Books Acquired Recently
Bannon, Ann. The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1995.
I found this used at Better World Books in Goshen, Indiana. It includes four of Bannon's Beebo Brinker novels: Odd Girl Out (1957), I Am A Woman (1959), Women in the Shadows (1959), and Beebo Brinker (1962). I've read Beebo Brinker before and really enjoyed it because it gives a non-condemning view of lesbianism and is thus an essential early text in LGBT literature. I am a total sucker for omnibus volumes like this one, and it was only $5.98, so I had to buy it even though I am trying not to buy more books before I move at the end of July.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Tree of Codes. 2nd ed. London: Visual Editions, 2011.
I am so excited to finally get this book! I ordered it in January when I first heard about it, and amazon claimed to have it in stock, but didn't because the first printing (called the first edition by the publisher, and the copy I have is labelled the "second edition" on the copyright page, but as far as I know it is the same text as the first; that is, it should be labelled the "second printing," not "edition") had already sold out. Copies of it were selling for hundreds of dollars. Once the second printing came out amazon fulfilled my order at their original price, $26, which is a great deal since the cover price is $40. I love Foer's work, and I love postmodern fiction, including his, so I am super-excited to see what he does with Tree of Codes, which has cut-outs on every page so that the words from other pages become part of the story of the page one is reading at the moment. It is as much an art object as it is a novel.
Showing posts with label Books Acquired Recently. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books Acquired Recently. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently
Beachy, Kirsten Eve, ed. Tongue Screws and Testimonies: Poems Stories, and Essays Inspired by the Martyrs Mirror. Scottdale: Herald, 2010.
I've been meaning to buy this for a while. The Martyrs Mirror is a compilation of Anabaptist martyr stories first published in 1660. It is traditionally given as a wedding or graduation gift by Mennonites as a way of passing down Mennonite values to younger generations. I received it as a Christmas present when I was 16 and read my way through it over several years (it is 1300 folio-sized pages long). I have always been fascinated by it; I think an anthology of literature inspired by people's interactions with it is an excellent idea, and I know several of the contributors, so I am very excited to read it.
Brandt, Di. Walking to Mojacar. Winnipeg: Turnstone, 2010.
Brandt is one of my favorite poets. Her language crackles with energy, and her poems are unashamedly activist while at the same time being beautifully crafted. Unfortunately, as a Canadian, she is not well-known in the U.S., which is a failing of the American English teaching community. There is generally not an institutional space for Canadian literature to get taught in the U.S. because most departments are too small to offer courses in it (and there might not be student interest, but it is our job as teachers/critics to build this interest), and Canadian writers tend to get ignored in postcolonial literature courses. As a result, it is virtually impossible for Canadian writers to gain any traction in the U.S. unless they are lucky enough to be published in high-profile venues such as the New Yorker, as is the case with Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro.
Schakel, Peter, and Jack Ridl, eds. 250 Poems: A Portable Anthology. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.
I ordered this as a desk copy because I will be using it in my Introduction to Literature course this coming semester. It has a nice selection of poems from the Renaissance throught the twenty-first century, a range that is difficult to find. Incidentally, Jack Ridl gave a reading at my alma mater, Goshen College, my last year there. I enjoyed his work.
Beachy, Kirsten Eve, ed. Tongue Screws and Testimonies: Poems Stories, and Essays Inspired by the Martyrs Mirror. Scottdale: Herald, 2010.
I've been meaning to buy this for a while. The Martyrs Mirror is a compilation of Anabaptist martyr stories first published in 1660. It is traditionally given as a wedding or graduation gift by Mennonites as a way of passing down Mennonite values to younger generations. I received it as a Christmas present when I was 16 and read my way through it over several years (it is 1300 folio-sized pages long). I have always been fascinated by it; I think an anthology of literature inspired by people's interactions with it is an excellent idea, and I know several of the contributors, so I am very excited to read it.
Brandt, Di. Walking to Mojacar. Winnipeg: Turnstone, 2010.
Brandt is one of my favorite poets. Her language crackles with energy, and her poems are unashamedly activist while at the same time being beautifully crafted. Unfortunately, as a Canadian, she is not well-known in the U.S., which is a failing of the American English teaching community. There is generally not an institutional space for Canadian literature to get taught in the U.S. because most departments are too small to offer courses in it (and there might not be student interest, but it is our job as teachers/critics to build this interest), and Canadian writers tend to get ignored in postcolonial literature courses. As a result, it is virtually impossible for Canadian writers to gain any traction in the U.S. unless they are lucky enough to be published in high-profile venues such as the New Yorker, as is the case with Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro.
