How Do I
Lisa's Picks
| Grossman, Anna Jane Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By Nonfiction |
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| DDT. Hotel keys. Rolodexes. Traveler’s Checks. Asbestos. Percolators.
What do they have in common? They’ve drifted into extinction, supplanted
by better, faster and stronger successors. Revisit answering the telephone
with a sincere “hello?” (note the question mark because you have no idea
who is calling), getting lost, and privacy, experiences made obsolete
with caller ID, GPS, and status updates. It’s difficult to determine if
Obsolete is nostalgic or depressing. Either way, Grossman’s earnestly
funny essays, blurbs and interviews will take you back to a time when
things, ideas and attitudes were replaced at a much slower rate. Recommended March 2010 |
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Raymond, Jon Livability: stories Short Stories |
| Gaining wider recognition after two of the nine stories
were adapted into films (Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy),
Jon Raymond paints a literary landscape of the Pacific Northwest as
lushly green, isolating and yet peacefully captivating. Although markedly
different, each set of characters share the same unsettled ending.
Nothing of magnitude happens but a similar sense of uncertainly pervades.
A young man seeks the whereabouts of his former friend at the request
of his dying father. Two teenagers are trapped in a mall while they
sort out truth and adolescent misbehavior. The conflicting distinction
of language versus object ends a relationship between an artist and
an art critic. Some characters are economically prosperous (“The Suckling
Pig”) and others hopelessly desperate (“Train Choir”), yet each story
features restless personalities eager to test the boundaries of social
and personal accountability, with an ambivalence that comes across
as uniquely American. Recommended October 2009 |
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Watson, Esther Pearl Tammy Pierce is Unlovable Graphic Novel nonfiction |
| Originally published in Bust magazine, Esther Pearl Watson’s
serialized comic is loosely based on the late 1980s diary of a teenage
girl found in the women’s restroom of a Vegas gas station. Tammy Pierce
is a Texan high school sophomore who is completely boy crazy, exchanges
cheese fries for friends, and attracts every opportunity for humiliation.
She's a totally lovable character who can’t help being unintentionally
funny. Inside the blue glitter cover, Watson fills the pages with
both awkward and tender moments that are poignantly clever. Recommended May 2009 |
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Meno, Joe Demons in the Spring Short Stories |
| Twenty short stories, all set in the most ordinary places
entwined with modern catastrophe and magic realist moments. Illustrated
by artists from the fine art, graphic, and comic book realms, with
recognizable names such as Charles Burns, Paul Hornschemeier, Anders
Nilson, and Archer Prewitt. "An Apple Could Make You Laugh" tells
of two office coworkers who are tortured by their unsuccessful flirting.
“Stockholm 1973” reveals the strange nature of the human condition
when an ex-con holds up a bank and gets his best friend involved in
his crime. In “The Unabomber and My Brother,” parallels are drawn
between the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, and the narrator’s mentally
ill brother, exposing the demise of a onetime happy family. Accessible
yet unusually wonderful, Meno creates a touching and almost cinematic
work of fiction. Recommended April 2009 |
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edited by Jones, Daniel Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion Nonfiction |
| The more things change the more they stay the same – a
phrase that couldn’t be more perfect when considering the intricacies
and challenges of modern love. The language of love got a lot more
difficult when text messaging and the internet were added to the mix
of an already mystifying and complicated subject. Taken straight from
the New York Times weekly “Modern Love” column, 50 intrepid
authors bare their souls in illuminating essays about love in the
twenty-first century. A voyeuristic approach to love and a superb
collection for anyone who has loved, lost, or googled her date’s name.
Recommended January 2009 |
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edited by Karlin, Ben Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me Nonfiction |
| Co-author and co-editor of America (The Book): A
Citizen’s Guide to Democracy in Action contains a collection
of essays by recognizable names such as Dan Savage, Stephen Colbert
and Nick Hornby, as well as some new authors to add to your repertoire.
The advice offered is 10% practical and 90% hilarious, and 31 contributors
wear their fervent hearts on their sleeves for the reader's amusement.
