Operation Chuck: Lullaby

Nothing like spending a rainy weekend reading Chuck Palahniuk.  I've now finished four books in my quest to read the collected works of Chuck before his event at Lemuria Books on October 20th.  I love the chatter on the FaceSpace about my alleged sanity--you are correct to assume that I've lost my mind.

The latest book I've added to the "finished" pile is Lullaby.  I think this book is written by a more mature Chuck that the lesser works (those published by Norton, because Random House pays my rent).  Lullaby is the story of a reporter, Mr. Streator, who is writing a five part story on sudden infant death syndrome.  In his interviews with five distraught families, he discovers that one poem from a certain collection of poetry is found at every home.  After reading this "culling poem" to the child at night as a lullaby, the child never wakes.  It dies, but peacefully.  So begins Mr. Streator's own term as an angel of death and leads to an unlikely road trip to track down copies of the book.

'Read' pile on the left,
'To Be Read' on the right....
Crazy alien thing in the middle.

The highlight of Lullaby for me: As someone who drives about 40,000 miles each year, I listen to the radio many, many hours.  Lullaby's protagonist adamantly opposes the noise pollution of contemporary America.  While on the road trip, the group in the car listens to an obvious parody of Dr. Laura, and with a quick mental recitation of the culling poem, "Dr. Sara" drops dead while on the air.  Everyone should rejoice that I don't have this power over others' lives.

Lullaby  does offer an interesting twist on the idea of censorship.  If the world were to discover that a certain poem could kill if overheard, the idea of free speech would be destroyed for our own safety.  I'm willing to argue that Dr. Laura's books kill and should be destroyed, but otherwise I'm with Chuck; free speech must be protected.

Next: Diary

10 Cool Things: Murder By the Book

This week we're focusing our Holmes-y magnifying glass on our favorite mystery bookstore, Murder By the Book in Houston, Texas.  Murder By the Book is located on Bissonnet St, on the block between Kirby and Greenbriar, and is legendary in the mystery community as one of the best stores in the country.  McKenna Jordan and her terrific staff are some of our favorite people.


Here's why we love Murder By the Book:

1. These crazy bastards are passionate about books. Ask for a recommendation and you will get a honest answer. Lord knows they've never worried about hurting our feelings about books we've tried to sell them.... [Actually, they love all of my, Liz's, books.  Gianna's, not so much....]


2. Shop here once and you will be convinced of two things:   Independent Bookstores rock
McKenna is hot

Hey McKenna, watch out for Gianna!

3. These guys have mind-blowing author signings - and they have the authors before they become huge. In other words, if you're a book collector, keep your eye on their events page.


4. They are of course a mystery book shop, but when the staff is really in love with a non-mystery you will know it (and so will the author)!


5. Two Words: Jack Reacher. 

...Not that Jack Reacher....

This is the Jack Reacher we love!

6. These guys can party. For example, say you went to Vegas with one or more of the staff...chances are someone is going to accidentally get married (note to self... invite McKenna to Vegas).

7. These guys have their fingers on the pulse of what is about to explode; we will never forget the day at MBTB when we were told about how popular Harry Hole had become!


8. Store has only had to close a couple of times due to hurricanes...so you know...it's totally safe.

Hanni-bear Lector

9. They love the bestsellers, and they love the no-name noir pulp from 1953 that only your grandfather owned.  No one we know knows more about the genre.


10. Some stores have employees.  Murder By the Book, the staff is family--sometimes literally in the case of McKenna and her mom Brenda.  They love working with each other, though, and it's obvious.  And they open this family up to their customers and authors, too. 

Robert Crais hanging out with the MBTB family.

Operation Chuck: Invisible Monsters

In my quest to read the assorted works of Chuck Palahniuk before he makes an appearance at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi, on October 20th (Go to the event!  Buy a book from them!  Buy 12!  Keep me employed! ...Subtle?), I am officially reporting that I've now completed three books.  The latest was Invisible Monsters.  This one was about transgendered wannabe super-models, hideous self-inflicted disfigurement in the name of beauty, and the joys of revenge and stealing pharmaceuticals from open houses.

Give me outrage.
Flash.

I did like the structure of Invisible Monsters.  Much like Fight Club used the "I am Jack's ruptured colon"-type transitions to convey the protagonist's emotional state, Invisible Monsters utilized the photographer's hypothetical instructions to a model to convey the anti-heroine's feelings.  Anti-heroine, you ask?  Yep.  I pretty much found all of the characters in this book to be shallow and generally horrible...monstrous, if you will.  I think that's the point.

Give me a general sense of bewilderment.
Flash.


