currently reading: “The Lover’s Dictionary”
currently reading: “The Lover’s Dictionary”
word of the day: sempervirens
- The Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia cultivar ‘Sempervirens’ is an American introduction, commonly known by the synonym ‘Evergreen’, and may also be in synonymy for U. parvifolia ‘Pendens’.
“She nudged an unopened box of Sal Hepatica a little with the trowel of her extended fingers to align it with the other sempervirents in its row, and then closed the cabinet door.” - Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
definition via wikipedia
books to read
i have quite a few in the hopper but i also have a feeling i’ll forget and pick up something completely random. so, mostly to remind myself and stay on track, here’s what needs to be read coming up:
- super sad true love story (almost done)
- blood, bones and butter (need to finish. yes, i read two books at a time)
- catcher in the rye (for the first time!)
- instant love (because i met Jami last month and she seemed lovely)
- a visit from the goon squad
- metropolitan life (learning to be more like Fran)
what else should be on this list? what are you reading?
Eloise and Holly Golightly
Can’t you just imagine Holly Golightly growing up in a “room on the tippy-top floor” of the Plaza? If she had had a turtle (and if she gave her animals names), can’t you see him being named Skiperdee? Well, we can. We think the mischievous, lovable Eloise just couldn’t help but grow up into the sweetly oddball Holly, what with their independence, quirky charm and mutual love for New York City. Not to mention this interesting tidbit: Eloise is often cited as being based on Liza Minnelli, who was the author’s goddaughter, and Holly has been described as “Capote’s personal crystallization of Sally Bowles” — Sally Bowles being the Cabaret character Minnelli won an Oscar for portraying in 1972. Just saying.
solid nerdy reading for the morning.
on a side note, i mentioned to Nick a few weeks back that i’ve never read “Catcher in the Rye.” he had the wonderful suggestion that i do so now, post-high school and teen angst. will let you know how that goes sometime in February
i saw Merrill Markoe on “The Daily Show” this week and she was really lovely. it helped that Jon Stewart couldn’t stop talking about how funny he thought her book Cool, Calm & Contentious is. and it definitely seems so. since i want to write my own “observations on life and my crazy mother” tome sometime in the future, i think this would be a good reference
(you can buy it for me via Amazon)
@Flavorwire Picks from The Guardian’s 100 Greatest Nonfiction Titles
I absolutely LOVE this book. It was part of the most amazing course I took at Hofstra called “The Lost Generation: Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Stein” with the most amazing professor who has very recently passed away (RIP Prof. Brand). Whenever I think of Gertrude Stein and the expatriates, I think of that spring semester my junior year, the tulips and the dreaming of Paris.
Here is what Flavorpill had to say about this fantastically unusual piece of literature..
This was included in the biography section of the choices, and we opted for it because it’s such an odd, endearing, and egotistical work. It takes all of about two pages until Gertrude Stein is first mentioned, and then it is apparent that the “autobiography” is actually an account of the couple’s daily life together in France; it’s a sort of journal entry or a narration of the events of an evening and the people in attendance, rather than a straightforward bio. It’s funny, sometimes rude, and includes some hilarious and offensive descriptions of Stein, who apparently had “an explosive temper.”
from patti smith’s “just kids,” which i just finished reading:
“I got my tray and slipped in my coins but the window wouldn’t open. I tried again without luck and then I noticed the price had gone up to sixty-five cents. I was disappointed, to say the least, when I heard a voice say, “Can I help?”
I turned around and it was Allen Ginsberg. We had never met but there was no mistaking the face of one of our great poets and activists. I looked into those intense dark eyes punctuated by his dark curly beard and just nodded. Allen added the extra dime and also stood me to a cup of coffee. I wordlessly followed him to his table, and then plowed into the sandwich.
Allen introduced himself. He was talking about Walt Whitman and I mentioned I was raised near Camden, where Whitman was buried, when he leaned forward and looked at me intently. “Are you a girl?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Is that a problem?”
He just laughed. “I’m sorry, I took you for a very pretty boy.”
I got the picture immediately.
“Well, does this mean I return the sandwich?”
“No, enjoy it. It was my mistake.”
He told me he was writing a long elegy for Jack Kerouac, who had recently passed away. “Three days after Rimbaud’s birthday,” I said. I shook his hand and we parted company.”
(via Sprout Wellness)
next up in book club…
so i bought this at strand probably a year ago. i always go to strand just before the holidays because it’s a great place to get presents. but due to my very slight shopping problem, i inevitably end up gifting myself too. because the tagline “a greenwich village memoir” was too perfect to resist, it became part of the permanent collection. then it sat on my shelf until last week.
that’s when i was browsing idlewild books, contemplating signing up for their french conversation class. i’ve wanted to for the past year and still haven’t gotten around to it (most likely in the spring though!). but i saw the cover of broyard’s memoir in the corner with a note that there’s a book club meeting about it later this month.
now that i’m finally reading it, it’s quite an enjoyable way to pass the time on the subway. i find myself getting out on spring street expecting to see it in 1946. broyard describes his experience during this fantastic time without the haughty authority memoirs written by people who’ve been lucky enough to experience great cultural moments tend to take. but his honest, approachable tone only makes me wish it was 1946 in greenwich village even more
so i’m reading this right now. it’s not the most intellectual work i’ve ever opened and certainly not a novel to make people on the subway think i’m terribly deep or even very smart. might be a couple steps above chick lit though.
bummer is i’ve already heard about the upcoming film adaptation and can’t stop trying to picture the actors they cast. “try” because they’re not the who i see in the reading so it’s a frustrating battle in my brain (square peg, round hole and all that).
before i cast the whole thing off and consider myself a total nincompoop for choosing this over something weightier like “orlando” or “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest,” (both on the “to read” list though) i will say that it’s fantastically entertaining and i’m definitely looking forward to having it get me through my bus trip to boston this weekend. also, here’s what the nytimes had to say.
and if you have any book suggestions, they are certainly always welcome :o)
so i just finished “revolutionary road” - which was very awesome and made me want to kill myself. this morning i started reading my very first joan didion - which, for as far as i got on one subway ride, seems like it’s going to be incredible…and also make me want commit the suze a little. seriously, i need to read a happy book and soon