Lessons in this anthology span from “Women Are Never Too Young to
Mess with Your Head,” and “A Grudge Can Be Art,” to “Nine Years is
the Exact Right Amount of Time to Be in a Bad Relationship.” It’s
unlikely you’ll actually gain any practical or sensible advice about
love from these personal essays, but they might improve your sense
of humor about break-ups, past, present, or future. Recommended October 2008 |
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Cody, Diablo Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper Nonfiction |
| Screenwriter and blogger Diablo Cody, known for her Academy
Award-winning script Juno, delivers an intelligently sharp
memoir of her experience as an “unlikely” Minnesotan stripper. Bored
with the monotony and dullness of cubical dwelling, on a whim Cody
decides to dabble in stripping at an amateur night in Minneapolis.
Embedded with snarky pop culture references, Diablo Cody’s healthy
cynicism and feisty attitude is the core appeal of her candid memoir.
Candy Girl is strides away from simply depicting a superficial
glance into the world of stripping. Clever and hilarious, Cody gives
us an insightful behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Recommended by Lisa, August 2008 |
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Goldstein, Jonathan Lenny Bruce is Dead: A Novel Fiction |
| Public Radio International’s This American Life
contributing editor Jonathan Goldstein writes a fractured novel capturing
snapshots of a young man mourning the death of his mother and a succession
of failing relationships. Mostly written in the style of stream of
consciousness, Goldstein injects occasional incisive moments of literary
wisdom. Josh, the novel’s protagonist, is solitary and undoubtedly
romantically awkward as the plot fluctuates between Josh struggling
with his newly widowed father and impending disaster with every girl
he falls in love with. Lusty, poetic and nuanced, Goldstein brilliantly
forces us to grip each paragraph at a time. Recommended by Lisa, April 2008 |
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Messinger, Jonathan Hiding Out Short Stories |
| Jonathan Messinger, book review editor for Time Out
Chicago and co-publisher of Featherproof Books, debuts a surprising
collection of short stories ranging from the side-splittingly funny
to the achingly despairing. A father is haunted by a thieving angel,
leaving his house stripped of all personal belongings. An unathletic
and hungover protagonist gets kicked in the naked eye by a soccer
ball, only to find out in a CAT scan that he's inflicted with a far
worse diagnosis. A man-eating wolf escapes its zoo habitat and menaces
a small town in a dismally funny fairy tale. Hiding Out observes
innately awkward, lonely, repressed personalities with deadpan delivery
and clever sarcasm. Just as the cover photograph evokes, Messinger's
characters may be broken-down but surely not lacking resilience. Recommended by Lisa, December 2007 |
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Jamison, Dirk Perishable: A Memoir Nonfiction |
| Think your family is dysfunctional? Dirk Jamison, child
of a dumpster diving father and a self-absorbed Mormon mother (described
by Jamison as more stupid than crazy) composes a gripping and candid
memoir of his extremely unconventional 1970s childhood. Raised in
an unstable environment and battling routine physical assault from
a violent sister, Jamison manages to convey his experience in a very
lucid and natural style, void of psychological interpretation. Throughout
the memoir, the author provides us with the often hilarious details
of concealing scavenged food in foil from his mother, building housing
multiple times with his father, surviving adolescence in a Mormon
community and a tumultuous relationship between his parents. Although
Jamison’s family insanity is more extreme than average, the universality
in family dynamics are undeniably evident. Recommended by Lisa, October 2007 |
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Perrotta, Tom Little Children Fiction |
| Absorbing and unsettling, yet filled with laugh-out-loud
moments, Little Children conceives a sardonic landscape of
suburbia where nothing outside of the mundane ever seems to happen.