I wonder if anyone in a Chuck Palahniuk universe has a "normal" job and isn't addicted to a substance of some sort.  Perhaps like the movie American Beauty, Palahniuk's point is that their is no average family, average person, that everyone is secretly a psychic prostitute or transgender beauty queen wannabe or white collar weekend warrior with rage issues.  In this way Chuck's books seem unrealistic, but deliberately so.  They are modern fairy tales of a sort, or cautionary tales.

Give me hilarious exaggeration.
Flash.

One of my favorite scenes in Invisible Monsters involved one of the worst Christmases ever.  The main character's older brother runs away after their parents discover he's gay and throw him out of the house.  Later someone calls the house to say that the brother has died of AIDS.  The parents swing the other way, suddenly becoming PFLAG supporters and activists for gay rights.  Their whole world becomes gay rights.  And for Christmas, because their focus is still entirely their dead gay son even years later, they decide to give their daughter....condoms.  Lots and lots of boxes of condoms.  Condoms for every sort of sexual encounter you can imagine.  And they proceed to describe the benefits and sexual experiences suitable for the various types of rubbers.  It's "the talk" on steroids.  This scene is pure awkward, comic genius.

Give me total mental collapse.
Flash.


I keep reminding myself that the Operation Chuck challenge was my idea.  It's been an experience thus far, to say the least.  I'm diving into what I will consider Chuck's greater works now, in that they are the ones published by Random House.  I am a corporate whore.  I'm not ashamed.

Next: Lullaby

Generally Horrible Questions: A Bookseller Profile of Nan Graves Goodman

Just like the new store profile feature we've started on our half-assed little blog, Gianna and I have decided to start a regular feature about some of the outstanding booksellers out there.  These people are the taste-makers; chances are if you're reading a great book that's not written by James Patterson, a bookseller was instrumental at some point along the way in getting that book into your hands. These people deserve our love because their passion for reading makes our BookLand possible.

First up, Nan Graves Goodman.  Nan works at the legendary Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi, and is in charge of the reading group there.  Nan is one of my go-to booksellers for literary fiction.  If it's nominated for a major award, chances are that Nan's read it.  Nan writes for the Lemuria blog and helps bring a touch of class to Lemuria every day that she's there.  For that reason (or maybe because we just forgot), we didn't ask Nan about her tattoos.

Here you go, some generally horrible questions for Nan Graves Goodman.

1. How did you get into the bookselling business?

Nan and Misty, her pooch.

When I was just out of graduate school in English, my first job was with University Press of Mississippi. Jump forward about 25 years,and on a spontaneous whim, I barged into John Evan's office (no appointment!) about

5 1/2 years ago, and said, "Hey, John, let me work here this summer, okay?" Since he had been my son's soccer and baseball coach years before, we had been friends for quite a while. John was clearly flustered, but said,"Okay, but you'll have to go through the interview process."

So......I liked the part time book store summer job A LOT!" Long story short.....here I am still, 5 1/2 years later and loving it as much as I did that first summer in 2006! My love of great literature is fulfilled in the fiction room, an English major's dream! 
[John Evans is the owner of Lemuria Books and a bit of a character himself.  That Nan allowed her children near John lends itself to jokes and possibly some sort of insinuation about lower standards for child welfare in the South, but we won't go there....oh, wait.....]

2. What's the best experience you've had working at the bookstore?

By far my best experiences come in talking to the authors one on one and picking their brains as to "why they did what they did" with the characters, plots, settings, and symbols!

3. What book(s) changed your life?

Now that's a hard one....I'm a Faulkner and Percy lover who has added new authors such as Tim Gautreaux, Ron Rash, and Geraldine Brooks to my list. I used to say that Mists of Avalon was my all time favorite book which changed my life, but I'm not sure I would say that now 100%.Although it has been way long since I read it, I was also impressed by Frank Conroy's Body and Soul, and recently I was quite moved by Julie Orringer's Invisible Bridge.

4. What are you currently reading?
I am presently reading: Charles Frazier's Nightwoods, Chuck Palahniuk's Damned, Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, Michael Ondaatje's Cat's Table,and Erin Morgenstern's Night Circus, and I just finished Diana Abu-Jaber's Birds of Paradise and Amor Towles Rules of Civility. Did I say that I have to be reading more than one book at a time?

5. What's your #1 pick for reading groups?

We really enjoyed discussing Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann,and America, America by Ethan Canin.

Hello, beautiful....

6. Would you rather....Jonathan Franzen, Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Safran Foer?

Jonathan Franzen

[Interesting.  I admit that I like the nerdy glasses too...and Safran Foer is too short for me.  I'm inclined to agree, but I don't think JFranz and I would share more than a fling.]

7. What's the biggest lie ever told by a sales rep?

"You're just going to love this book................." 

