On this forum a number of years ago, I argued that Secretariat's win in the final leg of the Triple Crown was one of the greatest sports moments ever and said that Secretariat was an "athlete." Boy, did I get a lot of disagreement (to put it mildly) about that. I still think so, and even though I only saw it on TV, I'm not sure if another sports moment was as thrilling. (And I've been a Red Sox fan since 1965.)

I would agree with you 100% and so did ESPN. Only non-human on the list.
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/athletes.html

I've started reading Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. I read it in high school and of course the only thing I really remember about it is the ending. I think I would like to get some more Steinbeck in my personal canon. However, that sounds like more of a summer task than a "last month of school before summer" task, especially since I have to read WWZ soon here.

Question for the Lounge, but I'm not starting a new thread:

Who is the most versatile writer in your opinion? That is, what author has shown a really good range in terms of writing different styles, genres, and experimenting in general?

Gilbert Sorrentino and Paul Metcalf. Both would infuriate the average reader, I'm sure, because they have experimented so freely. A must read is Metcalf's Genoa: A Telling of Wonders. Sorrentino, who died a couple years ago, wrote perhaps my favorite novel, Steelwork. It's about a Brooklyn neighborhood and its denizens told non-chronologically over a period of years. Here's a link to google books; read the chapter entitled "The Movies" to get an idea. Sorrentino wonderfully conveys the shense of sheer delirium. And his chapter on 100 facts about sex may be one of the funniest performances in modern fiction (not sure if it's available because I didn't wait for it to download).

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...cKO54#PPA21,M1

Another writer, William Carlos Williams, who most people would simply associate with poetry did work in a number of genres, including autobiography, history, criticism, and the short story.

Gotta vouch for Shakespeare.

Though I've read little Capote, he had no small acclaim or general popularity, and can do gut-bustingly funny short stories, top non-fiction, and serious novels. Pretty formidable diversity and quality.

I recently bought my first volume of "In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way" but I think I may have picked up the wrong edition to start with. This is the one translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.

I just read Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 which was really good and I am currently reading John Grisham's The Broker. This is the first Grisham book I start reading and I picked it up because I forgot my backpack and was using the subway and wanted a book to read. Hudson News didn't have many interesting books, so I picked Grisham. The book has been fun so far (halfway through).

My favorite Grishams are "The Client" and "The Rainmaker".

Good taste imo.

Also, The Brethren was very good and The Testament was above-average. But I'm the kind of guy who thinks Airframe was the best Crichton book so...

Well my third favorite Grisham would be a toss up between "The Pelican Brief" and "A Time to Kill".

Both "A Time to Kill" with Matthew McConnaghey and "The Rainmaker" with Matt Damon were decent movies. Of course "The Firm" wasn't too bad either.

The Firm was my favorite. A Time To Kill, The Rainmaker, and The Client were all excellent. I've also read The Chamber and A Painted House which weren't quite as good as the others, but were still decent. I have The Pelican Brief and Runaway Jury, but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Re: Grisham

Does anyone else feel he borrowed somewhat liberally from "To Kill a Mockingbird" for "A Time to Kill"?

I like Grisham and the book, but I found it somewhat false because of the parallels. Although I read A Time to Kill about ten years after Mockingbird.

Just finishing up WWZ, enjoyable read.

I didn't get that impression. I remember his preface to the book and in it Grisham said he was pondering if a crime could ever be so heinous that a man taking matters into his own hands could be justified and that's how he came up with the crime that triggered the story. Of course, growing up in Mississippi with its civil rights history would probably have been equally influential.

I finished World War Z and am now making decent progress in American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

It's a bit more politically centered (for obvious reasons) then most famous scientist biographies I have read. It was going good, but the past 50 pages have bogged down to the author presenting piece after piece of information showing Oppenheimer's ties to the Communist Party, which he then explains away. Apparently it won the Pulitzer, but as of this point right now there is a little too much of the authors voice (instead of Oppenheimer's) for me to give it a full recommendation.

I finished The Broker by Grisham, it was pretty good, fun to read.

Finally got WWZ on the mail and started reading it. Hopefully I'll finish it on Saturday.

WWZ - I read the first report in WWZ (with the old Chinese doctor) just before bedtime last night, and I swear that I spent the whole night dreaming one long dream about zombies all around where I live, and having to fight them/escape. It was dam weird.

I finished Of Mice and Men last night. I think that time era is one that I really just don't have a decent historical background on. I feel like the book would be so much better for me if I understood more of the cultural context surrounding the book. Either way, it's still pretty amazing as nothing other than a study in friendship and loneliness. Love it.

Starting WWZ tonight.


Goal for 2008 of 50 books is now resting at 15 completed.

My goal for the year was 30, but I think I'll easily surpass it. I have read 12 books and 14 graphic novels so far. It's been very fun reading so much, but I might have to slow down after WWZ.

Mice & Men really is a terrific book. I'm not sure that you really need to know the historical context - I think the main point is the psychology.

Interesting that you have a goal. Does this affect your selection - e.g. do you pick Mice & Men over War & Peace?

I'm now reading "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene. For some reason I'd only read a couple of Green novels until recently and those I read 15 odd years ago. I tried "The Quiet American" last year and resolved to work my way through his ouevre by doing a couple of books a year.

I love writing from the 1920s-1950s. Hemingway, Waugh, Orwell, Steinbeck. Greene is up there with all of them though veerng more towards Waugh's whimsy than the others.

Last thing I've ever thought of Greene as is whimsical.

If you like him -- and actually even if you can't stand him -- I strongly recommend the first of his autobiographies. I think it might have been called "Ways of Escape." Extremely readable and well done. Anyway, if I have the title wrong or that's really the title of his second one, read the first one. The second one is not nearly as good and felt to me almost as if he had somewhat mercenarily capitalized on the success of the first when writing the second at so much of a lower level.

As Christopher Hitchens points out in the introduction to my copy of "Our Man...", "Graham Greene famously subdivided his fictions into 'novels' and entertainments'". A Quiet American and Brighton Rock are serious novels dealing with big themes. "Our Man" is a comedy on the same lines as Waugh's "Scoop".

According to the list at the front of the book "A Sort of Life" is the first, and "Ways of Escape" the second. There are two others as well.

I had no idea he did more than two. I wonder if the last two are any good. Anyway the first one is definitely worth it.

GL. I made it to 40 last year. 50 was my goal for this year as well, but I had a lackluster February. Coming on strong this month though, as this is prime time for sitting outside on the porch reading until it gets dark.