Bibliophile

A few days ago, we wrote about The Golden Gate – Vikram Seth‘s novel and Conrad Cummings‘s opera. Now John McMurtrie of the San Francisco Chronicle‘s book pages has sent us a heads-up about a Sunday feature on his online pages.  It seems the beloved backdrop to our Bay Area lives has surfaced as a backdrop on a lot of book covers, too. Some, he promised us, would be hilarious.  We think the cover at left for Jim Brogan‘s A Time to Live takes the biscuit.  If it’s really “a time to live,” we’d suggest this fellow get his knickers on.  As Mark Twain observed, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”  There’s too many of them.  It’s an overcrowded market – especially in San Francisco. We’re also intrigued by the subtitle of John Payne‘s Three and Out – “The Saga of a San Francisco Apartment Manager.”  And what does it have to do with the famous bridge? One commenter noted that there’s a lot of death in the titles – A Pointed Death, No Rest for the Dead, Murder on the Waterfront, Madness and Murder, Dead Midnight (with a poor, luckless fellow falling off the bridge). Someone is jumping off in Blind Leap, too – and is that blood stain designed to look like a brassiere, or is does it merely indicate the mind of the artist?  Or this reader?  A lot of mystery and detective novels, too.  Sex, death, mystery … all of an extistential oneness in the everyday lives of San Franciscans. As for naked people in San Francisco, somebody better tell Mark Abramson that he might want to suggest to the designer a different cover  for his next book.  Oh, I get it … one’s day, one’s night… See them all here – clothed and nekkid.

I've sent Led to the Slaughter off to my local editor.I'm going to print a hardcopy to work on while she has it.I'm thinking I'm going to write a sequel to Death of an Immortal and immediately (sometime in the next six months) put it online. This will be my online series for the time-being, while I continue to work on the rest of the books. I've also got Freedy Filkins, my cyberpunk-Hobbit book, online.I've got the first book in my Fantasy trilogy (The Reluctant Wizard) done, but not edited. I don't want to do anything with this until I've written the second and third books.I've got a stand-alone Fantasy (Sometimes a Dragon) which was something I wrote 30 years ago but which has been completely rewritten from top to bottom, almost like it's a new book. It's been two/thirds edited. I want to take another look at after I get it back from the editor and decide what to do with it.I've got Nearly Human finished and edited and with a cover, but I'm sitting on it for now.I've got a sequel to N.H. called Wolflander, which hasn't been edited or rewritten. I also have ideas for a long series of books starring Cobb and Company.I've got Deviltree, which I wrote 30 years ago and which 'nearly' got published then but which could probably use a boost. Linda did an edit and I'm still hoping for an edit from Martha (Martha?) and to do another rewrite. I have the cover to this ready to go, thanks to Martha (Martha?)Counting the three books I wrote in the early 80's, Star Axe, Snowcastles, and Icetowers, I've now completed:STAR AXESNOWCASTLESICETOWERSDEVILTREESOMETIMES A DRAGONNEARLY HUMANWOLFLANDERDEATH OF AN IMMORTALFREEDY FILKINSTHE RELUCTANT WIZARDLED TO THE SLAUGHTERNot all of these are ready to be exposed to the world -- in fact, less than half of them are ready. But they are finished to some extent or the other and just need to be improved as best I can. I wrote two other books which I completely abandoned, Bloodstone and Changlings. Why? Because they weren't very good and they couldn't be fixed.Not all of these were written fast -- it just looks that way.Star Axe took five years, at least. Snowcastles was fast, but Icetowers took over a year. Deviltree was rewritten extensively over a two year period. Sometimes a Dragon is going to be at least a year of work before it's done. Nearly Human has taken over two years. And so on.The others have come fast, but they aren't really done.Obviously there has been some overlap.Overall, though, I'm pleased with my progress and I do think I'm getting better at this -- and much more mature in my approach. So, I'll just keep writing and not worry about anything else for now.