8. What's your second favorite bookstore?

Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi 

9. Gianna or Liz?

Well, that's unfair, isn't it? Both of these go-getter, brilliant, fun people have made and are making great marks upon Lemurians. We miss seeing Gianna and just love it when Liz brings us those wonderful ARCs [Advance Reader's Copies] and chats it up with us and gets stranded by ice storms and tornadoes A LOT in Jackson, Mississippi! Does Liz have that kind of effect upon the weather in Texas, Gianna?

[For the record, one of my accounts caught fire as I pulled up.  Be glad I've only brought inclement weather to Mississippi.  And the correct answer to this question is always, ALWAYS "Liz."]

10. The most depressing book you've ever read?

Hands down: Robert Olen Butler's new release A Small Hotel. I really, really loved his satire on Hell, titled Hell, however.

11. I've never read ____________.  And I'm so ashamed.

War and Peace!

12. Celebrity Memoir (Death is not an option): Snooki, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Kardashian Konfidential. 

Don't EVEN make me think about such nonsense!

13. Dumbest question ever asked by a customer?

"Do you know if Amazon has that book?????"...............Uh! Go take a hike, customer! Lemuria rules!

14. I wanted to be a ___________ when I grew up.

Veterinarian.

[I'm going to assume this answer opens the door for you to inherit Zorro.  Congratulations!]

15. ________________ is my favorite book ever.

I love Faulkner's A Light in August, but I'm not sure that I have an absolute favorite. That would be like asking someone to choose a favorite pet or flower, wouldn't it? (only pet lovers and gardeners will understand this answer.....)

[...Fluffinella, world's greatest cat, may she rest in peace.  And daffodils.]

 

Operation Chuck: Survivor

As I mentioned in the first "Operation Chuck" post, I took it upon myself to read all the Chuck Palahniuk novels I hadn't previously read before Chuck's major event at Lemuria Bookstore on October 20th....which meant that I would be reading ALL of Chuck's books.  I read most of Survivor while flying to Denver for the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association trade show in Denver on Saturday morning.

Here are some observations about Survivor:

• It's probably not the wisest choice to read a book that basically uses a hijacked and crashing plane as its setting.  The protagonist, Tender Branson, is telling his life story to the little black box.  I'm going to choose to believe that the reason I was patted down even after going through the porno scanning machines at airport security was because Survivor was in my book bag.  This assumption, though, would suggest that the TSA agents were surprisingly literate, and I admittedly am snobby about the intellectual capacities of airport security personnel.
• It's also probably not the wisest choice to read a book about religious cults and fanaticism when sitting next to the woman who was reading over my shoulder on the plane.  She kept tsking every time she saw words like "penis" or "cult" or "porno landfill."  And this is why I own an iPod.
• I learned how to clean stains out of my microwave!  Thanks, Chuck!
• Survivor is hilarious in places, and generally a fairly shrewd critique of religious fanaticism in the US in all its forms, from fundamentalist sects with suicide pacts to football culture and Super Bowl worship.  It also questions the media-driven mechanics of modern religion.  Think about modern "church" leaders like Joel Osteen who have covers on magazines and billboards promoting their latest books, yet don't actually talk about spiritual doctrines.
• I LOVED the book allegedly written for ex-cult member and spiritual guide Tender Branson, Inc, called The Book of Very Common Prayer.  Prayers not to go bald, prayers to delay sexual release, prayers for good parking spots.  This is first rate satire.  I actually know people who pray for parking spots.  

I liked Survivor.  

Blind faith...hello Chuck!

Next up: Invisible Monsters

Banned Books Week, Gianna's Take

If you are anything like me (I hope not), you turn to banned book lists to carve out your own personal reading in hopes of finding something truly filthy (never really happens) or a book you can agree is worth banning (Bridges of Madison County for example). Recently I found a list of books banned from prisons…it's an excellent list that includes Pulitzer and National Book Award winners, Nobel winners, and even Shakespeare. [Does anyone else think that Gianna's overly fixated on the prisons?]

Here is a list of my favorite books banned from prisons across this great country.

1. If you are in prison, you aren’t going to get a pop-up book. You just aren’t. You aren’t going to get Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Pearl, The Human Body, Graceland an Interactive Pop Up Tour, The Pop Up Book of Sex, Pixie Hollow Pop Up or my favorite…The Pop Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns (it's very possible that my soul mate is in prison requesting this book!). If you love pop-up books…stay on the straight and narrow, my friends.

2. Easy Origami Fold a Day Calendar. I don’t know if this was requested by a female or not, but if it’s a dude; this being banned may have saved you from an ass beating. Blessing in disguise.

3. Law in America was banned because it had an uninspectable (prison word) front cover. I suspect the real reason is that no one likes a know-it-all on the outside, let alone in prison. Annoying.

