Does Newbery Award turn off kids to reading?

Interesting article in today's Washington Post on the Newbery Award. According to writer Valerie Strauss, "Now the literary world is debating the Newbery's value, asking whether the books that have won recently are so complicated and inaccessible to most children that they are effectively turning off kids to reading."

Post unveils best books of 2008

The Washington Post unveiled its best books of 2008 this weekend. It's no surprise that Toni Morrison's A Mercy and Roberto Bolano's 2666 are among the top five in fiction. I am not familiar with the other three books: The Outlander by Gil Adamson, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and Cost by Roxana Robinson.

The Post's critic Jonathan Yardley also picked his best books of the year. I find some of his picks intriguing. Yardley liked Geraldine Brook's People of the Books, which I found thoroughly entertaining and well-told.

Three "genre" books make Yardley's list. He writes:

My dissatisfaction with contemporary literary fiction has led me to look more closely into what is commonly pigeonholed as "genre" fiction and, as I've said in the past, to find it more closely connected to the realities of American life than the self-referential fiction that pours out of creative-writing departments. Three of the most skillful writers of such work make the list this year.

The writers, and their books, are The Brass Verdict by Michael Connell, The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst and The Given Day by Dennis Lehane. Good choices all in, I think, the order listed.

Yardley also liked Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do (And What It Says About Us). I liked it a lot too.

My own list won't be forthcoming until after the first of the year. I still have several books to read in the few days remaining in 2008.

Post and Toni Morrison talk Obama and books

Toni Morrison talks about Barack Obama and her new novel, A Mercy, in an interview with The Washington Post.

A Mercy also happens to be one of The New York Times' 10 Best Books of 2008. The other fiction works selected as the year's best: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, 2666 by Roberto Bolano, Netherland by Joseph O'Neill and Dangerous Laughter, a collection of short stories by Steven Millhauser.

As I've said before, I didn't much care for Netherland, but Unaccustomed Earth is terrific. I haven't read 2666. It's on my short list. I liked A Mercy, but not certain it is in my top five. I will be attending Morrison's appearance in Washington, D.C. tonight.

What's Coming Next From Michael Connelly?

Connelly's next book is The Scarecrow, featuring crime reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling, together for the first time since The Poet. Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paper to write the definitive murder story of his career. He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent. Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar, and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack's.

The Scarecrow will be released on May 12, 2009, in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and on May 26, 2009, in the USA & Canada.

Click here to read more about THE SCARECROW.

New York Times' critics name favorite books of 2008

This year, rather than announce the 10 best books of the year -- typically five fiction and five non-fiction books -- the New York Times has done something different. Two of its reviewers, Janet Maslin and Michiko Kakutani, have each selected their 10 favorite books of the year.

Kakutani's selections include three I have read and one that is on my short-list. The three I have read are Louise Erdrich's The Plague of Doves, Lush Life by Richard Price and Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. The book on my short-list is Toni Morrison's A Mercy. I am surprised, but pleased by Kakutani's selection of Erdrich. She is a terrific, yet often overlooked, novelist. I liked Lush Life a lot, but did not care for Netherland.

Maslin's picks includes two books I have read -- The Given Day by Dennis Lehane and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I liked Edgar Sawtelle a lot, but was lukewarm about The Given Day. Also on her list is 2666 by Roberto Bolano. That's on my short-list. And a book I plan to add to the short-list that Maslin enjoyed is When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson.

Times announces Notable Books of 2008

The New York Times posted its Notable Books of 2008 on its website today. The list is always worth perusing, both for the books listed and those omitted.

Here are the Notable Books that I have read:

• Breath, Tim Winton
• The English Major, Jim Harrison
• Fine Just The Way It Is; Wyoming Stories 3, Annie Proulx
• The Good Thief, Hannah Tinti
• Home, Marilynne Robinson
• Lush Life, Richard Price
• A Most Wanted Man, John le Carre
• Netherland, Joseph O'Neill
• Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories, Tobias Wolff
• Telex From Cuba, Rachel Kushner
• Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri
• Nixonland, Rick Perlstein
• The Ten-Cent Plaque, David Hajdu
• Traffic, Tom Vanderbilt

And those on my reading short-list:

• The Lazarus Project, Aleksandar Hemon
• 2666, Roberto Bolano
• American Lion, Jon Meacham

And those that piqued my curiousity:

• Black Flies, Shannon Burke
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Simon Armitage
• When Will There Be Good News?, Kate Atkinson
• Delta Blues, Ted Gioia
• A Great Idea At The Time, Alex Beam

What I am wondering is where is Peter Matthiessen's Shadow Country?