There has been quite a bit going on, over at what was the Double Exposure blog, now re-named (but with the old url) Narrative Attack. A band is being formed, that will record both the LP Double Exposure and another album, titled -- for now anyway -- Who Lo$t The Plot? (I am not sure if the $ is now so retro that it could be used afrea$h.) I'm working on a soccer novel (extract below) called Away

This is a decent little interview with Vila-Matas. Here’s a nice bit where he talks about where Never Any End to Paris came from: En la ironía, precisamente, está el germen de este libro… De hecho, en un principio se iba a llamar ‘La ironía en París’. Lo escribí porque en 2002 me invitaron a dar una conferencia sobre la ironía en el Puerto de Santa María. Como cuento en el prólogo que he escrito en esta edición, acepté. Pensé que sería fácil, pero luego le estuve dando vueltas todo el verano porque no sabía bien cómo hablar sobre ello. Al modo de San Agusti?n con el Tiempo, si nadie me preguntaba que? era la ironi?a yo lo sabi?a, pero si queri?a explicarla al que me habi?a preguntado, entonces no sabía explicarla. Fue tambie?n por esos di?as cuando lei? que John Ashbery deci?a que, despue?s de vivir en Pari?s, uno quedaba incapacitado para vivir en cualquier sitio, incluido Pari?s. Los dos años vividos en Pari?s a mediados de los setenta se habi?an ido convirtiendo para mi? en un recuerdo extran?o, como si mi relacio?n con la ciudad se habi?a acabado para siempre el di?a en que tuve que dejar la buhardilla de Marguerite Duras y regresar a Barcelona. Era como si no creyera posible que algu?n di?a pudiera volver. Entonces aquel verano de 2002, en agosto, fui a París después de casi treinta años de no haber estado allí. Me acompañó Paula [Paula de Parma, su mujer, a quien dedica el libro] y recuerdo que iba haciéndole comentarios, durante el viaje, acerca de mis años de juventud en París. Nos dedicamos a hacer largos recorridos por aquel barrio de Saint- Germain-des-Pre?s en el que habi?a vivido dos años esenciales de mi vida. Me di cuenta que todos los comentarios eran irónicos y fue entonces cuando comprendí que la conferencia tenía que girar en torno a una ironía sobre aquel viaje. Y que podría acabar en un libro.

June 18, 2013 Canal Under the MoonlightShoda Koho1871 - 1946Ukiyoe-Gallery _______________________ From Having and Space Thibault Raoult      Only so many times you can rotate, opt out of whippoorwill. Arrange the shore, e-a colle.      There’s a cost to putting a face on it. With traitor frozen, we have every chance.      People use their forms to swing. At some point I want to see some skin.      Gello’s skins. Pyotr never repeats himself.      Problematic because he’s in charge of the waterslides. Is there a root in there somewhere? ....       The hedges are coming! You wish you were implicated.      All this hiccup, and nowhere to go. How can they remember all the shapes they’ve been associated with?      Teaching has forced me to be utter, clear to the massing. ...(more) _______________________ Historia Abscondita [pdf] An Index of Joy Compiled from Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘The Gay Science’ Translated by Walter Kaufmann Every great human being exerts a retroactive force: for his sake all of history is placed in the balance again, and a thousand secrets of the past crawl out of their hiding places—into his sunshine. There is no way of telling what may yet become part of history. Perhaps the past is still essentially undiscovered! So many retroactive forces are still needed! E P C digital library _______________________ SINGLES 2005-2013 (from Yudu) Adam FieledAs/Is #1345 Two hedgerows with a little path between — to walk in the path like some do, as if no other viable route exists, to make Gods of hedgerows that make your life tiny, is a sin of some significance in a world where hedgerows can be approached from any side — I said this to a man who bore seeds to an open space, and he nodded to someone else and whistled an old waltz to himself in annoyance.     from Apparition Poems _______________________ Pathways — Spring 2013 A magazine on poverty, inequality, and social policy _______________________ the flood of 1910From the water to the Sahara Catherine DarleyPoemas del r?o Wang _______________________ Abjection & Bodies Adriftinterview with Arthur Krokervideo synthetic_zero _______________________ Arguing about Justice: Essays for Philippe Van Parijs Axel Gosseries This volume is a gift for Philippe Van Parijs, a tribute to his work and friendship. The Hoover Chair in economic and social ethics, which Philippe has led since its inception in 1991, turned 20 this year, while the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), which he co-founded in 1986, turned 25. During this same year, he published two new books, one a collection of essays entitled Just Democracy (ECPR Press), and the other a long-awaited monograph entitled Linguistic Justice for Europe and for the World (OUP). He also received the Belgian Ark Award for Free Speech, a prize created in 1951 by Flemish intellectuals opposed to restrictions on freedom of expression. On top of that, 2011 happens to be the year of his 60th birthday. We had to do justice to such a convergence of circumstances - especially to the latter. We thought Philippe would prefer a book to a cake. Academia.edu_______________________ Under the dump, Rivington StreetHow the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New YorkJacob Riis (1890)full text _______________________ “Not for All the Tea in China!” Political Ideology and the Avoidance of Dissonance-Arousing Situations H. Hannah Nam, John T. Jost, Jay J. Van Bavel (....) Even a cursory analysis of the political landscape in the contemporary United States reveals that there are vast differences in the cognitive and rhetorical styles of liberals and conservatives – as reflected, say, in the differences between National Public Radio and Fox News or Jon Stewart and Rush Limbaugh. Increasingly, ideological polarization is the no

