Author Topic: Fave Books / Currently Reading  (Read 946075 times)

Pastor Josh

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #945 on: September 10, 2009, 05:25:17 PM »
Daddy's Boy, especially the rebuttals, had me in stitches.
Who I don't have chocolate?

wood and iron

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #946 on: September 10, 2009, 09:06:04 PM »
Just finished up Edgar Rice Burroughs's A Princess of Mars, the first John Carter of Mars book. It was pretty great for a classic pulp adventure. The most interesting (and utterly disturbing) part was his use of a racist point of view to discredit eugenics.

Plus has this banging Penguin edition:


I'm grading a Science Fiction class and so I'm going to be reading a lot more SF to which I'm extremely looking forward.

Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #947 on: September 10, 2009, 10:14:29 PM »
I am sold! Everest w/ Michael Moore and Tony Danza. That's all you had to tell me.

Chris Elliott's books are insanely silly.  They are pretty much weird reworks of history with him being involved or past family members being involved somehow.  The ones I've read are "The Shroud of the Thwacker" which is a parody of Jack The Ripper.  He has a great funny role for Teddy Roosevelt and just a perfectly hilarious view on what the 1880s in New York was like.

Into Hot Air is about his climb to Mount Everest with the likes of Michael Moore and Tony Danza.  It's a hilarious book and like I said before, they're both silly and very absurd.  

OK, I can see Cruel Shoes - can check out Born Standing Up. I hadn't seen or heard of Chris Elliott's books, but being a fan of his from the Letterman days on, I'll look for them.

Comedians don't exactly have a great track record in the book department. I liked Woody Allen's book OK, but otherwise I am really wracking my brain trying to think of a comedian's book where I could read more than 3 pages at a time.

I like it so far.



Really?  I think this is one of the worst books ever written.  As @clarencethomas might say, Cross needs to ZIP IT!
I like all of Chris Elliott's books.  Born Standing up by Steve Martin is good too.

samir

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #948 on: September 14, 2009, 01:13:24 PM »
wrote about the cross book: http://bit.ly/18SMCP
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Shaggy 2 Grote

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #949 on: September 15, 2009, 07:55:11 AM »
I saw him at the Brooklyn Book Festival but chickened out and didn't talk to him.  He seemed to perk up a little bit at my WFMU shirt, too - I know he likes the station.
Oh, good heavens. I didn’t realize. I send my condolences out to the rest of the O’Connor family.

buffcoat

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #950 on: September 15, 2009, 08:05:18 AM »
I saw him at the Brooklyn Book Festival but chickened out and didn't talk to him.  He seemed to perk up a little bit at my WFMU shirt, too - I know he likes the station.

Who, Mickey Dolenz?


I can't be bothered to scroll up.
I really don't appreciate your sarcastic, anti-comedy tone, Bro!

dave from knoxville

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #951 on: September 15, 2009, 08:30:53 AM »
I've been stuck in a Stanislaw Lem rut for a few weeks. Much of it is readable and fun, other parts might as well be in his native Polish.

ian

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #952 on: September 15, 2009, 02:10:35 PM »
i bought the audiobook for the cross book, in which he chastises the listener for being lazy and "part of the problem" multiple times for choosing it over the print version

i wanted to hear a comedian's delivery of his writing (ie franken's audiobooks are amazing)

AlizaEss

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #953 on: September 15, 2009, 02:17:21 PM »
Oh god, I attend one Gathering of the FOT and now find myself crawling into even the non-Best Show related threads... :p

I couldn't slog through all 64 pages of this so apologies if this book has already been mentioned. But it seems like everyone on this board would be a huge fan of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" if you haven't read it already.

Interested in metaphors comparing Trujillo's Dominican dictatorship to the rise of Sauron? With a protagonist that has a body like Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces," the teenage angst of Holden Caulfied, and the comic book love of a Patton Oswalt?