Post chronicles the struggles of an independent bookstore

An article in this morning's Washington Post chronicles the struggles of Vertigo, an independent bookstore in College Park, Maryland.

Here's a sample of the article by reporter Bob Thompson:

Late last month, Warren and Stewart appealed for help in an e-mail to regular customers and a posting on the store's Web site. "Vertigo books is at risk," it began. "Vote with your dollars now if you value our local economy and this store." They didn't want to be seen as whining or asking for handouts. But they'd also watched what had happened, over the past year, to other independent area stores.

Poof! No Karibu.

Poof! No Olsson's.

Poof! No Candida's or Chapters or A Likely Story -- though Chapters remains on life support, its inventory in storage as it struggles to find a new location.

It's difficult to imagine that an independent bookstore cannot prosper in the Washington D.C. area. Lots of readers, lots of book buyers here. Unfortunately, all those readers are either turning to the chains (Barnes & Noble or Borders) or buying books on line.

Anyone who cares about books has an obligation to support independent bookstores and to help reserve this horrible trend. I give my custom to the chains, but I also support the independents. I loved the Olsson's that was just around the corner from my office and I believe that Politics & Prose in Washington and Murder by the Book in Houston are two of the finest bookstores anywhere.

On the library as autobiography

Every library is autobiographical.

The idea persists even today: our books will bear witness for or against us, our books reflect who we are and who we have been, our books hold the share of pages granted to us from the Book of Life. By the books we calls we will be judged.

What makes a library a reflection of its owner is not merely the choice of the titles themselves, but the mesh of associations implied in the choice. Our experience builds on experience, our memory on other memories. Our books build on other books that change or enrich them, that grant them a chronology apart from that of literary dictionaries . . .

From Alberto Manguel’s The Library At Night

Alberto Manguel’s fine book, The Library At Night, prompted thoughts about how the books in my home library are shelved.

The largest part of my library is devoted to fiction. Books are shelved alphabetically by the author’s last name and also, moving from left to right, from the oldest to the most recent. Poetry is mixed with novels. Perhaps this an oversight and poetry should be kept independent from novels and short story collections, but I like to keep an authors work together ( Margaret Atwood, for example). However, biographies of writers are generally not found with the authors’ own works. Instead, author biographies, bibliographies and fiction anthologies are all found at the end of fiction. And, as much as I like to keep an authors work together, I don’t keep fiction and non-fiction together.

Two genres follow – mysteries and science fiction. I suppose they could be shelved among the fiction but I like to keep them separate and I have enough of each to justify this separation. I also keep the works of Louise Erdrich separate. I have more than 150 items devoted to Erdrich. She takes four shelves.

Sports are kept as a group. Baseball first, representing the largest assortment of sports books. Books on running – marathons, track and field, etc. – follow baseball and then an assortment of other sports. I’ve tried to minimize books on football, soccer or basketball.

Two shelves are devoted to Kansas, another shelf contains memoirs and still another shelf is comprised of books on two small, but important collections – the blues and food. An assortment of graphic novels are scattered about. The works of Bill Bryson and David Halberstam have their own place of pride along with a few non-fiction works that I especially value, including Ivan Doig’s works of non-fiction.

That’s largely the way the downstairs library is configured. Upstairs, on the ground level, there is one large book case. It includes all my Dickens and Edith Wharton, a complete run of the Penguin Lives series, all the American Presidents series issued to date by Times Books and an assortment of signed books – mainly by political figures -- and a few books that are marginally fine press. There’s also a small collection of books on Viet Nam and my folios – principally graphic novels. Also on this main level are two books by Thomas Berger -- Reinhart’s Women and Reinhart In Love. They are given prominence because, well, Reinhart is my last name and I like the titles.

Upstairs are three book cases. One contains paperback books, largely early science fiction. One book case contains Presidential biographies and an assortment of American history. The final book case contains a few “religious” works, such as C.S. Lewis, books on adventure and nature, books on books and a small collection of books devoted to poker and to journalism.

