Before I am finally able to embark upon my year-long epic journey (think Lord of the Rings only with more books and hopefully less physical peril) --— attempting to read 50 books in a year --— I thought it was time to do some final housecleaning so I could start 2006 off right. By "right", I mean "without dozens of nearly-finished books laying next to my bed". So, as the first WWBB post, I bring you: Books 0a and 0b!
Book 0a: Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
I just found David this year, but this is already the 3rd book of his essays and stories I have read. His stories range from the slightly odd(a graduate student attempting to meet her favorite author) to the truly bizarre (a cheerful Christmas newsletter from a mother whose copious legal problems and family dysfunctions won't dampen her holiday spirit), and the essays are always quirky and funny (like his description of working as an elf at Macy's).
Having read Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day, I came to this book with a decent background in his family life growing up, so it was very easy to see comparisons between sloppy, chain-smoking, somewhat negligent but always loving mother and many of the mothers in his fiction stories. When I went for longer periods between reading the stories, I often had to suffer throughanother rediscovery phase where I slowly realize that he isn't really talking about himself and his mother or his father (who also bears a strikinresemblancece to most of the fathers contained in this book), but fictional characters. Many of these stories feel like the Sedaris family in an alternate dimension, where everything is just slightly wrong, but the people still seem to have a similar flavor.
Net: I loved it. You read it.
Book 0b: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
This was my second trip through the Apocalypse according to Neil and Terry, and I honestly don't know how I forgot as much as I did from the first time! My only excuse is that I was in college and, well, my memory doesn't hold up for more than a couple of minutes at this point, so that is out of my Memento-like grasp of my life experiences. I couldn't have enjoyed it more. My favorite description in the book, though, comes in the cast of characters listing. The main demon character is listed as: "Crowley (An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards)", which is apt. I find that Gaiman has a knack for describing his characters, as my favorite moment in another of his novels (written without Pratchett), Neverwhere, is the introduction of the main villains of the book, Mssrs. Croup and Vandemar.
When I went with a friend to hear Neil speak at a bookshop in Dayton, we were able to talk to him for a while about this book, and he said that people seem to be under the impression that he was trying to write a relatively serious novel, while Terry skipped along behind him throwing in crazy things like the Witchfinder Army (and all its many members), telemarketers meeting terrible (but deserved) fates, and the other 4 horsemen. However this wasn't the case, though he did say that usually when people go up and tell him about their favorite part of the book, he is forced to admit that Terry did that part. The happy ending is that when my friend asked him to sign her favorite section, he was quite pleased to announce that he had written that bit.
Now, if I had to deal with an Apocalypse, I'd hope it was this one.
So, there's my first attempt at an entry on a blog of my own. Once the new year starts, I hope the rest of the Fellowship (yeah, LotR references again) will join me in relating their progress, both in the books and the always-rewarding study of alcohol.
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