Rec. #13: Loitering with Intent

What: Loitering with Intent is a novel about a novel. It is very funny, very dry, and very loosely autobiographical. The story begins with Fleur Talbot working as the secretary for the Autobiographical Association while she finishes her first novel, Warrender Chase. When her employer filches the manuscript, scenes from the book start coming true. Soon, members of the association want very badly to see the book destroyed. Muriel Spark manages to make the fictitious manuscript Warrender Chase the riveting focus without actually including excerpts from it. This proves to be an excellent strategy.*

Comparable to: For some reason, I have a slight tendency to confuse Spark with A.S. Byatt. This is odd because the two authors really are not very similar. If anything, Spark's style is more like that of Byatt's sister, Margaret Drabble.

Representative quote: "The memoirs written by the members of the Autobiographical Association, although none had got beyond the first chapter, already had a number of factors in common. One of them was nostalgia, another was paranoia, a third was a transparent craving on the part of the authors to appear likable."

You might not like it if: Thrillers about people stealing manuscripts don't thrill you.

How to get it: There are several different editions floating around out there in libraries and bookstores. None of them have good covers.

*Note to writers: When one of your characters is supposed to be a very talented author, it is never a good idea to include examples of that character's writing. The reader's response is, inevitably, "Eh." (Also, it is kind of like boasting, and no one likes that.)

Rec. #12: The Tournament

What: Illustrious figures from the 20th century participate in an epic tennis tournament. This book gives the play-by-play, both on court and off, in a long string of inside jokes. The more you know about the participants, the funnier the book is. A few of the "players": Monet, Twain, Chaplin, Earhart, Benchley, Garbo, and Arendt.

Comparable to: Even though its subtitle is "A Novel of the 20th Century," Clarke's book is really more of a novelty collection, along the lines of Schott's Miscellany or John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise.

Representative quote: "Nijinsky continues to look fabulous, although after the match he described himself as 'The Supreme Being' and offered to describe how he created the world. Friends say this is not a good sign."

You might not like it if: It seems too gimmicky for you.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it. I saw a copy in a used bookstore just this past weekend.

Connection to previous Wreckage: In the book, Alfred Hitchcock makes an appearance on Day 2 and is described as "the slightly eerie Fred Hitchcock." He first appeared on this blog in "Rec. #5: Rope." I did not use the word "eerie" in my post.

Rec. #11: A Midwinter's Tale

What: This film is in black-and-white and its original title was In the Bleak Midwinter, but don't let that fool you. I mean, look at this picture! (Jennifer Saunders and Joan Collins, sitting next to a cardboard cutout and looking dubious.) Does that seem bleak to you? No. No, it does not. Saunders and Collins are just part of the stellar cast in this wry story of an out-of-work actor who volunteers to stage a production of Hamlet in a small village. Other notables include Richard Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Celia Imrie, Michael Maloney, Julia Sawalha, and John Sessions.

Comparable to: A less folksy Christopher Guest movie, minus the documentary frame.

Representative quote:
"Hamlet isn't just Hamlet. Oh no, no, no. Oh, no. Hamlet is me. Hamlet is Bosnia. Hamlet is this desk. Hamlet is the air. Hamlet is my grandmother. Hamlet is everything you ever thought about sex, about geology . . ."
"Geology?"
"In a very loose sense, of course."

You might not like it if: Black-and-white movies give you a headache.

How to get it: Could be a bit tricky. From what I can tell, you can't Netflix it, and Amazon doesn't currently have it in stock. You can buy it used, though, or you might be able to get it from your library.

Rec. #10: Territory

What: Buzz abounds for the Coen brothers' new adaptation of True Grit.* Why not take this opportunity to revisit another famous Western? With Territory, Emma Bull retells the story of Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers. In doing so, she also introduces a subtle thread of magic into the action. I know combining fantasy with Western/historical fiction sounds iffy, but believe me --- it works. (No horses actually emerge from trees.)

Comparable to: Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series follows similar logic.

Representative quote: "Do you know why one can't take the law into one's own hands? Because the law is too big to fit in one pair of hands. So if you feel you've got a comfortable grip on whatever you're holding, you can be pretty sure it's not the law."

You might not like it if: Sorry, folks. No Jeff Bridges here. (Or John Wayne. Or Kirk Douglas or Burt Lancaster or Kurt Russell or Val Kilmer, for that matter.)

How to get it: It's downloadable, buyable, and borrowable.

*NB: Overlook Press, I love you --- I even wrote a paper on you in grad school! --- but please, please stop retweeting every mention of the original True Grit novel by Charles Portis.

