The Book Shopper

Books as Art

 

This weekend I was visiting my daughter in Nashville, Tennessee. Part of my time was spent shopping in the quaint downtown of Franklin which is full of antique shops and the like. At the Iron Gate, I noticed several books that had been “repurposed” into art objects. Some books had been decoupaged with old maps and other books had their covers removed and tied into bundles with string.

For the most part, I have no issue seeing books forged into other uses besides reading, except one time years ago. I had stopped for lunch at the General Morgan Inn and Conference Center in Greenville, Tennessee and the dining room had been decorated as a faux “library.” Instead of shelves being lined with books, the owners just tacked up thin boards like ornamental baseboards, to look like shelves. Moreover, they had torn the cloth spines off the books and glued them on the fake shelves to make a grand fake library. This was disturbing and it made it difficult for me for me to eat in such a room.

Both incidences remind me of the writer Richard Ford’s quote: “Many fates befall books other than being read or treasured.”

Padgett Powell Revisited

Last November, on the recommendation of a friend of a friend, I went to hear novelist Padgett Powell read from his latest book The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? at the Decatur Public Library, I came away with mixed emotions about the experience. (Read earlier posting).  I wasn’t sure if I liked the book and doubted that I would ever read it. But I certainly appreciated the respect Powell paid to his hard core readers who numbered about thirty strong that evening. Afterward, thoughts about the evening continued to linger – was it the quirkiness of Powell’s imagination, or the perhaps hidden meaning of his questions? Still unwilling to make a financial commitment, a couple of weeks ago I picked up a copy at the library.

Powell’s short book is nothing but one question after another (such as “Do you remember the custom automotive gas pedal that resembled a large bare chrome foot?”). The Powell-like narrator, a curious  man who wrestles with the banality of modern life, yearns for certain aspects of simpler times and things, but knows that he suffers from chronic nostalgia. Powell’s character asks, “When you hear the expression ‘Those were the days’ or any equivalent allusion to the good ol’ days, are you inclined to dismiss the speaker as a sentimentalist, or do you credit that there indeed were better days?” 

Powell’s tight prose – he doesn’t waste words --  makes The Interrogative Mood an easy but challenging book to read.  I found myself constantly jotting down passages on separate bits of paper, and I really can’t shut up about it.

My next step is to return the book to the library and pick up my own copy. Isn’t it strange how books start out in some distant orbit (sadly, the friend of the friend has since died) but then some inexplicable gravity draws a book to us?

Georgia Writer of the Year – Bracketology

In the spirit of the NCAA Basketball Tournament you can now select who you think will win The Georgia Writer of the Year Award. A list of the approximately 100 writers has been posted on the Georgia Writers website. Winners in each of the 12 categories will be named during ceremonies at Kennesaw State University on June 19, 2010.

Here’s a breakdown of the categories and the number of books nominated in each category:

Biography – 2 (books nominated)

Essay – 4

Fiction – 14

First novel – 16

History – 9

Inspirational – 9

Memoir – 10

Mid Reader – 4

Picture book – 5

Poetry – 15

Specialty book – 7

Young adult 7

I recognize a few of the names including Gino Brogdon (shown here) who I shared a signing session with at Eagle Eye’s booth at last year’s Decatur Book Festival. Brogdon was promoting his first novel, Demons in the Crawlspace.

Join the MARTA Book Club #4

 

For those unfamiliar with the club, the MARTA book club is a loose, very loose, confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation.  There are no meeting times, no organization, no t-shirts, and no special fares.  Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of the MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation.

Newspapers do not qualify and those with Kindles are not welcome (because how in the hell am I supposed to figure out what you’re reading if I can’t see the book cover!) For the record, I’ve started to notice a few electronic reading devices on MARTA, which matches the numbers of newspapers I’ve seen lately.

What We Are Reading: Unfortunately, no one was reading How to Fix an Escalator which anyone who has been riding the MARTA trains lately knows how this expertise is sorely needed.  See the story in the AJC. 

Here’s a list of what Atlantans are reading since my last MARTA posting:

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson and Reg Keeland

Stories of the Prophets by Hafix Ibn Kathie

Lessons from a Younger Lover by Zori Day (this month’s steamiest cover)

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (though the young helmetless cyclist might have been using this thick book as protection to strap on his head)

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen.  This is my personal contribution to the club this month. A more detailed review can be read here .  I’m also finishing up Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem.  

 

The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch by Marsha Moyer. (Courtesy of Inga Long who summarizes the book as “Not very deep and sometimes annoyingly predictable and boarding on Romance Novel-like but I'm sticking with it until the end. It surprised me with wisdom when I least expect it.”)

The Bible.   A standard for many MARTA faithful.

The Relationship Principles of Jesus by Tom Holladay

The God That Failed by Arthur Koestler, et. al.

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell Moore and C.J. Mahaney.

The Assassin by Stephen Coonts

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

 

Book Report from Seattle

Periodically, I get book shopping updates from my longtime friend Dave in Seattle. Dave has been reading the works of Nelson Algren, John O’Hara and Irwin Shaw. Below are some of his recommendations:

Nelson Algren 

 I started with The Last Carousel (1973) which is a collection of short stories and essays.  Rather uneven but some are quite good.  If you like boxing stories (they don't do much for me), there are some good ones in there.

I finished The Man with the Golden Arm (1949).  This was a new edition, which included some good essays on Algren and biographical info and found it interesting.  Algren had an outstanding ear for dialog -- possibly among the best of that era -- and there's not a false note in the entire book.  My only complaint is that the book seemed too long.  Not that I was not captivated, but it could have used some editing near the end.  (Everyone's a critic...)

Right now I'm reading A Walk on the Wild Side (1956) and am about 3/4 of the way into it.  It's set in the depression, 1931, and follows a drifter named Dove who is just trying to get by.  It's not like any other novel I've read; it's darkly comic and gritty but not without hope.  I highly recommend it.

On deck is The Neon Wilderness (1947), a collection of short stories. This is reportedly his best work of short stories.