When You Are Engulfed in Flames

David Sedaris is a sure thing in my book. This is his latest collections of essays and five minutes after I got the email announcing it, I had ordered the audiobook version. This isn't quite as heart wrenching as Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim or as funny as David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall
(which should carrying a warning about the danger of car accidents due to laughter). It is still a great book and made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. The two discs are one piece, about traveling to Japan to quit smoking and possibly the highlight. Listen to it rather than read it, at least the first time.

Why I'm like this

This book is a collection of essays following Kaplan from childhood to her own experiences as a mother. She is quite funny and covers a number of different topics, from her summer camp experiences to her struggles as an actor/waitress to putting her grandmother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's into a nursing home. Towards the end of the book, where she began writing about her struggles with infertility, the book became a little more clunky, but still a very worthwhile and entertaining read.

If You Ask Me

Libby Gelman-Waxner on the movie The Fisher King-- "This is a movie for people who thought that Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves were too sarcastic. After seeing it I decided that there are certain things that Robin Williams must never be allowed to do on-screen, by federal statute if necessary:
1. Smile through tears
2. Hug another man, who will then act embarrassed
3. Clutch a child's toy
4. Talk dirty so it sounds cute
5. Rip off his clothes as a rite of freedom
6. Twinkle, cavort or exult.

Libby, whose columns appeared in Premiere, has got to be the funniest movie critic of all time. Written by Paul Rudnick, a Hollywood screenwriter, Libby always stays in character as a Jewish mother of two, married to an orthidonist and working as an "assistant buyer of junior activewear"> This leads to memorable columns such as helping her daughter Jennifer to understand "the larger topics like death and heaven" after the death of her hamster by going to see Ghost. This collection was published in 1995, so the movies covered are older, but Libby's observations still seem fresh, none more so than the Robin Williams comments above. I'd really love for another collection to be published- fingers crossed!

If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?

Do you know the difference between professional girls and amateur girls? According to Cynthia Heimel, "Professional girls are desperate for a boyfriend with a platinum Amex card. Amateur girls are desperate for a boyfriend who can deliver a good punchline". Unfortunately men love the professional girl with her perfect hair and eye shadow, while the hapless amateur girl struggles in the back of the room to dislodge the toilet paper stuck to her shoe. Then Men wonder why they are only valued for their wallet. This is only one of the many phenomena that Heimel skewers in this collection of essays. She also takes on the lack of good roles for women actors and modern dating, and talks about watching her son and his friends grow into men. Heimel is like a girlfriend you can always call at two in the morning who will make you laugh every time. She has several other collections, including When Your Phone Doesn't Ring, It'll Be Me.

Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress

This memoir is a collection of humorous autobiographical essays loosely arranged in chronological sections--childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. While I enjoyed her high school encounter with Mick Jagger, on the whole, the later sections stood out for me. In particular, I was touched by her experience covering a teenage group trip to the Polish concentration camps for a Jewish newspaper. A cynical non observer, Gilman is forced to put away the jokes and look anew at her heritage. The highlight for me, though, is the title piece. The author is a committed feminist, but when she tries on a wedding dress in a bridal salon she is faced with the contradictions of the princess fantasy wedding and her previously held ideas of a less traditionally gender-proscribed marriage ideal. Although a few pieces are a little too self-absorbed, on the whole, this was a funny, fast read.

At Large and at Small

I read Anne Fadiman's excellent collection of essays on books and reading, Ex Libris, several years ago after shuttsie recommended it. This book is a collection of what Fadiman calls familiar essays--more personal than a critical essay but more expansive than a personal, navel-gazing one. The scope of these essays range from the everyday subjects of coffee and ice cream to the more highbrow--Charles Lamb and Samuel Coleridge. The standout for me was probably the last essay about a canoing trip gone wrong. It is probably the shortest essay in the book, but for me the most resonant. They are all well-written and even the ones I had no interest in (Charles Lamb, say) have an insight or sentence that stands out. But while Ex Libris was the perfect marriage of an excellent writer and a subject I care passionately about (books!) this one was a bit more one-sided.