Rec. #9: No Ordinary Matter

What: Author Jenny McPhee excels at combining disparate themes and topics in delightful ways. The novel No Ordinary Matter brings together soap operas, musicals, private detection, and neurology. It sounds frenetic, but somehow it's not. McPhee's tone is playful, yet grounded.

Comparable to: Some of the farce of Shakespearean comedy, a pinch of Shannon Olson's tone, with a dash of Tom Robbins-type flights of fancy.

Representative quote: "Veronica began to put her clothes back on. She sensed impending doom and wanted to be dressed for it."

You might not like it if: You have absolutely no interest in, or curiosity about, the writing of soap operas, the creation of musicals, the practice of private detection, or the theories of neurology.

How to get it: It's probably available in your library system, it's possibly in stock at your local bookstore, and it's definitely downloadable to your Kindle.

One week down. Only 51 more to go!

Well, I've made it through my first week of daily recommendations. Thanks for reading and commenting on my posts. And thanks to friends who mentioned The Daily Wreck on their blogs. (I'm looking at you, potatoandpiper and metropotamia!)

If I could draw, I would put a little thank-you picture right here:






But I can't. So instead I'm giving you a bonus post ("Bonus Non-Rec."). Please enjoy!

Bonus Non-Rec.: And Then There Were None

What: This 1945 film is based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name (sometimes titled Ten Little Indians).

My points:
First, I should make it clear that I am in no way suggesting that you should not watch this movie. I am just suggesting that you shouldn't expect it to be good, especially if you've read the book.

In my opinion, Agatha Christie is not the best Golden Age mystery author, although currently she is the most famous. (Oh, we will get to this discussion in due time, believe me.) Her novel And Then There Were None, however, is a genuinely chilling and unsettling story. It does not have a happy ending.

Unsurprisingly, this film version of the novel struggles with tone. At times, it strikes the right note of foreboding, but the movie keeps drifting into farce as it hiccups its way to a cheerful resolution. Most of the time, I support having a bit of fun with an uneven tone (I'm a fan of Charade, after all), but here the shifts don't come across as deliberate. They just seem like placeholders.

It's as if the filmmakers wanted to make a very specific, very different type of movie, but Christie's plot kept getting in the way.

Representative quote: "Very stupid to kill the only servant in the house. Now we don't even know where to find the marmalade."

Rec. #8: Last Night at the Lobster

What: I don't know what's happening where you are, but in my little part of the world it's snowing. This seems to be a particularly good time of year to read Stewart O'Nan's sad, heartfelt (and short) novel Last Night at the Lobster. The story takes place during one day in late December, as employees at a Red Lobster in Connecticut work their last shifts before the restaurant closes for good. The focus is on the manager, Manny, who is determined to do a good job right up until the end, despite a snowstorm, very few customers, chefs who don't show up, and a complicated personal life that's constantly in the back of his mind.

Comparable to: Michael Cunningham channeling Studs Terkel.

Representative quote: "Two months ago Manny had forty-four people working for him, twenty of them full-time. Tonight when he locks the doors, all but five will lose their jobs, and one of those five --- unfairly, he thinks, since he was their leader --- will be himself. He's spent the last weeks polishing letters of recommendation, trying to come up with nice things to say --- not hard in some cases, nearly impossible in others."

You might not like it if: You have no idea what happens in a Red Lobster kitchen and you want to keep it that way.

How to get it: It's easy to find. There's an audiobook, too.

Rec. #7: Hyperbole and a Half

What: You're probably already familiar with this brilliant blog. If you are, consider this a happy Friday reminder to check out the full archive (2009 and 2010). If Hyperbole and a Half is new to you, please click on any of the links I'm peppering throughout this post, and then enjoy artist/writer/blogger/humorist Allie Brosh's thoughts on canine intelligence, awkward situations, and The Alot. Also, my two favorite posts so far: "The Party" and "Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving."

Representative quote: "For a little while, I actually feel grown-up and responsible. I strut around with my head held high, looking the other responsible people in the eye with that knowing glance that says, 'I understand. I'm responsible now too. Just look at my groceries.'" (from "This Is Why I'll Never Be an Adult")

You might not like it if: You are consumed by jealousy because Allie Brosh is so talented and funny. Actually, scratch that. I'm consumed by jealousy and I love the blog unreservedly. If you decide you don't like it, please let me know so I can feel less jealous.

How to get it: Good grief. Just click here.

