Western Front

Sorry for the quiet. Fucking carpal tunnel syndrome. Bastards. We are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Anyhow, as my fingers seem relatively functional right now, I thought I'd answer the challenge from Phoff and Murphy and do this book list thing. By the way, on what 19th century planet was this game conceived? No magazines? Newspapers? Web sites? Anyway.

1. Number of books I own: About 200. Many of my faves have been lent out or were borrowed to begin with, meaning my shelf feels a little hollow. I recently threw out about 65 New Yorkers, so there's some free real estate.
   
   
2. Reading now: Sort of nothing. Trying to dig "The Metaphysical Club" by Louis Menand, but am also flipping through "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris and "What's the Matter with Kansas" by Thomas Frank. Perpetually skimming "America: The Book" by the Daily Show writers. Thinking about finishing some others I've begun but abandoned (Bernard Avishai's "The Tragedy of Zionism." Isn't his Harper's essay enough?).
   
   
3. Last five I read: Who the hell remembers? Umm..., in some kind of non-chronological order:
   
1. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," Jonathan Safran Foer
2. "The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy"
3. "Bonfire of the Vanities," Tom Wolfe
4. (Most of) "The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed," Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter
5. (Most of) "At Home in the World: Canada's Global Vision for the 21st Century"


4. Last five I bought:
1. The first three
2. "The Metaphysical Club," Louis Menand
3. Can't remeber. This exercise would rock if my books weren't packed in boxes right now.
   
   
5. Favourite books: This is tough. How about five I remember fondly?
1. "Empire Falls," Richard Russo. See old posts about Russo's craftsmanship.
2. "As a Drive Leaf," Milton Steinberg. A modern Jewish identity tale set at the height of Hellenic times.
   
3. "Shampoo Planet," Douglas Coupland. I hardly remember the book; I remember well that it was one of the first books I really read.
4. "Genesis," God/Moses/Some Guy (Ed. Ezra). Did a wonderful seminar with three other students and a philosophy teacher at Dawson College. Read Genesis after Plato's Republic, comparing the two as manuals of political philosophy. Mesmerizing stuff.
5. "The Devil, Delfina Varela and the Used Chevy," Louie Garcia Robinson. Who? What? An enchanting book I picked up at a used book sale for a dollar, on the strength of the odd title and the interesting cover. Lovable. Gut-busting funny. Many books paint pictures. Some play like records. This one smells of steamy kitchens and summer sun. A real treat; sadly, Robinson hasn't published since, and it's out of print.