Schakel, Peter, and Jack Ridl, eds. 250 Poems: A Portable Anthology. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.
I ordered this as a desk copy because I will be using it in my Introduction to Literature course this coming semester. It has a nice selection of poems from the Renaissance throught the twenty-first century, a range that is difficult to find. Incidentally, Jack Ridl gave a reading at my alma mater, Goshen College, my last year there. I enjoyed his work.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Book Recently Acquired
Book Recently Acquired
Cooke, Joanne, Charlotte Bunch-Weeks, and Robin Morgan, eds. The New Women: An Anthology of Women's Liberation. 1970. Greenwich: Fawcett, 1971.
I picked this up used from the free book table at school. I love old anthologies like this (especially from the various liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s) because of their value as historical texts. I like to see what people were thinking, who was thinking it, how many of the thinkers are still relevant (or, at least, have kept publishing their thoughts [a crasser way of putting this is "who have I heard of, and what are the reasons I haven't heard of the others?"]) today? I have only heard of a few of the authors--Cynthia Ozick, Diane Di Prima, Rita Mae Brown, and Robin Morgan--but the questions listed on the back cover that the anthology addresses are still relevant today: "Why are we intimidated by the fashion and beauty industries? Why do we have to get married? Why do we have to have children? Why are we paid lower wages for doing the same work as men?" and so on. It is always nice to be reminded of the concrete issues and demands raised by second-wave feminism every once in a while even though I am more of a third-wave thinker.
There is also an essay by W.I.T.C.H (Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). I love the old collectives from those days and wish more activists/writers would adopt the model. I am a sucker for manifestos, and collectives are usually the best sources of them. I especially appreciate the effort to come up with an organizational name that results in a meaningful acronym.
Cooke, Joanne, Charlotte Bunch-Weeks, and Robin Morgan, eds. The New Women: An Anthology of Women's Liberation. 1970. Greenwich: Fawcett, 1971.
I picked this up used from the free book table at school. I love old anthologies like this (especially from the various liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s) because of their value as historical texts. I like to see what people were thinking, who was thinking it, how many of the thinkers are still relevant (or, at least, have kept publishing their thoughts [a crasser way of putting this is "who have I heard of, and what are the reasons I haven't heard of the others?"]) today? I have only heard of a few of the authors--Cynthia Ozick, Diane Di Prima, Rita Mae Brown, and Robin Morgan--but the questions listed on the back cover that the anthology addresses are still relevant today: "Why are we intimidated by the fashion and beauty industries? Why do we have to get married? Why do we have to have children? Why are we paid lower wages for doing the same work as men?" and so on. It is always nice to be reminded of the concrete issues and demands raised by second-wave feminism every once in a while even though I am more of a third-wave thinker.
There is also an essay by W.I.T.C.H (Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). I love the old collectives from those days and wish more activists/writers would adopt the model. I am a sucker for manifestos, and collectives are usually the best sources of them. I especially appreciate the effort to come up with an organizational name that results in a meaningful acronym.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently
I received a $50.00 giftcard to Barnes & Noble from a friend this past weekend and finally got a chance to spend it tonight. My philosophy in such situations is to spend the giftcard in the store rather than online (where I buy the large majority of my books [in part because DeKalb doesn't have any good bookstores]) in order to periodically get the satisfying experience of browsing in a bookstore without a specific goal for what I will purchase. Unfortunately, my library is extensive enough that it can be difficult to find desirable books that I don't already own at chain bookstores. I am happy with what I found this evening, but what I bought was all that I found--slim pickings.
Burroughs, William S. Naked Lunch: The Restored Text. Ed. James Grauerholz and Barry Miles. 1959. New York: Grove, 2001.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. It's a little embarrassing that I haven't gotten around to it yet. I looked for it every time I have been in a used bookstore for the past year or so and didn't find a copy, which could indicate that those who own it are loathe to part with it, a good sign (I had the same experience with Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club for about five years, and finally broke down and bought it new several months ago).
Dick, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. 1962. New York: Vintage, 1992.
Dick is another author I've been meaning to read for a while. I have almost bought the Library of America's first collection of his work several times because their editions are so aesthetically pleasing, but haven't been able to find it for a good price ($35.00 is a bit steep for an author I've never read before and am not obligated to be familiar with for scholarly reasons). After reading the section on Dick in Thomas Disch's The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of, I decided that The Man in the High Castle sounded fascinating, but the rest of his work did not, thus I decided to buy the single volume tonight rather than the collection.
