I finished 10:04 last night (not, alas, at 10:04) and quite liked it.

No novel could live up to the hype it's had: it doesn't really "redefine fiction" (or other absurd claims), but it does play in interesting ways with the borderlines between the novel, the memoir, the poem, and the lecture. And the writing is often terrific if sometimes (deliberately) showy.

If you're interesting in seeing what's happening in contemporary fiction, I recommend it.

Finished We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride. Contains interesting and accurate descriptions of Las Vegas. The author will speak at the January meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group on setting as a character.

I just re read...sort of...Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman. I said sort of because I actually listened to it as read by the Irish actor Jim Norton. Some years ago I purchased his selected readings of Joyce's Ulysses. This made the novel much more accessible to me (and the bar scene hilarious)
The Third Policeman is in its way Death's fantasy that life exists. Written in 1939 its writing is as accomplished as Joyce at his best. A friend of mine described some of its prose as "narcotic". Greatest unknown novel of the 20th century.

Finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Since I lack experience with the subject matter, I am conflicted as to whether it is a window into a world I do not know or if it exploits that world by presenting it in a manner that is self-satisfying to read.
I am suspicious of the way it uses the class of young people dying of cancer to give the reader an emotional experience. It delivers a few sermons as dialogue, another red flag for me, but it's YA fiction so maybe it gets judged differently.
For me the characters were idealistic constructs who made preternatural observations about life with such frequency that they were not believable. At least twice in the novel, the characters refer to idealistic stereotypes of cancer victims that are promoted for the benefit of their survivors and have little connection to the real world. It sounded like they were talking about themselves.

Boss of Bosses
Bio on Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano who spent an impressive 43 years on the run before being caught in 2006 or 2007.
Things I've learned from Boss of Bosses: Mob boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina was one scary mofo and the secon mafia war of the 1980s was breathtaking in its svagery- 1000 fatalities in a few short years.

61 Hours
Jack reacher novel, undemanding but enjoyable enough.

Hash
The worldwide global ganja smuggling biz.

Just finished this and thought I'd chime in.

Didn't feel the same way as either of these, thought it was a huge achievement of a novel. The dialogue feels a bit overconstructed in parts but I probably haven't read a novel that combines what I think are its various meanings with the reading experience so well since maybe Infinite Jest. Will probably read again shortly, can definitely see why it won the Booker and others.

Finished Short Letter, Long Farewell by Peter Handke. An interesting character study with a plot damaged by its reliance on descriptive and connotative references to popular culture that have not aged well. This novel had much more potential. I kept thinking that it needs to be re-written to give it a more timeless point of reference.

With that, I'll get back to Proust and his recollections.

You finish it? It's one of my favorites for sure.

I recently read Geoffrey Wolff's The Duke of Deception, which is described as an account of what it's like to be the son of a confidence man. I think Geoffrey's father Duke might be better described as a compulsive liar, unreliable alcoholic, and deadbeat than a confidence man -- but it is, however you describe him, a fascinating portrait. I decided to follow up immediately with This Boy’s Life, which was published ten years later by Tobias Wolff, Geoffrey's younger brother. It turns out that he was raised by Duke Wolff's estranged wife and that the two brothers were apart and out of touch for much of their upbringing. However, the two have a lot in common and the books are great complements. I think Tobias W's account is a bit better written, better told, than his older brother’s version, but it helps to know the other half of the family story as you read.

Now I’m thinking about reading In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War next, in which T. Wolff continues his own story. Having dropped out of school and enlisted in the army at the end of the last, he manages to get sent to Viet Nam.

I think I previously posted about how much I liked the one novel of his I read, Old School, which I will continue to tout. It's portraits of Frost and Ayn Rand are worth the price of admission.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I think I read it when it was first published. Yeah, I'm that old. My kids just read it and loved it, so I thought I'd read it. It's pretty good.

Half way through The Goldfinch.

Good stuff

Listening to NPR today...Fresh Air...and learned my favorite novelist Robert Stone passed the other day. By coincidence had just begun his last novel Death of the Black Haired Girl. Though early in it's vintage Stone with observations of America no other writer is capable of. "Who seemed as if they'd grown close to Jesus the hard way"
A remarkable observer comfortable with both the top and the bottom of the country. Anyone who has read Tom Wolfe's (the journalist) Electric Koolaid Acid Test will find Stone's memoir Prime Green the grad school version.

Damn, Robert Stone died? Dog Soldiers is one of my favorite books.

An interesting appreciation of Robert Stone by Madison Smart Bell
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-...y-robert-stone

I remember liking Stone's Children of Light years ago.

I just picked up Saint Odd by Dean Koontz.

That was really strong

Children of Light was Stone's get back at Hollywood for his experiences with the making of Who'll Stop the Rain (Dog Soldiers). The father/son directors were the thinly veiled Hustons.

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood

Just started Inside the Third Reich - A Memoir by Albert Speer, so far so good

Started reading this a couple of weeks ago and should be finished it by tomorrow. Really great read imo and gives some good insights into how dysfunctional the leadership of Nazi Germany was. I've gotta admit I was dying to get through the early chapters to get to the point where the war began.

I love The Third Policeman and O'Brien in general. Although not a *great* novel, Gilbert Sorrentino's Mulligan Stew is a wonderful blend of typical Sorrentino with large doses of O'Brien and Joyce thrown in the soup.

Never read Old School, but I think I will based on your recommendation. Loved This Boy's Life, and along with Mary Gaitskill, Tobias Wolff may be the best short story writer in America (slight hyperbole perhaps).

That was the same progression I took, Duke of Deception to This Boy's Life to In Pharoah's Army.

I finished this trilogy last night. Annihilation was very good, Authority was distinctly whatever, and the last one Acceptance(?) was ok but not great. The whole thing has this slightly off balance, off kilter feel to it which worked really well in the first setting, but thereafter not so much.