Suspense soon shakes the plot as a convicted child molester moves
into the neighborhood and an unlikely affair between two young parents
captures an intense romance. While Sarah and Todd desperately embrace
an oasis from feeling trapped, alone, and deflated by the drudgery
of their lives, their children nap from a typical day at the town
pool. From the neighborhood housewives to the local pedophile to the
children of the restless adulterous parents, Perrotta remarkably manages
to design every character as interesting and oddly engaging. Recommended by Lisa, September 2007 |
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Rothbart, Davy The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas: Stories Short Stories |
| Humorous with just a tinge of desperation and dejection,
Rothbart delivers a collection of short stories featuring a cast of
everyday small-town characters in all too surreal situations. The
opening story, "Lie Big," reads as a convincing memory recalled from
a page of a friend's diary where the reader discovers the heartbreaking
and hilarious intricacies of a complex friendship. Another notable
story, "Maggie Fever," unravels the mundane yet tragic story of a
fourteen year old boy left to his own devices but manages to allow
his curiosity to lead him to anonymous adoration of a stranger. Oscillating
from the ordinary, the intimate, the beautiful and the unfortunate,
stories in The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas will leave
you hanging on and in search for more. Recommended by Lisa, June 2007 |
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Coupland, Douglas Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture Fiction |
| Credited with terming low-paying/low-status/unsatisfying/dead-end
employment as a "McJob" and introducing/popularizing the phrase "Generation
X" to the American lexicon, Coupland conveys the lives of three friends
as they attempt to escape their collective quarter-life crisis. Using
a raw ironic tone that is anything less than subtle, Generation
X entwines the exhausted lives of twentysomethings with relevant
pop culture references. Choice moments in the novel include Coupland's
incorporation of cartoons, slogans and Couplandisms, all of which
are specific to the sentiments portrayed by both the characters and
the author himself. "Tele-parabolizing" is a personal favorite of
Coupland's invented terms which is defined as describing everyday
morals by using widely known plots found on television (think, "that's
just like the episode where Jan lost her glasses!"). Generation
X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture may not cure your frustration
with our culture's habit of excessive consumption and extreme commercialism,
but it will at least provide you with the solace of knowing you're
not alone. Recommended by Lisa, May 2007 |
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Hilton, Paris and Merle Ginsberg Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-chic Peek Behind the Pose Nonfiction |
| Indulgent, overstated and unabashedly self promotional,
Hilton provides explicit guidelines on becoming an heiress while including
hundreds of glossy photographs which could only be appreciated by
the most insincere fanatic. While breezing through the shiny images
and bullet pointed text, it's difficult to interpret a tone of irony
or an honest voice that is mistakenly heard as sardonic. The majority
of Hilton's autobiography is packed with lengthy lists of favorite
vacation destinations, gems of little known Paris trivia and guilty
pleasures. Regardless, the much talked about heiress surely satisfies
our fierce if not slightly perverse craving of embarrassing pictures
and humiliatingly obtuse intelligence. If all else fails, take Hilton's
surefire advice, "…always act like you're wearing an invisible crown.
I do. And it's always worked for me." Recommended by Lisa, April 2007 |
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The Revolution Will Be Accessorized: BlackBook Presents Dispatches from the New Counterculture Nonfiction |
| A decade in the making, BlackBook magazine gives
us a collection of essays from some of the most recognized names in
contemporary writing, including Douglas Coupland, Naomi Klein, Augusten
Burroughs, Chuck Palahniuk and Sam Lipsyte among others. Despite the
magazine's reputation as a glossy New York fashion and social arsenal,
The Revolution Will Be Accessorized contributes a perverse
and provocative criticism of the "trendy" existence these writers
(and perhaps even its readers alike) inhabit. From memoirs to critical
essays on L.A.'s bourgeoisie, selections in this anthology will leave
you questioning efforts of cultural dissent. Yet, Glen O'Brien states
it best, "If it makes you think, is it fashion?" Recommended by Lisa, March 2007 |
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PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives Compiled by Frank Warren Nonfiction |
| Initiated as a temporary experimental community art project
where anonymous secrets from across the United States are written
on post cards and sent to artist Frank Warren, PostSecret has
afforded itself to be a liberating experience to its audience. Voyeuristic,
compelling, tragic, yet endearing, Warren composes confessions that
are certain to divulge powerful insights to any who seek universality
in humanity. If PostSecret:
Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives leaves you wanting
more, look for Frank Warren's succeeding compilation of confessions
in My
Secret: A PostSecret Book. Recommended by Lisa, February 2007 |
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Charles S. Anderson Design Co. and Michael J. Nelson Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute Nonfiction |
| It just has a ton of super cute images, all dating from
the Depression era to the 60's and everything in between. Also includes
some sassy and oh so witty commentary from a bunch of advertising
types. It is quite savvy. The first time I looked at this, I was seriously
on the floor laughing my guts out! Recommended by Lisa, January 2007 |
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