When I had a vasectomy six years ago, the doctor knew that I studied literature, and he mentioned that he enjoyed reading Dick and then proceeded to make jokes about him throughout the procedure: "I love Dick," "I'm a big Dick fan," et cetera. One of the most bizarre experiences of my life.
Reed, Ishmael, ed. From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002. New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2003.
I am obsessed with poetry anthologies in part because of their role in canon formation and in part because they serve as intriguing historical documents once they get old because of all of the writers included in them who then fade away. This one looked exciting on the shelf: an editor whose work I love and parameters (both in terms of ethnicity/nationality and genre--I am a big supporter of the recent trend in studying music lyrics, especially rap lyrics, as poetry) that are not repeated by any of the other anthologies I own. I've been reading much more poetry in the last six months than I had for at least five years, really craving it again, which has been quite enjoyable.
I received a $50.00 giftcard to Barnes & Noble from a friend this past weekend and finally got a chance to spend it tonight. My philosophy in such situations is to spend the giftcard in the store rather than online (where I buy the large majority of my books [in part because DeKalb doesn't have any good bookstores]) in order to periodically get the satisfying experience of browsing in a bookstore without a specific goal for what I will purchase. Unfortunately, my library is extensive enough that it can be difficult to find desirable books that I don't already own at chain bookstores. I am happy with what I found this evening, but what I bought was all that I found--slim pickings.
Burroughs, William S. Naked Lunch: The Restored Text. Ed. James Grauerholz and Barry Miles. 1959. New York: Grove, 2001.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. It's a little embarrassing that I haven't gotten around to it yet. I looked for it every time I have been in a used bookstore for the past year or so and didn't find a copy, which could indicate that those who own it are loathe to part with it, a good sign (I had the same experience with Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club for about five years, and finally broke down and bought it new several months ago).
Dick, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. 1962. New York: Vintage, 1992.
Dick is another author I've been meaning to read for a while. I have almost bought the Library of America's first collection of his work several times because their editions are so aesthetically pleasing, but haven't been able to find it for a good price ($35.00 is a bit steep for an author I've never read before and am not obligated to be familiar with for scholarly reasons). After reading the section on Dick in Thomas Disch's The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of, I decided that The Man in the High Castle sounded fascinating, but the rest of his work did not, thus I decided to buy the single volume tonight rather than the collection.
When I had a vasectomy six years ago, the doctor knew that I studied literature, and he mentioned that he enjoyed reading Dick and then proceeded to make jokes about him throughout the procedure: "I love Dick," "I'm a big Dick fan," et cetera. One of the most bizarre experiences of my life.
Reed, Ishmael, ed. From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002. New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2003.
I am obsessed with poetry anthologies in part because of their role in canon formation and in part because they serve as intriguing historical documents once they get old because of all of the writers included in them who then fade away. This one looked exciting on the shelf: an editor whose work I love and parameters (both in terms of ethnicity/nationality and genre--I am a big supporter of the recent trend in studying music lyrics, especially rap lyrics, as poetry) that are not repeated by any of the other anthologies I own. I've been reading much more poetry in the last six months than I had for at least five years, really craving it again, which has been quite enjoyable.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Miscellany
The combination of blogger.com being down for a few days last week and a very busy weekend hosting family has led to me not posting for nearly a week, so today's entry is wide-ranging.
I was listening a bit to the Rolling Stones the other day and was struck by the oddness of "Mother's Little Helper." What possessed Mick Jagger to write this song? Why did he, the epitome of (packaged, mainstream) nonconformity and a heavy drug user, feel the need to sing about the dangers of housewives abusing drugs and the rise of pre-packaged food products? It's bizarre.
Manchester United's clinching of their 19th league championship (12 in the Premiership and seven in the old First Division) on Saturday was incredibly satisfying. I fancy their chances of winning the Champions League final against Barcelona more than most (and not just because I am a United fan). All of the pressure will be on Barcelona, and the final is at Wembley! Don't underestimate the "home" advantage for United, as well as all of the ghosts from their 1968 European Cup win, also at Wembley. Plus the revenge factor from losing to Barcelona in the 2009 final. United have all of the intangibles on their side, and they have shown throughout Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure that they know how to use intangibles to their utmost advantage.
