I've been reading a bit of Godel, Escher, Bach every night before bed, but have had some trouble getting into it. It's very heavy reading, especially after a steady diet of historical fiction and dystopian scifi.

I hope it's ok if I copy/paste from my blog here, since it's just a book review.

Travels With Lizbeth by Lars Eighorn

This is a book I found out about when someone linked an excerpt from it on Tommy Angelo's blog.

It's about a gay dude in his late 30s who lives in Austin. He writes, or is trying to make a living writing gay erotic short stories for magazines. He also talks about having worked at mental institutions for a number of years.

I don't remember exactly how, but he becomes homeless. Either he quit his job at the mental institution, or he got laid off or fired. I guess it doesn't matter.

The book is about him hitchhiking to California and back, twice, over the course of about 3 years. Trying to sell his homoerotic writings. He survives on dumpstered food and clothing, sleeps in parks and random places, and has lots of casual buttsecks with other hitchhikers and acquaintances.

Lizbeth is his dog. And he freakin loves this dog. The drama part of the book is when his dog gets falsely accused of biting a blind kid, who is quite an ******* and is obviously making up the story. But the blind kids' babysitter or whatever calls animal control and they take the dog away. Long story short, Lars needs to get $100 to pay some fees to the animal shelter or else they'll kill the dog. After much spazzing out, he eventually gets the money and the dog is saved.

The most interesting parts of the book are when he gives his tricks of the trade for dumpster diving, and when he critcizes the welfare system, particularly in Texas.

I would recommend this only for people really interested in hitchhiking/hobo lifestyle stories, and who can handle reading about male buttsecks and creepy mutual masturbations with apparently bipolar nutjobs. Otherwise, it's just kinda boring droning on the daily miseries of homeless life.

Haha, that's one of the most hilarious and unlikely recommendations I've ever read. It makes me wonder if the author's head is screwed on straight, wandering hobo or no.

Just about done with Fool by Christopher Moore, and its his best. He really is just amazingly witty and sharp, and this subject matter allows him to shine. Its sort of a spoof on King Lear, with dramatic dramatic license taken. Very good.

Heat by Bill Buford

Bill Buford is a writer/journalist type guy. He decided to write about what it's like to work in a high-end restaraunt kitchen. The restaraunt he worked in is Babbo, the famous New York establishment owned by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich.

He started out as a prep cook, then grill, saute, then pasta station. I don't remember if that's chronologically accurate. He makes a lot of observations about the job that would be familiar to anyone who reads Bourdain (and this book is easy to find at B&N because Buford comes right after Bourdain on the shelf).

But that's nowhere near the most interesting part of the book. To further his culinary education, he takes a series of trips to Italy, lasting a few months each IIRC. He learns how to make pasta from the same old lady that taught Batali (according to Buford, the old lady said Batali pretty much sucked at making pasta).

He did a lot of research into the history of traditional Italian cooking, pasta in particular. One of the mysteries he was curious about is when pasta went from being made with water and flour to egg and flour. Another was the debate over whether or not traditional French dishes and techinques actually came from Italy. This book is a must read for anyone who loves to eat or cook Italian food.

After his pasta-making apprenticeship, he works for an eccentric butcher from Tuscany. He learns how to make all kinds of disgusting sounding/looking stuff with parts of animals most Americans don't even want to know exist. The butcher teaches him about how to cut meat obv. But the really fascinating part is when the butcher talks about beef. What makes good beef, how can you tell if you're eating the really good stuff, where does it come from, why there isn't good beef in Tuscany any more, and why he gets his beef from Spain.

This is the best "non-instructional" food book I've ever read. Kitchen Confidential was classic, of course, but as soon as I was done reading KC, I was like "well, I guess I shouldn't order fish on mondays." As soon as I was done reading Heat, I wanted to read it again. I wanted to memorize all the Italian words and cooking methods. There's so much truly fascinating information in it, plus an inside look into the lives of Mario Batali, and the kitchen staff at Babbo.

Good review. I read this one and liked it a whole lot too. I was really disappointed when it ended, and even more disappointed when I saw that this book wouldn't be followed by another one just like it but dealing with further adventures in the cooking trade.

