Pete Hamill

With 17 books under his belt, I have a lot to catch up with Pete Hamill. I have recently bought North River and Forever and started the former. The story is simple enough: a stroller with a three-year-old boy was left at the door of James Delancey’s walkup on asnowy morning. The boy, Carlito, is his grandson. His mother left for Barcelona to look for her revolutionary husband who was a member of the Mexican Communist Party. So the beleaguered doctor who ministered to the poor and the down-and-out now has one more person under his roof, a little boy who needs more than just nourishing—an emotional upbringing and a safe home. Hamill’s New York is one that is cottage industry in literature and film—the Irish misery. But the ground has been covered so often at this point that it risks cliché. Presumably the only trick left is to go even farther than your predecessors did, pile on the misery even thicker. At 77, Hamill is at his best when he writes about his city. He knows New York present and past, and he is able to make us taste the early-20th-century time frame of “North River”, which is the Hudson River.

Read Like a Man

To be a man is not to be rooted for a baseball team and playing hoops, Esquire magazine comes up with an unranked, incomplete, utterly biased list of the greatest works of literature ever published. This list has probably made its way around the blogging sphere since it was published back in 2008 for the magazine’s 75th anniversary. How many have you read? I boldfaced the ones I have – 28 in all.

1. The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow – high priority on TBR pile
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain – read it in high school, not thrilled
3. Affliction, by Russell Banks – want to read
4. All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren
5. American Pastoral, by Philip Roth

6. American Tabloid, by James Ellroy
7. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner – doesn’t measure up to Crossing to Safety
8. As I Lay Dying: The Corrected Text, by William Faulkner – one of the most difficult books
9. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
10. Blood Meridian, Or, the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy – don’t care for McCarthy

11. The Brothers Karamazov: A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
12. The Call of the Wild, White Fang, & To Build a Fire, by Jack London – read it in high school, zzzZZZ
13. Civilwarland in Bad Decline: Stories and a Novella, by George Saunders – never heard of this
14. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
15. The Continental Op, by Dashiell Hammett

16. The Crack-Up, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
17. Deliverance, by James Dickey
18. Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac – don’t care for Kerouac
19. Dispatches, by Michael Herr
20. Dog Soldiers, Robert Stone

21. Dubliners, by James Joyce – not as difficult as Ulysses
22. A Fan’s Notes: A Fictional Memoir, by Frederick Exley
23. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway – boring
24. Going Native, by Stephen Wright
25. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, by Flannery O’Connor

26. The Good War: An Oral History of World War II, by Studs Terkel – really want to read this one, enjoyed Working
27. The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck Centennial Edition (1902-2002), by John Steinbeck – my favorite is East of Eden, this list seems to pick the wrong books all the time
28. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
29. Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, by Hunter S. Thompson
30. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

31. The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
32. The Known World, by Edward P. Jones – want to read
33. Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, by Jorge Luis Borges – Borges is a genius
34. Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison
35. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families, by James Agee – only read A Death in Family

36. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
37. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
38. Lucky Jim, Kingsley Amis – want to read
39. Master and Commander, by Patrick O’Brian – want to read all his books
40. Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie – read Satanic Verses and had since stayed away from him

41. Moby Dick, by Herman Melville – absolutely the most boring book ever
42. The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer
43. Native Son, by Richard Wright – violent
44. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey – fun
45. Plainsong, by Kent Haruf – heart-warming story

46. The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain – want to read
47. The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene – want to read
48. The Professional, by W. C. Heinz
49. Rabbit Run, by John Updike – maybe, not thrilled about the witches
50. Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates,

51. The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe
52. A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of William Warren Bradley, by John McPhee
53. The Shining, by Stephen King – creepy
54. Slaughterhouse-five, by Kurt Vonnegut – want to read
55. So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell – again, this is not my favorite of Maxwell, try
Folded Leaf

56. Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron
57. A Sport And a Pastime, James Salter
58. The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford
59. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carré
60. The Stories of John Cheever, by John Cheever – want to read

61. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction, Tim O’Brien – one of his best novels
62. This Boy’s Life: A Memoir, by Tobias Wolff
63. Time’s Arrow: Or the Nature of the Offense, by Martin Amis
64. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller – one of the books I meant to read for a long time
65. Under the Volcano, Malcolm Lowry

66. Underworld, by Don DeLillo – meh…overrated
67. War And Peace, by Leo Tolstoy – not my favorite, try Anna Karenina
68. What It Takes: The Way to the White House, by Richard Ben Cramer
69. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories, by Raymond Carver
70. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami – not thrilled about this one

71. Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson – want to read
72. Winter’s Bone: A Novel, Daniel Woodrell
73. Winter’s Tale, by Mark Helprin
74. Women, by Charles Bukowski

Not my kinda reading. I find it very strange to read a must-read list without a single woman on it. This is not biased? To me this list is more likea self-fulfilling thing. Or maybe men get caught up in ideas of ‘manly books’, whereas women (and some excellent men) will generally pick up whatever’s nearby and looks good. Wait, Flannery O’Connor is a woman. So either they don’t realize this (in which case shame on them for not doing their research) or they think she’s the only woman worthy of attention!

