Holy Shit: Managing Manure To Save Mankind ~ Gene Logsdon

26 January 2012

Amazing book: who knew composting poop could be so hilarious? Logsdon does a fantastic job of combining wry humor and outraged politics to convince humanity that there's nothing wrong with poop, or for using it's incredible fertilizing properties to create food for everyone - yes, even human poop, you squeamish folk. In fact, Logsdon does a pretty damn good job of arguing this is what we're going to have to do, indeed should have already started, if we want to keep our extravagant lifestyles. Excellent book and resource, I'm sure I'll be using it for years to come. And I'll be looking into reading more of Logsdon! Check out his blog here for instant gratification, and to sign up to get his weekly essay in your RSS feed: http://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com/

Ploughshares: Fall 2011 (Volume 37, Numbers 2 & 3)

40th Anniversary edition

Pieces in this consistently excellent publication all share one similarity: they are excellently crafted. Favorites in this volume include the short fiction of Sue Miller from Burning Summer and Laura van den Berg's "I Looked for You, I Called Your Name" and the non-fiction "Catcher's Hang" by Susan Falco. Maxine Kumin's poetry was, as usual, good.

Zone 3: Spring 2009 (Volume 24, Number 1)

21 January 2012

Highlight of this issue and the reason I bought it was the interview with Louise Erdrich, long one of my favorite writers. This interview did not disappoint, in fact now I think I am soon going to spend a good part of this year rereading her great novels.

A Discovery of Witches ~ Deborah Harkness

20 January 2012

A quick, light read. Diana Bishop, an historian specializing in ancient alchemical manuscripts, also comes from a long line of witches. While studying at Oxford's Bodleian library, she unknowingly retrieves a bewitched manuscript that unleashes a flurry of "creatures," including a vampire, Matthew de Clermont, and an assortment of curious daemons and deadly jealous witches, all intent on acquiring the manuscript for themselves, no matter the cost to Diana. Meanwhile, Diana stubbornly insists she wants no part in being a witch, even as she seemingly unknowingly practices magic left and right. First of a trilogy, Discovery follows Diana from Oxford, to a secluded castle in the countryside of France, to New York State, as well as her psychological journey to understand the new world unfolding around her, all as she seeks to uncover the secret of the importance of the manuscript.

At times I felt the plot to be contrived and predictable, however I found the novel as a whole to be entertaining and absorbing. I would have liked to see more character development of the minor characters, like Marthe. Less reliance on magic to explain away complicated situations - yes, these are supernatural creatures being depicted, but supernatural creatures who have evolved to be invisible in a modern world. I would also classify this as a romance, which has never been what you would call my favorite genre, so by the end of was groaning aloud in some scenes and skipping ahead, but some readers of romance may find these torturous scenes for me to be innocently charming.

One thing that got to irritate me by the end was Harkness' portrayal of vampires, which I thought to be wholly implausible. I appreciate that she was justifying their existence through a more realistic historical rendering of their possible evolution, but it tried too hard to be different from the way other vampires are portrayed in literature. I did like her portrayal of witches, however, and was somewhat delighted in her portrayal of daemons - I plan to try and read the other books when they come out, and I hope to see more daemons in them.

Down These Mean Streets ~ Piri Thomas

15 January 2012

Excellent book - it's rare when an author has you right there in the moment with them, and that's how I felt when reading this book. Piri Thomas tells about growing up in Spanish Harlem in this incredible memoir, but it's so much more than that. All through the book Piri is on a quest to discover who he is, where he belongs, what identity to claim. A part of life everyone goes through, but oh is it different when you're a stranger amongst your family, your friends, when nothing is what it seems and you feel like everyone is out to get you. How do you accept yourself, when you're not even accepted by those around you? How can you be comfortable in your own skin when the world wants to belittle, berate, and beat you down because you're not the "right" (ie, white) color? And then laugh it off like it's a huge joke, "you know I'm only joking," and make light of the situation, which is what people still do today - call me a party pooper, but this is infuriating. And this is why racism is still a huge problem in this country. This is what Piri struggles with throughout his life, throughout this book, which is enlightening and eye opening. Everyone should read this.

