Book Cover: I don’t know what Dennis the Menace’s dad did, but Santa is NOT happy about it.
Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Coyote Blue
Book Title: Coyote Blue
Author: Christopher Moore, a contemporary American author who has his own website AND a Facebook page.
Category: American Literature, Contemporary Literature, Humor, Fantasy, Adventure, Magical Realism
Why I Read It: I saw the cover of another of Christopher Moore’s novels, Bloodsucking Fiends, in Barnes and Noble one day. The thing about Barnes and Noble is that I’m no longer in there planning on buying a book that second. I go in for ideas to put on my Wish List, and then I go home and get them used, either from bn.com or, if I can find it, a local used bookstore. So, I’m in Barnes and Noble and I see the cover for this other book and I have to look at it because I love vampire fiction and I write it down and when I get home I decide I want to work my way through Moore’s works chronologically. I read his first book, Practical Demonkeeping, a few months ago and loved it, and next on the list was Coyote Blue.
Reading Time Period: July 8, 2010-July 14, 2010
Book Cover: I was a little miffed at the book cover I picked up. I can pick up really psychotic tendencies when it comes to collecting things, and this cover does not match the cover of the copy of Practical Demonkeeping that I already have. But! I have forced myself to build a bridge and get over it because it’s still the same book, obviously, and if I let all of my peccadilloes run rampant I’d be one of those crazy cat lady pack rats, keeping everything in groups of threes and in sequential order until eventually I’m crush by my collection of magazines going back to the mid nineties (of course, it’s 2035 at the time of my death. Just because I’m crazy doesn’t mean I’m going to die young.)
Book Printing and Condition: Printed November, 1998, Spike Trade Paperbacks, in the USA. The spine of the book is a teensy bit warped so the book doesn’t sit right on its back, but otherwise the pages are clean and nothing is ripped.
Where I bought it: The Beat Book Shop in Boulder, CO, for $6.50
Thoughts: I enjoyed this book a lot, and would have read it faster if stupid things like ‘work’ and ‘exercise’ hadn’t kept getting in the way.
Moore’s style here is jaunty, quick moving, and very fun, with lots of innovative phrasing and imagery. There’s a lot of joy in the lightness and the word play that comes across here.
The characters in this book were all quirky, unique, and alive. Maybe too quirky for their own good in certain cases, but this is not the novel for normal people. This is the novel for the weird ones, and boy do they come in droves. There wasn’t one character here that I even mildly disliked. From the smaller characters, like Adeline Eats, to the major ones, Sam and Calliope and Old Man Coyote, all of them had something I liked and that made them stand apart. Especially Minty Fresh. Holy crap, do I love Minty Fresh.
I’ve already read Practical Demonkeeping, as I’ve said, and I smiled when a few of the characters from that novel made an appearance in this one. Between the two, I’d say I like Coyote Blue better, but only by a small fraction.
Favorite Lines:
“…long, oily saxophone note.” Great imagery.
“Do you think that the Germans make such good cars to atone for the Holocaust?” Spoken by Calliope, it’s a great introductory line into her character.
“If he’s dead, she reasoned, he can wait until I’ve made some coffee. If he ain’t, he’ll probably want some.”
“…rambling through him like a heartbreak.”
“I don’t give a desiccated damn. I don’t give a reconstituted damn. I don’t give a creamed damn on toast.” I LOVE creative swearing.
“Why understand when you can believe?”
“Them things are so dark they just eat up your headlights.”
“Quit being afraid of things that ain’t happened yet.”
“Full bore batshit.”
“...instead of that American manifesto of high-pressure sales, Green Eggs and Ham.”
“Damn! Another hell thought!”
“The ostentation of the casinos did not create desire for money; it made money meaningless.”
“Living late-afternoon shadow in sunglasses.” I love Minty Fresh so much I’m minutes away from writing “Mrs. Shannon Fresh” all over my Trapper Keeper.
“You carry your name like a man with a knife hidden in his boot.”
“Never face heavily armed bikers without your wubby.”
Author: Christopher Moore, a contemporary American author who has his own website AND a Facebook page.
Category: American Literature, Contemporary Literature, Humor, Fantasy, Adventure, Magical Realism
Why I Read It: I saw the cover of another of Christopher Moore’s novels, Bloodsucking Fiends, in Barnes and Noble one day. The thing about Barnes and Noble is that I’m no longer in there planning on buying a book that second. I go in for ideas to put on my Wish List, and then I go home and get them used, either from bn.com or, if I can find it, a local used bookstore. So, I’m in Barnes and Noble and I see the cover for this other book and I have to look at it because I love vampire fiction and I write it down and when I get home I decide I want to work my way through Moore’s works chronologically. I read his first book, Practical Demonkeeping, a few months ago and loved it, and next on the list was Coyote Blue.