June 18, 2013 Canal Under the MoonlightShoda Koho1871 - 1946Ukiyoe-Gallery _______________________ From Having and Space Thibault Raoult      Only so many times you can rotate, opt out of whippoorwill. Arrange the shore, e-a colle.      There’s a cost to putting a face on it. With traitor frozen, we have every chance.      People use their forms to swing. At some point I want to see some skin.      Gello’s skins. Pyotr never repeats himself.      Problematic because he’s in charge of the waterslides. Is there a root in there somewhere? ....       The hedges are coming! You wish you were implicated.      All this hiccup, and nowhere to go. How can they remember all the shapes they’ve been associated with?      Teaching has forced me to be utter, clear to the massing. ...(more) _______________________ Historia Abscondita [pdf] An Index of Joy Compiled from Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘The Gay Science’ Translated by Walter Kaufmann Every great human being exerts a retroactive force: for his sake all of history is placed in the balance again, and a thousand secrets of the past crawl out of their hiding places—into his sunshine. There is no way of telling what may yet become part of history. Perhaps the past is still essentially undiscovered! So many retroactive forces are still needed! E P C digital library _______________________ SINGLES 2005-2013 (from Yudu) Adam FieledAs/Is #1345 Two hedgerows with a little path between — to walk in the path like some do, as if no other viable route exists, to make Gods of hedgerows that make your life tiny, is a sin of some significance in a world where hedgerows can be approached from any side — I said this to a man who bore seeds to an open space, and he nodded to someone else and whistled an old waltz to himself in annoyance.     from Apparition Poems _______________________ Pathways — Spring 2013 A magazine on poverty, inequality, and social policy _______________________ the flood of 1910From the water to the Sahara Catherine DarleyPoemas del r?o Wang _______________________ Abjection & Bodies Adriftinterview with Arthur Krokervideo synthetic_zero _______________________ Arguing about Justice: Essays for Philippe Van Parijs Axel Gosseries This volume is a gift for Philippe Van Parijs, a tribute to his work and friendship. The Hoover Chair in economic and social ethics, which Philippe has led since its inception in 1991, turned 20 this year, while the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), which he co-founded in 1986, turned 25. During this same year, he published two new books, one a collection of essays entitled Just Democracy (ECPR Press), and the other a long-awaited monograph entitled Linguistic Justice for Europe and for the World (OUP). He also received the Belgian Ark Award for Free Speech, a prize created in 1951 by Flemish intellectuals opposed to restrictions on freedom of expression. On top of that, 2011 happens to be the year of his 60th birthday. We had to do justice to such a convergence of circumstances - especially to the latter. We thought Philippe would prefer a book to a cake. Academia.edu_______________________ Under the dump, Rivington StreetHow the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New YorkJacob Riis (1890)full text _______________________ “Not for All the Tea in China!” Political Ideology and the Avoidance of Dissonance-Arousing Situations H. Hannah Nam, John T. Jost, Jay J. Van Bavel (....) Even a cursory analysis of the political landscape in the contemporary United States reveals that there are vast differences in the cognitive and rhetorical styles of liberals and conservatives – as reflected, say, in the differences between National Public Radio and Fox News or Jon Stewart and Rush Limbaugh. Increasingly, ideological polarization is the no

