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Post by montrealslp on Jul 21, 2005 19:22:04 GMT -5
I just read "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris... really funny book! Good light reading and a lot of fun. This book was recommended to me by HouseMouse (right,..it was you, wasn't it?). AND... Josh Groban has mentioned in an interview that it's his favorite book!! How could I go wrong??? I recommend it for some silly reading... a bit off color at times and not quite the mainstream, which is probably why I liked it!
Enjoy!
-Myra
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Post by shmeep on Jul 21, 2005 20:59:02 GMT -5
Read it. LOVED it. Especially the part about the poo. How can you go wrong with a good poo story??
Read it!!
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Post by housemouse on Jul 21, 2005 21:03:08 GMT -5
Yes, I will take credit, it was me who recommended Me Talk Pretty One Day! I love the essays about the French lessons. I also loved Don't Mess with Rooster
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Post by awlrite4now on Jul 22, 2005 15:40:22 GMT -5
During my recent hospital incarceration, I read "The Secret Life of Bees" from start to finish one night. Great stuff.
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Post by housemouse on Jul 22, 2005 15:59:15 GMT -5
During my recent hospital incarceration, I read "The Secret Life of Bees" from start to finish one night. Great stuff. I read that and enjoyed it. Have you read The Mermaid Chair? How are feeling? Are you all better now? |
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Post by shmeep on Jul 23, 2005 21:47:16 GMT -5
I know I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I have a good memoir to recommend.
"Slackjaw" by Jim Knipfel is a really funny and irreverent look at the author's experiences while losing his vision. Oh, and he's also a little crazy, but that just makes him all the more lovable. It's the only book I ever read that opened with a suicide attempt...that made me laugh. It's just plain wrong, but I couldn't put it down.
What I liked most about this book was the way in which Jim handled losing his sight. He found it completely fascinating, even though it sucked sometimes. Also, his sight wasn't what messed him up, that was just who he was already.
I didn't approve of much of what he did and he was highly frustrating at times, but I came away feeling like I knew him--or wishing that I did.
I read somewhere that when he had someone go over his book to make sure no one could sue him over the content, he was told that he should consider suing himself. After reading it, I understood why.
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Post by housemouse on Jul 25, 2005 11:24:31 GMT -5
I know I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I have a good memoir to recommend. "Slackjaw" by Jim Knipfel is a really funny and irreverent look at the author's experiences while losing his vision. Oh, and he's also a little crazy, but that just makes him all the more lovable. It's the only book I ever read that opened with a suicide attempt...that made me laugh. It's just plain wrong, but I couldn't put it down. What I liked most about this book was the way in which Jim handled losing his sight. He found it completely fascinating, even though it sucked sometimes. Also, his sight wasn't what messed him up, that was just who he was already. I didn't approve of much of what he did and he was highly frustrating at times, but I came away feeling like I knew him--or wishing that I did. I read somewhere that when he had someone go over his book to make sure no one could sue him over the content, he was told that he should consider suing himself. After reading it, I understood why. Although in the middle of two books at present, I went to Amazon and ordered this one, I just couldn't help myself. Thanks for the tip. |
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Post by maggiethecat on Jul 27, 2005 9:59:50 GMT -5
Since Steven Bochco is essentially why we all met . . .
Has anyone else read his comedy thriller"Death by Hollywood"?
This is, quite simply, one of the funniest books I've ever read. It's wicked, it's irreverant, it's rawther dirty in the funniest possible way. You just get the sense that it was a great way for Bochco to expound on -- and reveal -- all the stuff he's learned about how Hollywood works, and doesn't work.
Reading "between the lines" is a real kick. One chapter is a *very* thinly disguised account of what a complete hairball David Caruso was the first season of "NYPD Blue." (He thought he was going to parlay the success of the show into movie stardon, tried to hold the producers up for major$$$, they fired him, and he pretty much sank without a trace until "CSI Miami.")
I won't be a spoiler, but this book also contains the origins of "Blind Justice." The book was published in 2003 and the process of writing a book and getting it into the stores generally takes over a year even if you write fast, so this idea was kicking around in Bochco's head for some time. More than that I will not say!
"Death by Hollywood." Great summer reading.
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Post by awlrite4now on Jul 27, 2005 13:25:17 GMT -5
During my recent hospital incarceration, I read "The Secret Life of Bees" from start to finish one night. Great stuff. I read that and enjoyed it. Have you read The Mermaid Chair? How are feeling? Are you all better now? Haven't read Mermaid yet. I think I'm going to make it now. Last week was rough. This week I'm catching up. Good to be back among the living.  |
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Post by Eyphur on Jul 27, 2005 21:31:45 GMT -5
Death by Hollywood sounds funny. I'm going to read it soon. I've read a few books by people in show business and they were very entertaining. But if I had one book to recomend it would be A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. IT is a beautiful and poignant story. And if anybody knows some good books about the space program let me know I've read about 50 and am running out of new ones to read.
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Post by Eyphur on Aug 29, 2005 12:05:18 GMT -5
I just finished Death by Hollywood this morning. It's a great book! Funny, entertaining and mentions Blind Justice.
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Post by inuvik on Aug 29, 2005 13:01:29 GMT -5
So what does it say about Blind Justice?
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Post by kenina on Aug 30, 2005 9:19:28 GMT -5
So what does it say about Blind Justice? You have to read to find out!! Otherwise it spoils the book. Suffice it to say, the idea of Blind Justice plays a significant role throughout the book. It is *very* cool. (If you want to be spoiled, PM me and I'll tell you the whole story.) |
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Post by greenbeing on Nov 19, 2005 14:02:05 GMT -5
I finished Death by Hollywood a few days ago. I thought it was very interesting to see what Steven Bochco was saying about marriage and fidelity. As a writer, I know I play around with a certain theme over and over, and it looks like he was working out his thoughts in the book at the same time as Blind Justice. A lot of insight into the characters, especially on the theme of forgiveness. It really made me re-evaluate the relationship between Christie and Jim, just based on what he was saying about the situation they found themselves in, even though he wasn't speaking of them specifically.
I also thought it was really funny how they worked out the plot of Blind Justice. Wouldn't it be interesting to know if he actually approached HBO first with the idea, like the character in the book was saying? I've heard people say they think the show would have stood a better chance on HBO than network, so it really would be interesting to know.
Very insightful!
--GB
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Post by inuvik on Mar 10, 2006 16:09:42 GMT -5
Talking about Bill Bryson's "In A Sunburned Country" in the Survival Game thread made me think of this.
In a Sunburned Country is a humourous travel memoir of Australia.
Now that we have some Australians on the Board, if you are looking for something similar to this for Canada, try Will Ferguson's books. One that is very good is "Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw". I also liked his Japan travel book, "Hokkaido Highway Blues", also published as "Hitching Rides with Buddha".
And if you just like Will Ferguson generally, and don't care if it's a travel book, try "Happiness". This won the Stephen Leacock medal for humour here, the highest award for humorous books.
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