My collection is autobiographical in the extreme. In part, because I collect what I read. But, also, because – to a greater extent – the non-fiction reflects my interests. My fondness for comic books is reflected in the graphic novels. My interest in food, the blues, poker, baseball and running (30 years as of September 1) are all reflected in my “mini” collections. I think too that my fondness for Dickens, Cather, Wharton, John Gardner, George Pelecanos and Louise Erdrich say something about me. What it says, I’m not certain.

Le Carre's A Most Wanted Man: The Thrill is Gone

Consider two disparate reviews of John le Carré’s new book, A Most Wanted Man:

In the October 11, New York Times author Alan Furst writes:

“And, coincidentally, a few weeks after the cold war sat up in its coffin and smiled, John le Carré publishes one of the best novels he’s ever written. Maybe the best, it’s possible.”

Later Furst writes, “The concept of ‘best book’ is difficult for the writer and reader; there are too many variables. Truer to say that this is le Carré’s strongest, most powerful novel, which has a great deal to do with its near perfect narrative pace and the pleasure of its prose, but even more to do with the emotions of its audience, what the reader brings to the book. There the television has once again done its work, has created a reality, and John le Carré has written an extraordinary novel of that reality.”

Yet, in the October 5 Washington Post, book critic Jonathan Yardley writes, “As one who has reviewed his work for more than three decades, always with admiration and at times with unfettered enthusiasm, I'd place A Most Wanted Man toward the lower end of the 21 novels he has now written. It is intelligent, of course, and immensely informative about espionage and the people who engage in it, but its prose occasionally is flabby (especially when the heroine is involved), the feelings its central characters have for each other are utterly unconvincing, and it ends on a note of clichéd, knee-jerk anti-Americanism that I find repellent. Now in his late 70s, le Carré perhaps has earned the right to phone a novel in, and phoned-in is what this one is.”

I admire both gentlemen. Furst’s books are taut, realistic thrillers. The erudite Yardley’s reviews are always insightful. So, who is right?

I am inclined to side with Yardley rather than Furst. A Most Wanted Man was a bit of a bore, lacking narrative tension and peopled with flat, two-dimensional characters. Unlike Yardley I wasn’t disturbed by the anti-Americanism prevalent in this novel. Granted, it was heavy handed, but I couldn’t get worked up about any aspect of Carré’s A Most Wanted Man. There is just no thrill in this thriller.

From the New York Times

Visit the New York Times on-line for an obituary of Tony Hillerman and a review of George, Being George, an oral biography of George Plimpton.

Here's one quote from the Times obituary of Hillerman:

His stories, while steeped in contemporary crime, often describe people struggling to maintain ancient traditions in the modern world. The books are instructive about ancient tribal beliefs and customs, from purification rituals to incest taboos.

In her review, Janet Maslin observes that "the overriding quality that emerges from George, Being George is enthusiasm: Mr. Plimpton’s infectious joie de vivre . . . He did his best to treat life as a nonstop party."

Borders vs. Barnes & Noble

To the casual book buyer, Borders and Barnes & Noble might appear to be the same mega-bookstore with different covers. They're not.

Borders, for example, stubbornly persists in shelving memoirs among fiction. You'd expect -- I would expect -- that memoirs would be shelved along with biographies and autobiographies. Borders doesn't have such a section. Instead, biographies are randomly distributed throughout the store. A biography of Henry Ford, for example, would probably be found in the section on American history. This is an annoying practice.

On a positive note, Borders tends to leave books on its shelves longer than Barnes & Noble, and to offer a greater variety of titles. Each October I go in search of the five books shortlisted for the National Book Award. This year I had purchased two of the books -- Marilynne Robinson's Home and Peter Matthiessen's Shadow Country-- well before the shortlist was announced. I found the other three books at Borders.

If Barnes & Noble ever had these books--The End by Salvatore Scibona, The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon and Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner--they could not have been in the store long. Barnes & Noble seems to have a company policy of pulling books and returning them to the publisher after only a few weeks on the shelves.

Borders also appears to stock a greater variety of science fiction and mystery titles.