Rec. #6: Happy Trails to You

What: For a book about a woman who's been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, Julie Hecht's collection of stories is surprisingly . . . pleasant. The unnamed narrator's anxieties are the concerns of an affluent, and very earnest, life: trying to find food that won't kill you, worrying about the effects of household radiation, reconciling the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal with political beliefs. The main character, a successful photographer, also appears in Do the Windows Open? and The Unprofessionals.

Comparable to: Fiction in The New Yorker. In fact, some of Hecht's stories were originally published there.

Representative quote: "I owed my neighbor a visit. She'd left a message on my answering machine just before Christmas. It started with the words 'All right, I'll leave a message . . .' People over eighty don't like answering machines, and I don't blame them. I'm like the Unabomber in that respect --- hatred of technology. And also, as I heard him described on the news, 'a follower of Thoreau.'"

You might not like it if: You find the narrator irksome. I personally like her, but I can see how it could go either way.

How to get it: Assuming you have access to a decent-sized library, you can probably get the book there. Otherwise, buying it used might be your best bet. Also, it's worth noting that although Do the Windows Open? and The Unprofessionals came before this book, you don't really need to read them in order.

Rec. #5: Rope

What: In Rope, Jimmy Stewart plays an of-the-moment character who realizes too late what cool, clinical cynicism can lead to. This Alfred Hitchcock film gives everyone involved a chance to show off. The story was a stage play first, and the single-room set reflects that, allowing the actors to showcase their Craft. Meanwhile, Hitchcock demonstrates his innovation and technical skill by shooting the entire film in just 10 takes. (Fun party game! Spot the cuts!)

Representative quote: "Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary, average man, the inferior man, because he needs them."

You might not like it if: You're in a "been there, done that" place with Hitchcock. Alternately, you might believe this can't possibly be a Hitchcock movie because you don't see any blondes.

How to get it: Rent it or buy it --- after being unavailable for decades, the film is now pretty easy to find. You also have a good-ish chance of catching it on TCM sometime. When you're done watching the movie, check out the IMDb and Wikipedia entries on it. Trivia galore for film geeks!

Rec. #4: The Salmon of Doubt

What: Beloved sci-fi icon Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, passed away suddenly in 2001. This is a posthumous collection of his previously unpublished work. The book includes interviews, eleven chapters of an unfinished novel, and essays ranging from hangover cures to a debate on the existence of an artificial god.

Comparable to: The zanier moments of the new Doctor Who.

Representative quote: "Every country is like a particular type of person. America is like a belligerent adolescent boy, Canada is like an intelligent thirty-five-year-old woman. Australia is like Jack Nicholson. It comes right up to you and laughs very hard in your face in a highly threatening and engaging manner."

You might not like it if: You did not think the above quote was at least mildly amusing. At the other end of the spectrum, if you are a Hitchhiker super-fan, you might be disappointed that the collection does not include a spinoff story starring Marvin, everyone's favorite morose robot.

How to get it: You might find it at your library or local bookstore, and you can definitely buy it online. You could also listen to Stephen Fry and others read the audio version.

Rec. #3: Case Histories

What: Kate Atkinson's first foray into crime fiction was a massive success and an Orange Prize nominee for best novel of 2005. An award-winning literary novelist, Atkinson proves with Case Histories that genre divisions are, frankly, kind of silly. She introduces us to private detective Jackson Brodie, whose work on three cold cases we see through alternating points of view. Brodie's investigations continue in One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News? (my personal fave), and the yet-to-be-released-in-the-U.S. Started Early, Took My Dog.

Comparable to: There's a bit of a Deborah Crombie flavor in the characterizations, but approached through a Mark Haddon-ish tone.

Representative quote: "Rosemary, their mother, said that she wished Olivia could stay at this age forever because she was so lovable. They had never heard her use that word to describe any of them. They had not even realized that such a word existed in her vocabulary."

You might not like it if: You are a bit squeamish about stories in which kids get disappeared.

How to get it: Available at most libraries and bookstores. Plus, IMDb tells me that this year BBC1 is presenting a six-part series based on the first three Jackson Brodie novels. It was only a matter of time, really.

Rec. #2: Wonderfalls, season 1 and only

What: Wonderfalls is 13 episodes of snarky quirk about Jaye Tyler, an overeducated, under-motivated store clerk who starts hearing voices after getting conked on the head. Animal figures (a smoosh-faced wax lion, a plastic flamingo, and a stuffed donkey, among others) begin giving her cryptic instructions. Somehow, writer/creator Bryan Fuller manages to make the talking animals neither cutesy nor creepy, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. Caroline Dhavernas does a bang-up job as the sulky, sarcastic Jaye, using a heavily-nuanced lip curl to great effect.

