2006 Books

Books read this year. I actually may end up adding a couple more to the list – since I am bed-ridden at the moment and could finish 2 more books by the time the damn ball drops across the river. This list is in chronological order. Some I have discussed on the blog and when that is the case I’ll provide a link. But many have gone un-commented-upon by moi. Oh, and many of these are re-reads. I will make note of that when applicable. It’s funny – I look at some of these books (like the 2 Annie Proulx short story collections) and remember exactly where I was when I was reading them (on Alex’s couch, during my vacation in LA).

Next year I’d like to read more fiction. That’s one goal, anyway.

2006 Books

1. Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox by Bill Simmons

Sheer liquid joy. Every word. I think I read this book in 2 days. I had given a copy to every member of my immediate family for Christmas – and then had to buy one myself. At one point, day after Christmas, I looked around the living room – and nobody was speaking – everyone was reading the book – occasionally guffawing with laughter.

2. Marlon Brando (Penguin Lives) by Patricia Bosworth

A short book, a quick read. Bosworth wrote what I consider to be one of the best entertainment biographies of its kind – her biography of Montgomery Clift – and she’s a member of the Actors Studio – so her writing on actors is, in general, knowledgeable and precise. She understands the importance of certain elements of the craft, and knows how to write about them. Some entertainment biographies treat the art of acting as a mystery (the most recent Cary Grant bio is a good example) – but Bosworth knows what she’s talking about. I’ve read other Brando biographies, so much of the anecdotal stuff here is not new to me – but still – it was a good read. She’s a good writer.

3. Close Range : Wyoming Stories, by Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx is one of my favorite writers. I had never read this whole collection before – the only story I had read was “Brokeback Mountain” but I read that when it first came out in The New Yorker. This collection of short stories cannot be overpraised, in my opinion. They are magnificent.

4. Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 by Annie Proulx

I had brought both short story collections to LA with me. I was on an Annie Proulx kick. Close Range, the first of the collection, is much more bleak. There is almost a pre-apocalyptic feel to some of them. Bad Dirt is a much more lighthearted collection. It’s humorous – absurd (the one story of people falling into the hole, etc.) – and I guess I wasn’t in the mood for lighthearted absurdity. Especially not after just reading the transcendent bleak brilliance of Close Range. But Annie Proulx’s a favorite. I’d read a grocery list if it were written by her.

5. The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

I can’t believe I had never read this book before. It’s terrific. Laugh out loud funny.

6. Play It As It Lays: A Novel by Joan Didion

I’m a huge fan of Didion’s non-fiction and had never read her novel. Finally picked it up, and boy am I glad I did. I read it in 2 days, I think, it’s not very long. But it has that cold clear relentless quality that is so recognizably Didion. She scares me. I love her.

7. At Swim-Two-Birds (Irish Literature Series), by Flann O’Brien

I had read this before (it is practically a requirement if you belong to the O’Malley clan) but I felt like reading it again. It is a nonsensical ridiculous at times hilarious book … that somehow has something to do with Mad King Sweeney, and Finn MacCool, and also with a loser college student who lies around in his room all day planning his perfect novel. This book is a lot of fun. It’s totally imitated now – Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, all of those experimental meta-esque writers now owe a huge debt to Flann O’Brien. For example – he writes characters who are aware that they are characters in a novel – etc. It’s a literary experiment. Much fun.

8. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis

I love Joseph Ellis. Wonderful writer. He doesn’t really write typical biographies. They’re more like musings on the character of the man in question. Contemplative, open-minded, thought-provoking. I was excited to read this one, after having read Ellis’ books on Jefferson and Adams – and I was not disappointed.

9. Stalin: The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia’s Secret Archives by Edvard Radzinsky

An emotional book written by one of Russia’s premiere playwrights. I posted about it here and here

10. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Horrible!!

11. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind

VERY interesting. Made me feel like I wanted to take a shower after reading it. Highly recommended.

12. Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens

I consider this a must-read. I’m an Orwell fan anyway, so Hitchens is preaching to the choir as far as I’m concerned (not to mention the fact that I will read anything that Hitchens writes). But still. Must-read.

13. Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii (Bloomsbury Revelations) by Victor Klemperer

Linguistic observations jotted down by a German Jew living in Dresden in the 30s and 40s. Anyone at all interested in totalitarian thinking, and thought control – will not want to miss this book. Klemperer wrote it in the midst of his own oppression – at times it was the only thing keeping him going, the thought of his LTI … he jots down notes about newspaper articles, ads, the way words are twisted and stand in for something else – words like “father” and “land” and “work” – all end up having sinister meanings under the Third Reich. Klemperer looks at this language control systematically. Terrifying and fascinating book.