I just finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death, a science fiction/fantasy narrative that is a pastiche of themes from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Dave Eggers's What is the What. It does not explicitly acknowledge that it is an allegory of the genocide in Sudan until the very end, though this correlation is obvious from the very beginning. It was a fun read, not especially accomplished technically, but interesting as a fictionalized response to real-world catastrophe, which is an area of scholarly interest for me.
Books Acquired Recently
Dlugos, Tim. A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos. Ed. David Trinidad. Callicoon: Nightboat, 2011.
I wrote last month about how I enjoy Dlugos because of his similarity to Frank O'Hara, and sure enough, the first blurb on the back of the book is Ted Berrigan calling Dlugos "the Frank O'Hara of his generation." The back cover also claims that Dlugos is "a major American poet," which at this point is just wishful thinking, but it is a statement that deserves to be true. It also calls him the "seminal poet of the AIDS epidemic," ha ha.
Toews, Miriam. The Flying Troutmans. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2008.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. I really enjoyed Toews's previous novel, A Complicated Kindness, and am interested to see what she does with characters that (as far as I can tell from reading about the book) are not Mennonite. Toews is also excellent as Esther in the film Silent Light, which is probably the best movie about Mennonites/Amish, beating both Witness and Hazel's People.
I was listening a bit to the Rolling Stones the other day and was struck by the oddness of "Mother's Little Helper." What possessed Mick Jagger to write this song? Why did he, the epitome of (packaged, mainstream) nonconformity and a heavy drug user, feel the need to sing about the dangers of housewives abusing drugs and the rise of pre-packaged food products? It's bizarre.
Manchester United's clinching of their 19th league championship (12 in the Premiership and seven in the old First Division) on Saturday was incredibly satisfying. I fancy their chances of winning the Champions League final against Barcelona more than most (and not just because I am a United fan). All of the pressure will be on Barcelona, and the final is at Wembley! Don't underestimate the "home" advantage for United, as well as all of the ghosts from their 1968 European Cup win, also at Wembley. Plus the revenge factor from losing to Barcelona in the 2009 final. United have all of the intangibles on their side, and they have shown throughout Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure that they know how to use intangibles to their utmost advantage.
I just finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death, a science fiction/fantasy narrative that is a pastiche of themes from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Dave Eggers's What is the What. It does not explicitly acknowledge that it is an allegory of the genocide in Sudan until the very end, though this correlation is obvious from the very beginning. It was a fun read, not especially accomplished technically, but interesting as a fictionalized response to real-world catastrophe, which is an area of scholarly interest for me.
Books Acquired Recently
Dlugos, Tim. A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos. Ed. David Trinidad. Callicoon: Nightboat, 2011.
I wrote last month about how I enjoy Dlugos because of his similarity to Frank O'Hara, and sure enough, the first blurb on the back of the book is Ted Berrigan calling Dlugos "the Frank O'Hara of his generation." The back cover also claims that Dlugos is "a major American poet," which at this point is just wishful thinking, but it is a statement that deserves to be true. It also calls him the "seminal poet of the AIDS epidemic," ha ha.
Toews, Miriam. The Flying Troutmans. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2008.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. I really enjoyed Toews's previous novel, A Complicated Kindness, and am interested to see what she does with characters that (as far as I can tell from reading about the book) are not Mennonite. Toews is also excellent as Esther in the film Silent Light, which is probably the best movie about Mennonites/Amish, beating both Witness and Hazel's People.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Books Acquired Recently (continued)
As I was writing the previous post this morning, the mailman (gendered term used intentionally because it actually was a man today) delivered three more book packages that I didn't have time to open until this evening:
Fox, Robert Elliot. Conscientious Sorcerers: The Black Postmodernist Fiction of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Samuel R. Delany. Westport: Greenwood, 1987.
I used this book a lot during my dissertation and decided to buy my own copy because Fox is one of the few critics to examine Delany's The Tides of Lust in-depth, which is one of the novels that I will study in my next book.
Sallis, James, ed. Ash of Stars: On the Writing of Samuel R. Delany. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1996.
Another book that was helpful for the Delany chapter of my dissertation and will also come in handy for my next project.
Weedman, Jane Branham. Samuel R. Delany. Mercer Island: Starmont, 1982.
Rounding out my collection of Delany criticism.
Fox, Robert Elliot. Conscientious Sorcerers: The Black Postmodernist Fiction of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Samuel R. Delany. Westport: Greenwood, 1987.
I used this book a lot during my dissertation and decided to buy my own copy because Fox is one of the few critics to examine Delany's The Tides of Lust in-depth, which is one of the novels that I will study in my next book.
