The Book Shopper

In Praise of Essays and Essayists

Writing or reading an essay isn’t the only way to stop and ask yourself who you really are and what your life might mean, but it is one good way. – Jonathan Franzen

Admittedly, I haven’t been writing any essays lately (with one exception), but I have been reading some good ones and recently watched the Netflix documentary on the writer Joan Didion. Here’s a quick rundown:

 Jonathan Franzen*

Jonathan Franzen’s “Is It Too Late to Save the World” in The Guardian (November 7, 2017) Albeit rambling and containing enough material for three pieces (the role of essays in the social media world, climate change and birding in Ghana during the 2016 election) you can be sure that Franzen’s take on events is personal, insightful, and misanthropic in tone.  Franzen’s collection How to Be Alone (2002) is one of my favorite collections of essays.

Rebecca Solnit

In preparation for an upcoming visit to New Orleans, I just finished reading Rebecca Solnit’s  Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas (2013) that she co-edited with documentary filmmaker Rebecca Snedeker. This book is a series of essays and corresponding maps about the Crescent City and I read it in part because I am preparing for a trip there before the end of the year. Regular readers of this blog know that I have been a longtime admirer of Solnit’s work. (Just type her name in the search bar and look out!) She recently posted a piece in The Guardian too. “One Year On, Donald Trump Is Still an Illegitimate President” does points out how the system is in place to disenfranchise millions of voters and the perils of social media with respect to future elections as well.

And one other note, Unfathomable City makes another sobering note in the wake of the natural disasters in Florida, Houston, and Puerto Rico.  If Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 (and then followed by the BP oil spill in 2010) is any indication, please note recoveries can take years and forever change a place’s self-identity. (Saying "Be Strong" isn't going to be enough.) The map from the book shown above is entitled: "Oil and Water: Extracting Petroleum and Exterminating Nature."

Joan Didion*

Netflix has recently released a documentary on essayist Joan Didion entitled “The Center Will Not Hold”, which was directed by her nephew Griffin Dunne.  I have been reading Joan Didion since my senior seminar on New Journalism in college in the 1970s and I can recall one my fellow students writing her thesis on Didion and imitating Didion’s dry, detached narrative style, which comes across in the film as well.  (I opted for a Thomas Pynchon writing style in college– a bad choice which set me back 20 years as a writer.) The film mentions three of her books in detail: Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968), The White Album (1979) and her book The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) on grief surrounding the death of her husband the writer John Gregory Dunne.

I am still that surprised me is that anyone would do a film about an essayist. Who’s next? Wilfred Sheed*?

 

*Brief anecdotes about Franzen and Didion appear in my The Bookshopper: A Life in Review (2009), but there is nothing about Sheed who is a fine essayist.

Related articles

Joan Didion, The Center Will Not Hold, is a captivating documentary on her life and work.

Librarian Storytime

In this photo I am reading a book to my grandson Myrick about librarians. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (2017) by Joshua Hammer chronicles the clandestine work of archivists led by Abdel Kader Haidera who rescued over 350,000 manuscripts -- many which were centuries old -- from Islamic extremists who nearly overran the West African country of Mali in 2012-13. Don't be mislead by Myrick's dozing because we agreed that the book is a solid account of an amazing story, but  we do share the same criticism of the book, "Is it too much to ask the publisher to include a geographic map of West Africa?"

We rate it four baby bottles.

Touring Notes

A brief follow-up from the previous posting:

In Philadelphia

Last weekend I finally met Paul Dry, the publisher of my earlier book, The Book Shopper. Even though Paul and I have been book friends for 10 years we never had a face-to-face chat. Along with my longtime partner and editor, Denise, we rendezvoused at the Reading Terminal Market (how appropriate) in downtown Philadelphia. We talked books and writing for almost two hours as we feasted on pulled pork sandwiches and beer. Along with a handful of book recommendations, I also received some editorial and publishing advice. Paul suggested that the best strategy for book promotion is to write that next book. This reminded me of an aphorism of one of his other authors, Eva Brann: "Shameful reason for writing no more books: not being read. Fair reason for not being read: being unreadable."

  

 

With Paul Dry (right) at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia 

 In Carrollton, Georgia

Also last weekend, I was one of the panelists for a new concept in book events. Hosted by Printer's Ale Brewery and Underground Books of Carrollton, the 90 minute program featured music (songwriter Tyler Key ) and brief readings from three writers. I was joined by Joseph Scott Morgan and Roger Johns. In between talking about our books, the evening adopted a "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" type of format as hosts/bookstore owners Josh Niesse and Megan Bell peppered the audience and panelists alike with questions on literary trivia. Like having lunch with Paul Dry, it was a fun experience just to talk books. Reading and writing are usually solitary endeavors and an opportunity to share words and beer was a rare pleasure indeed. 

 

 

Left to Right: Josh Niesse, Joseph Scott Morgan, Roger Johns, Megan Bell, Murray Browne