14. The Dragons of Expectation: Reality and Delusion in the Course of History by Robert Conquest

I love Conquest but to be honest I can’t remember anything about this book.

15. Shopgirl: A Novella by Steve Martin

I don’t know why I picked this book up, but I am so glad I did. I hadn’t even seen the movie – so I’m not sure what the draw was. It’s a wonderful little book, and it actually struck a very deep chord within me. I felt named by this book. And the movie ended up slaughtering me in a completely unexpected way when I did get around to seeing it – but the book is just a lovely little piece of writing. It really is. I’ll read it again.

16. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Expanded and Updated by David Thomson

This book is, what, 1500 pages long? I think I started reading it way last year – it’s alphabetical – the entries are long and detailed (or, some of them are) and I decided to read through it alphabetically. This meant it took forever. It also meant that I became acquainted with some names I have never heard of before. I kept a running list of movies I haven’t seen that I need to see because of this book. It’s massive. A GREAT reference tool. Indispensable. (It has already shown itself to be indispensable to me.)

17. Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland.

I made fun of this book here.

18. Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

Winterson deserves her own post. I have a complicated ongoing relationship with her as an author – it’s a funny thing. Her novel <The Passion is one of my favorite novels ever written … but I’ve felt that she has lost her way in the last decade. Or – no, not lost her way. But the way she has chosen to go does not interest me. Kinda like me and Tori Amos. I’ll always love Tori … I’ll keep buying those albums, my dear, but … I like the OLD Tori! It’s a rare artist whom I will follow thru their experimental stages – but Winterson is one of them. FASCINATING. I find her writing captivating. Lighthousekeeping is, in a way, Winterson coming back to form … but not really. It does have some of the old whimsy though – her arresting images (the vertical house where you have to anchor down the cups so they won’t fall, etc.) – and her mixture of fairy tale logic witih reality. She’s fantastic. LOVE her. Reading Lighthousekeeping made me go on a rampage of re-reading – as you will see.

19. The PowerBook by Jeanette Winterson

I had read this book when it first came out but quickly tired of it. I found it much better the second time around. The narrator (we do not know the gender, typical Winterson) touts him/herself as a deliverer of fantasies. The narrator, through the Internet, can make people’s fantasies come true – identity becomes fluid, permeable – the narrator learns what your fantasy is and then, like a true storyteller, writes it out – and the reader can be transported into another time. So we go back in time to Turkey, to the Dutch tulip bulb frenzy, we travel to Capri … I’m not sure what it all MEANS but I know it has something to do with the yearning of many of us to resist classification. To resist labeling, or pinning down. Even down to something as seemingly elemental as gender. The thing I like best about Winterson is probably the thing that annoys her critics: her joy in her own creative capabilities. I love that about her. And sometimes it does get the better of her (uhm Art & Lies, Jeanette? What the hell was that?) – but still: if you take risks, you’re bound to fail sometimes. I appreciate the fact that she is willing to fail.

20. The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm

I consider this a must-read. I remember the controversy that erupted when this piece first came out (in a shorter form, of course) in The New Yorker. In a way, that controversy still rages. This book is the reference point for many conversations about journalistic integrity. Malcolm is relentless in her critique.

21. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman Cantor

I believe I referred to this book as I was reading it as The Black Death for Dummies.

22. Like Life by Lorrie Moore

One of the best fiction writers out there. Period. This is her most recent collection of short stories. She is so so so good.

23. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles (Myths, The) by Jeanette Winterson

This is part of a really cool series where modern-day authors take on re-telling certain myths. Winterson was asked to do Atlas – this is her most recent book – and I LOVED it. She is totally in her prime here.

24. The Rasputin File by Edvard Radzinsky

This book was criticized when it first came out for being out of control, incoherent … and I guess I can see where the critics are coming from, but I had a great time reading it. Couldn’t put it down, in fact.