It's A Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties

I've been dipping in and out of this collection for awhile. I picked it up because I have read and enjoyed some of the authors in it (Hollis Gillespie, Megan McAfferty, Beth Lisick). I haven't finished it yet but one of the pieces I read last night was from a woman who, in her twenties, worked in residence life. A lot of the situations brought back painful memories of roommate conflicts, people knocking on your door at any and all times of the day, plumbing emergencies, and most of all, the feeling of being trapped that comes from living and working in the same space, where your time is never, ever your own. It was hard but I did get a lot out of it. Unfortunately, my experience differed from the author's in one important way--she did it for the very cool apartments she got to live in for free. We're talking penthouse Manhattan apartments with breathtaking views. My residence life apartment had a great view, too--that of the storage room complete with arts and crafts supplies and a RA's life-size sculpture of a cow peeking at me into my bedroom window. Despite this discrepancy, I have enjoyed and could mostly relate to many of the pieces in here about the particular angst that comes from the situations that arise in your twenties--making new friends and relationships and career doubts and money woes. I just wish mine had come with a much cooler apartment.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris is comic genius and one of the few humans more neurotic than I am. This collection of his essays is an excellent introduction to his work, which centers around his highly dysfunctional childhood and family, his relocation to France as an adult with his long suffering boyfriend, Hugh, and his attempts to learn the language and fit in, and occasionally his obsession with medical oddities. You get the picture. Sedaris is best out loud, so I recommend getting the audio versions, as well as his CD, David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall, just be careful not to wreck your car when laughing. Recently the New Republic ran an article saying his stories were high fictionalized and not a true memoir. I say, when he's this funny- who cares? See him live too if you get the chance, I've seen him read twice and it was amazing.

Songbook

Until very recently, I was never really a music person. My CD collection is a sad, pathetic mix of impulse buys of mostly one-hit or one-album wonders that I rarely listened to. I first read Nick Hornby's Songbook under those circumstances and liked it OK but wasn't really blown away by it. A funny thing happened in the past year or two, though. The policy at work changed so that we can now listen to music with headphones. I started checking out CDs from the library, listening to this site, and reading music magazines and websites. I bought an mp3 player and I now listen to music constantly and it's now almost as essential to me as books. I listened to the CD that comes with this book the other day and it inspired me to re-read the book. Now that I can better understand the passion he has for music, it may be my favorite Nick Hornby book. It is a collection of essays about some of his favorite songs and, by extension, the various ways that music permeates his life. I think this book contains Hornby's most beautiful writing--his description of finding the closest thing to God in his life in the perfect harmony of two voices; his joy when his autistic son finds the smallest connection to music; and how a song written for a movie based on one of his books perfectly captures his relationship to his son. The book has introduced me to some great songs, too--"Your Love is the Place that I Come From" by Teenage Fanclub, "One Man Guy" by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and "You Had Time" by Ani DiFranco in particular.

Grace (Eventually)

I have a love/hate relationship going on with Anne Lamott. She seems a little narcissistic and I frequently disagree with her and I sort of cringe when things get either too new-agey or too Jesus-y. But there seems to be at least one gem in her essays, something to make me laugh or look at something in a new way. She puts herself out there, revealing some of the mess and insecurity and the things we don't say in public about being a mother or a daughter or a devoted member of a faith. Grace (Eventually) is the third collection of her essays about her faith, following Traveling Mercies and Plan B. The latest batch has essays dealing with raising her teenage son, confronting shady rug-dealers, praying to forgive the Bush administration, and helping her friends through illnesses and one on abortion that had me saying an "Amen, Sister!". (I dropped the ball and skipped a day, thanks to shuttsie for getting things back on track).

Man Without a Country

Man Without a Country is a collection of nonfiction pieces. Vonnegut also mixes in aphorisms and illustrations to break up the pieces. The majority of the book is a lament about what is happening in this country and the world we are leaving behind for our children and grandchildren. There are a few lighter pieces mixed in as well about childhood or music. The book reminded me of my memories of the lecture of his I attended in college—a bit rambling, a bit cynical, a bit humorous. Most of all, it seems to be a book by a man who’s seen a lot in his lifetime and hopes to remind us to learn from what has taken place then and wake up to what is happening now.

Bookmark Now

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably part of the demographic that doesn’t really believe the sky is falling reports on how nobody reads these days. You’re probably in a book club, have friends who read, and always seem to see lots of people during your weekly trips to the library or bookstore. But some article or survey seems to come out every few months talking about the end of the book. It is this scenario that Kevin Smokler addresses in this essay collection he edited. There are 24 essays with young writers like Neal Pollock and Meghan Daum talking about why they still write despite these dire predictions. In actuality, the essays are much broader and more varied than that and talk about everything from the current state of MFA programs to author collaboration to writer jealousy. I found most of the essays entertaining, jotted down a few authors to watch out for, and was encouraged by the various ways that authors are trying to get their work out there, from blogs to cooperatives like the Dave Eggers/McSweeney’s groups. There is also a nice appendix in the back with lots of book resources for both writers and readers.