Independent bookstores are far superior to either chain in stocking a greater variety of books and in keeping those books longer. My inclination is turn to the independents first. But when I have to choose between one of the mega-stores, I know Borders is more likely to have the title longer than Barnes & Noble.

2008 National Book Festival

(Top) British mystery writer Peter Robinson made his first appearance Saturday at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington, D.C. (Bottom) Also making his first appearance was writer Salman Rushdie.

Politicans can write books, but they can't sell'em

Politicians are more successful garnering votes than they are generating book sales as this story on Politico illustrates.

A very funny book card

Washington loses another independent bookstore

"I think there's probably a bigger profit margin in noodles these days."

That comments refers to a "noodle shop" that will soon be replacing a bookstore near my office in Washington, D.C. Sadly, Olsson's is closing another store, and it's easy to imagine more may follow.

Olsson's has always taken something of a backseat to Politics & Prose as Washington's premiere independent bookstore. Still, I've attending signings at this particular location by Tom Wolfe, Lilly Tuck and Frank McCourt, among others.

The complete story from the Washington Post is reprinted below.

Olsson's Braces For Chapter 11 Filing

By Anita Huslin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 28, 2008; D01

Olsson's Books, one of the oldest independent booksellers in Washington, plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, founder John Olsson said yesterday.

Pressed by creditors who have filed claims against the company's inventories and by rising overhead costs, Olsson's is closing at least one store and will evaluate its ability to operate its remaining five properties, an attorney for the company said.

"The book business is getting a little soft. It's not selling as much as it used to," Olsson said. "Our music sales went from 50 percent of our business to maybe 15. We lost a lot of revenue, and at the same time rents went up and real estate taxes went up. I don't know what we would have done differently. It's a killer."

Olsson's yesterday closed its Penn Quarter store, which opened 15 years ago. Olsson said rents and taxes had risen beyond affordability at the store and acknowledged falling behind on payments to booksellers.

Last week, two of its biggest publishers, Random House and Penguin Group, as well as Hachette Book Group petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Greenbelt to place Olsson's in involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would force the company to liquidate.

Two other creditors hold claims on the company's book and music inventories, Olsson's attorney Richard H. Gins said.

Olsson, 76, began selling books and records in the District 50 years ago and has battled the economic forces of big-box competition and Internet sales. But ultimately his business is being strained by forces close to home.

"We sort of helped make the neighborhood what it is. And it's a great neighborhood, but we can't afford the rent," Olsson said. A few years ago, the store's rent in the renovated Lansburgh department store building was $30 a square foot. Now, it has risen to $50 to $60 a square foot.

A British noodle shop, Wagamama, will take over the space once occupied by the bookstore, Olsson said.

In their court filing, the publishers say Olsson's owes them $386,541. Gins said that Sony and Ingram Books also hold claims to Olsson's music and book inventories.

Gins said he plans to convert the Chapter 7 filing to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which will give the company time to reorganize its business and keep creditors at bay.

"It's hard to compete against megastores like Barnes and Noble," Gins said. "We're looking at it positively, and we're hoping to come out of it. It depends on how many stores we can have."

Over the years, Olsson's has battled to maintain profitability, selling alongside its books and CDs such impulse items as Beanie Babies.

It has also built a loyal local following with book signings, cooking events and other activities. Al and Tipper Gore, for example, have signed their books at the Penn Quarter Olsson's. Tenor Luciano Pavarotti signed CDs at the Dupont Circle store.

The closing leaves Olsson's with five stores, down from the nine the company operated around 2002.

"I think there's probably a bigger profit margin in noodles these days," Gins said.

January and February reading list

January
1. Slam, Nick Hornby. Fiction 1-2 309
2. Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison. Fiction 1-4 309
3. Halting State, Charles Stross. Science Fiction 1-7 351
4. A Free Life, Ha Jin. Fiction 1-13 660
5. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks. Fiction 1-16 372
6. Big Red Tequila, Rick Riordan. Mystery 1-20 372
7. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan. Food 1-21 201
8. Night Train to Lisbon, Pascal Mercier. Fiction 1-24 438
9. The Widower’s Two-Step, Rick Riordan. Mystery 1-26 383
10. The Painter of Battles, Arturo Perez-Reverte. Fiction 1-27 211
11. Sword Song, Bernard Cornwell. Fiction 1-29 311
12. Brother, I’m Dying, Edwidge Danticat. Memoir 1-31 269