Come Along With Me ~ Shirley Jackson

12 January 2012

Many of the stories in this collection are found elsewhere, but it's a gem because it contains Jackson's last work, a short story meant to be a novel - however, I got a little sad reading it, knowing I would never know how it ended in her brilliant mind. Also valuable for writers are two essays in this volume with very sage and wonderful advice on writing. I also highly enjoyed reading about the startling reactions people had after reading "The Lottery" for the first time.

Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories Of Shirley Jackson

9 January 2012

Absolutely amazing - a wonderful collection of Jackson's unpublished and uncollected stories. I really like how her children arranged the collection, as well, putting a humorous memoir directly after a horrifying, can't-get-up-right-now-I'm-so-scared story. Very well done, an essential collection for any Shirley Jackson fan.

The Orphan Master's Son ~ Adam Johnson

The main reason I kept reading this book was because shortly after I started it, Kim Jong Il died, and I thought it was much too timely to put down. Otherwise, I would have given it up before I had reached 100 pages. However, I'm glad I continued with it, because the end is much better than the beginning, which seems to me as if it could have used some more editing, for some things were confusing - about a third of the way in Johnson introduces a new character, telling his own story as well as Jun Do's from a different point of view, and it took me a few pages to catch on.

Anyway, the book tells the story of Jun Do, a young man growing up in North Korea, and without protesting accepting his lot in life: as the son of a cruel man, as a kidnapper, as a spy, finally as an imposter. Jun Do commits terrible acts, yet I couldn't dislike him for some strange reason. There were very few other characters in the book I liked, however, including the ones the reader was supposed to.

I feel as if the book is almost, not quite making fun of North Korea, but yes, it kind of does. At times I can sense condescension in Johnson's tone, but perhaps he was just trying to show condescension from the point of view of his cruel characters, I'm not sure. I imagine he researched before writing, but I was still struck by his lack of compassion at times.

Nevertheless, this is fiction, and if you can get through the first third of the book, you might be entertained by the rest.

Raising Demons ~ Shirley Jackson

18 December 2011

Similar to Life Among The Savages, only this one seemed to be written as one publication, rather than for different publications as Savages was. Just as hilarious, with the kids getting older and more numerous (as the cats are, as well). I can't recommend these books enough, especially to all my friends who are suddenly having babies of their own....

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet ~ Bill McKibben

Despite what it looks like, I read this book very quickly. That is, I read the first half very quickly and then had to set aside the book: even as a person who reads environmental news headlines, essays, and books nearly every day since the early nineties, I was shocked at the sobering statistics the renowned McKibben presents in the book. More than shocked: I was terrified, and went through a brief dark phase in the height of summer when I was convinced there was nothing any of us could do, and that very shortly we would be plunged into doom.

So I had to take a long break before starting the second half of the book, which I shouldn't have done: in the second half, McKibben provides by example the very real, small-scale things people all over the world have been doing in order to counteract the enormous scale in which a small group of money-obsessed corporations in largely one country (ahem, US) have largely damaged beyond the point of return the planet earth.

Which is where the title comes in: McKibben proves through his statistics that we've already changed this planet we call Earth. Hence, a new name for this planet: Eaarth. That's where the positivity in the book really shines, on ways in which we all can participate in managing the maintenance of this changed planet.

I'm lucky: my liberal family can sit down and have a rational conversation about how very much things have changed since my grandparents were young, and my own youth. As many people the world over are doing: if you are observant, and paying attention, this should be fairly obvious. However, there are way too many people with their heads in the sands, and that is who should be reading this book, not the choir (ie, me). The more people who find this book in their hands the better.

And hopefully, they'll read it a lot quicker than me.

The Road Through the Wall ~ Shirley Jackson

Jackson's first full-length published novel. Already her themes of evil lurking underneath the ordinary are emerging, along with her classic, shocking ending. An "ordinary" suburban community outside of San Francisco's world is shattered when the wall dividing them from the "other, undesirable" neighborhood is taken down. However, as Jackson exhibits in her at times long, wandering, and drawn out prose (in this one, at least) the world as everyone thought it existed really never did. One I'll be reading again when I decide to expand my Jackson self-study....