You really did get a feel for what it was like to go through these apprenticeships, at least as far as the cooking part. The creature comforts and day to day life outside of the kitchen parts weren't detailed as much as I would like them to be, because it was such a colorful, vibrant world, at least seen through the author's eyes. I wanted more more more! I don't even want to be a chef, but the author made his experience seem like such an adventure that I did some fantasizing about following in his footsteps myself.

I also got a chuckle out of the old signora's noting that Batali was unexceptional at pasta making, and, I think it was implied, was a bit of a dilettante in general when it came to real Italian cooking.

I loved the history of cuisine stuff.

Great book overall, and I'm glad someone else found it and liked it so much. I think I did a review on it somewhere in this thread too. Reading your description of it brought back the fondness I still have for the book and the world it describes.

Let us know if you find any more good books of this type. I've always wanted to get some Ruth Reichel (sp?) books read.

yeah the last line of the book, he alludes to feeling that his next step is to learn about traditional French cooking, and I was like "oooh I'd like to read that, even though I'm not really into French food."

I haven't read any Reichl, but I will eventually. Right now I'm reading The Soul Of A Chef by Michael Ruhlman. I was at BN today and I skimmed through a new book by Eric Ripert called On The Line, and I've put it next on my culinary reading list. It's kind of an inside look at the Le Bernardine kitchen and staff and how everything works. It looked very detailed and it seemed like he put a lot of effort into it. I got the impression it's geared toward younger aspiring chefs.

Cooking fish is something I don't have any knowledge of or feel for at all. Not that I have any cooking knowledge on other stuff either, but once in a while I get a feel for something. Fish, I'm just an imbecile with, so I'd like to read Ripert's book sometime. Let us know if it tells you interesting stuff about fish cookery in general.

Just finished reading How I Raise Myself from Failure to Success by Frank Bettger 2 days ago. Great book and definitely opened my eyes more in many areas (financial success, general well being etc...)

Bad Science
Ben Goldacre

A very interesting and amusing look at how the media mistreats and misreports science and the effects this can have. Topics include the nutritionists and alternative medicine, Dr Gillian Mckieth gets ripped to shreds.
It leaves the media alone for a few chapters and concentrates on pharmaceutical companies manipulations of their trials and the way they present the finding to the public.
It ends with a shocking chapter about the MMR vaccine scare and how the media created the controversy out of an unpublished study by one researcher with a history of making improbable claims then not peer publishing his studies.

Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson (sp?)

A pretty fast paced account on the one of the mysteries of World War II. Divers off New Jersey find an unknown U-Boat 200 feet deep. I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons...the historical accounts of both deep-sea wreck diving is fascinating...incredible how dangerous it is and how many people die. The historical backgrounds of the unknown sub is pretty great as well (though I like history). This book is a definite recommendation for anyone who is interested in diving/history/etc.

I am interested in all those things, especially etc.

I've looked at this book again and again. The cover is eye catching. Glad to hear the content is just as good. I'll check it out.

The Real Deadwood

The best part about the book is the comparisons between the TV show and real history. I am fascinated when hearing what creative liberties are taken to translate history into entertainment.

A week ago I read "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and today I finished "Wonder Boys," both by Michael Chabon.

I read "Mysteries" first, not just because it was his first book but also because I was trying to get into the rhythm of his books and away from the narrated voice of the movie, "Wonder Boys" (which I think is absolutely fantastic).

Both were good, I suppose. I like Chabon's style - he's got a meandering, rambling sort of way with sentences, which seems artfully crafted but at times confusing. I found myself re-reading some portions because they were hard to follow, from a narrative standpoint, but not minding the extra work because what he wrote was very good.

He writes about some deeply flawed characters, and so it's hard to find yourself really rooting for people in his books.

I will say that my attempt at forgetting Michael Douglas' narrative voice only partially worked. The movie was true to much of the book's dialogue, so it was hard to ignore. In fact the first half of the movie is extremely faithful to the book, until the book takes a more leisurely pace in the middle.

Ultimately, I liked the movie better. I didn't set out to compare the two, but I can't help it because I've watched that movie 10 times or so and the dialogue is excellent. And it's the same dialogue as the book in many parts, but the delivery and timing in the movie is such that it just heightened it all.