February
13. Humboldt’s Gift, Saul Bellow. Fiction 2-8 487
14. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay. Thriller 2-10 288
15. The Rivalry, John Taylor. Basketball 2-10 371
16. The Last King of Texas, Rick Riordan. Mystery 2-13 369
17. Bookless in Baghdad, Shashi Tharoor. Books on Books 2-13 277
18. Mr. Vertigo, Paul Auster. Fiction 2-16 293
19. Watchman, Ian Rankin. Thriller 2-18 258
20. One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson. Mystery 2-21 418
21. At Weddings and Wakes, Alice McDermott. Fiction 2-22 213
22. Shadow Men, Jonathon King. Mystery 2-23 258
23. Aftermath, Peter Robinson. Mystery 2-25 387
24. The Commoner, John Burnham Schwartz. Fiction 2-27 351
25. That Night, Alice McDermott. Fiction 2-29 184

What do the numbers mean? The first set (2-21, for example) indicate the date on which the book was finished. The second set (213) is the number of pages in the book.

Hornby's Slam a successful foray into "juvenile" fiction

Books now read in ’08: 1
Title: Slam
Author: Nick Hornby
Genre: Fiction
Date Completed: 1-2
Pages: 309

A new year, a new book.

Slam is ostensibly Hornby'ss first effort at juvenile fiction. I’m not at all certain what that means. Possibly his publisher believes this book will sell to the 15-year-old skateboarding crowd. More likely some 12-year-old.

In any event, it is an entertaining book. Sometimes wise and certainly wiseass. If one thing is true it’s that Hornby’s humor will appeal to the juvenile of any age. Sometimes I think he is perpetually 15. And I mean that in a good way.

This is the story of Sam, who is 15 when the story opens and 18 when it ends. He’s into skating and lives with his mom, who had him when she was 16. Sam goes down the same path and his mom – and the story is about all that befalls or can befall a 16-year-old prospective father.

What makes the book entertaining rather than preachy is Hornby’s humor and his way of looking at the world. Sam visits the future on at least three occasions and is given to taking fatherly advice from a post of skateboarder Tony Hawk. Yeah, it’s off-beat and good.

Can’t wait for the movie.

More on 2007 reading

Book of the Year – Fiction:

Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson
Norwegian writer Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses is wise and touching; spare, yet lyrical -- superbly written, superbly told -- it is a powerful novel of loss and self-discovery.

Book of the Year – Non-Fiction:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
A difficult decision because I also liked Hampton Sides’ Blood and Thunder a lot. I chose The Omnivore’s Dilemma because I think it is an important work, bringing to mind Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle or Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is really two books. On one level there is author Michael Pollan’s interest in food and in cooking, and his comparison of three very different meals. On another more important level is Pollan’s exploration of the industrial food network and the refreshing alternatives that have sprung up as an answer to it.

Best Books – Fiction:

• Finn, Jon Clinch – a brilliant re-imagining of a classic work of American fiction.
  
• The Gathering, Anne Enright – a challenging book that rewards the patient reader with a powerful story and insignificant insights into human nature
• Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison – a man and his family come to terms with his death. This ranks among Harrison’s best.

Best Book – Non-Fiction:

• Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides – an extraordinary history of the taming of the Southwest. Sides weaves a compelling narrative with the skill of a novelist and with an artist’s eye for detail.
• Dog Years, Mark Doty – a profound meditation on mortality as viewed through the loss of a dog.
• The Soul of Baseball, A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, Joe Posnanski – Baseball reads, and there is no better example than this book. It is filled with marvelous stories of negro league baseball as well as of Buck O'Neil's experiences during his "tour" of America. Mostly, it is about O’Neil, who was a wise, kind man and whose personality shines forth in this book in unexpectedly powerful and poignant ways.

