TBR Photo Contest!
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Monthly Archives: July 2008
Parenting, Inc by Pamela Paul
Synopsis: An overview of the craze for consumption that has overtaken American parents. Review: I would’ve read Parenting, Inc even if I didn’t have a baby, because I find spenders (and hoarders, too) to be endlessly fascinating. I’ve also been interested in child development since I was in high school, and of course as a new mother I was really curious to see what Pamela Paul discovered about the baby industry. Surprise, surprise–people will say anything to make money! And parents are more than willing…
Button, Button by Richard Matheson
Synopsis: A collection of short stories by a preeminent contributor to “The Twilight Zone.” Review: Button, Button is an uneven bit of business, purporting to highlight the very best of Richard Matheson’s “Uncanny Stories.” Some are good, one is spectacular, but others have not aged well. First, the good: “Button, Button” exhibits a flawless “Twilight Zone” concept and execution. Apparently a Cameron Diaz movie based on it is coming soon. Seems like a bad idea to me. The genius of the story demands a smallness…
John Holt on Learning to Read
From Learning All the Time: There are two diametrically opposite ways of opening to children the world of books. One was is to start them with the names and sounds of individual letters, then with small words, then with small groups of these words joined to make small sentences, then with small reading books, and then other books, each a little harder than the one before, until the children supposedly have enough reading skills to read any book they want. The trouble is that by…
The Sister by Poppy Adams
Synopsis: When elderly Ginny’s sister returns home for the first time since she was a girl, old memories surface that threaten Ginny’s carefully ordered existence. Review: I’m incredibly thankful for the Queens Library for getting The Sister to me so quickly–I can’t remember the last time I read a book so recently published. The review in the New York Times made me think that it’d satisfy my aching desire for more books like Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. Gothic intrigue. Family secrets. Opaque narration. Superfast…
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
Synopsis: Accused of murder, a troubled young woman tries to piece together the odd facets of her life, starting with her supposed immaculate conception. Review: The chapters in Madapple alternate between a teasingly opaque courtroom case, and defendant Aslaug’s reminiscences about life with her disturbed mother and eventual reunion with her long lost aunt and cousins. Nothing about Aslaug’s life has been ordinary. Her mother claimed that Aslaug had no father because she had never had a lover. She raised Aslaug in the woods, among…
Before We Get Started by Bret Lott
Synopsis: An author’s memoir of the writing life. Review: Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having my work ripped to shreds at a workshop led by Bret Lott. I say “pleasure” because (a) he was right, and (b) he made it fun. I knew from reading Before We Get Started that I’d respect his opinion, but what I didn’t know was that I’d enjoy the time as much as I did My favorite takeaway from Lott’s book is that art that endures has some element…
Jewel by Bret Lott
Synopsis: A mother’s love is tested when she gives birth in 1943 to a daughter who is, in the lingua franca, is a “Mongolian Idiot.” Review: I picked up Jewel because I’m going to be participating in a writing workshop on Thursday led by Bret Lott. I figured I would read Jewel because it was the book picked for Oprah’s Book Club, and therefore his most well-known work. The book follows the life of Jewel, a Southern woman born in 1904 who spent her formative…