In the time-honored tradition of year-end lists, I have decided to provide my 2009 ‘Literary Recap.’ Normally, I just stick to music, but I am trying to expand the content base here at my lovely little home on the web.
A big reason I chose a book review is that this time last year, I decided my one New Year’s resolution would be to read more. That was it. Keep it simple and attainable. I wanted, for once, to accomplish my resolution, and I think I did (I actually have more to write about this phenomenon of accomplishing resolutions, goals, etc., but it won’t be finished until next year).
[It is important to note that many of the books I read in 2009 were not published in 2009. However, it would be a rather short post if I just discussed the books I read that were published this year.]
Here it is.
Downtown Owl: A Novel – Chuck Klosterman – I was super anxious for this book; his first fiction novel. I really liked his short story fiction published at the end of IV.
It’s a look into a small town in North Dakota, centered around a high school boy, female teacher, and widowed man in old age. I assume he draws a lot of the setting and descriptions of the town from his childhood growing up North Dakota.
The climax of the book is definitely Klosterman. I will say that my biggest fear was the book wouldn’t ‘read’ like Klosterman. I personally don’t think that was the case. I can definitely see the Cohen brothers making a movie adaptation of this book.
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story – Chuck Klosterman – Klosterman goes on a cross country road trip to visit places where death and music intersected. They range from the actual locations where musicians died (props he went to Macon, Ga.), to places like the club in Rhode Island where a fire started because of the pyrotechnics the band, Great White, used. This tragedy resulted in 96+ deaths. Throughout the road trip, Klosterman uses the music he listens to on his drive (he took 200+ CDs with him on this trip, ranging in albums from Radiohead to KISS to Wilco to AC/DC), as a back drop for many ideas he expounds upon. He also provides an analysis of his current romantic life (old girlfriend in Minnesota who he thinks he still loves. Current girl in NYC who he doesn’t know what is going on between them). Liked it, of course, but might be the lowest ranked Klosterman book I’ve read.
[Side note- I went on a cross country trip, and our music selection was ill-prepared. Not so much ill-prepared, but ill-technically planned. As I asked - continuously, repeatedly, excessively - to the clerk at Wal-Mart before we bought the audio cable adapter the night we left for our trip-
"Are you POSITIVE this will work with the iPhone? I have had numerous problems with 1/8 inch jacks not fitting with mine, because for some reasons, the female is located just a little bit deeper on the iPhone, then iPods."
"Yeah, it will work."
As you can assume, by leaving fate up to someone else, our trip hit some rough patches musically as the adapter did not work with my device. Our music selections were limited to what was on Tosh's iPod touch (he had left his many, many gig iPod in a rental car a few weeks before). Thus, I became very intimate with Phoenix, Starfucker, and the NPR recordings of Passion Pit and Dirty Projectors. Other notable albums were Aretha Franklin - The Very Best of the 60's (the best Aretha hits collection IMO) and Van Morrison - It's Too Late To Stop Now (one of the best live albums ever. I am partial to Disc 2). The only CD we had was DCFC's Plans, which I lifted from Marvin's place in Ann Arbor before we left. My point is always be prepared.]
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey – Chuck Klosterman – Yes, 2009 was the year of Klosterman for me, but I don’t care. Stuff like this is why I love him. He completely dissects Metal music in the 80s to a whole ‘nother level, explaining the differences between Glam, Hair, Speed, Goth, Pop and others. All intertwined into the story of his youth, growing up in a small town in North Dakota.
The Thing Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – A collection of short stories, some set in America, others in Nigeria, detailing various struggles with politics, racism, and family structure and values. Surprise book of the year. She is also a Writing Sems alum, so she gets extra bonus points for that.
I Was Told There’d Be Cake – Sloan Crosley – I bought this because the bookstore didn’t have Downtown Owl, and the picture of the author looked like this internet celebrity, whom I had just discovered at the time. I’d ask for my money back, but hey, buyer beware. Unfortunately, I can’t relate to being an affluent Jewish girl from Westchester living in Manhattan after college.
