WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres; CONSIDER THE LOBSTER by David Foster Wallace

WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres

A taut, fast ride—crisply and finely written, especially when he keeps it simple—about three scrappy brothers from the wrong side of the tracks; the protagonist is the youngest brother. Rendered effectively as a series of linked short pieces, I found the first third or half or so stronger than what followed. Midway, it started feeling a little tired, repetitive; the movement, the change, the growth of the protagonist didn’t start to kick in until late in the slender book. Nevertheless, I think Torres is a new talent to watch. His writing and characters are full of compelling energy.

CONSIDER THE LOBSTER by David Foster Wallace

Sampling my way through these brilliant, dense, rich essays a few at a time. A worthwhile project.

SMUT by Allan Bennett

I missed a few again. Last one I can remember... Smut. A little gem. Erotic, unshowy, simply and beautifully written, and published on thick, pleasing paper (well, wouldn't you want your provocative fiction to please your sense of touch)? And yes, newsflash, middle-aged people can make good protagonists in sexy fiction. Smut, by the man who wrote the play "The History Boys," is two novellas, the first one quirkier and stronger than the second.

TEN THOUSAND SAINTS; THE OTHER WES MOORE; YOU DESERVE NOTHING; WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK

Time to make the doughnuts. At least four books I haven’t yet posted here. Maybe more, but I’ve forgotten what they are.

TEN THOUSAND SAINTS by Eleanor Henderson

You got me at the setting, time period and subject matter: The offspring of the hippie generation struggle to come of age in NY and Vermont, in the late 80s. But you lost me in the telling of it. Great reviews… but a snooze of a read.

THE OTHER WES MOORE by Wes Moore (duh).

Ditto. Interesting concept, but I fell off in the telling. Author Wes Moore is a Rhodes scholar and type-A success; his namesake is in prison for murder. Author reaches out to convict. They have many things in common. There but for the grace, etc. The author is going to be the graduation speaker for my 8^th grade students this year… I want to sell this one to them, but I can’t.

YOU DESERVE NOTHING by Alexander Maksik

You got me at the setting and subject matter: English teacher in an international school in Paris. You held me in the telling. Not up there with Tobias Wolfe’s OLD SCHOOL, but a keen and sometimes lyrical look at teachers and their students. Nicely done. Worth the read.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK by Nathan Englander

Englander rocks. This new collection of stories may be uneven, but the guy is totally brilliant. One of our best contemporary writers, IMHO. Does he translate for non-Jews? I’m not sure. Go read him and let me know.

BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey

Lots of good laugh lines. Feminist and funny--an excellent pairing. But not much of a center as far as the overall shape of the book goes.

LOVE ADDICT by Ethlie Ann Vare

Yeh, yeh... Mr. Recent Ex is in there, I'm in there, ex-hubby's in there... Does reading this stuff help the painful process of looking in the mirror? Perhaps. But as far as this unhealthy relationship addict shit goes, I had far more fun seeing two exhibits at MoMA by two woman-addicts par excellence, DeKooning and Diego Rivera. Next up, McQueen, Fassbender-->Shame. VOGLIO UNA DONNA!!!

STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett

Meh. Loved Patchett's memoir about her friendship with Lucy Grealy, and as always, she spins a good yarn... but this one is really yarn-y. Just didn't buy the plot, and couldn't make the leap of faith.

THE LOST MEMORY OF SKIN by Russell Banks

What happens when political correctness gives rise to zero tolerance and zero compassion?

Many of the reviews I’ve read of this book call the protagonist impossible to sympathize with, and the subject matter nearly too disturbing to touch. I disagree. At the heart of the novel is a loner of young man, a convicted sex offender, who has been thrown out of the garden. Banks writes about human urges, about sanctimony, about compassion. His ear and eye are finely tuned to contemporary American language and culture, and his imagery is spot-on. He turns out a beautifully-crafted plot, except perhaps in the final chapters of the book where he goes a little Hollyrock (as he did in Rule of the Bone). Important and a great read.