Seriously one of the best books I've ever read, although it's quite sad so I can't get up the gumption to read it again yet. "Confederacy of Dunces" also might be one of my most favorite books ever.

gravy boat

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #954 on: September 15, 2009, 03:20:32 PM »
. . it seems like everyone on this board would be a huge fan of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" if you haven't read it already.

Interested in metaphors comparing Trujillo's Dominican dictatorship to the rise of Sauron? With a protagonist that has a body like Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces," the teenage angst of Holden Caulfied, and the comic book love of a Patton Oswalt?

Seriously one of the best books I've ever read, although it's quite sad so I can't get up the gumption to read it again yet. "Confederacy of Dunces" also might be one of my most favorite books ever.

Very good book, very good author (and raised in NJ).  Tom actually took an on-air call about this when Junot won the Pulitzer Prize as another example of New Jersey Beats New York. 

I just finished "Winner of the National Book Award" by Jinxy Willet. It's up there with "Confederacy..." for humor/pathos in my opinion.

masterofsparks

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #955 on: September 15, 2009, 06:09:26 PM »
Fully entrenched in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Of the four I've read, it's the most blatantly Faulknerian, but it's also the most pleasurable to read. It's nasty and horrific, of course, but kinda fun.

Did I just call Cormac McCarthy "fun"? I think AP Mike may've spiked my pizza last week.
I'll probably go into the wee hours.

Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #956 on: September 15, 2009, 06:21:01 PM »
I second the 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' recommendation. I was worried it would be geexploitation, but it was so much deeper than that.

Oh god, I attend one Gathering of the FOT and now find myself crawling into even the non-Best Show related threads... :p

I couldn't slog through all 64 pages of this so apologies if this book has already been mentioned. But it seems like everyone on this board would be a huge fan of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" if you haven't read it already.

Interested in metaphors comparing Trujillo's Dominican dictatorship to the rise of Sauron? With a protagonist that has a body like Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces," the teenage angst of Holden Caulfied, and the comic book love of a Patton Oswalt?

Seriously one of the best books I've ever read, although it's quite sad so I can't get up the gumption to read it again yet. "Confederacy of Dunces" also might be one of my most favorite books ever.

yesno

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #957 on: September 16, 2009, 12:04:01 AM »
Fully entrenched in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Of the four I've read, it's the most blatantly Faulknerian, but it's also the most pleasurable to read. It's nasty and horrific, of course, but kinda fun.

Did I just call Cormac McCarthy "fun"? I think AP Mike may've spiked my pizza last week.

It's the only Cormac McCarthy book I've read yet, and I loved it.  I couldn't get through "All the Pretty Horses" (an Imus favorite, by the way--my dad's a big fan of the I-Man).

I want to give The Road a shot, but I'm steeling up the courage.

masterofsparks

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #958 on: September 16, 2009, 06:44:44 AM »
Fully entrenched in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Of the four I've read, it's the most blatantly Faulknerian, but it's also the most pleasurable to read. It's nasty and horrific, of course, but kinda fun.

Did I just call Cormac McCarthy "fun"? I think AP Mike may've spiked my pizza last week.

It's the only Cormac McCarthy book I've read yet, and I loved it.  I couldn't get through "All the Pretty Horses" (an Imus favorite, by the way--my dad's a big fan of the I-Man).

I want to give The Road a shot, but I'm steeling up the courage.

The Road is actually a very easy read. You can probably make it through in a day or two. The one to prepare for is Blood Meridian. It was so unpleasant that I'm not sure whether or not I liked it.
No Country For Old Men is good but kind of unnecessary if you've seen the movie since they are almost identical. I haven't tried with any of the Border Trilogy since I've been warned away more than once.
I'll probably go into the wee hours.

B_Buster

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #959 on: September 18, 2009, 11:36:37 AM »
After Patton Oswalt's Italo Calvino reference during his last appearance on the show, I asked for a recommendation. He suggested Invisible Cities which I'm just about done with (it's a very fast read). Strange and wonderful stuff (I recommend the William Weaver translation). Similar in some ways to Jorge Borges who I like very much.
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