Beauty in the mundane

My apologies for being a self-respecting flake when it came to Auster. I pledge to pick it up this time around. If I may, I'd like to weigh in on the next book pick. I don't mean to make the obvious suggestion, but I'm going to throw Updike into the ring. I've always meant to read his famous tetralogy, the "Rabbit" series, and it seems rather appropriate now with his recent death. You can read the Times' love letter to the guy here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28appr.html

He wrote, "My only duty was to describe reality as it had come to me, to give the mundane its beautiful due."

I'm always intrigued when writers can bring enlightenment to the ordinary. Would anybody be interested in reading the first book in the series, "Rabbit, Run"?

(How funny: I just noticed that Corey suggested reading this on one of the first TSRM blog entries. Full circle, I like it.)

Next Book

Thanks to Denise for hosting last week!

My vote for the next book is the new Gladwell. Outliers: The Story of Success. Angie expressed interest in it as well. After spending some time with characters hell-bent on destroying their lives, why not find out what makes real people become successful? Gladwell's books also tend to be light and easy to read, yet respectable.

We had talked about top 5 favorite books. Here are mine... for now.
1. Timequake - Kurt Vonnegut
2. Manhattan Transfer - John Dos Passos
3. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
4. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
5. Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived - Ralph Helfer

I also have to give a shout out to my two favorite Shakespearean plays. Titus Andronicus and The Merchant of Venice. As the bloodiest Shakespearean play, I have no idea as to why Titus has yet to become mainstream. Too many characters maybe?

Reflection Upon a Night

We were two men down tonight (you were missed), but we had a good meeting. And in an effort to stay more connected, but not as a replacement to real live book club meetings, I am rekindling the TSRM blog fires. 

In an unfortunate turn of events, I left my Paul Auster trilogy along with my iPhone at Denise's after book club. She was kind enough to meet me half way. Excitedly walking back with Auster in one hand, the iPhone in my other, and a head full of thoughts, I took one badass fall on a patch of black ice. So watch out for that black ice.

And let's make our next book pick. Fiction or non? Anyone have a book they're dying to sink their teeth into? I promise next time I'll make a flier, kind of like Obama sipping on some Pinot, but maybe not as inspiring. 

Let's blog, shall we?