Sallis, James, ed. Ash of Stars: On the Writing of Samuel R. Delany. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1996.
Another book that was helpful for the Delany chapter of my dissertation and will also come in handy for my next project.
Weedman, Jane Branham. Samuel R. Delany. Mercer Island: Starmont, 1982.
Rounding out my collection of Delany criticism.
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently:
I've gone a little crazy buying books in the past few weeks. Not all of them have even arrived yet! These are the ones I've received so far.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks. Ed. Elizabeth Alexander. New York: Library of America, 2005.
I would love to teach Brooks extensively sometime rather than just a few poems from an anthology, but her Selected Poems does not include any of her work from the Black Arts Movement, which is what I am most interested in, so I ordered this collection to see if it would be suitable to use instead because it covers her entire career.
Germano, William. From Dissertation to Book. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2005.
My big writing project this summer is to revise my dissertation into book form so that I can begin submitting book proposals to publishers. I read Germano's book last night and it was quite helpful in giving me a map for going about my revisions.
Johnson, E. Patrick, and Mae G. Henderson, eds. Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology. Durham: Duke UP, 2005.
Amazon recommended this to me, and it looks interesting. African American literature and LGBT studies are my two scholarly foci these days, so this should be a helpful resource.
Koch, Kenneth. Kenneth Koch: Selected Poems. Ed. Ron Padgett. New York: Library of America, 2007.
I've been meaning to read Koch for years because of his close friendship with my favorite poet, Frank O'Hara. There have been numerous times in the past few years when I've almost bought this collection, but then didn't. Labyrinth Books had it on sale for $6.00 new, so I decided now was the time.
McEvoy, Seth. Samuel R. Delany. New York: Ungar, 1984.
My next book project is on Delany, so last week I ordered copies of all of the books on him that I didn't already own. Delany says in About Writing that McEvoy's book is the worst one about his work, so I won't use it much (if at all), but I like to be throrough. There is little enough criticism on Delany that one can't be choosy.
Moore, Honor, ed. Poems From the Women's Movement. New York: Library of America, 2009.
This looked really interesting when I saw it in the Labyrinth Books catalogue, and it was only $6.00. It might be fun to teach in a Rhetoric course. I am a total sucker for Library of America books because they are so aesthetically pleasing.
Puar, Jasbir K. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham: Duke UP, 2007.
Amazon recommended this to me after I ordered Johnson and Henderson's anthology. I am very much interested in the literature of terrorism and more broadly the continuing after-effects of 9/11, so Puar's book sounds very interesting to me, though I probably won't have time to read it for a while.
Stine, Jean Marie. Season of the Witch. 1968. San Francisco: Eros, 2011.
I read about Stine's book in Thomas Disch's The Dreams our Stuff is Made Of, and it sounded interesting. I am constantly looking for examples of transgender fiction, and they are few and far between, so Stine helps fill the gap.
I've gone a little crazy buying books in the past few weeks. Not all of them have even arrived yet! These are the ones I've received so far.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks. Ed. Elizabeth Alexander. New York: Library of America, 2005.
I would love to teach Brooks extensively sometime rather than just a few poems from an anthology, but her Selected Poems does not include any of her work from the Black Arts Movement, which is what I am most interested in, so I ordered this collection to see if it would be suitable to use instead because it covers her entire career.
Germano, William. From Dissertation to Book. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2005.
My big writing project this summer is to revise my dissertation into book form so that I can begin submitting book proposals to publishers. I read Germano's book last night and it was quite helpful in giving me a map for going about my revisions.
Johnson, E. Patrick, and Mae G. Henderson, eds. Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology. Durham: Duke UP, 2005.
Amazon recommended this to me, and it looks interesting. African American literature and LGBT studies are my two scholarly foci these days, so this should be a helpful resource.
Koch, Kenneth. Kenneth Koch: Selected Poems. Ed. Ron Padgett. New York: Library of America, 2007.
I've been meaning to read Koch for years because of his close friendship with my favorite poet, Frank O'Hara. There have been numerous times in the past few years when I've almost bought this collection, but then didn't. Labyrinth Books had it on sale for $6.00 new, so I decided now was the time.
McEvoy, Seth. Samuel R. Delany. New York: Ungar, 1984.
My next book project is on Delany, so last week I ordered copies of all of the books on him that I didn't already own. Delany says in About Writing that McEvoy's book is the worst one about his work, so I won't use it much (if at all), but I like to be throrough. There is little enough criticism on Delany that one can't be choosy.
