maudlin ballads (“I Found a Whistle”, “Congratulations”). Vocals interchange nicely between Andrew VanWyngarden’s wizardly falsetto and Ben Goldwasser’s plum weariness. Somehow, it works perfectly.

Drama:

A Prophet

This (very) gritty French crime drama has much to say about France’s immigration issues, not to mention the universal problems of recidivism and redemption. Unflinchingly acted and boldly directed by Jacques Audiard, also known for The Beat that My Heart Skipped.

Comedy:

The Other Guys

This perfectly silly and insidiously smart comedy stars Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as a mismatched, often misfiring cop duo that takes down a financial kingpin. Steve Coogan, Eva Mendes, and a surprisingly good Derek Jeter co-star.

Documentary:

The Art of the Steal

Ridiculed by the Philadelphia Establishment during his lifetime for his “primitive” taste in art, inventor-turned-collector Albert C. Barnes legally mandated that his works remain in the educational institution funded by his fortune. Today, his collection is worth an estimated $25 billion and includes 181 Renoirs, 59 Matisses, and 49 Picassos. Through a series of dramatic betrayals and political wranglings, it’s also set to become one of the world’s most impressive museums. Though the film is distinctly--and rather deliciously--one-sided, it raises interesting questions regarding the ownership of art and the will of the people versus the powers that be.

Television show:

Bored to Death

Jason Schartzman plays Jonathan (as in Ames, the novelist and creator of this series), a struggling writer turned novice private detective in this lively, idiosyncratic HBO series. A spry Ted Danson and absurdly deadpan Zach Galafianakis provide noble support.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

2010-10-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Essentially, this novel is comprised of a mixture of two elements: 1) a near-future dystopian setting and, 2) a cheesy love story. I picked up this book mostly because I was interested in the crazy sci-fi elements, but it was the two main characters and their relationship that actually won me over.

Shteyngart throws us into a world where all the most absurd elements of our culture are amplified to a piercing howl – China basically owns the US and everyone shares every single last thing about their superficial, youth-obsessed selves using various facebook-esque technologies. All of this is, I suppose, intended to be intensely humorous. But it all falls totally flat.

However, at the center of the novel is Lenny Abramov, an ugly, book-loving schlub in his late-30s who can’t for the life of him fit into this ludicrous, ludicrous world. He meets Eunice Park, the damaged daughter of Korean immigrants, who is much, much younger and much, much better looking than he is. He falls for her immediately and, though it takes a while, she somehow eventually falls for him too.

And it all ends horribly, and absurdly, and it turns out that Schteyngart is pretty good at breaking your heart. I came to really care about these characters, but I could never bring myself to become interested in the world in which they live.

-Review by Eric

Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour by Rachel Shukert

2010-10-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Rachel Shukert takes Europe after landing a non-remunerative part as a male elf in an experimental theatre troupe. While this is less a “European Grand Tour” than a modest survey of tall, eccentric countries that aren’t Germany (i.e. Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands), Shukert’s sharply maniacal remembrances make for an inspired, inventive romp.

This work is the provident intersection of a delightfully deranged imagination, history-engorged cities and their bizarre inhabitants, and a candid tale about finally taking responsibility for your own happiness. It bears mentioning that the scatologically averse should steer clear, but just about everyone else will revel in Shukert’s honesty and absurdist humor.

-Review by Megan

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

2010-09-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Please note: This review contains spoilers

The most hyped novel in recent memory picks up where Jonathan Franzen always leaves off: with the souring of an upper-middle class Midwestern family. This time we get a guided tour of the last decade per Franzen’s priggish Liberalism, where complacent self-satisfaction turns to bereavement, rage, suffocation, near-constant betrayal, and the faintest glimmer of relief.

Our story unfolds on the backs of the Berglunds of St. Paul. We have the recklessly bored Patty, the resolutely virtuous Walter, and their morally divergent children. Lest you worry that the Berglunds perish in a snowbank, there is one Richard Katz to heat things up. Richard is a college friend of Walter’s and a rocker of the old school. That is to say, he is cliché of womanizing, self-loathing, coke benders, and smirky philosophizing. He’s also a dead-ringer for Muammar el-Qadaffi, so ladies should consider themselves warned. Of course, Katz and Patty succumb to their insistent loins, which leaves Walter free to obsess over corporate and governmental malfeasance, another Franzen motif.

The equally familiar Franzen narration is assisted by Patty, who chimes in as part of her therapy. This does little to establish a character that is, quite frankly, both unconvincing and a bore. It’s hard to believe that the charmingly diffident Patty is a college basketball star, let alone a smug stay-at-home mom who turns into a drunken harridan when she discovers that her son has taken up with the poor girl next door. Part of the problem lies in Franzen’s contempt for Patty. See, she’s a dumb jock without discipline, gratitude, or empathy. It’s difficult to understand why we have to spend so much time with her; though Franzen does indicate that she’s quite pretty.

Part of the problem lies in Franzen himself. There is an inarticulate bitterness that permeates all of his writing. I’m fine with caustic, nihilistic, etc., but peevish didacticism without fresh insight quickly becomes draining and ultimately repellent. He is unsubtle, often crude to the point of puerility, and lacking in both the acuity and generosity needed for rewarding reading. In my humble opinion, of course.

It’s the book of the season (if not the next three years), so go on and read it. I hope you find a place in your heart for Franzen that I lack.