Reading Time Period: July 8, 2010-July 14, 2010
Book Printing and Condition: Printed November, 1998, Spike Trade Paperbacks, in the USA. The spine of the book is a teensy bit warped so the book doesn’t sit right on its back, but otherwise the pages are clean and nothing is ripped.
Where I bought it: The Beat Book Shop in Boulder, CO, for $6.50
Thoughts: I enjoyed this book a lot, and would have read it faster if stupid things like ‘work’ and ‘exercise’ hadn’t kept getting in the way.
Moore’s style here is jaunty, quick moving, and very fun, with lots of innovative phrasing and imagery. There’s a lot of joy in the lightness and the word play that comes across here.
The characters in this book were all quirky, unique, and alive. Maybe too quirky for their own good in certain cases, but this is not the novel for normal people. This is the novel for the weird ones, and boy do they come in droves. There wasn’t one character here that I even mildly disliked. From the smaller characters, like Adeline Eats, to the major ones, Sam and Calliope and Old Man Coyote, all of them had something I liked and that made them stand apart. Especially Minty Fresh. Holy crap, do I love Minty Fresh.
I’ve already read Practical Demonkeeping, as I’ve said, and I smiled when a few of the characters from that novel made an appearance in this one. Between the two, I’d say I like Coyote Blue better, but only by a small fraction.
Favorite Lines:
“…long, oily saxophone note.” Great imagery.
“Do you think that the Germans make such good cars to atone for the Holocaust?” Spoken by Calliope, it’s a great introductory line into her character.
“If he’s dead, she reasoned, he can wait until I’ve made some coffee. If he ain’t, he’ll probably want some.”
“…rambling through him like a heartbreak.”
“I don’t give a desiccated damn. I don’t give a reconstituted damn. I don’t give a creamed damn on toast.” I LOVE creative swearing.
“Why understand when you can believe?”
“Them things are so dark they just eat up your headlights.”
“Quit being afraid of things that ain’t happened yet.”
“Full bore batshit.”
“...instead of that American manifesto of high-pressure sales, Green Eggs and Ham.”
“Damn! Another hell thought!”
“The ostentation of the casinos did not create desire for money; it made money meaningless.”
“Living late-afternoon shadow in sunglasses.” I love Minty Fresh so much I’m minutes away from writing “Mrs. Shannon Fresh” all over my Trapper Keeper.
“You carry your name like a man with a knife hidden in his boot.”
“Never face heavily armed bikers without your wubby.”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Book Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain. Mark Twain was at the same time two things:
One, he was an important and powerful figure in the world of American Literature who redefined the way popular novels could be written and gave a new voice and image to a blooming writing field. He is extensively quoted to this day, and William “Mother” Faulkner called him the ‘father of American Literature,’ and Ernest Hemmingway, despite preferring the downer ending, basically loved Huckleberry Finn to itty bitty pieces.
Two, he was batshit insane. Oh, sure, he was anti-slavery and he supported women’s rights and wrote some of the most beloved works of his time. That doesn’t change the fact that Twain was essentially your cranky grandfather who spends most of your time visiting asking you to pull his finger and yelling at you to get out of the way of the TV. Even the Biographical Note in my copy of this novel calls him ‘quick tempered, garrulous, profane, sentimental, superstitious, wildly funny, deeply pessimistic.’ Also, he looked like this:
To see the closest thing of Samuel Clemens in action you can, watch the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called ‘Time’s Arrow,’ in which Crotchety Granpa Twain waxes pessimistic on the human race, breaks into Data’s room, and gives Jack London an epic brush off. Here, in this clip, watch him bitch about every little goddamn thing while wandering around on a spaceship in the future.
Yes, I know Star Trek isn’t a documentary. But, dammit, I don’t want to live in a world where this didn’t happen.
Category: American Literature, Post 1865, Adventure, Humor, Southern, Novel 100
Why I Read It: Because if Faulkner and Hemmingway can gush over it – Faulkner, who loved nothing unless it was served with a drink, and Hemmingway, who loved nothing unless he could shoot it and mount it – than that’s argument enough for me.