Moore, Honor, ed. Poems From the Women's Movement. New York: Library of America, 2009.
This looked really interesting when I saw it in the Labyrinth Books catalogue, and it was only $6.00. It might be fun to teach in a Rhetoric course. I am a total sucker for Library of America books because they are so aesthetically pleasing.
Puar, Jasbir K. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham: Duke UP, 2007.
Amazon recommended this to me after I ordered Johnson and Henderson's anthology. I am very much interested in the literature of terrorism and more broadly the continuing after-effects of 9/11, so Puar's book sounds very interesting to me, though I probably won't have time to read it for a while.
Stine, Jean Marie. Season of the Witch. 1968. San Francisco: Eros, 2011.
I read about Stine's book in Thomas Disch's The Dreams our Stuff is Made Of, and it sounded interesting. I am constantly looking for examples of transgender fiction, and they are few and far between, so Stine helps fill the gap.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently (in the order I acquired them):
Disch, Thomas M. The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World. 1998. New York: Touchstone, 2000.
A friend who knows that in the past several years I've been beginning to explore the world of science fiction (mostly as a result of reading Samuel R. Delany) gave this to me. It looks pretty interesting, though I have a rather sizeable stack of other things to read first, including the rest of the books mentioned in this post. I've read Disch's Camp Concentration and generally liked it as an anti-war statement/indictment of the American police state, though it wasn't spectacular aesthetically.
Humphreys, Laud. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. 2nd ed. 1975. New Brunswick: AldineTransaction, 2009.
I first read this during my senior year of college, and it changed my life. The model of non-monogamous, anonymous sex it documents was completely new to me at the time, and it helped to open my eyes to just how important-while-being-commonplace sex is. It also helped me in my long journey to acknowledge that my sexual attraction to men is legitimate. Furthermore, the book prepared a conceptual framework which gave me a base from which to encounter and appreciate writers such as Delany and John Rechy, who have become essential for me.
Delany, Samuel R. Trouble on Triton. 1976. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1996.
I'm re-reading this for a paper that I am working on, so I decided to get the edition that is currently in print rather than using my old Bantam edition. I am also thinking about teaching it next year. Usually when I teach Delany's science fiction I teach Babel-17, but I am getting a little tired of it. My problem is that the Delany novels I love the most and/or find the most interesting (e.g., in no particular order, The Mad Man, Dhalgren, Equinox, The Tale of Plagues and Carnivals) are generally either too explicit or too complicated/long (or all three) to teach to undergraduates. Trouble on Triton might be an acceptable compromise.
Tucker, Jeffrey Allen. A Sense of Wonder: Samuel R. Delany, Race, Identity, and Difference. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 2004.
This is also for the paper I am writing. I read pieces of it while researching my dissertation, but am now ready to interact with it fully.
Disch, Thomas M. The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World. 1998. New York: Touchstone, 2000.
A friend who knows that in the past several years I've been beginning to explore the world of science fiction (mostly as a result of reading Samuel R. Delany) gave this to me. It looks pretty interesting, though I have a rather sizeable stack of other things to read first, including the rest of the books mentioned in this post. I've read Disch's Camp Concentration and generally liked it as an anti-war statement/indictment of the American police state, though it wasn't spectacular aesthetically.
Humphreys, Laud. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. 2nd ed. 1975. New Brunswick: AldineTransaction, 2009.
I first read this during my senior year of college, and it changed my life. The model of non-monogamous, anonymous sex it documents was completely new to me at the time, and it helped to open my eyes to just how important-while-being-commonplace sex is. It also helped me in my long journey to acknowledge that my sexual attraction to men is legitimate. Furthermore, the book prepared a conceptual framework which gave me a base from which to encounter and appreciate writers such as Delany and John Rechy, who have become essential for me.
Delany, Samuel R. Trouble on Triton. 1976. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1996.
I'm re-reading this for a paper that I am working on, so I decided to get the edition that is currently in print rather than using my old Bantam edition. I am also thinking about teaching it next year. Usually when I teach Delany's science fiction I teach Babel-17, but I am getting a little tired of it. My problem is that the Delany novels I love the most and/or find the most interesting (e.g., in no particular order, The Mad Man, Dhalgren, Equinox, The Tale of Plagues and Carnivals) are generally either too explicit or too complicated/long (or all three) to teach to undergraduates. Trouble on Triton might be an acceptable compromise.
