Books
About the Author
Appearances
BlogThomas Mullen
Subscribe!My Summer Reading Picks
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Someone recently asked me if I had any "summer reading" picks, which got me to thinking of the whole concept of a Summer Read, or a Beach Read. People tend to think of trips to the beach (or any other vacation) as the time to pick up something trashy, or fun, or simple, or lesser than what one might ordinarily read. Which goes a long way toward explaining the kinds of books you'll usually find at airport kiosks. But I'm the guy who was once teased for taking The Brothers Karamazov to the beach, so I'm not your typical beach reader. I just enjoy reading novels too much -- and feel too aware of all the great books out there that I haven't gotten to yet -- to want to waste my time with O is For Overdone or something like that.
(And hey, I do have my guilty reading pleasures -- anyone who's as big a sports fan as I am spends way, way too much time reading about sports online. So don't think I'm trying to act all superior here. I too enjoy reading good junk, just not when it comes to novels.)
So, with those disclaimers dispensed with, if someone nonetheless asked me for some Summer Reading picks, here's what I'd recommend. I've broken them into two groups: Books That Are Sort of Like Thrillers, Only Way Better, and Books That Are Really Short:
Books That Are Sort of Like Thrillers, Only Way Better
There seems to be a growing subgenre out there of literary authors taking the basic ideas of hardboiled detective fiction and doing something crazy with it. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
Citizen Vince, or The Zero, by Jess Walter. My new favorite writer. Citizen Vince is about a smalltime New York hood who's been relocated to Spokane, WA, as part of the Witness Protection Program. In the days leading up to the 1980 Carter/Reagan elections, he is given his first-ever voter ID card as part of his new identity; meanwhile, he begins to fear that the mob has tracked him down. He becomes obsessed with both national politics and his own survival in a funny, entertaining story that would be particularly good to read in this election-year summer. Walter is a writer who deserves a lot more attention -- extremely readable yet brilliant, with characters you want to hang out with all day, at the beach or wherever. And if you like Citizen Vince and/or want something a tad more challenging and thought-provoking, I highly recommend The Zero, Walter's latest, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Sort of a cross between the film Memento and 9/11, it follows a police detective with serious memory problems who finds himself entangled with a shadowy government antiterror agency just after 9/11 -- he has gaps in his memory, so he keeps "appearing" in scenes but can't remember what he's supposed to do in them. Funny, smart, awesome.
Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem. A man with Tourette's Syndrome tries to investigate the murder of his friend and mentor, who was a smalltime Brooklyn gangster. As you can imagine, it is difficult to stealthily dig for clues when your condition requires you to shout "Eat me, Bailey!" every now and then. I, like many people, first "discovered" Lethem with this book, and I'm so glad I did.
The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead. In a somewhat alternate reality, elevator inspectors are as important as cops. When an elevator crashes on the shift of the world's first black female elevator inspector, she needs to investigate who is framing her and why. A clever racial allegory and a darn good yarn.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Michael Chabon. Not much to say about this mega-best-seller that hasn't already been said. It's a 1940s style noir detective story set in a hypothetical present that imagines what would have happened if Alaska, rather than Israel, had become the post-WWII homeland for the Jews. The Coen Brothers are already slated to direct it, according to various Internet sites whose reliability I can't in any way vouch for.
In The Shadow of the Law, by Kermit Roosevelt. If you liked the movie Michael Clayton, you'll love this. It doesn't fit into the pseudo-hardboiled genre like the above books, but I wanted to give it a shout-out anyway. This first novel follows a number of lawyers, novice and veteran, ethical and shady, in a bigtime D.C. law firm as they get involved in two major cases. That sounds like a standard thriller, but what puts this far outside of Grisham or Turow territory is the attention paid to the different characters and their dilemmas, as well as Roosevelt's keen eye for exposing the sad ironies and moral tragedies inherent in the modern practice of law.
Books That Are Really Short
There is something to be said for being able to write a powerful, intelligent, artistic work in only 200 pages or so. I haven't come anywhere close myself. Also, there is something to be said for having a (physically) lightweight book in your beach bag or hiking sack or carry-on. Here are some that get it done with minimal blathering:
Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney. With so much '80s nostalgia in the air, it's a wonder this one isn't back on the bestseller lists. This is a seminal first novel about a young man losing his bearings in NYC, before novels about young men losing their bearings in NYC became standard requirements for writers who have MFAs and live in Brooklyn. And it's one of the only books I've read in a single plane flight.
The Passion, or Sexing The Cherry, by Jeannette Winterson. I haven't read her in years, but Winterson's first two novels are gorgeous stories that meld fairy tales with examinations of love and gender and history. I'm willing to bet Jonathan Safran Foer is a huge fan (and that is in no way a shot against Mr. Foer).
Anything Written By George Saunders. I can't even begin to describe how cool his short stories are, so I won't try.
The Committments, by Roddy Doyle. The best novel about music ever written. It's about a group of teens who form a soul covers band in 1980s Dublin. Hilarious, raunchy, and so, so smart about music and what it means to people. And you can read it in about the time it would take you to listen to Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club four times.