Fiction I recommend:

• Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier
• Blood of Paradise, David Corbett
• The Pesthouse, Jim Crace
• Winterton Blue, Trezza Azzopardi
• On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
• The Children of Húrin, J.RR. Tolkien
• The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
• Bangkok Haunts, John Burdett
• Blood at the Root, Peter Robinson
• Spook Country, William Gibson
• Glasshouse, Charles Stross
• Kentucky Straight, Chris Offutt
• Afterwards, Rachel Seiffert
• Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo
• Cheating at Canasta, William Trevor
• Run, Ann Patchett
• Blonde Faith, Walter Mosley
• You Don’t Love Me Yet, Jonathan Lethem
• Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
• Secondhand World, Katherine Min
• The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett
• The Ministry of Special Cases, Nathan Englander
• Every Visible Thing, Lisa Carey

Note: The books by Walter Mosley and Peter Robinson are representative. I’d recommend any mystery by these two.

Non-Fiction I recommend:

• Calvin Coolidge, David Greenberg
• Gerald R. Ford, Douglas Brinkley
• Richard M. Nixon, Elizabeth Drew
• George H.W. Bush, Timothy Naftali
• Shakespeare, Bill Bryson
• The Tenth Muse, Judith Jones
• Falling Through the Earth, Danielle Trussoni

Note: The four Presidential biographies are part of Times Books’ American Presidents Series. It is uniformly good.

My 2007 Reading List

Here's my reading list for 2007. 125 books, 37,348 pages -- an average of 102 pages a day.

For those unfamiliar with my list, the first set of numbers (1-6, 11-20) indicates the month and day that the book was finished. The second set of numbers (417, 323) indicates the number of "readable" pages the book contained. Indexes, bibliographies, etc., are not counted.

January
1. Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore. Running 1-6 417
2. Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman. Speculative Fiction 1-7 355
3. Alexis De Tocqueville Democracy’s Guide, Joseph Epstein. Biography 1-10 205
4. Absurdistan, Gary Shteyngart. Fiction 1-13 333
5. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen. Fiction 1-17 331
6. Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, Nick Hornby. Books on Book 1-20 153
7. Freud Inventor of the Modern Mind, Peter D. Kramer.
Biography 1-21 211
8. Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier. Fiction 1-25 420
9. Calvin Coolidge, David Greenberg. Biography 1-26 159

February
10. The Oracle at Stoneleigh Court, Peter Taylor. Stories 2-5 324
11. The Family That Couldn’t Sleep, D.T. Max. Non-Fiction 2-6 256
12. Falling Through the Earth, Danielle Trussoni. Memoir 2-9 240
13. A Spot of Bother, Mark Haddon. Fiction 2-11 354
14. Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties, Robert Stone. Memoir 2-13 229
15. When Madeline Was Young, Jane Hamilton. Fiction 2-20 274
16. Lords of the North, Bernard Cornwell. Fiction 2-25 314
17. Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides. History 2-27 402

March
18. Travels in the Scriptorium, Paul Auster. Fiction 3-1 145
19. Gerald R. Ford, Douglas Brinkley. Biography 3-6 160
20. The Flanders Panel, Arturo Perez-Reverte. Fiction 3-7 295
21. The Watchman, Robert Crais. Thriller 3-10 292
22. The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan. Non-Fiction 3-15 411
23. All Aunt Hagar’s Children, Edward P. Jones. Short Stories 3-19 399
24. Paper Trails, Pete Dexter. Non-Fiction 3-21 289
25. Saul and Patsy, Charles Baxter. Fiction 3-23 317
26. An Unfinished Season, Ward Just. Fiction 3-27 251
27. Dog Years, Mark Doty. Memoir 3-28 216

April
28. Blood of Paradise, David Corbett. Thriller 4-1 406
29. Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson. Biography 4-7 493
30. Moral Disorder, Margaret Atwood. Fiction 4-7 225
31. The Pesthouse, Jim Crace. Fiction 4-11 309
32. The United States of Arugula, David Kamp. Non-Fiction 4-18 364
33. Winterton Blue, Trezza Azzopardi. Fiction 4-19 271
34. The Soul of Baseball, A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s
America, Joe Posnanski. Baseball 4-21 273
35. The Sun Over Breda, Arturo Perez-Reverte. Fiction 4-22 261
36. Rollback, Robert J. Sawyer. Speculative Fiction 4-27 313
37. I Got Somebody in Staunton, William Henry Lewis. Fiction 4-28 202
38. On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan. Fiction 4-30 166