Desperation ~ Stephen King

28 November 2011
Classic King, the kind my mom refuses to read, overflowing with grotesque imagery and gore. A small town in Nevada, you've got it, Desperation, has reopened a long shut copper mine, releasing an evil creature which can inhabit a human's body and make them do terribly things. We come to Desperation along with the Jacksons (an homage to Shirley? I'll bet you yes) and discover that the local law enforcement is a little crooked, with many tricks to ensure that anyone who passes through the tiny town won't ever leave.

As I was reading this one, I kept thinking of The Tommyknockers and had to giggle when I got to a passage in which the characters are talking about them: I have always loved how King has created his own little world, and references his past books and characters from time to time.

Hangsaman ~ Shirley Jackson

18 November 2011

Not quite as polished as her later novels, still quite a good book. Having recently read a biography of Jackson, I can definitely see that this might very well be the novel in which the main character is a very thinly disguised Jackson herself, during her college years. Some confusion and slightly tiresome in spots, but still a very good book.

The Haunting of Hill House ~ Shirley Jackson

I first read this book when I was fifteen, after discovering Shirley Jackson in my 10th grade English class. I've read it several times since, and it is one of those novels I will continue to read over and over again, there's so many brilliant elements and layers to this book that I gain something new every time. So I'm thankful N picked me up this copy when he was at our favorite used book store last weekend!

Four people gather at Hill House for paranormal observation: Dr. Montague, who has invited a dozen people to join him, of which only two, Theodora and Eleanor, respond. Theodora has had a fight with her roommate so decides, why not? But Eleanor is almost drawn to the house, unwillingly, and then becomes unable to imagine herself ever not living within its walls. The fourth person, Luke, has inherited the house, and strives not to let the supernatural occurrences bother him.

And the House, itself, is a character - never have I read anything that has achieved what Jackson does in this novel in creating a character out of an inanimate object. She does a brilliant job, and one I feel I will forever be seeking to emulate in my own writing.

If this book doesn't frighten you, you're not reading carefully - it should leave you doubting the confines of your own sanity with the psychological analyses Jackson unveils in each of the characters in turn, but especially Eleanor, and especially Hill House....

Life among the savages ~ Shirley Jackson

Absolutely brilliant. In addition to giving the world shattering books of keen psychological insight into the secret, dark soul of humanity, Jackson was also a loving mother of four, and here provides us with a generous helping of her wit and humor in this collection of stories about her family, turning everyday mishaps and adventures into something more - I almost even want to have kids now after reading this book to see what kind of hilarity would ensue within our own lives. And then reread and laugh in the middle of the first paragraph, "This is the way of life my husband and I have fallen into, inadvertently, as though we had fallen into a well and decided that since there was no way out we might as well stay there and set up a chair and a desk and a light of some kind; even though this is our way of life, and the only one we know, it is occasionally bewildering, and perhaps even inexplicable to the sort of person who does not have that swift, accurate conviction that he is going to step on a broken celluloid doll in the dark. I cannot think of a preferable way of life, except one without children...."

Jackson wrote many of these stories originally for publication in such magazines as Good Housekeeping and Mademoiselle, while at the same time raising her four demons (er, children) largely alone and writing her longer works of fiction. It has been a long time since I have laughed out loud continuously throughout a book. Great work.

The Sundial ~ Shirley Jackson

Jackson's short novel about a non-biblically based impending Apocalypse, as foretold by Aunt Fanny through the spirit of her dead father.

The Sundial isn't for the novice Jackson reader; I had read in Private Demons that this book was disjointed, confusing, and with unlikeable characters, and I agree somewhat that Jackson's craft seems a little off in this work. However, there are still terrific passages of straight psychological terror that hint fantastically of what's to come soon, with the publication of the most brilliant piece of psychological horror writing ever, The Haunting of Hill House. Towards the end of the book is a particularly poignant passage between Fancy and Gloria that I love, which showcases Jackson's lifelong desire to return to an innocent time of childlike simplicity.