Tucker, Jeffrey Allen. A Sense of Wonder: Samuel R. Delany, Race, Identity, and Difference. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 2004.
This is also for the paper I am writing. I read pieces of it while researching my dissertation, but am now ready to interact with it fully.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Books Acquired Recently/update
Books Acquired Recently (in the order I got them)
Robert Herrick. The Works of Robert Herrick. amazon.com
National SCRABBLE Association Official Tournament and Club Word List. wordgear.com
Joe Edley and John Williams, Jr. Everything SCRABBLE. Borders
As the last two titles indicate, I've been spending lots of time playing Scrabulous on facebook. The semester ends next week, and then I will begin writing more frequently again.
Robert Herrick. The Works of Robert Herrick. amazon.com
National SCRABBLE Association Official Tournament and Club Word List. wordgear.com
Joe Edley and John Williams, Jr. Everything SCRABBLE. Borders
As the last two titles indicate, I've been spending lots of time playing Scrabulous on facebook. The semester ends next week, and then I will begin writing more frequently again.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Update/Books Acquired Recently
Well, it's been half a month since I last wrote. Part of this delay has been because I've been spending oodles of time on facebook, but mostly my lack of blogging activity is due to an increase in end-of-semester schoolwork. I will begin writing more frequently again once the school year ends after the first week of May.
In the interim, the most exciting thing that has happened is that I got an OED! I'm using it to write a paper on the high number (189) of first usages in Robert Herrick's poetry.
Books Acquired Recently
Frank O'Hara. Selected Poems. amazon.com
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. amazon.com
In the interim, the most exciting thing that has happened is that I got an OED! I'm using it to write a paper on the high number (189) of first usages in Robert Herrick's poetry.
Books Acquired Recently
Frank O'Hara. Selected Poems. amazon.com
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. amazon.com
Sunday, April 6, 2008
An encouraging poetry reading/Books Acquired Recently
This past Friday (4 April 2008) I attended a poetry reading at Northern Illinois University featuring John Bradley, Lucien Stryk, and the current Illinois Poet Laureate, Kevin Stein. The reading was packed, probably close to two hundred people were there, enough that some people had to stand in the back the entire time.
I have heard Bradley read before, and I enjoy listening to him talk about his poems because they often include uncommon-yet-fascinating subject matter, e.g., he has a poem about footnotes.
I have heard a lot about Stryk and about how his poetry is life-changingly influential in many people's lives, but had never read any of his poetry or heard him read before. Sadly, he is old enough now that he could only get his words out at a very slow pace, which hurt the ability of his poems to make much of an impact on the audience if they were not already familiar with his work. I was at a reading three years ago in which W.S. Merwin had the same problem; it just comes with the territory of getting old. But if you are that old and people still want to hear you read your poetry, I guess that is not such a bad way to go.
Quite frankly, I had never heard of Stein before, and I almost laughed when I found out that he is Gwendolyn Brooks' successor. It seems that there would be another poet in Illinois who is more deserving of the honor (Li-Young Lee, anyone?). But once Stein got through his annoyingly self-serving spiel about all he does as poet laureate and began reading his poems, I was rather impressed, enough so that I bought a copy of his latest collection, American Ghost Roses. My favorite Stein poem was "An American Tale of Sex and Death," which includes a description of "Olivia Hussey's / olive chest splashed on screen, each breast maybe / four feet across and deeply cleaved" in Romeo and Juliet. In fifth grade my teacher had us watch Romeo and Juliet because it was the class play for that year (I was Lord Capulet), and I remember when Hussey's breasts flashed on the screen it was breathtaking.
Book Acquired Recently
Kevin Stein, American Ghost Roses.
I have heard Bradley read before, and I enjoy listening to him talk about his poems because they often include uncommon-yet-fascinating subject matter, e.g., he has a poem about footnotes.
I have heard a lot about Stryk and about how his poetry is life-changingly influential in many people's lives, but had never read any of his poetry or heard him read before. Sadly, he is old enough now that he could only get his words out at a very slow pace, which hurt the ability of his poems to make much of an impact on the audience if they were not already familiar with his work. I was at a reading three years ago in which W.S. Merwin had the same problem; it just comes with the territory of getting old. But if you are that old and people still want to hear you read your poetry, I guess that is not such a bad way to go.
