Morsels - A literary look at Massachusetts

Sunday’s Globe rounds up literary references to Boston. Literary Boston Neighborhoods includes Dennis Lehane, Roland Merullo and Nathaniel Hawthorne. There’s a handy map that accompanies the article.

From Revere Beach Boulevard:
“The language of racing felt like my true native tongue. And the track itself - Suffolk Downs, with salty breezes shifting in off the ocean, and the sweet smell of cigar smoke, and crowds of bettors … lining up at the windows - felt like my truest home, a place where the rules were as familiar to me as my own face in the mirror.”

The Times Travel section visits Provincetown – The Land and Words of Mary Oliver, the Bard of Provincetown. The story focuses on poet Mary Oliver and the inspiration she draws from Provincetown.

NY Times Gift Suggestions

The holidays are a great time to gather reading recommendations and gift ideas. Almost every publication has round up on best books of the years and/or gift guides

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The New York Times has several lists:

The Book Review’s Top 10 books of 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/10Best-t.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Michiko Kakutani's 10 Favorite Books of 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/2008holidayKakutani2.html?ref=arts

Janet Maslin’s 10 Favorite Books of 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/2008holidayMaslin.html?ref=arts

100 Notable Books of 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/100Notable-t.html?ref=arts

I haven’t delved too deeply into any of the “adult” lists, but was not wowed on my first pass through. I would like to read Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, which is currently with a stack of books I meant to read this year.

I also bought: Lincoln: The Biography of A Writer for my dad after reading about it. According to the Times, “This resonant biography looks at the role that Lincoln’s avid reading of the Bible, Shakespeare and other works played in shaping his gifts as a writer, and how his literary skills in turn helped him articulate — and promote — his vision of a new America rising from the ashes of the Civil War.”

Kids:

Best Illustrated Children’s Books 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/06/books/20081109ILLUSTRATEDBOOKS_index.html

Notable Children’s Books of 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/KidsNotable-t.html?ref=arts

The Times weighs in on Film Club

I always find it interesting to read a review after I’ve finished a book. Sometimes I enjoy it even more than reading it before the book because I’m entering the book without any preconceived notions or on the lookout for some perceived flaws.

I recently finished Film Club by David Gilmour, which overall I thought was a pleasant read. The Sunday Times book review tackled it this weekend.

Overall it’s a positive review with Douglas McGrath noting: “…it’s a heartfelt portrait of how hard it is to grow up, how hard it is to watch someone grow up and how in the midst of a family’s confusion and ire, there is sometimes nothing so welcome as a movie.”

I agreed with him that the book does stumble every once in awhile. I was also curious why Gilmour didn’t demand more from his son, say that he work part-time or pay for groceries.

McGrath also had troubles with some of Gilmour’s writing: “Gilmour has a fondness for simile that sometimes exceeds his gift for it.” I didn’t notice this as much, but I think if I re-read it, some of the wording might stick out at me more.

Home Screening - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/books/review/McGrath2-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin

Taking the Times to Task

Bitch Magazine has a piece about the New York Times book review section - Hard Times: At the New York Times Book Review, all the misogyny fit to print. In it, Sarah Seltzer argues that a majority of the reviews are written by men and a majority of the books reviewed are also written by men. She also claims that feminist books are usually poorly received.

Recently, Times editors—in both the daily paper and the Sunday section—have trotted out a particularly insidious formula for bashing feminist authors. First, hire a female reviewer to unleash misogynist tropes in her piece and then, lest she appear prejudiced against her own gender, throw in an illogical, contradictory statement about the importance of a less threatening version of feminism that isn’t so “polarizing,” “provocative,” or “strident.”

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From gossip blogger Ana Marie Cox’s review of Katha Pollitt’s Virginity or Death!: “Young, educated, and otherwise liberal women who might, in another era, have found themselves burning bras and raising their consciousness would rather be fitted for the right bra…and raising their credit limit. Katha Pollitt is the skunk at this Desperate Housewives–watching party.”

Side note: feminists taking to the street to burn their bras is a widely debunked myth.

According to Seltzer, none of the Time’s “Top five novels of 2007” was written by a woman and only 13 of 50 on the short list were written by women.

Whether you agree or not, this is interesting reading.

http://bitchmagazine.org/article/hard-times

Morsels

Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is a staple in most college’s introductory US history courses. In it, Zinn presents an alternative version of the United States focusing on our history from the view of the oppressed and overshadowed. For Zinn, history doesn’t belong to the victors.

