The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers in Dutch!

I’ve had my eye on this intriguing beauty by McSweeney’s for quite some time so I was mildly ecstatic when I found a copy for €5 at the Boekenfestijn. Ok, it was a translation but for €5 I lowered my standards. Big mistake! At home I discovered that the cover was slowly detaching itself from the rest of the book and that the ignorant bastards at Lebowski publishing actually decided to cut 12 of the original 23 interviews because some authors just weren’t popular enough in Belgium and the Netherlands which is simply outrageous.

The entire concept behind this book is getting to know your favorite authors better and discovering new ones, a concept which was brutally violated by the puritanical censorship of Lebowski who believe that award-winning writers like John Banville, Orhan Pamuk, Marjan Satrapi, Richard Powers and Tom Stoppard just to name a few, aren’t good enough.

The 11 conversations that did make the cut, are inspiring, funny, thought-provoking and somewhat dull (sorry Lydia Davis). Authors like Paul Auster, Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, David Sedaris and many more share personal information about what drives them, their writing habits and also talk about their latest novels. Now, the interviews were originally published in The Believer between 2005 and 2007 making some information very dated to say the least. The best example is the David Foster Wallace piece. This talented author committed suicide two years ago but is one of the lucky few who survived the Dutch downsizing. His talk with Dave Eggers is simply heart-breaking considering he was still full of hope at the time.

I personally believe that translating this book was a completely useless, not to mention infuriating, endeavor. By waiting so long, the information is out of date and creates a heard all that before feeling yet certain personal questions remain interesting but it’s not enough to make this book actually work. The original (uncensored) version which was published several years ago will without a doubt have been a treat to read back in the day. Sadly, interviews are quickly dated making them lose some of their relevance, no matter how good they are. All I can say for now is, beware of the Dutch version which is appalling, simply appalling!

Dedication

I've been looking for this movie for several years now. It's another quirky and bitterwseet Sundance favorite filled with tortured souls and existential comedy, just the way I like it. Dedication is the directorial debut of the delectable Justin Theroux and was released in 2007. Sadly I've only found it on Region 1 DVD so far.

The best and the worst of Joyce Maynard

During my late teens, I devoured J.D. Salinger’s small yet sensational oeuvre. I was completely captivated by the intoxicating Glass Family whose history was told via several short stories scattered throughout 3 mesmerizing publications. Even now, I am still convinced that A Perfect Day for Bananafish is the best short story ever written. Period.

Salinger himself, was known for his reclusive nature and withdrew from the public eye after the publication of his novella Hapworth 16, 1924 in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965. Yet I desperately wanted to know more about this man, not only because his life was lathered in such mystery and secrecy but because he made me want to read and write. I can honestly say, if it wasn’t for him, my lust for literature wouldn’t have been what it is today so I owe him a great deal.

I went in search of biographies to figure this guy out but due to his private nature not a lot was written about him. I almost gave up my quest when I accidently stumbled across Joyce Maynard’s At Home In The World which I literally read in one sitting. Her memoir isn’t that fabulous but it is one of the only books that gives us a sensational look into Salinger’s personal life seeing as he had an affair with the then 18-year-old Maynard.

When one of her articles was published in The New York Times Magazine in 1972, Salinger who was 53 at the time wrote to her to compliment her writing and warn Maynard of the dangers of publicity. After exchanging many letters, she moved in with him in New Hampshire were she wrote her first book, the memoir Looking Back. Shortly before its publication, their relationship ended quite abruptly.

At Home In The World gives us a detailed account of their relationship and was filled with just the right amount of drama and literary scandal to make my then adolescent heart flutter with excitement.

Maynard has since written several novels of which To Die For is probably her most famous because it was adapted into a 1995 film of the same name, starring Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon and Joaquin Phoenix and was directed by Gus Van Sant. I had never read any of her novels and even kinda forgot about her until I saw that Flow magazine featured her latest book, Labor Day, as their book of the month.

Labor Day tells the story of thirteen-year-old Henry who lives with his mother, Adele who is an emotional wreck as a result of her divorce. One day a mysterious and bleeding man begs for their help at the Pricemart. For reasons unknown to me, they take him home which naturally changes their lives forever.

As you might have guessed it’s sentimental, slightly predictable and told by a pubescent boy with boobs on the brain. Luckily it’s a quick and light read so not too much time was wasted on it. Labor Day wasn’t terrible, just not my cup of tea but if you like your novels short, sweet and sensitive then you’ve found a winner here.