May
39. The Naming of the Dead, Ian Rankin. Mystery 5-3 452
40. A Writer’s Life, Gay Talese. Non-Fiction 5-4 430
41. The Children of Húrin, J.RR. Tolkien. Fantasy 5-6 259
42. The New American Story, Bill Bradley. Non-Fiction 5-11 343
43. Coriolanus, Shakespeare. Drama 5-13 156
44. Tomorrow, Graham Swift. Fiction 5-18 248
45. Up In Honey’s Room, Elmore Leonard. Thriller 5-20 292
46. Rereadings, edited by Anne Fadiman. Books on books 5-21 238
47. The Ministry of Special Cases, Nathan Englander. Fiction 5-27 339
48. Julia Child, Laura Shapiro. Biography 5-29 181
49. What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman. Mystery 5-30 373

June
50. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon. Mystery 6-5 411
51. Bad Luck and Trouble, Lee Child. Thriller 6-6 377
52. The Overlook, Michael Connelly. Mystery 6-7 225
53. Why Bring Them Back From Heaven?, Clifford Simak.
Science Fiction 6-10 191
54. Einstein, Walter Isaacson. Biography 6-11 551
55. Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson. Fiction 6-13 219
56. Richard M. Nixon, Elizabeth Drew. Biography 6-14 151
57. Bangkok Haunts, John Burdett. Fiction 6-17 290
58. Eat the Document, Dana Spiotta. Fiction 6-20 290
59. Everyman, Philip Roth. Fiction 6-21 182
60. Opening Day, Jonathan Eig. Baseball 6-23 275
61. Terrorist, John Updike. Fiction 6-27 310
62. Close to Home, Peter Robinson. Mystery 6-30 389

July
63. A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman. Mystery 7-1 209
64. Baltimore Blues, Laura Lippman. Mystery 7-2 324
65. Coyote Waits, Tony Hillerman. Mystery 7-3 292
66. Bleeding Hearts, Ian Rankin. Mystery 7-4 374
67. Sacred Clowns, Tony Hillerman. Mystery 7-5 305
68. Skin Tight, Carl Hiaasen. Mystery 7-8 318
69. The First Eagle, Tony Hillerman. Mystery 7-9 278
70. Blood at the Root, Peter Robinson. Mystery 7-11 309
71. Double Play, Robert B. Parker. Mystery 7-12 288
72. Red Square, Martin Cruz Smith. Mystery 7-15 418
73. The Maytrees, Annie Dillard. Fiction 7-17 216
74. First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde. Fiction 7-20 395
75. The Gravedigger’s Daughter, Joyce Carol Oates. Fiction 7-29 582
76. A Good Hanging, Ian Rankin. Fiction 7-30 253

August
77. The Tin Roof Blowdown, James Lee Burke. Mystery 8-2 373
78. Black Dogs, Ian McEwan. Fiction 8-5 149
79. Enduring Love, Ian McEwan. Fiction 8-8 262
80. The Zero, Jess Walter. Fiction 8-12 326
81. Foreign Affairs, Alison Lurie. Fiction 8-16 291
82. Saving Daylight, Jim Harrison. Poetry 8-19 121
83. Spook Country, William Gibson. Fiction 8-20 371
84. Friend of the Devil, Peter Robinson. Mystery 8-24 424
85. Skeleton Man, Tony Hillerman. Mystery 8-26 241
86. Death of a Writer, Michael Collins. Fiction 8-31 307

September
87. Edith Wharton, Hermione Lee. Biography 9-1 762
88. The Accidental Time Machine, Joe Haldeman. Science Fiction 9-3 276
89. Can I Keep My Jersey?, Paul Shirley. Basketball 9-12 323
90. Finn, Jon Clinch. Fiction 9-16 283
91. Glasshouse, Charles Stross. Science Fiction 9-21 335
92. This Shape We’re In, Jonathan Lethem. Fiction 9-21 55
93. Kentucky Straight, Chris Offutt. Fiction 9-23 167
94. Afterwards, Rachel Seiffert. Fiction 9-25 321
95. Machiavelli, Philosopher of Power, Ross King. Biography 9-26 238