I also think the movie, in some ways, excised a section that wasn't really necessary to the plot.

Anyway, long story short I enjoyed Chabon's style in some ways more than the stories he told.

I've read "Gentlemen of the Road" (grifters in a 10th century Jewish kingdom next to the Black Sea), "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" (cop story set in a Sitka Alaska settled by millions of Jews after collapse of Israel), and "Summerland" (interdimensional baseball games played to settle fate of universe) by Chabon.


I liked them all, but liked Summerland the best.

So between us we read five of his novels with no overlap? Impressive.

I didn't know he'd written that much.

currently starting 'into thin air' by john krakauer. about a story of going up mount everest and meeting disaster.

I have "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" checked out of the library, but haven't started it yet. Chabon won a Pulitzer for it.

Re-reading Crichton's Timeline and am enjoying the hell out of it.

Tried to read another Ann Rice book, Blood & Gold. *sigh* An example of an author that has created characters and stories so good I can not believe how bad the writing is.

A friend recommended I read Heart Shaped Box written by Joe Hill, aka the son of Stephen King. I did not, but did read one of his early short stories, Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead, about two extras on the set of Dawn of the Dead. The story was published in a zombie anthology, The Living Dead. If you're not ready to give his novel a try, I recommend you check out this short story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I couldn't put this one down when i read it. Hell of a book.

Finally finished "Suttree" by Cormac Mccarthy.

I thought it sucked. It was long winded and while some of the characters were funny and some of the situations amusing I found it hard to follow I think that was mostly because I was uninterested in the story.

I think it would have been an interesting collection of short stories with Suttree as a recurring minor character.

I'm about half way through "Sex Drugs and Coco Puffs". It's pretty funny but I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it 5 years ago.

Ken

I recently finished Joker, a new graphic novel starring the title character. It is very graphic (no pun) and "mature". It's gotten excellent reviews, but I wasn't too thrilled with it. Some people have said that it can be read as a sequel to Dark Knight (the film), but I really don't feel like the Joker in the book is that close to Heath Ledger's Joker, despite looking somewhat like him. I had problems interpreting the character because I was trying to give him Ledger's voice, which didn't really fit with the way the dialogue was written. Beyond dialogue, I just don't feel like this Joker behaves as Ledger's would. I would (and will at some point) have to read it again to really know where I stand on it though, because something similar happened to me the first time I saw The Dark Knight - wasn't thrilled with it, largely because it wasn't the Joker I expected, and it took a second-viewing to clear my head of that.

Back to reading The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty by Kitty Kelley. I'd been fascinated by the Bush dynasty years ago, and seeing "W." renewed my interest enough to want to read a book about it. There were around 3 books that I had to choose between, all published in 2004 (to coincide with the election obviously). I decided on this one even though Kelley is viewed by many as a tabloid gossip type author. I am pleased with my decision. It is well-researched, and sources are usually cited within the text. From Wikipedia, she has never been successfully sued for libel or forced to retract a written statement.

Sure there are salacious details, which are largely what the press at the time focused on. W. and his brothers' cocaine use at Camp David, Laura Bush being the "go-to girl" for a dime-bag in college, etc. These details are the absolute least interesting to me - I'm more concerned with the general history, which she does a good job with. As for the spicy stuff, again, she has sources (one of them being an ex-wife of one of the Bushes who later claimed her information was untrue), and it's really up to the reader to decide the validity. Again though, those weren't the details I was concerned with, so it doesn't matter to me.

Reread cloudstreet by Tim Winton. I loved this book the first time - he has a way of conveying so much with so few, well chosen words. Perfectly constructed paragraphs and chapters and books. He sets scenes that seem so uniquely Australian, yet conveys ideas and truths that are universal.

He is one of those authors that inspire to read everything and anything that he has written.

I love finding guys like that. The ones that come up like that right away for me are Hemingway(mostly short stories though), Carver, Henry Miller, Nietzsche, Italo Calvino, Richard Price, H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Brautigan, Roald Dahl, and to a lesser extent Wallace Stevens and Philip Larkin. Lots of other guys I love, but there are few I try to read and read again and more of after I've already read a good number of their works.

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