This will be short; I will be unable to vouch for its sweetness. Last year, my favorite book was Joe Queenan's memoir Closing Time, in which there was hardly a paragraph lacking an exquisitely expressed observation. Now I'm reading something just as wonderful -- Pete Dexter's Spooner, a fictionalized memoir, which abounds in very understated wit, and reminds me of Mark Twain.
I hate books that make me guffaw at ever having considered myself a writer, and adore them. Spooner is one of those.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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Thanks for this short post about the books you've enjoyed; I'm going to order Closing Time through my library. The public library is a great way to read a lot of books without spending a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteIn 2009, one highlight for me was Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin, by Lawrence Weschler. There were moments when I was amazed by the power of artist Irwin's visual journey and his exceptional ability to verbally articulate his ideas and feelings.
I've started off 2010 with Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche - Intimations of a New World View. Recommended by Carolyn Myss (author of Anatomy of the Spirit, among others).