-Review by Megan

Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens

2010-09-13T18:28:00.001-07:00

Christopher “Don’t Call Me Chris” Hitchens is a lover and a fighter, and the two sides hash it out in this superb memoir. We get deeply felt cheers for Auden, scotch, Marx, civil disobedience, Paul Wolfowitz, and the United States alongside scalding jeers for totalitarianism, organized religion, bullies, Michael Moore, narcotics, and the Clintons. With this in mind, I really don’t think there’s anybody out there who agrees with Hitch (yes, that’s what I call him) about everything, but his arguments always prompt deeper, revelatory thinking. The book also has plenty of vignettes both joyous and tragic, intellectual history (personal and otherwise), and--of course--fond reminiscences of famously brilliant friends.

Though Hitch states that he doesn’t have a gift for fiction, I can’t help but think that his facility with language and instinct for the subterranean would make for some thrillingly good novels. Then again, maybe he realized he doesn’t have to stoop to mere invention when he can instead regale us with turbo-literate remembrances of a big life saturated with wit, courage, absurdity, regret, and a profound sense of gratitude. Carry on then, Hitch; carry on.

-Review by Megan

Shall We Kiss?

2010-08-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Like romantic comedies, but find most recent offerings neither romantic nor comedic? Then say chin-chin to this bonbon!

I don’t want to give too much away, but the movie explores love as it pertains to the tyrannical triumvirate that is timing, chemistry, and morality. Lest this sound a bit severe, the film's offbeat humor and gaggle of elegant Gauls make it go down nice and easy.

So don’t give up yet; the delectable Shall We Kiss? might be just the movie you were looking for.

-Review by Megan

China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

2010-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Wasserstrom has a difficult task, but he mostly succeeds in providing a solid overview of looming, booming China. The first two-thirds are admirably focused and succinct, guiding the reader from Confucius to the Cultural Revolution. He meanders during the latter part of the book, condensing complicated events into overly long sentences, then adding clumsy parentheses to boot. I suppose such problems are only inevitable when using fewer than 200 pages to cover an incredibly vast subject.

This book won’t help you differentiate the periods of the Jin Dynasty, but it will probably provide you with some needed answers on a rather daunting topic.

-Review by Megan

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

2010-07-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Tom Rachman’s debut peels aways the glamour of a Roman locale and the glory of international journalism to reveal the static nuts and bolts of dysfunction.

A somewhat standard cast of characters (over-the-hill lush, icy/secretly vulnerable editrix, whip-smart singleton, bumbling naif, darling mensch, abrasive middle-aged dude with a suspiciously lovely younger girlfriend, etc.) comprise the staff of an unnamed English-language newspaper. Each chapter focuses on a different character that highlights their foibles, gripes, and merits. This structure proved appealing, especially since it managed to approximate action in that someone and their neuroses are always being introduced, then unceremoniously brushed aside to make room for the next. The prose is dialogue-heavy, which is all the better to show off Rachman’s deft, effervescent ear. Ultimately though, his facile observational style became mundane, and left this reader hoping for a character, plot, or idea to latch onto.

Although the book made a halfhearted attempt to describe the modest rise and sudden fall of a newspaper in the Internet Age, it has the emotional impact of a third-hand anecdote that allows one to be narrowly analytical and presumptuously accurate. Of course this dinky newspaper founded on the providential economic graces of the ‘50s will be unable to compete with technologically gluttonous conglomerates that provide instantaneous updates and the enterprising snark that is the domain of everybody with computer access! (Sheesh.)

To his credit, Rachman generally avoids sentimentalizing, so he must understand that his gift lies in buoyancy and earned sweetness. That makes me hopeful that his next outing will be like this one, but with a bit more ambition.

-Review by Megan

The City & The City By China Miéville

2010-06-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Miéville is one of the most highly-acclaimed fantasy writers working today, and, in fact, this novel was nominated for several prestigious fantasy/science fiction awards. And yet this is, ostensibly, a police procedural, and Miéville has stated that he was consciously working within the hard-boiled tradition typified by writers like Raymond Chandler. So has he totally abandoned fantasy or what?

Well, not entirely. Miéville has written a real crime novel, but he’s also mixed in some pretty weird stuff. The two titular cities are located in some vaguely-defined space on Europe’s Southeastern edge – somewhere near the Black Sea or the Balkans, perhaps. They are fictional cities, but, in most ways, they are not fantastic ones – they are, in fact, firmly grounded in the realities of crime and dirt and cell phones. However, these cities are neighbors – but not neighbors in any way that could ever really exist. The two cities, Beszel and Ul Qomo, are conjoined twins, occupying much of the same physical space. This block could be in Beszel, but the next block down might be in Ul Qomo. Some blocks might even be in both – which one you’re standing in depends on your perceptions, your ways of thinking. The separation between the cities is enforced by a mysterious, brutal organization known as Breach.

And, of course, the murder investigation at the center of this book spans both cities.

The concept behind this book would probably have been enough to keep me satisfied, but the writing’s also great, and Miéville throws in enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. Not quite a masterpiece, but almost.

-Review by Eric

The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis

2010-06-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Martin Amis’s new novel takes us to an Italian castle in 1970, where a bunch of collegiates convene to test out the tenets of the Sexual Revolution. The group consists of clever, feckless narrator Keith, his levelheaded girlfriend Lily, the mob-inducingly gorgeous Scheherazade, relentlessly amoral Gloria Beautyman, and Adriano—the showboating aristocrat who just happens to stand 4’10’’.

This is Martin Amis, so the magisterial turns of phrase and devastatingly acute observations keep the reader engaged, awed, humbled, and--finally--quiveringly envious. As always, Amis has plenty to say about a topic that few dare to touch. Nonetheless, plot is always a distant second to verbal pyrotechnics in Amis's world, and this proved to be something of an issue during the last sixty pages.

No, it’s not his best work, but it is still better than about ninety-nine per cent of everything I’ve read. Think of it as Jordan in '88: not his most illustrious season, but he could still throw down on anyone with haughty ease.

-Review by Megan