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Saturday, November 21, 2009
- The Advocate eEdition
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BOOKS
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The reclusive Pynchon, author of V., Gravity’s Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, Mason & Dixon, Vineland and others, is practically a cult figure. Whenever he publishes a book, and he does so every few years, his legion of fans make it an instant best-seller.
"U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth" (The University of North Carolina Press, 383 pages, $30), by Joan Waugh: Anybody remember that gag question Groucho Marx used on his quiz show? Who's buried in Grant's tomb? A dedicated ad-libber, Groucho could call the obvious answer right or wrong. A contestant might say "Grant" — perhaps after a moment's hesitation, suspecting a trap. "Angel Time" (Alfred A. Knopf, 288 pages, $25.95), by Anne Rice: A hardened 28-year-old hit man is given a second chance at life when an angel asks him to use his wits, cunning and courage to help answer people's prayers, instead of cutting them short. This is the premise of Anne Rice's latest novel, "Angel Time," which recounts Toby O'Dare's tragic childhood and how he became a roving killer. Nationally recognized expert on educating urban African-American students and author Lisa Delpit will speak at Southern University at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Royal Cotillion Ballroom of the Smith-Brown Memorial Union on the university’s campus. "The Museum of Innocence" (Knopf, 544 pages, $26.95), by Orhan Pamuk: Kemal, the lovelorn protagonist of Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk's new novel, is a sort of Gatsby on the Bosphorus. He is uppercrust, cringe-inducing and, of course, harbors an obsession with a woman he can never really have. "Under the Dome" (Scribner, 1088 pages, $35), by Stephen King: By now with Stephen King, it's easy to think this is all kind of ridiculous. An invisible dome descending upon a small town in Maine? People trapped inside, trying to figure out what on Earth is going on and — as always in a Stephen King story — dying in droves? "Patton, Montgomery, Rommel: Masters of War" (Crown Publishing, 448 pages, $30), by Terry Brighton: During a dinner in Saigon with some news correspondents in 1971, Gen. Creighton Abrams, the U.S. commander in Vietnam, was asked his opinion of the movie, "Patton." "Sweet Thunder" (Knopf, 464 pages, $27.95), by Wil Haygood: The boxer Sugar Ray Robinson was a man of glittering skill and deep complexity. So complex, in fact, that several writers — including Robinson himself — have tried and failed to render a full portrait. Until now. "Samuel Johnson: A Life" (Henry Holt and Company, 432 pages, $30), by David Nokes: David Nokes, a prominent scholar of 18th-century English literature, takes a fresh look at Samuel Johnson, the man known as the creator of the dictionary. In doing so, Nokes shows a very human side of Johnson, and the perspective of his times. The Southeastern Conference is home to the last three national champions of major college football, and the league is almost universally recognized as the cream of the crop in terms of success, tradition and fan loyalty. LSU Readers & Writers and the LSU School of Art will present “Invisible Populations!” with poet C.D. Wright and the ALL CITY All Star Slam Team at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. The event is free and open to the public and will take place at the Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd. "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present" (Little, Brown and Company, 480 pages, $27.99), by Gail Collins: In 1960, a secretary named Lois Rabinowitz was reprimanded by a New York City judge for appearing in court wearing slacks. Less than 50 years later in the same city, bus driver Tahita Jenkins was fired from her job because she refused to wear slacks. "My Life Outside the Ring" (St. Martin's Press, 320 pages, $25.99), by Hulk Hogan: He may have had his own reality show and starred as Thunderlips in "Rocky III," but Hulk Hogan will always be remembered as the wrestling legend who told children to take their vitamins and say their prayers, brother. Dava Sobel, author of the award-winning best-seller, Galileo’s Daughter, will speak at 2 p.m. today, Nov. 1, in the Adalié Brent Auditorium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. "The Bauhaus Group: Six Masters of Modernism" (Knopf. 544 pages. $40.00), by Nicholas Fox Weber: In this informal group biography, art historian Nicholas Fox Weber, author of "Le Corbusier" (2008), profiles six key artists and architects from the experimental teaching institution known as the Bauhaus, which flourished in Germany amid the cultural ferment of the Weimar era only to be shuttered by the Nazis. Dracula, the fictional vampire, refused to die. He lived on in an un-dead state, subsisting on human blood that he sucked from his victims’ necks after inflicting a bite to the carotid. Dracula, the cultural phenomenon, has proven equally resilient. Likely, most local sports fans remember how former LSU football player Brian Kinchen, after retiring from the sport, got the unexpected opportunity to play for the NFL’s New England Patriots in 2003. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library will celebrate its 32nd annual Author/Illustrator Program Thursday-Friday, Oct. 29-30. |
