Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1976

You know what? I believe the Bear was a pet, actually— so it *was* chained. But Lou *unchains* the Bear as she learns from a local First Nations woman how to form a bond with it. It's been a few years, tho, so my memory is a little cloudy.

I assigned it to a class once. They all thought it was incredibly strange but loved it, and some of them were militant vegans.

Speedboat or The Easter Parade

idk i've had discussions with a lot of men who think it's brave to hate joan didion who think speedboat is worthless '70s ruling class ennui or something but i think it's basically a sick collection of keenly observed microfiction/nonfiction

How many of them have even read it.

Oops meant to put that in block quotes.

Coming Through Slaughter is the only novel about a musician I've come across that really seems to have learned from music, that moves through short chapters of of layered, developmental momentum and tensions (thinking of counterpoint, b and c melodies, syncopation, vamping) surfacing and rolling along some more to, through and past the end (as some records keep you listening past the fade, like where are they going, what will happen down the line, or is this just hemidemisemiquavers of the insatiably impressionable audience mind, just not accepting the finality, but if so what's wrong with that) And it's not an affect the author could soak up from playing the subject's records over and over, because Buddy Bolden.
Patternmaster is also good and inimitable and Octavia E. Butler, not Olivia (but yeah you're better off considering that series as a whole, same as, on a lower level, with Children of Dune.) I liked Triton very much. Did not know that Melvin Van Pebbles wrote a novel, will have to check.

A woman in film school the year ahead of me had actually started filming an adaptation of Bear, but I can't find any mention of it online now.

everyone i follow online loves speedboat, but i haven't read it yet. not a great dune, not a great robbins iirc

woman on the edge of time is really quite arresting, but voting crews

i think i want to vote for Kiss of the Spiderwoman

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Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1977