Jackson's carefully crafted characters, however, exist here; even if you hate them, they are still very well developed. I do find that I am quite fond of Mrs. Halloran's calm, powerful ruthlessness, though I confess I would not want to be in her clan at all, and can't deny that she is extremely unlikeable. The rest of the characters all possess irritating and eye-roll-inducing traits, but learning that this novel was Jackson's way of exorcising the animosity she felt from and towards her neighbors in VT, and reading it in that light, you see how bitter Jackson was against those people who would deny her her privacy and right to live unbothered and in her own way, without the meddling of neighbors who disagreed with her eccentric lifestyle.

There are times, however, when Jackson will abandon a character and then reintroduce them 50 pages later, which can be a little confusing. Aside from these small idiosyncrasies, another great work from an overlooked master, with the perfectly, wonderfully frustrating ending in which Jackson will leave you asking, "what happened next?!" and leave you to make that up on your own.

The Bird's Nest ~ Shirley Jackson

6 November 2011
Jackson's third novel and another triumph. Elizabeth, or Beth, or Betsy, or .... Bess is a troubled girl living with her Aunt, and working in a museum. When she begins suffering black outs, her Aunt becomes concerned, but only brings her to a doctor once she embarrasses them in the home of her old friends. At a time when multiple personality disorder was just emerging in the world of psychiatry, Elizabeth is a novelty, and her loathsome psychiatrist doesn't really know how to treat her case, in fact, seems to make things worse.

A masterpiece of storytelling, I could not put this book down once I started it.

Shirley Jackson : novels and stories ~ Shirley Jackson, edited by Joyce Carol Oates

31 October 2011
A good collection of "Jackson essentials" as chosen by Joyce Carol Oates. Jackson's short fiction packs a powerful, startling punch, and The Haunting of Hill House is a classic in psychological horror that literally freaks me out no matter how many times I read it. We have always lived in the castle gives us Merricat, a culmination of many of Jackson's characteristic heroine traits all rolled up into one brilliant character. I might have added Come along with me to show where Jackson was heading when she died suddenly, but perhaps it needed to be left off in consideration of space - well then, in that case, we need another volume!

Private demons : the life of Shirley Jackson ~ Judy Oppenheimer

30 October 2011
Excellent biography of an author I'm currently obsessed with. Oppenheimer draws a sympathetic picture of Jackson's life through excerpts from her letters and journals and through interviews with her friends and family. In fact, I wish she had relied less on those interviews, since memory can be so faulty and biased sometimes, but I can't imagine how hard it must be to piece together someone's life through their work and glimpses of themselves left behind. Still, an excellent book supplying plenty of insight into this wonderful writer's life.

Unleashed : Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch ~ William Roll and Valerie Storey

16 October 2011
An account of the Tina Resch/Christina Boyer case as told by a parapsychologist who worked with Tina in 1984, when poltergeist-like phenomena was plaguing Tina and her foster family. Through studying the girl, Roll discovered that Tina was exhibiting psychokinesis. Unable to handle both that and the verbal and physical abuse Tina suffered at the hands of her foster parents, Tina goes on to marry an abusive man, have a child with another abusive man, and ultimately divorce, all before she was twenty. When her three year old daughter dies horribly, possibly at the hands of Tina's current boyfriend, himself the father of a three year old girl, Roll is one of the few people to stand by Tina and fight to convince the world of her innocence.

Under the mesquite ~ Guadalupe Garcia McCall

16 October 2011
A long, young adult prose poem about a teenaged girl, Lupita, dealing with all of the sorts of drama that plagues teenage girls, only: throw in the fact that she is the oldest of eight siblings; her mother has cancer; she is a young Mexican girl living in the United States. Lupita struggles to maintain her grades, pouring her soul into her writing and her acting, trying to tell herself that she doesn't care that her friends aren't who they pretend to be amidst her family, which seems to be falling apart around her. Until she starts to give up, when she learns to find solace under the mesquite tree which has grown in the middle of her mami's rose garden, no matter how many times her mami tried to rid the garden of it.

