Literary treats - recommend great reads

Joseph, _The Hole In The Zero_ (science fiction)

Read the first section, the one about her dad, of A FEATHER ON THE BREATH OF GOD. So far so good.

I see that The Hole in the Zero is on 4nn4's 4rch1v3 a.k.a. book soulseek

People seems to think the last three are autofiction presumably because the narrator's voice is apparently really close to her actuall speaking voice but only her very first novel could be reaonsably classified as such.

yeah, I think the clever construction of The Friend actually goes a long way to show that it's not autofiction

debut surely draws on her experiences but at the same time I'm pretty confident a big part of it's very fictional (let me know what you think of the final part/chapter which iirc is about an affair)

Okay, will do. This seems to be another short one.

Anything you wanna say about it?

Not much. I can't be objective, and the book can't be summarized.

Trivia: possibly the first usage of the word "quark" in a novel.

Think you'll find Joyce used it first in Finnegans Wake.

Okay, will do. This seems to be another short one.

So you think the affair in the last chapter is pure fiction?

Well, probably inspired by something real. But yeah, seems pretty made up to me. I don't know though!

Makes for a great read

Based on interviews I’ve read I assume most of it is basically true. One interview she went as far as to say something to the effect that you’d be surprised at which parts are true and which parts are invented. She gave as an example of something she had to invent her mother’s trip home when the war ended.

On to the next one I guess until I run out of steam, either MITZ or maybe FOR ROUENNA.

i'd recommend "deadwood" by pete dexter, especially if you've watched the show - it has a lot of the same characters/historical figures but they are characterized and emphasized very differently. it is over 300 pages but not by much (about 350 iirc) and funny and grimy and sad.

i can't believe i read Paris Trout by Pete Dexter in 1988! it doesn't seem that long ago. that's a great book. God's Pocket is really good too. I read Paris Trout after reading about Pete and Tex Cobb almost getting beaten to death in South Philly. it's a scary story! i was living in Philly at the time. one of the scariest moments in my Philly life was walking around a corner and almost running right into Tex Cobb. he scared the shit out of me. his face was so frightening.

Dexter began writing fiction after a life-changing 1981 incident in the Devil's Pocket, neighborhood in South Philadelphia, in which a mob of locals armed with baseball bats beat him severely. The perpetrators were upset by Dexter's recent column about a murder involving a drug deal-gone-wrong, published on December 9, 1981, in the Philadelphia Daily News.

"A couple of weeks ago, a kid named Buddy Lego was found dead in Cobbs Creek," wrote Dexter. "It was a Sunday afternoon. He was from the neighborhood, a good athlete, a nice kid. Stoned all the time. The kind of kid you think you could have saved."

The kid's mother called Dexter, nearly hysterical. How, she cried, could he write that her dead son was a drug user? Lego's brother, Tommy, the night bartender at Dougherty's, was also on the phone, screaming at the then-38-year-old columnist, demanding a retraction.

Dexter went to Dougherty's bar to talk to Tommy Lego, having told Lego he would not be publishing a retraction. In the bar, Dexter was blindsided by two blows to the jaw, splintering and breaking teeth. Later, Dexter returned with a friend, heavyweight prizefighter Randall "Tex" Cobb. In the ensuing fight outside the bar in the street, Cobb's arm was broken and Dexter was hospitalized with several injuries, including a broken back, pelvis, brain damage and dental devastation. Cobb's injuries cost him a shot at WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver.

Tex Cobb! that's crazy you saw him just walkin around.

holy hell how have I not read Annie Proulx till now

“the Half Skinned Steer” fwiw

are her novels this intense??

will check out "deadwood" and pete dexter, thanks!

xp james: do MITZ!

‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ by William Maxwell

Heard about it on Backlisted & finally read it this week. Just finished (its quite short) and am uncharacteristically considering an immediate re-read

I don’t know if I’ve every read anything that is this, idk, almost-perfect? He’s so succinct but the emotional weight of everything he writes about in this story is so immense.

10/10 somehow feels too cliched lol

anyway recommend without hesitation to all & sundry

Tremendous book. Agree with everything you said.

Can also recommend *Time Will Darken It*, which has the same sense of economy and control. What a writer. Blows my mind that he only wrote one other novel in the 32 years between *Time Will Darken It* and *So Long, See You Tomorrow*.

Also, more people need the middle name 'Keepers'.

i am def going to try seek out more from him, for sure - my library has his short story collection, i will try to find Time Will Darken It also

I read Sara Mesa's "Un Amor" last week and it satisfies all five of the thread's Treat Criteria.

this was enjoyable if quite dark and somewhat frustrating

will check out ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ by William Maxwell

Great thread idea!

I have to say that my reading life has been immensely enriched by the existence of I Love Books and all its contributors. Finding good books used to be much more hit-and-miss, but now my 'hit' rate is over 90% and I have a long list of titles and authors to explore. Thanks, y'all.

the Backlisted podcast has vastly enriched my reading — i see references to it here & there a bit on ilx search - wondering if a dedicated thread might be good?

I'd contribute. I have a mixed relationship with Backlisted but I've got so many amazing books from it.

Andy Miller's book is a lot of fun, an atypically good example of the "I did a weird thing for six months and here's what happened" genre. Sometimes I wish he'd stop interrupting his guests (or his co-host) quite so much. But I've heard worse, and he's generally quite funny, so he gets a pass. I enjoy his tormented, self-aware relationship with his own inescapable blokiness, although I think I may have developed a somewhat parasocial relationship with them during the lockdowns.

I don’t know if I’ve every read anything that is this, idk, almost-perfect?

"A Month in the Country" by JL Carr is another perfect, very short novel with a Backlisted podcast (as are, off the top of my head, "Excellent Women" and "Human Voices").