Comparable to: Other television shows by Bryan Fuller. He takes the young-slacker-put-to-the-test idea from Dead Like Me and combines it with the candy-colored coating that ratchets up exponentially in his later series, Pushing Daisies.


Representative quote:

"Is this fun for you? Torturing a wayward nun?"

"Oh, yeah. This is a laugh-riot. There is where I would most like to be --- standing in the freezing cold being called a liar by a nun and coerced by a wax lion to commit crime. It's so much fun!"

You might not like it if: You are soooo not a fan of magic realism.

How to watch it: Buy it or Netflix it. You should probably buy it. It's only one season, after all. Plus, Fuller knew the series would be canceled, so you get closure at the end, something you can't always count on with an imperiled series (ahem, Pushing Daisies).

Rec. #1: The Good Thief

What: Have you been wanting a new Dickens novel, but one that's set in the U.S.? With orphans making good, con artists who are intermittently trustworthy, dead murderers who don't stay dead, and a deaf landlady who speaks in all caps? Well, here it is. Hannah Tinti's debut novel can be deep, dank, and dark, but it's also surprisingly fun.

Comparable to: The orphans-on-the-streets bits in Oliver Twist, but with a strong underpinning of the absurd, macabre humor that seeps in from the edges of Bleak House.

You might not like it if: You hate orphans. Or Dickens. Or both.

How to get it: It's fairly recent, so it should be readily available at your library and most bookstores.

Best of 2009 in a few easy categories: Movies and TV

Movies in Theaters

Best capers:

Duplicity and The Brothers Bloom. Each delightful in its own way.

Best use of Melanie Lynskey as a pivotal travel destination:

Away We Go. (Honorable mention in this category: Up in the Air. As in Away We Go, the main characters take a trip to see Lynskey’s character and it changes everything.)

Movies on DVD

Best documentary:

Every Little Step. Absorbing and entertaining even if you have no interest in Broadway or auditions or musicals or dancers or singers or ambition.

Best movie that is more uplifting than its title, despite the fact that one of the main characters dies:

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. Spoiler: Wilbur is not the one who dies.

Best movie with aliens:

Torchwood: Children of Earth. These Brits manage to make even apocalyptic alien thrillers seem realistic.

Best cinematic use of Lee Pace (miss you, Pushing Daisies!):

The Fall. Bonus points for also including the amazing Justine Waddell.

Best Dickens adaptation:

Little Dorrit. Oh, and the book is really good, too. But don’t even bother with the new Masterpiece Classic adaptations of The Old Curiosity Shop or Oliver Twist.

Best Freudian screwball comedy in Spanish:

Unconscious (Inconscientes). Hang around for the tango at the end.

Best Japanese Amelie:

Kamikaze Girls. A lot like Amelie. Except it’s a manga adaptation. And includes a biker chick fight. And has scenes with these guys:

TV Shows

Best shows that no one else watched and now they’re canceled, thank you very much:

Better Off Ted (not officially canceled yet, but it will be) and The Unusuals. At least put these on your Netflix queues, please?

Best (only?) reason to think that Starz might actually be a real TV channel:

Party Down. The main cast includes Adam Scott, Ken Marino, and Jane Lynch. And pretty much everyone from Veronica Mars has made guest appearances.

Most relevant show from the early ‘90s:

Northern Exposure. Really, it holds up so, so well. I meant to watch the entire series in 2009, but thanks to the vagaries of Netflix, I still have to finish half of the final season. Look for a full analysis in January 2010!

The Best of 2009 in a few easy categories: Books

First, a caveat or two. I read more than 100 books in the past year. Most of these were not from 2009. Here are some of the best things I read for the first time this year.

Author of the year:

Kate Atkinson. From Human Croquet (scary and beautiful, as the best fairytales are) to Not the End of the World: Stories (very good, but why are all collections of short stories vaguely creepy?), I devoured four of Atkinson’s books this year. My favorite was When Will There Be Good News?, which follows characters after the events in One Good Turn.

The best workplace novels that are basically the same book:

Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris) and Personal Days (Ed Park). This would bother me more if I liked them less.

Best biography by virtue of the fact that it is impossible to screw up the riveting story of this person’s life:

Ngaio Marsh: A Life (Margaret Lewis). Lewis missed a lot about Marsh, a Golden Age mystery author, as a writer: the anti-capital punishment stance, her ability to include gay characters who aren't the villains, Troy's important career, etc, but still, Marsh's life is fascinating.