I wish this book had come out when I was dealing with my own teenage angst, it would have given me perspective on things, I think, and my outlook may have been quite a bit different than it was. However, it didn't, so what I can do is recommend to young adult women looking to find their own place in the world. A very interesting young adult book.

The night strangers ~ Chris Bohjalian

After Chip Linton's small plane crashes in Lake Champlain, killing 39 people and leaving 9 survivors, he and his wife Emily and their twin daughters, Hallie and Garnet, move from their suburb outside of Philadelphia to a small town in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Far from the relaxing life they envision which will allow all of them, especially Chip who is riddled with PTSD induced nightmares, guilt, and suicidal thoughts, to heal, the town proves to be an oddity, with strange, paranormal happenings and eccentric people drawing the family into a downward spiral.

Chip becomes withdrawn, fascinated with a small door in the basement sealed with 39 carriage bolts. Emily finds an ax, a pearl-handled dagger, and a knife hidden in strange places throughout the house. A cult-like group of women herbalists, all named for an exotic plant, herb or flower, become fascinated with the twins and try to draw them and Emily into their group. Meanwhile, as the families lives become more intertwined with the herbalists, other members of the town begin to shun them.

A wonderful piece of literature, full of fantastic and surprising plot twists and turns and the sort of hair-raising ending that I love.

Fairy Tale Review, the Red Issue ~ edited by Kate Bernheimer

I really like how Bernheimer is showcasing the relevance of modern day fairy tales in this journal and her edited books on fairy tales. Lots of good work in this issue, I think there was only one piece that I skipped over and one other that I read but was eh about. Overall, a very good collection.

We have always lived in the castle ~ Shirley Jackson

My introduction to Shirley Jackson was when my beloved 10th grade English teacher, Ms. W, read "The Lottery" aloud to us in class and we acted it out after - this was about the same time I was cultivating what would turn out to be a lifelong love of horror. I read this book in less than a day, starting it last night and finishing it this morning. Eighteen year old Mary Katherine Blackwell, or Merricat, takes her role of protector very seriously, and has vowed to keep her older sister Constance out of village scrutiny after she is acquitted of murdering the rest of their family, with the exception of their dementia suffering Uncle Julian. Despite her twice-weekly torturous travels to the village for supplies, Merricat manages to keep her family safe from the judgment and meanness of others, until the day their cousin Charles shows up. An obvious gold-digger, Charles brings a violent wave of destruction with him, until it appears as if their life will change forever, from their carefully cultivated isolated happiness to something dark, soulless and rotting.

As in "The Lottery," Jackson uses her impeccable story-telling skills to illustrate a common theme in her work, that of collective judgment and keeping up with the Joneses, or rather, what happens when people stop thinking for themselves and start acting like sheep. Excellent writing, careful use of literary devices such as foreshadowing and suspense, along with a generous dose of deeply black humor, Jackson will perhaps always remain in my mind the Queen of Literary Horror. I'm about the embark on a Jackson spree, which will hopefully influence my own horror writing for the better.

Gazelle ~ Rikki Ducornet

24 August 2011
"Memories accumulate within the mind like the disparate fragrances that make a perfume. Our only means of recovering the past and yet how volatile they are!"

Elizabeth, a surgeon with a unique job working with mummies, lives in Cairo following a dissolved relationship. The narrative mainly concerns the recounting of the summer when Elizabeth first lived there, as a thirteen year old girl from the United States, coming of sexual age and witnessing the disturbing crumbling of her parent's marriage. Elizabeth becomes obsessed with her father's friend, a man her provocative and promiscuous mother terms a "gazelle." Elizabeth's chess-obsessed father becomes more eccentric and withdrawn as the sultry summer passes, while her mother flaunts her lavishly different lifestyle by living apart from them. "'The curious thing about strangers, Liz....is that they need not be strangers for long.'" Elizabeth clings to her found copy of an unexpurgated Arabian Nights and waits.

Classic dark Ducornet themes of betrayal, lust, mental anguish, obsession paired with her lush, metaphorically driven and beautiful prose. Amazing concluding line, as always: "....nothing is more essential to living in the world than transformation." (Pretty sure, also, that I read this when it came out and I was living in CO.)