I Thought My Father Was God

This book, edited by Paul Auster is a collection of true life stories sollicted from National Public Radio listners for the National Story Project. The stories complied here are short--ranging from a page to around four pages-- and cover a wide range of topics such as love, death, war, families and just about anything else that touches people's lives. It's a lot like sitting a coffee shop with a bunch of strangers as they tell you the most noteworthy story of their lives, some funny, some sad and all of them unique. Great book, also a good gift book.

Bitchfest

I'm not a subscriber, but I will occasionally pick up Bitch magazine at a bookstore. It is billed as a feminist response to popular culture. I especially like their book review section, it has pointed me to more than one book I've enjoyed in the past. Bitchfest is a collection of articles compiled over the ten-year history of the magazine. I enjoyed many of the pieces in this collection, from the use of "like" in young women's speech, to the confessions of a black female heavy metal fan, to the media's obsessions with mean girls. There were some pieces where I didn't always come to the same conclusion as the authors, but on the whole it's an interesting and thought-provoking collection. Be sure to pick up the magazine as well.

We Are Still Married

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Two good friends are getting married today, so I picked this title with them in mind. We Are Still Married is my favorite Garrison Keillor book, just edging out Lake Wobegone Days. (Garrison Keillor was brought to my attention by my maternal grandparents, who came to visit us with a copy of Lake Wobegone) This is a collection of essays and poems and while there is some Lake Woebegone type stuff, there is also some really great commentary on contemporary life. I thought the "Young Lutheran's Guide to Orchestra" was pretty funny, loved some of the short stories, but the real standout is his essay on writing a letter. In fact, his description of the flow of letter writing was actually critical in one of my major career decisions. It's a treasure trove of a book, check it out.

I Feel Bad About My Neck

Thoughts on aging from the woman who brought us When Harry Met Sally, how can you go wrong? I really enjoyed this quick read from Nora Ephron, where she takes on aging, but also beauty rituals, her Manhattan apartment that she had to give up and her inability to have a neat purse. I'm 30 (it's the new 20!) and I felt this book still spoke to me. I have read that other people felt she was flaunting her wealth in the chapter where her rent is raised on her luxury apartment and she is forced to move out, but I felt she was pretty down to earth and had a rather wry sense of humor about the whole thing. There's also a great chapter about her love of reading, as she too is in the reader club. I'm wearing a scoop neck for you right now, Nora!!

Ex Libris

Anne Fadiman is part of our club. You know the club. The reader club. If she comes to your house she will NEVER ask "have you read all those books?". Instead she will start checking them out, trying to discretely rearranged the double rowed ones to see what's back there. This book is a collection of essays, mostly about reading, but also about language and words too. My favorite essay is the first, in which she describes how she and her husband married their book collections together, approximately ten years after moving into together. They debate which doubles to get rid of and how to arrange the books (by author, chronologically, by subject?) and learn about themselves and each other. Another great essay concerns phyiscal vs. courtly love of books, whether one turns down corners, turns the book face down, writes in the margins, or would rather DIE than do any of those things. I am a physical book lover my, husband is of the courtly school (ah, the mixed marriage). If you are in the club (and you know who you are) you will love this book.

Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?

Molly Ivins died January 31st after a battle with cancer. Here is her New York Times obituary. On page two, it refers to a "sexually suggestive phrase" she used to describe a mass chicken killing. Come on New York Times, you can say it...she called it a "gang pluck" and that was the end of Molly Ivins working for the Times. This story not only illustrates that the New York Times is still a bunch of sissies, but that she was a damn funny woman, who always lived by her own advice to "raise more hell". This collection of her columns is in my opinion her very best, taking on Reagan, Bush, and local Texas politics, all without fear, as well as a memorable piece on covering Elvis' funeral, staying in university dorm with a cheerleading camp. Her intelligence and biting wit will be greatly missed. Let's get out there and raise hell in her honor.

Partly Cloudy Patriot

You may know Sarah Vowell as the voice of Violet in The Incredibles or as a contributor to This American Life. Her collection of essays, Partly Cloudy Patriot, is a wonderful collection with pieces ranging from historical tourism to Pop-a-Shot basketball. She was even on to the weirdness of Tom Cruise before his couch jumping on Oprah:

"When the cute little kid in Jerry Maguire gave Cruise a hug, my first reaction was parental. I wanted to grab the child away, scolding, 'We don't touch burning stoves, strangers' candy, and we do not touch Tom Cruise'"

My favorite essays in the collection are probably the more political ones, as Vowell realizes her patriotism even through her tears at Bush's inauguration and reflects upon her participation in an Al Gore internet group. There isn't a clunker in the bunch, though, and it's one of my favorite books. Check out the audio version, too, with voices from Stephen King, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien. And don't forget to check out her many contributions to This American Life.