The Twits, Roald Dahl (F, under 10, fading butterfly tattoos on arm, asked mom to read a chapter’s title, Q train) http://bit.ly/11vOcUR

Capital, John Lanchester (F, 20s, diamond nose stud, glasses, cardigan, Atlantic Ave. Barclays Center) http://n.pr/11vPmiX Book review by NPR here

The worst thing in Oblomov today. The boring part, I mean. The novel is a comedy, a great one. The long first single scene is the comic highlight, but there are plenty of later returns to form, and the wind-down to the ending is entirely satisfying. This is all Oblomov’s story.Yet two chapters (Part 4, Chapters 4 and 8) have no jokes at all, no humor. They are serious, sincere, and lack Oblomov, instead finishing off the stories of two supporting characters, Oblomov’s “active” friend Stoltz and one-time fiancée Olga. I did not believe that their stories required any but a summary resolution, yet Ivan Goncharov gives them 10% of the book. This is the purpose of calculating the percentages, by the way, to emphasize myself that the author thought this part of the book was important.As far as Oblomov, the character, is concerned, the contents of these chapters could have been compressed into a paragraph. The characters meet in Paris, fall in love, and marry. They then establish the ideal household, perfectly managed, and ideal marriage, energetic and loving, while Oblomov falls into, let us say, a different ideal. But Goncharov wants his readers to understand the machinery of perfection.Some sample sentences:It was with joyous serenity that she contemplated the broad expanses of life, its vast green fields and hills. (374)Like the perpetual beauty of nature that bathed its surroundings, the interior of the house was constantly abuzz with ideas and vibrated with the beauty of human activity. (395)Leaving aside the question of love and marriage as such and without bringing in such issues as money, connections or position, Stoltz did nonetheless ponder the problem of reconciling his outer and hitherto ceaseless activity with an inner family life, and his role as a traveler and businessman with that of a homebound family man. (398)The prose is that of a different writer, a different novel. I suspect many readers, after that last example, will say a worse writer. In an amusing paradox, this novel about sloth is full of comic energy, while the two chapters about activity are without spark.And the reading, the learning, the constant stimulation and stretching of the mind! (401)He did not actually draw her diagrams or go over tables with her, but her talked to her about everything… Like a philosopher or artist he tenderly molded her intellectual development and never in his life had he found himself so deeply absorbed… there had been no task so challenging as that of nurturing the restless, volcanic intellect of his life’s companion. (402)There is the clue – these two chapters are modeled after the fiction of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They update the idealized love affair of Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (1761) and the idealized pedagogy of Émile, ou de l'éducation (1762), two of the strangest books I have ever read. Émile is particularly insane.The characters themselves use Oblomov as a foil, discussing how they can maintain their energy and interest in their marriage and lives and avoid falling into Oblomovism. My guess is that Goncharov more or less means all of this, and that readers are meant to choose virtue over vice, but in the end even the noble couple acknowledges their love for Oblomov:“’I’ve felt love for many people, but never such a strong and lasting love as for Oblomov. To know him is to love him forever; right?’” (413)They love him for his sincerity and “gentleness,” while I love him because his parts of the novel are well-written, but we end up in the same place.

The pianist Jeremy Denk will transform an article for The New Yorker into a book for Random House.