Bye Bye Baking Blues

I finally got a chance to test my gorgeous Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I was hesitant to buy this at first because I already had most of the recipes scattered in a couple of dozen other books but at €5 I just couldn’t resist this mouth-watering masterpiece. Thanks to this book I baked decent cookies for the first time in my life. After countless attempts over the past few years I simply gave up as the result was always rock hard and semi-raw, don’t ask. But now, I was able to bake deliciously divine oatmeal and raisin cookies that actually looked and tasted like real (meaning store bought) cookies and not as some homemade mess. There are still a lot of recipes I want to try but if you love to bake, you can’t go wrong with this book seeing as these recipes are spot on!

Another new addition to my overflowing shelf of cookbooks is The Hairy Bikers' Family Cookbook which is filled with traditional British dishes combined with spicy oriental influences. I basically love their shows and their perpetual witty banter so I desperately wanted one of their books. I’m trying some recipes tomorrow but all I can say for now, is that the book looks great and is filled with charming anecdotes and funny photographs.

For those of you who don’t know the Hairy Bikers phenomenon, it’s slightly similar to the Two Fat Ladies show and it consists out of Dave Myers and Si King who have travelled the world and Britain on their motorcycles while cooking local dishes in the most unusual locations. This combination of cookery and travelogue is also just so darn funny!

Invisible

I have to admit that I haven’t read a lot of Paul Auster, besides The New York Trilogy almost a decade ago and Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story. Although I have several of his books on my To Be Read pile, I just never get round to it because newer fiction always gets in the way. Now as luck would have it, one of my latest additions just happened to be his new novel Invisible which I started and finished almost immediately.

Invisible is Adam Walker’s fragmentary memoir which is divided in 4 parts and each is told by a different narrator.

In the first part, Adam Walker, an American poet tells us about an encounter that changed the course of his life. In 1967 during his second year at Columbia University, he meets Rudolf Born, a Swiss visiting professor at the university’s School of International Affairs, and his intense French companion Margot at a party. Adam and Rudolf join forces and start a literary magazine during which Adam becomes enthralled by Margot but this frivolous threesome is soon broken up by a random act of violence perpetrated by Born and witnessed by Walker.

38 years later, Adam is dying and asks his old university friend Jim to write his memoir which will be sent to him in installments that contain more sordid details of Adam’s youth and a disastrous stay in Paris where he encountered the man that turned his life upside down and once again he got caught up in a tangled web full of deceit, passion and murder.

I loved Invisible and it was as the cover predicted, a real page-turner. Auster’s prose is elegant and filled with self-referential innuendo’s that intrigue and intoxicate. The male characters ranging from tortured hero to evil genius are spectacular but sadly, the women are purely ornamental and pawns to be played out against each other.

The story is simple, shocking and keeps you in a tight strangle hold until the very last page. Yet despite my initial awe, I have to admit that the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Auster is on a quest for the truth but with so many conflicting characters, there are no definitive answers which makes Invisible an electrifying enigma to unravel.

An oddly detached male narrator roaming New York, language and identity, a random dramatic incident, multiple narrators, ruminations on the nature of writing and several stories within stories make this a quintessential Auster novel and a joy to read.

The Goddess Guide

My mother has always tried to make me more girly. Without the occasional brutal intervention, she would shower me with nick-nacks, make-up and baby pink clothing. Her idea of a perfect afternoon is splurging on clothes, crèmes and anything with angels on it (long story). Sadly, I like to read. As you might know, I am not a big fan of shopping, ok I love buying books, DVD’s and polka dot dresses but that’s about it. Seeing as I’m no Paris Hilton, she kinda lucked out there but that doesn’t keep her from trying.

Her latest attempt to win me over to the dark side was The Goddess Guide. She actually thought that because it’s a book it might get through to me. The Goddess Guide is made to look like a fashionista’s scrapbook and is actually one giant collage of little texts, drawings and photographs. Inside you find everything a girl should know about where to shop, pantyhose, packing your suitcase, facial care, Ebay, nylon, Christian Louboutin, bra’s, bags, zits, ironing, birds, bling, wine, Iceland, art and cellulite just to name a few absurdities.

It’s fun, pretty but the entire concept really made me laugh proving that I’m definitely not the target audience. The lay-out is impressive and the cover is truly luscious and velvety. It’s a great gift idea but I doubt I’ll ever actually read it. But who knows, it might come in handy if I ever have a, god forbid, kashmir crisis.

Blue Valentine

I can’t wait until this movie is released! This indie gem has gotten phenomenal reviews from both the Sundance and Cannes film festival. As usual it will probably be one of those wonderful movies that slips in under the radar and is ignored by the general public due to the lack of CGI, promotion and big stars. The story is simple: the evolution of a contemporary marriage but the acting and dialogue in the rare clips I’ve seen online already seem sublime.