Prague by Arthur Phillips C/D

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Christensen-t.html?ref=review

just read the egyptologist and angelica, need to add prague and (i guess) this new one to my library hold list

xp wau im a big fan of kate christensen too (nyt reviewer). her liking it is enough for me to hit my library 4 this

i haven't read any kate christensen but i'll check her out.

that review does put some of my fears to rest but i'd almost rather read a musician's review of this than an author's, you know?

fiction about music is usually pretty iffy, i agree, but the NYT review sounds promising

got abt 40 pgs into this yesterday and im diggin it.

Julian Donahue is in love with his iPod.

just seein ^this^ again on the inside flap tho made me want to close it immediately

finished it tonight. honestly, it was great and i agree w/ the nyt review wholeheartedly.

huh just finished the song is you and found it pretty disappointing, though the problem wasn't so much the writing but that i wasn't really interested in the story and didn't understand the characters (particularly the main female character). some of the music stuff was decently done, especially the song lyrics and the more cynical stuff about audiences and band relationships. but there was a fair amount of embarrassing music stuff too, like terrible joke band names and a lot of really overromanticized stuff about performance (though this fits in with the overall tone of the book).

actually the writing was a lot more ornate than his other books too. the egyptologist is still my fave

yea tbqh i would still rate them something like:

egyptologist>>>prague>tsiy>>>>>>>>>>angelica

tho i like them all.

i think the song is you is a bit of a fantasy incorporating nice concepts abt obsession & playfulness juxtoposed against idk social norms and being a stalker that i really dug. did not really feel the character of the brother and the 'incident' but the main f and main m both worked for me.

basically the nyt review nailed how i feel more eloquently than i ever could which i why i just cited to that again

dude has an interesting article in the newest issue of the believer (the music issue) about the pitfalls of writing about music. it's short enough that you can read it in the bookstore without buying the mag.

oh it's also right here:
http://www.believermag.com/issues/200907/?read=article_phillips

i liked prague, definitely a lighter read than i usually go for. i kinda forgot about it tho, sounds like i should check some of these other titles out.

i'm enjoying 'the song is you' so far, despite my misgivings.

new one sounds pretty entertaining:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400066476

i guess they're not playing marketing games with it anymore

guess i put this on a shakespeare thread instead of here:

http://vimeo.com/17116790

i'm guessing arthur phillips is playing games here, and his next book is going to be fakespeare?

― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Monday, January 3, 2011 3:30 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh i didn't see that. also can't watch it right now.

it's relatively amazing to me how phillips can regularly pick topics/genres that i would otherwise never seek out & yet i enjoy them.

memoir & coming-of-age mixed w/ fakespeare? ugh right, but im 100+ pgs in and into it

suddenly just remembered this guy and wondered where he's been ... 7 years since his last book

Afaik he's been writing for tv (like that Bloodline show), and working on adaptations of his novels for Hollywood, ie making that real money.

i kind of forgot about arthur phillips but i was looking for something to read and apparently he published a new novel in february - "the king at the edge of the world." gonna check it out.

huh, report back!

I loved it, my fave new novel in awhile.

yeah "the king at the edge of the world" was very good. best "literary fiction" i've read in a long while.

Glad you enjoyed it!

After finishing The King at the Edge of the World I thought I could stand to read some more by this guy, I guess I'll pick up The Egyptologist next.