Evelyn Waugh is probably best known for being the author of Brideshead Revisited.
His books, like those of John Updike or Ernest Hemingway are indicative
of an entire generation of people. He follows the English, especially
Londoners, as they naively live their day to day lives, not knowing
that their entire world is about to start crashing down around them as
World War II starts.

My personal favorite of Waugh's novels is Vile Bodies,
a slim but exacting novel that follows the young educated idle classes
of 1920s England. They are the Paris Hiltons of their day (though
decidedly more educated than Ms. Hilton), famous for being rich,
constantly being photographed, and, constantly being scooped by a
reporter who blends seamlessly into the young bright elite.

In
true Waugh fashion, the glitz and glamor of monied London comes
crashing violently down as Germany starts in on England. Through the
war and the blitz emerges a tender, unassuming love story for the ages.
And Waugh does it again.

Happy Reading,
Julia

A week ago Slate published a wonderfully comprehensive article by Jim Lewis on Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo, (read it here),
our book club selection from last August. Mr. Lewis consistently
publishes some of the best articles on the web about
forgotten/ignored/new books, and we have very little to add but to plug
Rulfo's collection of short stories --The Burning Plain: and Other Stories-- and second Jim's opinion that this one of a kind masterpiece is not to be missed.

What if Superman, instead of landing in Smallville, landed in Soviet
Russia?  What if he still fought for good, still fought for truth and
justice, but it just happened to be truth, justice and the Soviet way?  

At the moment I am reading this hysterical British memoir by Sebastian
Horsley "Dandy in the Underworld" which deals with his affairs with
various drugs and sexual adventure. it is sort of a 'must-read' for
those who want to be entertained from a great and safe distance from
Mr. Horsley's remarkable charms. But charming bad things! Nevertheless
Horsley was turned down and forced to fly back to the U.K. by the U.S.
Customs in New York. Horsley's trip to the States was for the purpose
to promote his memoir.


It may have been Horsley's clothing (he was reported to be wearing a
top hat and painted nails) or the nature of his 'past' life.
Nevertheless we here at the U.S. are losing the opportunity to see and
hear what i think is a remarkable author. Surely he will be allowed in
the U.S.?

- Tosh

So in the past five years or so (you can argue it's been more or less,
but I'm taking the middle road), comics have made a major comeback.
 Maus and Persepolis (both of which I will review at some point) caught
on and won high literary prizes, bridging the barrier between highbrow
literature and lowbrow men in tights comic books.  And now, those of us
that consider ourselves to have a finger on the pulse of the book
world, find ourselves having to commit to a whole new genre.  As we are
being overloaded with all the fiction, non-fiction, art, photography,
and cook books that come out every year, we have to add another section
to that list...graphic novel. 

James Ellroy calls Power of the Dog “the first great dope novel since Dog Soldiers thirty years ago.” He’s not joking. This sprawling badass of a novel covers decades of … everything: ..CIA..,
DEA, FBI, NSA, NAFTA, Irish mob, Italian mafia, cold warriors,
Sandinistas, contras, high-priced whores, corrupt priests, Reagan,
Bush, Giuliani, Colombian drug lords, Mexican cartels, campesinos,
Gomeros, torture, despair, murder, sex, love, etc… The most absorbing,
intense, fast-paced, and just plain motherfucking badass book I’ve read
in a long time. Read this. I dare you. (Robert DeNiro just bought the
rights to Winslow’s latest, The Winter of Frankie Machine, so read this
guy before he blows up!)

I find that many books filed away in humor often fall short of being
truly funny.  Many try too hard, many take too preposterous a stance on
any particular subject, many just simply fall short.  I'll be honest,
I'm usually loath to read books deemed humor.  Not because of their
perceived non-literary value, but because of the often lack of
substance.  Humor books that are great are really really great.  They
shed light on life in a way that highbrow literature can sometimes
miss, they shed light on certain facets of culture that are otherwise
overlooked or taken as normal.  

Talking to kids about drug use is probably one of the hardest subjects
a parent can breach.  Let's face it, they don't want to talk about it,
and it's not exactly something that parents want to discuss, but it's a
necessity in this day and age nonetheless.  Personally, no book had a
bigger effect on my decision to partake in any exploratory drug use
wisely than Go Ask Alice.