4. Einstein: The Life of a Genius. This book apparently has glued documents throughout. I don’t know if the fear is getting high off glue (is it bad that was my first thought?) or if a naughty prisoner could hide things behind glued documents? [Physics is scary.]

5. Road Atlas. Yeah…Road Atlas. This was banned because it has a detailed map of Texas. Two thoughts because I live in Texas: was this banned from a Texas prison, or do all prisons ban this due to the map of Texas? Why must all criminals head this way? Is it Mexico? Because if so…they are on to you…head north when you escape. [Canada's prettier anyway.]

6. Sharing Lovers: Twice as Nice. No comment needed. [...I don't get it.]

7. Two Way Radios for Dummies and Ham Radios were both banned due to sexual content. Note to self… set up ham radio! [Gianna already has her handle--Undergarment Varmint rides again!]

8. Family Medical Guide. I assume that this was banned due to gross pictures you can’t help but look at over and over again.

9. Selma: The March that Changed the South. Banned due to racial content. When will somebody finally write a book about the struggle for racial equality and not get bogged down in racial content?

10. You love the arts? Too bad you dirty birdy. Art of Film, Art of Painting, Art of Photography, and How to Draw the Human Figure are all banned due to sexiness. Calm down. Penthouse Censored and Letters to Penthouse: Let’s Get this Party Started are no longer on the ban list! Yay!

Well that’s it, my top 10 favorite banned books in prisons …oh what is that? You’re a white supremacist and you gots to get your read on? No worries; white supremacist books are easy to come by, as is Mein Kampf.  [At least people are reading.  That's what's important, right?]

Operation Chuck: Fight Club

Lemuria Books, Jackson, MS

Chuck Palahniuk has a new novel coming in October, a delightful book called Damned.  Better, Mr. Palahniuk is touring to one of my bookstores, Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi.  Lemuria has never hosted Chuck before and to say the least, they are a wee bit excited.  The store has made t-shirts and posters promoting the event.  They are planning a party with a band, and an art show, and they blog about Chuck every three days or so.  Their enthusiasm is what makes my job fun.  Nothing, seriously NOTHING, is better than an excited bookseller telling people about books they have to read (and buy).  Okay, so maybe chocolate is as good....and I'm sure that Gianna can suggest a few things to do with inmates, but occupationally, book excitement is the best.

I'm still not going to date a convict.  Moving on.

Bookseller Zita sporting
a Damned t-shirt.

So Lisa, the terrific bookseller and editor for Lemuria's blog, emailed me two days ago and asked if I'd write a Chuck-related blog piece for Lemuria since I'm such a big fan.  While I want to support my stores in any way possible, I was confused.  I actually had only ever read about a few samples of Chuck Palahniuk books (reps are supposed to read excerpts of books in order to obtain a taste of the writing and story).  I'm a little crazy, though, and sometimes I suggest ideas without thinking them through completely.  For example, let's say that I suggest that I read all of Chuck Palahniuk's books between now and the Lemuria event on October 20th and then I could write authoritatively about the man's writing.  Never mind that we're talking about, like, a dozen books in 22 days and I have a full time job.  (I don't have a social life...but no, I'm still not going to date a convict.)

I am Liz's Mental Illness and Blurry Eyes.

Chuck Palahniuk

One book down, started this morning, finished tonight.  I started with Fight Club because I saw the movie long, long ago...and I admit I didn't really like the movie much.  I'm not a Brad Pitt fan and the Marla character was one dimensional and the only sympathetic female character (Bob with the man boobs) is killed.

I appreciate that the book Fight Club is slightly different from the movie.  Marla is significantly more compelling in the book, for one thing.  The "twist" is more transparent and far more believable.  And while the idea of Fight Club is about male bonding and the definition of masculinity, there's enough satire to keep me from throwing the book across the room.

I am Liz's outraged Intro to Women's Studies curriculum.

Fight Club is juvenile.  It glories in the vulgar practical jokes and tiny acts of anarchy that pervade the service industries.  It shouldn't be taken as a textbook.  It's one of those books where I think most of the readers take it too seriously and consider it The Catcher in the Rye of the 90's.  The afterward is testament to the ridiculous responses this book has produced, and actually makes me think I might like this Chuck Palahniuk guy.  We'll see.  I have quite a few books to go.

I am Liz's inability to sleep.

I realize that I'm going to be reading a Chuck Palahniuk book about every day and a half for a couple of weeks, and that's on top of the reading I need to do to prepare for my next sales conference.  And that full time job.  (Still no to the convicts, though.)  I don't sleep much.  Filling my time and brain with the unladylike lit of Chuck Palahniuk could rot my brain, but I'll try to chronicle my mental collapse properly.

Next up: Survivor