Reading Time Period: July 5, 2010-July 7, 2010
Book Cover:
Book Printing: Printed in 1964 by Scholastic Magazines, Inc. Originally the book cost 45 cents. There’s a biographical note in the front and then nothing but the book proper. There aren’t even any blank pages between the end and the back cover. It is also in fantastic condition. The pages are a little yellowed but the spine is intact and there aren’t any smudges or stains on any of the sheets. It’s a simple but excellent copy.
Where I bought it: The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Cheyenne, WY, for a dollar.
Thoughts: I didn’t keep a notebook, like I plan to with future books, so I don’t have too much to say except I did enjoy it, even if trying to read and understand everything written in vernacular was a pain in my ass and the only way to describe the amount of times the ‘n’ word shows up is ‘copiously.’ But obviously neither of these aren’t a fault of Twain. Unfortunately, that’s just the word that was used back then. And the book is highly praised by every other person on the planet for having been written like it is, sounding like spoken word, so clearly I’m in the minority on that one.
Oh, and I would most certainly kick the shit out of Tom Sawyer if I had to deal with him for more than five seconds. Dude, look, you need to get Jim out of the motherfucking shed, like, yesterday or they’re going to sell his ass and you’ll never see him again and he won’t be free. You don’t have time for all your ‘they did it like this in the books’ bullshit. Just get him out of the damned shed already.
Author: Mark Twain. Mark Twain was at the same time two things:
One, he was an important and powerful figure in the world of American Literature who redefined the way popular novels could be written and gave a new voice and image to a blooming writing field. He is extensively quoted to this day, and William “Mother” Faulkner called him the ‘father of American Literature,’ and Ernest Hemmingway, despite preferring the downer ending, basically loved Huckleberry Finn to itty bitty pieces.
Two, he was batshit insane. Oh, sure, he was anti-slavery and he supported women’s rights and wrote some of the most beloved works of his time. That doesn’t change the fact that Twain was essentially your cranky grandfather who spends most of your time visiting asking you to pull his finger and yelling at you to get out of the way of the TV. Even the Biographical Note in my copy of this novel calls him ‘quick tempered, garrulous, profane, sentimental, superstitious, wildly funny, deeply pessimistic.’ Also, he looked like this:
Twain, seconds before yelling at the kids outside to 'stay off his goll danged yard.'
To see the closest thing of Samuel Clemens in action you can, watch the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called ‘Time’s Arrow,’ in which Crotchety Granpa Twain waxes pessimistic on the human race, breaks into Data’s room, and gives Jack London an epic brush off. Here, in this clip, watch him bitch about every little goddamn thing while wandering around on a spaceship in the future.
Yes, I know Star Trek isn’t a documentary. But, dammit, I don’t want to live in a world where this didn’t happen.
Category: American Literature, Post 1865, Adventure, Humor, Southern, Novel 100
Why I Read It: Because if Faulkner and Hemmingway can gush over it – Faulkner, who loved nothing unless it was served with a drink, and Hemmingway, who loved nothing unless he could shoot it and mount it – than that’s argument enough for me.
Reading Time Period: July 5, 2010-July 7, 2010
Book Cover:
In this special edition, Huck Finn is actually a fifty year old lesbian.
Book Printing: Printed in 1964 by Scholastic Magazines, Inc. Originally the book cost 45 cents. There’s a biographical note in the front and then nothing but the book proper. There aren’t even any blank pages between the end and the back cover. It is also in fantastic condition. The pages are a little yellowed but the spine is intact and there aren’t any smudges or stains on any of the sheets. It’s a simple but excellent copy.
Where I bought it: The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Cheyenne, WY, for a dollar.
Thoughts: I didn’t keep a notebook, like I plan to with future books, so I don’t have too much to say except I did enjoy it, even if trying to read and understand everything written in vernacular was a pain in my ass and the only way to describe the amount of times the ‘n’ word shows up is ‘copiously.’ But obviously neither of these aren’t a fault of Twain. Unfortunately, that’s just the word that was used back then. And the book is highly praised by every other person on the planet for having been written like it is, sounding like spoken word, so clearly I’m in the minority on that one.
Oh, and I would most certainly kick the shit out of Tom Sawyer if I had to deal with him for more than five seconds. Dude, look, you need to get Jim out of the motherfucking shed, like, yesterday or they’re going to sell his ass and you’ll never see him again and he won’t be free. You don’t have time for all your ‘they did it like this in the books’ bullshit. Just get him out of the damned shed already.
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