Quite frankly, I had never heard of Stein before, and I almost laughed when I found out that he is Gwendolyn Brooks' successor. It seems that there would be another poet in Illinois who is more deserving of the honor (Li-Young Lee, anyone?). But once Stein got through his annoyingly self-serving spiel about all he does as poet laureate and began reading his poems, I was rather impressed, enough so that I bought a copy of his latest collection, American Ghost Roses. My favorite Stein poem was "An American Tale of Sex and Death," which includes a description of "Olivia Hussey's / olive chest splashed on screen, each breast maybe / four feet across and deeply cleaved" in Romeo and Juliet. In fifth grade my teacher had us watch Romeo and Juliet because it was the class play for that year (I was Lord Capulet), and I remember when Hussey's breasts flashed on the screen it was breathtaking.
Book Acquired Recently
Kevin Stein, American Ghost Roses.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently (again!)
South Street. David Bradley. Used from amazon.com. I recently read Bradley's other novel, The Chaneysville Incident, and it was so good I felt the need to acquire South Street as well.
The Norton Reader. 12th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson and John C. Brereton. Free examination copy from the publisher. I might use this for the English 104: Rhetoric and Composition II class I am teaching this summer.
South Street. David Bradley. Used from amazon.com. I recently read Bradley's other novel, The Chaneysville Incident, and it was so good I felt the need to acquire South Street as well.
The Norton Reader. 12th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson and John C. Brereton. Free examination copy from the publisher. I might use this for the English 104: Rhetoric and Composition II class I am teaching this summer.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Books Acquired Recently
Books Acquired Recently
All of these were given to me for my birthday yesterday. All but the last two are fiction. I list them in no particular order.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sherman Alexie.
The Time In Between. David Bergen.
Drown. Junot Diaz.
The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. Jane Smiley.
Dangerous Laughter: 13 Stories. Steven Millhauser.
The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology. Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi.
Uncontained: Urban Fiction in Postwar America. Elizabeth A. Wheeler.
Pandolfini's Chess Challenges: 111 Winning Endgames. Bruce Pandolfini.
All of these were given to me for my birthday yesterday. All but the last two are fiction. I list them in no particular order.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sherman Alexie.
The Time In Between. David Bergen.
Drown. Junot Diaz.
The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. Jane Smiley.
Dangerous Laughter: 13 Stories. Steven Millhauser.
The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology. Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi.
Uncontained: Urban Fiction in Postwar America. Elizabeth A. Wheeler.
Pandolfini's Chess Challenges: 111 Winning Endgames. Bruce Pandolfini.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Books Acquired Recently
Today begins a new periodic feature in which I list for your viewing pleasure books that I have recently acquired. This is mostly so I can show off my love for book acquisition, but also because I don't feel like writing about anything else right now. Also, please note that this practice is shamelessly stolen from Nick Hornby's Believer column.
Books Acquired Recently (and where from)
Contemporary Fiction: 50 Short Stories Since 1970. Ed. Lex Williford and Michael Martone. Borders. (Quite good so far; I may actually assign it to one of my classes.)
The Naked and the Dead. Norman Mailer. Borders.
In Cold Blood. Truman Capote. Borders.
Incidentally, two topics I considered writing about were:
1. the writer Janet Kauffman (because she has a story in the above-mentioned anthology, "Patriotic"), who is one of my favorites, but more for her beautifully-crafted work than its thought-provoking-ness;
2. Christopher Hitchens' recent Slate column about why the British military should not have withdrawn Prince Harry from Afghanistan (http://www.slate.com/id/2186186?GT1=3800). Hitchens is either brilliant or a complete idiot, depending on what he's writing about. When he writes about politics, he's usually an idiot (e.g., he loves the Iraq war), but in this column he is spot on.
Books Acquired Recently (and where from)
Contemporary Fiction: 50 Short Stories Since 1970. Ed. Lex Williford and Michael Martone. Borders. (Quite good so far; I may actually assign it to one of my classes.)
The Naked and the Dead. Norman Mailer. Borders.
In Cold Blood. Truman Capote. Borders.
Incidentally, two topics I considered writing about were:
1. the writer Janet Kauffman (because she has a story in the above-mentioned anthology, "Patriotic"), who is one of my favorites, but more for her beautifully-crafted work than its thought-provoking-ness;
2. Christopher Hitchens' recent Slate column about why the British military should not have withdrawn Prince Harry from Afghanistan (http://www.slate.com/id/2186186?GT1=3800). Hitchens is either brilliant or a complete idiot, depending on what he's writing about. When he writes about politics, he's usually an idiot (e.g., he loves the Iraq war), but in this column he is spot on.
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