filed under Books
Pulp Addicted
11:42AM ON
07/08/2008
BY
Eric Smith
From Pulp Addict, where I chronicle the stuff that flows in and out of my bookstore. This week: Augusten Burroughs, Steve Martin, Jennifer Weiner, and Robert B. Parker.
Stranger In Paradise, Robert B. Parker (Putnam 2008) Mr. Parker is a heavyweight in the crowded world of crime thillers, having written over fifty books in the genre, but after plowing my way through this in two days, I’m not sure why. All the staples are there; tough, masculine detectives, quick with the solemn one-liners and burdened with the requisite drinking problem/ex-wife (in this case, both), oversexed female deputies who end up in bed with with a tough dude from the wrong side of the law, and of course, psychotic Hispanic gang members. Mr. Parker likes to include a lot of nodding in his prose, as in “Jesse nodded his head.” and “Jesse nodded, slowly.” and “Crow nodded.” and “Crow nodded at them both.” and my personal favorite, “Both men sat motionless, then nodded at each other.” Did I mention this all happens in the first chapter? It’s as if Mr. Parker doesn’t quite know how to convey, literarily, that someone is listening to someone else, and hears them correctly. Then again, this guy is a fucking millionaire and I’m writing a stupid blog. All told, it’s a pretty fun read and I think I answered my own question about why people love Robert Parker; because once he gets all the nodding out of the way he’s dependable and delivers the revenge killing in a timely and efficient manner.
Sellevision, Augusten Burroughs (Picador 2000) Before his bestselling memoir Running with Scissors, Mr. Burroughs gave us Sellevision, a dark comedy centered around a fictional home-shopping network whose much-loved (and closeted gay) host of Slumber Party Sundown accidentally shows his dick during a “Toy for Tots” segment. As much hilarity ensues from that faux-pa, the other characters are no better off; another host is getting creepy stalker emails concerning her on-air appearance while her husband is spending a lot of time with a young babysitter next-door, the network boss is having extramarital activities that are about to be exposed on-air as well, and the network’s star host is trawling the internet for a mate and is also addicted to shopping.
Good In Bed, Jennifer Weiner (Pocket Books 2001) This is the bestseller that helped launch the much-derided yet hugely successful chick lit genre and paved the way for what seems like millions of similar titles and authors. (We have a whole shelf here full of pink-hued spines.) The plot goes like this: protagonist Cannie Shapiro, pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner, opens up a national women’s magazine and sees the words “Loving a Larger Woman” and her boyfriend’s byline underneath. All hell breaks loose, of course, which leads the ever-plucky Cannie on a year-long spiritual and emotional voyage where she learns to love herself or something. I dutifully read the first chapter and it’s actually quite funny and it has sold roughly a billion copies.
The Pleasure of My Company, Steve Martin (Hyperion 2003) Mr. Martin is second only to Woody Allen in the neurotic male protagonist department, although in his first novel, Shopgirl, he sort of subverted things a bit by making the neurotic male a female. It was still funny, and in The Pleasure of My Company he revels in insanely quirky characters like Daniel Pecan Cambridge, who is an agoraphobic murder suspect. But he didn’t do it, although a part of him kind of wishes he did, ’cause that would certainly be interesting: “I’m hoping my status as a murder suspect will enhance my first meeting with Elizabeth. It could jazz things up a bit. Of course, in the same breath I will tell her that I was cleared long ago, but I’ll wait just that extra second before I do so in order to make sure I’ve enchanted her.”
Stop by sometime, Book By Book, 1005 main St, Pawtucket in Thee Hope Artiste Village. **As previously mentioned, HUGE sale this week Everything is 30% off.
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