The Stranger, by Albert Camus. Guaranteed to win you as many weird looks at the beach as The Brothers Karamazov, but at only 1/10th the weight! Plus, it has a murder on the beach! If you want to mix existentialism with your mai-tai, this is it.
Happy Summer, everyone!
link to this | File: Book Reviews
(And hey, I do have my guilty reading pleasures -- anyone who's as big a sports fan as I am spends way, way too much time reading about sports online. So don't think I'm trying to act all superior here. I too enjoy reading good junk, just not when it comes to novels.)
So, with those disclaimers dispensed with, if someone nonetheless asked me for some Summer Reading picks, here's what I'd recommend. I've broken them into two groups: Books That Are Sort of Like Thrillers, Only Way Better, and Books That Are Really Short:
Books That Are Sort of Like Thrillers, Only Way Better
There seems to be a growing subgenre out there of literary authors taking the basic ideas of hardboiled detective fiction and doing something crazy with it. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
Citizen Vince, or The Zero, by Jess Walter. My new favorite writer. Citizen Vince is about a smalltime New York hood who's been relocated to Spokane, WA, as part of the Witness Protection Program. In the days leading up to the 1980 Carter/Reagan elections, he is given his first-ever voter ID card as part of his new identity; meanwhile, he begins to fear that the mob has tracked him down. He becomes obsessed with both national politics and his own survival in a funny, entertaining story that would be particularly good to read in this election-year summer. Walter is a writer who deserves a lot more attention -- extremely readable yet brilliant, with characters you want to hang out with all day, at the beach or wherever. And if you like Citizen Vince and/or want something a tad more challenging and thought-provoking, I highly recommend The Zero, Walter's latest, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Sort of a cross between the film Memento and 9/11, it follows a police detective with serious memory problems who finds himself entangled with a shadowy government antiterror agency just after 9/11 -- he has gaps in his memory, so he keeps "appearing" in scenes but can't remember what he's supposed to do in them. Funny, smart, awesome.
Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem. A man with Tourette's Syndrome tries to investigate the murder of his friend and mentor, who was a smalltime Brooklyn gangster. As you can imagine, it is difficult to stealthily dig for clues when your condition requires you to shout "Eat me, Bailey!" every now and then. I, like many people, first "discovered" Lethem with this book, and I'm so glad I did.
The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead. In a somewhat alternate reality, elevator inspectors are as important as cops. When an elevator crashes on the shift of the world's first black female elevator inspector, she needs to investigate who is framing her and why. A clever racial allegory and a darn good yarn.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Michael Chabon. Not much to say about this mega-best-seller that hasn't already been said. It's a 1940s style noir detective story set in a hypothetical present that imagines what would have happened if Alaska, rather than Israel, had become the post-WWII homeland for the Jews. The Coen Brothers are already slated to direct it, according to various Internet sites whose reliability I can't in any way vouch for.
In The Shadow of the Law, by Kermit Roosevelt. If you liked the movie Michael Clayton, you'll love this. It doesn't fit into the pseudo-hardboiled genre like the above books, but I wanted to give it a shout-out anyway. This first novel follows a number of lawyers, novice and veteran, ethical and shady, in a bigtime D.C. law firm as they get involved in two major cases. That sounds like a standard thriller, but what puts this far outside of Grisham or Turow territory is the attention paid to the different characters and their dilemmas, as well as Roosevelt's keen eye for exposing the sad ironies and moral tragedies inherent in the modern practice of law.
Books That Are Really Short
There is something to be said for being able to write a powerful, intelligent, artistic work in only 200 pages or so. I haven't come anywhere close myself. Also, there is something to be said for having a (physically) lightweight book in your beach bag or hiking sack or carry-on. Here are some that get it done with minimal blathering:
Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney. With so much '80s nostalgia in the air, it's a wonder this one isn't back on the bestseller lists. This is a seminal first novel about a young man losing his bearings in NYC, before novels about young men losing their bearings in NYC became standard requirements for writers who have MFAs and live in Brooklyn. And it's one of the only books I've read in a single plane flight.
The Passion, or Sexing The Cherry, by Jeannette Winterson. I haven't read her in years, but Winterson's first two novels are gorgeous stories that meld fairy tales with examinations of love and gender and history. I'm willing to bet Jonathan Safran Foer is a huge fan (and that is in no way a shot against Mr. Foer).
Anything Written By George Saunders. I can't even begin to describe how cool his short stories are, so I won't try.
The Committments, by Roddy Doyle. The best novel about music ever written. It's about a group of teens who form a soul covers band in 1980s Dublin. Hilarious, raunchy, and so, so smart about music and what it means to people. And you can read it in about the time it would take you to listen to Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club four times.
The Stranger, by Albert Camus. Guaranteed to win you as many weird looks at the beach as The Brothers Karamazov, but at only 1/10th the weight! Plus, it has a murder on the beach! If you want to mix existentialism with your mai-tai, this is it.
Happy Summer, everyone!
link to this | File: Book Reviews