50/50

I checked in at the Booking Through Thursday blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

My brother-in-law turns 50 this weekend. So, in his honor, please pick up your nearest book or whatever book you’re currently reading, and turn to page 50 and then share the first 50 words with the rest of us.

The book is Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen. A new chapter begins on page 50:

I woke the next morning determined to take Belinda up on her other suggestion—the one for gainful employment. Armed with Belinda’s glowing recommendation, I sat facing the head of personnel at Harrods. He was eyeing me suspiciously and waved the letter in my direction. “If you had indeed proved so satisfactory, why did you leave this position?”

This book is the first of Royal Spyness Series. Unlike the Maggie Hope Series by Susan Elia MacNeal, (I just finished the second book, Princess Elizabeth’s Spy), Rhys Bowen’s a lighter mystery with a touch of humor and clever satire. She’s recruited by Her Majesty, not MI-5, to spy on the divorced American woman who is the latest flame of her son. Bowen’s is more an old-fashioned whondunnit, less the twists and turns of MacNeal’s internationally plotted conspiracy against the throne.

Monday This and That

I checked in at the Musing Mondays blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

Describe one of your reading habits. Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

I usually don’t start a book—specially a tome—toward the end of the month knowing I cannot finish it. I was trying to fill the two remaining days of the month with a book. Stehpen King’s Carrie answered that call. It’s very fast-paced book about a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her. The appeal lays more in the setting than the paranormal power for me. These are high school kids and they are kids who don’t know better of the consequences. A new film adaptation starring Julienne Moore as Margaret White will release this October.

This week’s shopping spree concerns Rhys Bowen. I’m indebted to the bloggers who pointed me to Bowen’s Royal Spyness Series, after my review of Susan Elia MacNeal’s Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. Bowen’s series features a penniless twenty-something member of the extended royal family in 1930s London. The first three are now sitting on my shelf: Her Royal Spyness, A Royal Pain, Royal Flush, along with MacNeal’s sequel Princess Elizabeth’s Spy.

Sporting

I checked in at the Booking Through Thursday blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

Do you read books about sports?
How about AT sporting events? (Kid’s soccer practice?)

Both in and out of the pages sports is my weakest link. I’ve never been good at sports. I avoided PE and found validation in academics and arts when I was a kid. Growing up I didn’t want to play the same game as the other guys. I just don’t have that sports gene in me. Now I peruse Men’s Health scrupulously for nutrition and workout tips. The two sports-related books I read were fiction: The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren and The Dreyfus Affair by Peter Lefcourt. By coincidence they both involve a gay relationship. As for during sports events, I usually bring a book or two to the dog show and a baseball game.

Velvet Heart

It’s been said that looking in retrospect often affords a sharper clarity. Reading The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs certainly puts me in sharp perspective of how I grew up being he little boy with the bug secret. I was lucky that the other boys never bullied me or called me names, but at a very early age, I knew I was different. This “different-ness” is not a preference for a ice cream flavor, but more intrinsic, something that will cause me to lose the love and affection of my parents. So in a way I grew up “disabled”, because I was trying to avoid situations that would invoke shame but to solicit validation. Unfortunately, validation for boys came from where I dreaded the most—the playground and sport field. It is on the playground that I probably first began to consciously think about how I was different from other boys. I didn’t want to play the same games as other boys. I was ignored (at least not taunted) by the more athletic, aggressive boys who always seemed to win the positive attention of their classmates and even the teachers. Unbeknowst to me at the time of course, I was operating on a defense mechanism that ensured survival. Perhaps I learned that I could win approval by becoming more sensitive than the other boys. What caused all this? The answer is often embarrassing: The fear that there was something about me that made me unlovable. This is exactly what Alan Downs addresses. The book really hits the spot. As I read, I keep bumping into my self, hopefully my old shelf.

Double Thursday

I checked in at the Booking Through Thursday blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

What’s the last book that made you spring to your feet, eager to spread the word and tell everyone how much you enjoyed it?

Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn. The book about Her Majesty making a journey to Edinburgh on a whim shares the same wit and humor of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader. I usually don’t purchase new hardcover but I had good feeling about Mrs Queen Takes the Train when I first saw it. I bit the bullet and took it home, saved it until my getaway weekend. I enjoyed every page of it. Having grown up in Hong Kong, which was a British colony, I always have a sentimental attachment to everything British. When the movie starring Helen Mirren came out a few years ago, I went to see it several times, saving the nuances and cadence. I always thought a novel needs to be written that would measure up to the film and your book is it!

I saw a Latin edition of “The Hobbit” last time I was at the bookstore. Do you read any foreign languages? Do you ENJOY reading in other languages?

Since I mostly peruse books in the English language, my foreign language is my native language—Chinese. There is no shortage of literature in Chinese language, especially classical and archaic texts, period and epic pieces, as well as history. I also read in Japanese but mostly periodicals.

New Books

I checked in at the Musing Mondays blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

Recent purchases on a whim when I browse at Barnes and Noble while waiting for the dog to be groomed. Mr. Churchill’s Secretary sounds interesting and it’s a debut. Velvet Rage is required reading for all gay men. Death Comes to Pemberley is yet another Jane Austen fan-fiction/spinoff that my book club has chosen. I would not have picked it up and I am right. The “mystery” is set in 1803, six years after the wedding of Elizabeth and Darcy, with ample space given to catching us up on the recent doings of the Bennet family. On the mystery side, there’s plenty of action, from the discovery of Captain Denny’s body, through a trial, assorted deceptions and mix-ups, and love affairs. It’s a weak cup of tea. So far I feel the book lacks wit and suspense. It’s another book club selection that disappoints. I gave them benefit of the doubt for the recent Dreams of Joy since its predecessor, Shanghai Girls was just brilliant. But two not so good books on a roll make me second-thought about quitting the club. The social company is what tethers me right now.

Latest Acquisitions

I checked in at the Musing Mondays blog, which is the host for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Here is this week’s prompt:

Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

I was randomly browsing without my written list and found some amazing titles over the weekend.

A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett is about a tragedy that hit an exclusive boarding school in 19th century. I have always savored thriller with an academic setting and the recent The Secret History has compounded that. Spiraling circle of treachery entwine many lives. This can be a Palm Springs pool read.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. By fluke I have bypassed her through high school AP English and college literature courses. Other than her random essays included in a reader I have not read any of her novels. I feel my inner voice egging me on to buy this one. It’s a nice copy of Barnes and Noble Classics for just $8.

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones. I had mixed feelings about this because of the cover with a girl dressed in Victorian-style outfit with white gloves. But NPR, Washington Post, and New York Times all endorse it so it really can’t be that dismal. It’s set in a country manor that later has no choice but to accommodate surviving passengers from a rail accident. Sounds interesting. But there is something spooky about how docile the strangers are, and Jones builds momentum toward some (I am feeling) disturbing revelations. I’m reading it now and loving it!

The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs PH.D. This is a must read for gays because we all grew up in a straight world the result is the internalization of shame.

RIP GoodReads

Regardless of how optimistic GoodReads claim that being incorporated into Amazon will help grow the site and invest more in the things that the members care about, I look at this sale with much dismay. Let’s be honest here, the scope of Amazon and GoodReads are completely different. Amazon cares only about sales. GoodReads is a user-generated platform functioning as a book recommendation engine. GoodReads is social media for book lovers so the reviews posted there could be more honest and commendable. Whereas Amazon controls and censors what books you can purchase and their feedback. GoodReads CEO Otis Chandler said the site will remain “an independently controlled subsidiary of Amazon” and noted it will keep “full control of editorial content and the recommendations.” Okay, but they skirt the subject regarding intellectual property. When you submit a review to the Amazon site, it becomes Amazon’s property–their corporate asset. I won’t be surprised if the reviews would be cross-posted on Amazon. Based on Amazon terms, reviews will be censored, altered, edited, or removed without notice, just like what happened to my review of a GLBT fiction 9 years ago. As for the Kindle users, they are most likely be able to integrate that device with their Goodreads accounts. To make a long story short, why should a greedy corporation care about what you read? This is devastating news for readers and authors because Amazon, which has already acquired Shelfari in 2008, is forming a hegemony that boxes readers into a corner. With bookstores closing, Internet sites have become critical places for informing readers about books they might be interested in. This deal further consolidates Amazon’s power to determine which authors get exposure for their work. I am sick to the stomach that Amazon claims itself to be the best place to buy books–and thus making it the perfect place to discuss them. That could be true if you’re into the popular crap and bestsellers.