Appetite For Self Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age – Steve Knopper- A history of technology and its effects on the recorded music industry. A little geeky, but interesting none the less. Hardware vs. Software. Analog vs. Digital. Vinyl to tape to disc to mp3.
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life – Len Fisher – Decided to give it a shot after a mention from TyWhite. Interesting analysis, but I don’t know how much is really rooted in game theory per se. It might have to do with the fact Len Fischer is not an economist, but a chemist. Still, it is an interesting take on the daily challenges we all face. It did have a little bit of the ‘Freakonomics’ type approach. The chapter on ‘I Cut You Choose’ brought me back to college, the first time I think I ever heard that decision-making process was with Brian Mead or Parker Emmott at Cloverhill.
The Forgotten History of America: Little-Known Conflicts of Lasting Importance From the Earliest Colonists to the Eve of the Revolution – Cormac O’Brien- Thank you Costco for selling this. Otherwise, I probably would have bought something else. This is a thorough, thorough account of colonial and Native American relations in America, from approximately 1500 -1776. I don’t consider myself a history buff, and this not something like the Jefferson or Madison biographies my dad asks for as presents and never reads, but I found this very interesting. It even reminded me of my 5th grade Social Studies textbook with its layout of historical artwork and drawings, intertwined with the chapters, as well as sidebars/notes providing more detail.
Starting with the first ‘Settlement,’ St. Augustine in Florida, the author moves more or less chronologically tells the history of Native Americans and European settlers, recounting various conflicts/battles, and examining the political/organizational structure of Indian tribes.
Geographically, the book is East Coast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England centric. I personally liked this focus. Having grown up in the area, local history is 98.5% British colonial history and the revolution. Mentions of Native Americans occur the week before Thanksgiving when you start on your craft projects.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem -Joan Didion – A collection of investigative vignettes spanning the 1950’s and 60s, mainly chronicling California life. I enjoyed it, and she reminded me of Klosterman, especially his Sex, Drugs Coco Puffs/IV writings. This makes sense, as she is probably considered a founding mother of ‘New Journalism.’ Maybe Klosterman would be considered ‘Post-New Journalism?’ (If not, I’m keeping that for myself). The chapter on the ‘Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions’ in Santa Barbara was the best, in my opinion.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets – David Simon – The first book I read this year, and it was amazing. Starting on January 1st, 1988, David Simon spent an entire year as a civilian assistant to the Baltimore Homicide Unit. His style and ability to capture detail is what I strive for as a writer.
I loved the show Homicide growing up, and any one who has seen ‘The Wire’ will appreciate this. A fair amount of antics that go on in the precinct come from this book.
The Corner: A Year in the Life of a Inner-City Neighborhood – David Simon and Edward Burns. Similar in style to his previous work, Simon and Burns spent a year hanging out in a neighborhood in West Baltimore, between 1992 and 1993. Yes, it is amazing. The only ‘drawback’ was that, after having the seen ‘The Wire’ so many times, some of the events from here seem recycled. This isn’t a complaint. Read these two books, watch ‘The Wire,’ and tell me David Simon is not the best story-teller of our generation.
How To Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale – Jenna Jameson
Crystal Meth! Fame! Money! Emotional Issues!
I found this inside a carton of abandoned books on the street and picked it up as a joke. I just opened to a random page and started reading. I couldn’t put it down. Something about the fact that there is NO WAY Jenna Jameson actually wrote the book (after some research, it looks like Neil Strauss helped ghost write it. I can just imagine how the meetings went), coupled with it being published around 2004 (the height of Jenna-mania. She kinda perfected the ‘porn star’ hot look. Now she resembles this), I actually found it very entertaining. I have no idea how ‘true’ or ‘biographical’ it is, but man, are there some wacky stories. On second thought, this might be my ‘surprised I liked it’ book of the year. I still don’t know how to make love like a porn star, though.
In the end, the real thing that stands out is how many of these books have colons in their titles.
For 2010, I’m just hoping to read.