Best young adult author in transition to adult literature:

Jaclyn Moriarty. Her young adult novels (such as The Year of Secret Assignments and The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie) are probably better than most teenagers deserve. Her first adult novel, I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, is definitely better than we adults deserve. Magical and wonderful and fantastic and genius and clever and fun.

Best retrospective of important psychological experiments:

Opening Skinner’s Box (Lauren Slater). Really fascinating, and very well written.

Most insightful view of childhood:

The Fountain Overflows (Rebecca West). In this story of an eccentric family of musicians, West is particularly adept at describing precocious children.

Best P.G. Wodehouse stories I happened to pick up:

Sam the Sudden (predictably fun, especially the banter between the leads characters) and Uncle Dynamite (you can always trust the Earl of Ickenham).

Best mystery novels:

The Headhunters (Peter Lovesey) and Death of an Englishman (Magdalen Nabb). Ever wanted to kill your boss and/or travel to Italy? These are the books for you.

Best book on kindness:

The Box Garden (Carol Shields). It’s also about assholes who are so concerned with “finding themselves” they screw over everyone else. But it’s mainly about kindness.

Best “new” mystery author discovery:

Edmund Crispin. How had I not read The Moving Toyshop, Love Lies Bleeding, or Buried for Pleasure before?

Re: Glee

I really, really wanted to like this show. Given the fact that I think every show in existence would benefit from having at least one musical episode, of course I came to Glee with a sense of reserved excitement. Also, it features Jayma Mays and Jane Lynch and Victor Garber and Kristin Chenoweth. Love them!

But. Why is every female character either a manipulative bitch (generally the blondes) or a lovesick mess (the others)? Someone let me know if they fix this problem, and maybe I'll give the show another shot.

(Some More of) The Best of 2008—Movies/DVDs

The Darjeeling Limited: For people (like me) who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like.

Lars and the Real Girl: Really, really good. Well written and beautifully directed. And Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson are amazing.

Midnight, The Talk of the Town: Pair the first one with The Palm Beach Story and the second with Holiday for maximum enjoyment of these classics.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Greenfingers, Penelope (woohoo! Burn Gorman!), and Tristram Shandy: Hello, British people! How do you make everything better? Because you do. (Usually, anyway. See below.)

Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility: Both Masterpiece Theatre productions were actually pretty good, in stark contrast to the similarly new versions of Persuasion and Mansfield Park, which were terrible, terrible, terrible, ow my brain, awful.

Show Business: The Road to Broadway and Company: Fwoop. That's the sound of me collapsing in dedication to the splendor of Raul Esparza.

Shut Up and Sing and Young @ Heart: Freaking documentaries convinced me to buy music I normally wouldn’t.

State of Play: Enjoy it now before Hollywood ruins it. Yes, ruins it.

(Some of) The Best of 2008—Books

The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood: The sort of thing Atwood does very well. As with any retellings of classic tales, you know it’s good when you can’t imagine it being another way. This is one of those.

The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett: The Queen of England becomes a reader. Consequences!

You Must Be This Happy to Enter, Elizabeth Crane: Most of the stories are fantastic and remind me a bit of the best of George Saunders. And they only vaguely frighten me.

The Bachelor, Stella Gibbons: Why, why, why are you out of print? You are delightful! From the author of Cold Comfort Farm.

Through the Children’s Gate, Adam Gopnik: After Paris to the Moon. The family is back in New York City, now with two children. And an imaginary friend named Mr. Ravioli.

A Spot of Bother, Mark Haddon: Some quite good bits, like when Jamie wishes that, instead of trying to explain his feelings for boyfriend Tony, he could just lift a lid on his head and say, “Look.”

Told By an Idiot, Rose MacAulay: The novel follows a family from the Victorian period through the 1920s. A perfect book to read in this time and this place.

Symposium and A Far Cry from Kensington, Muriel Spark: In Symposium, a posh London dinner party is interrupted by murder. In A Far Cry from Kensington, Nancy Hawkins gives good advice, loses weight, and gets fired from job after job because she insults a hack. Both are funnier than these descriptions make them sound.

The Good Children, Kate Wilhelm: The book that fooled me into thinking that the rest of this author’s work would be as good. It isn’t. Too bad, because this is a solid, rich, full novel.

Jill the Reckless, P.G. Wodehouse: Proof that Wodehouse understands female characters beyond their divine profiles. Pitch-perfect.