October
96. Oh What A Slaughter, Larry McMurtry. History 10-4 161
97. Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson. Fiction 10-6 614
98. Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo. Fiction 10-16 528
99. Julie & Julia, Julie Powell. Food 10-19 307
100. Interred With Their Bones, Jennifer Lee Carrell. Mystery 10-21 416
101. Cheating at Canasta, William Trevor. Short Stories 10-26 232
102. Run, Ann Patchett. Fiction 10-31 295

November
103. C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race, Geoff Williams. Running 11-4 303
104. The Gathering, Anne Enright. Fiction 11-6 261
105. Shakespeare, Bill Bryson. Biography 11-10 196
106. Blonde Faith, Walter Mosley. Mystery 11-11 308
107. Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris. Fiction 11-14 385
108. Away, Amy Bloom. Fiction 11-18 335
109. Fieldwork, Mischa Berlinski. Fiction 11-21 314
110. You Don’t Love Me Yet, Jonathan Lethem. Fiction 11-23 224
111. Like You’d Understand Anyway, Jim Shepard. Fiction 11-27 211

December
112. Ralph Ellison, Arnold Rampersad. Biography 12-1 566
113. Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson. Fiction 12-2 258
114. Varieties of Disturbance, Lydia Davis. Fiction 12-6 219
115. The Power of Experience, ed. Jeremy Janes. Fiction 12-6 221
116. Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison. Fiction 12-12 280
117. American Creation, Joseph Ellis. History 12-13 243
118. Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon. Fiction 12-14 204
119. Secondhand World, Katherine Min. Fiction 12-16 274
120. The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett. Fiction 12-18 120
121. The Tenth Muse, Judith Jones. Food 12-22 282
122. Every Visible Thing, Lisa Carey. Fiction 12-24 306
123. George H.W. Bush, Timothy Naftali. Biography 12-25 176
124. Sacred, Dennis Lehane. Mystery 12-26 288
125. Man Gone Down, Michael Thomas. Fiction 12-31 428

On building The Felsenfeld Collection

On August 6, I had a post about the potential for a Felsenfeld Collection.

The post referred to a Talk of the Town article in the July 30 The New Yorker about Brooklyn classical composer Danny Felsenfeld showing up as a character in several recent novels.

I wrote:

Now here’s how I think: This is a great opportunity to assemble the Felsenfeld Collection, a small, but intriguing collection of novels featuring characters all based on the same individual. It would be an especially nice collection if all the books were signed by Felsenfeld.

A few months later that post generated this response:

Were you to assemble the Felsenfeld collection, you might be the only one--though apparently this is not a done deal: there may be more.

But if you get it together, I will happily sign it!

Thanks for your post; got a big kick.

Best,
Daniel Felsenfeld (a.k.a. "Inspector")

I can now report that I have assembled first editions of three of the four books now in print featuring Mr. Felsenfeld: Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, Lisa Carey’s Every Visible Thing and Katherine Min’s The Secondhand World.

Felsenfeld is also a character in At the Feet of the Divine by Benjamin Anastas. That book has not been published in English, and I have not yet determined exactly how I will let a German bookdealer know that I need an “Erste Auflage” of Anastas’ book.

BTW, here are the references to Felsenfeld in each of the three books I own:

In Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union where he appears as Inspector Felsenfeld. The first reference comes on page 22:

“Speaking of rumors," he says, "what do you hear from Felsenfeld?”

Felsenfeld is Inspector Felsenfeld, the squad commander. "What do you mean, what do I hear from him? I just saw him this afternoon," Landsman says. "I didn't hear anything from him, the man hasn't uttered three words together in ten years. What kind of question is that? What rumors?"

In Katherine Min’s The Secondhand World by Katherine Min he is a high school teacher, who appears to be OK with students’ displays of public affection. Here’s the reference form page 115:

“ . . . and at least once a day a teacher tapped us on the shoulder and said, “PDA” – sometimes with a smile, like Mr. Felsenfeld, who wanted to show that he personally was cool with it but must reluctantly enforce school policy . . .”

He makes a very brief appearance in Every Visible Thing by Lisa Carey. On page 110, she writes:

“Suspecting that Dr. Felsenfeld had already had a conversation with Danny’s mother, Owen has no choice but to follow the tide of children toward the lunchroom.”

There’s no other reference I could find, although The New Yorker describes Felsenfeld’s character as a pipe-smoking, high school principal.