Zinn is a Professor Emeritus in the Political Science Department at Boston University. He now has a graphic book coming out – A People’s History of American Empire. Apparently a documentary of A People’s History of the United States is also in the making.

A People's History of American Empire.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/gallery/040108_zinncartoons/

Howard Zinn tells history, in comic form
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_en_ot/book_review_people_s_history;_ylt=AnaaEl.i.DrzokDRz7ZnIrJREhkF

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/hh050408.html

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New York Times Book Review has a funny essay this week mocking the questions included in the backs of books these days – There Will Be a Quiz.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/books/review/Queenan-t.html?_r=1&ref=review&oref=slogin

Often the questions drift away from the book itself, as in one I read vis-à-vis “Pride and Prejudice”: “Have you ever seen a movie version in which the woman playing Jane was, as Austen imagined her, truly more beautiful than the woman playing Elizabeth? Who doesn’t love Elizabeth Bennett?!!”

He even takes a crack at writing his own odd ball questions.

If it took Odysseus 10 years to make a short trip across a microscopic body of water, why does everyone in “The Odyssey” keep insisting he’s so smart?

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The Boston Globe released its picks for best books of 2007. I don’t want to sound critical, but it seems odd to release this in April.

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/gallery/2007_best_of/

Their picks include On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan, Cheating at Canasta – William Trevor, and Brother, I'm Dying - Edwidge Danticat. I have to add Danticat’s memoir to my must read list.

I only read one book in the Globe’s list. For additional reading suggestions, I would recommend The Dew Breaker by Danticat or The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor.

Horton Hears a Backlash?

Horton Hears a Who has stirred up some discussion following a recent NPR piece -- Gender Inequity in 'Whoville'. After taking his daughters to see Horton, Peter Sagal wonders why if the mayor has 96 daughters and one son, it’s the son who saves the day.

“In a new subplot added by the filmmakers, the mayor of Whoville has 96 daughters. He has one son. Guess who gets all his attention? Guess who saves the day? Go ahead, think about it, I'll wait.”

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“And there's this — not only does the movie end with father and son embracing, while the 96 daughters are, I guess, playing in a well, somewhere, but the son earns his father's love by saving the world. Boys get to save the world, and girls get to stand there and say, I knew you could do it. How did they know he could do it? Maybe because they watched every other movie ever made?”

Some might say, ‘relax, it’s a children’s movie based on a Dr. Seuss book, for pete’s sake.”

But why does the girl rarely save the day in children’s movies? Take a minute to think about it. The Disney princesses: Waiting to be rescued. If I recall correctly the Little Mermaid had to give up being a mermaid for her true love (although in the original fairy tale, she dies). If woman aren’t helpless, they’re the wicked stepmother, or the deceased/ murdered/ eaten mother. Bambi’s mother? Shot. Little Nemo’s mom? Eaten.

Another recent movie, The Bee Movie, starred Jerry Seinfeld as a male honey bee. However, apparently the honey bees that do the duties of the hive – collecting honey, etc. – are typically female bees.

Sweeping aside those issues is there enough grist in Horton Hears a Who for a movie? Why not create entirely new stories instead of mining the children’s cannon for fodder.

There are great kids movies out there that are fun and creative. Movies like The Incredibles where the entire family saves the day. And there are the wonderful movies of Studio Ghibil, in which strong young girls get to save the day too. If you want to show your daughters, and sons, imaginative movies with beautiful animation, I’d recommend Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service or My Neighbor Totoro.

In Hollywood Hives, the Males Rule, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/science/13angi.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=sloginhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/science/13angi.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Gender Inequality in Whoville, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89318829

Literary Links

There are a lot of great book-related blogs out there. I decided to break my favorites into two categories -- traditional and reader/writer generated.

Part I: Traditional

Amazon’s Omnivoracious

http://www.omnivoracious.com/

Written by Amazon’s book editors, the blog features Q&As, news, and reviews. I think it’s a fair assessment to say Amazon has completely altered the way books are sold and helped revolutionize ecommerce. What I like about this blog is that they discuss so many different types of literature – scifi, graphic novels, childrens lit and more. They also have a regular round up on book reviews every Monday.

New York Times Paper Cuts

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/

This is written by the book review editors. I enjoy their playlist feature where authors discuss some of their favorite songs. I hate to admit it but most times there are a lot of artists I’ve never heard of.

Washington Post Short Stack

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/shortstack/

Every week, the Book World picks five favorite books and discusses them. The latest post discusses five fictional novels based on real-life historical mysteries or puzzles. It was a good reminder to me – I’ve been meaning to read The Daughter of Time for years. Library time!