25. <A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn

I know, who else goes from Rasputin to Goldie Hawn. I had had this book for a while – and hadn’t picked it up (I buy pretty much any new entertainment biography or autobiography that comes out – I will get to all of them eventually) – and then it was Annika’s ongoing Goldie Hawn series (first part here) that made me finally pick it up. It’s one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. Annika and I exchanged a couple emails about it, it was good to talk with someone who loves Goldie and loved the book. It’s not greatly written or anything – but there was just something about it. First of all: you could tell it was all her. There was no ghost writing going on here. Second of all: it wasn’t a strict linear biography. She was more interested in sharing what she felt she learned in her life, rather than just listing her resume. And there were times the book made me cry. I love her anyway, always have … but I ADORED her book and I highly recommend it. It’s not just a “ooh, here was my triumph HERE, and here was my triumph THERE” … she talks about her struggles, her views on men and marriage, on being a working mother, on losing her privacy when she became famous, on how to keep herself from having a big head (she credits a lot of that to her father, but also to her rigorous dancing training) … I loved every word of this book.

26. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

I’m a huge Gladwell fan. HUGE. I didn’t like this book as much as The Tipping Point but still: worth a read.

27. Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art by Gene Wilder

A fun read by an all-time favorite of mine. Posted an excerpt here.

28. Kate Remembered by Scott Berg

This came out right after Hepburn died. Scott Berg had been sitting on the manuscript for a couple of years – Hepburn had asked that he not publish it until she died, and also that his be the first. Hepburn fans: you don’t want to miss this. It’s not a typical biography. Berg and Hepburn were friends, of a sort … and this is a book of his remembrance of her, his impression of her. If you’re fascinated by this hard-to-pin-down woman, Berg’s biography will captivate you. Tons of fantastic anecdotes.

29. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays (FSG Classics) by Joan Didion

This is a re-read. “Goodbye to All That”, one of my favorite essays ever written, is in this collection.

30. The White Album: Essays (FSG Classics) by Joan Didion

More essays from Joan Didion. This one was a re-read too – but Slouching Towards Bethlehem made me want more. Didion can be like a drug for me. She spoils other writers.

31. Vintage Didion by Joan Didion

A compilation of Didion’s stuff. Awesome essay about California and Patty Hearst. Truly, I think Joan Didion is one of my favorite writers. She takes my breath away.

32. A Collection of Essays by George Orwell

I had been working on this collection, off and on, for some time. Many of them I had already read (his political essays, certainly) but a lot of this was new to me. His massive essay on Charles Dickens was thrilling to read. Excerpt here and here. I love Orwell.

33. Cooper’s Women, by Jane Ellen Wayne

Horrible. Wonderful. More here.

34. The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence (1963) by Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss

Probably only a real movie buff would like this book. I actually had been keeping my eye open for this book for years – it’s referenced often in other books – and finally I found a used copy on Amazon, ordered it, and read it in an afternoon. It’s a private correspondence between two publicists working on Cleopatra – being filmed in Rome and in England. Amazing to imagine working on a film without emails, or cell phones, or blackberries. It really is. These guys had to cram in all the information into a letter – and then sometimes they would telegram later with urgent stuff. Cleopatra is one of the most notorious movie shoots in cinematic history and I just ate this book UP. Because it’s an unedited version of the correspondence between 2 guys who were trying to put out the fire, trying to calm down the PR nightmare that the film was becoming … It was the death blow to the studio system, and these guys were ground-level witnesses to it. FASCINATING. Corporate politics, star power, paparazzi (already going strong), board meetings, creative control, art and commerce – this book has it all.

35. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams by Nick Tosches

Wow, is all I can say. There’s a reason why this book is a reference point for other books in the same genre. It doesn’t even really classify as a biography. It’s a poetic contemplation, it’s an act of ventriloquism, it’s arrogant, it’s deep, it’s emotional … I could not put this book down. I had heard people praise it. David Thomson, critic extraordinaire, used the word “magesterial” when describing it – and I remember thinking to myself, before I read it, “How good could it be? It’s a biography of Dean Martin, how good could it be?” It’s that good. Within the first paragraph I knew I was reading a different kind of biography altogether. It’s controversial, yes, and some people hate it. I loved it.

36. The Men Who Made the Movies by Richard Schickel

Schickel was one of the guys on my list so when I saw this book I had to get it. Interviews from the 1970s with Howard Hawks, John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Vincente Minelli … and I forget who else. 2 or 3 more. Great stuff. I love books like this. Great backstage anecdotes, funny stories, how they managed to film this or that … Love it.

37. Because They Wanted to: Stories by Mary Gaitskill

Another one of my favorite writers. Short story collection. She’s piercing. She’s a hard writer for me to read. It’s almost too raw at times. Here’s an excerpt.

38. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Posted about it here.

39. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I went on a new fiction kick which I’m not normally into. Figured I’d see what the fuss was about with some of these. I think the fuss was a wee bit over-the-top in this case (especially the monumental advance she got) – but still I will say this: I could not put it down. It is a helluva book. I posted about it here and here.

40. Prep: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld

Great read. Just a great great read. It’s quite a debut. Posted about it here.

41. The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov

Holy shit, is basically all I have to say. I posted about it here.

42. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell

This was a re-read. Why on earth would I re-read this biography of the 6 Mitford sisters? You got me. No – it all came about because Decca Mitford’s letters were just published – and I heard about that – and wrote this post about the Mitford family and that got me all worked up all over again. I re-read the book in a weekend. I recommend it.

43. Isaac Newton by James Gleick

I VERY much enjoyed this book. Learned a lot. Posted about it here.

44. Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 2nd Edition by Flo Conway, Jim Siegelman

Before I even finished this book I had to send a copy of it to Emily. I knew that she, above all people, would get this book. Brainwashing. Cults. It’s amazing. Terrifying. It’s really about what goes on in the BRAIN during the cult’s recruitment efforts … and what happens when someone snaps. Very important book.

45. The Making of the Misfits by James Goode

Like The Cleopatra Papers – another first-hand in-the-present recounting of one of the most harrowing film shoots in film-making history. I had been wanting to read this book for a long time as well – tracked down a copy on Amazon for, like, 2 cents and read it. Posted about it here.

46. Stalin and the Kirov Murder by Robert Conquest.

Incredible book – even more incredible when you realize that Conquest wrote it when very little of any of this was in the public record. He had to rely on second-hand sources, samizdat literature, dissident memoirs, etc. Conquest amazes me. I posted about it here.

47. Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan and the Revolution That Created the Constitution by Charles Cerami

I changed my tune by the end of the book. I liked it in the beginning (I’ll read anything about that period, I don’t care) … but by the end, I thought; Hmm. What does this book offer that other books don’t? Uhm … not much. It’s a bit shallow. I think I might have liked the IDEA of the book better than the actual book – it doesn’t really do what it says it’s gonna do – hone in on Madison and Hamilton. You can get that story just fine in the Chernow biography of Hamilton which covers that period in depth – I don’t know, I was a bit disappointed. Posted on it here, here, and here.

48. James Madison (The American Presidents Series) by Garry Wills.

I do love the American Presidents Series and hope to collect them all eventually. Madison’s Presidency is not often focused on – mainly because it wasn’t all that spectacular – but also because his work with the constitution tends to overshadow everything else. And probably rightly so. Madison- the serious little thinker, covertly moving behind the scenes … qualities that made him a superb legislator and organizer but maybe not so good a president. Good book. Highly recommend it.

49. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

What a read.

50. Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

Chuck sent this to me as a Christmas present which I received just as I was leaving town last week. I, of course, had other books on me – other books to read – but I had a disastrous commute back up to my parents (uhm – it took me 9 hours to get to Rhode Island. Normally it takes 3 and a half. It still wasn’t as bad as this infamous trip, however.) So I was stuck on busses, sitting around in terminals waiting, blah blah … so I took out my brand new book and started flipping through it. 4 days later, I had finished it. Once I started it I could not put it down. Wow. I learned a LOT.

51. Peter Bogdanovich’s Movie of the Week by Peter Bogdanovich

Miker sent this to me for my birthday, I think – and I’ve been reading it here and there ever since and I just finished it. Bogdanovich started it as a column for the New York Observer, I think. The editor asked him if he would do a weekly column on classic movies that would be shown that week on television – and Bogdanovich said yes. The columns were a huge success – and eventually Bogdanovich came out with a book, only these were HIS favorite movies, not just ones that happened to be showing that week. Bogdanovich chooses a movie a week – so we get 52 reviews – and he writes with such an immediacy and an accessibility that it makes me excited to rush right out and see the ones I haven’t seen. He knows a helluva lot about film – I mean, he’s encyclopedic – and sometimes it’s daunting when I realize how much I still have to learn – but he’s a great guide. An excited happy guide, psyched to show you the treasures he has.

52. They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books by David Rose (Editor)

I love a book that I cannot read on the bus or the train because my wild guffaws would disturb other commuters. OH, how I love a book like that. I tried to read it on the bus once – and that was it. Never again. Snorting, guffawing, wild barks of laughter … it was too much holding all that noise back. I’ll post some of my favorites at some point, but seriously, this book is a HOWLER. I LOVE THOSE PEOPLE.