“Abominable” Movie & 2nd NYTBR Post of the Evening!

Self watching an abominable Bigfoot movie called — self kids you not — “Abominable.” And the Bigfoot has just reached a big hairy paw (that looks something like Chewbacca’s) through a bathroom window where nubile teenage woman is taking a shower. Much screaming, much breaking of glass ensues. The only witness is a paraplegic neighbor who’s being severely over-medicated by his psychotic male nurse. In the meanwhile, Lance Henriksen (Yes, Lance Henrikson — the actor who played a cop in the first “Terminator” and Bishop in “Aliens”), wanders the woods with a rifle, gets eaten up in a jiffy.

But, self digresses too much. The real reason for this post is — tra-la! — self has just pulled another issue of the New York Times Book Review from her humongous pile of stuff! And this one is the issue of 4 May!

Without further ado, the list of books self is interested in reading after perusing abovementioned issue:

(1) After reading Jonathan Spence’s review of Mo Yan’s new novel, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out:

Mo Yan’s new novel, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out

(2) After reading Helen Schulman’s review of Isabel Fonseca’s novel, Attachment:

Isabel Fonseca’s Attachment

(3) After reading Francine Prose’s review of Wang Anyi’s “extraordinary” The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai:

Wang Anyi’s The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai

(4) After reading Liesl Schillinger’s review of Yian Lanke’s new novel, Serve the People!:

Yian Lanke’s new novel, Serve the People!

(5) After reading Andrew Ferguson’s review of Tony Horwitz’s new book, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World:

Tony Horwitz’s A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

(6) After reading Amy Finnerty’s review of Nikolai Grozni’s memoir, Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk:

Nikolai Grozni’s memoir, Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk

(On flat screen HDTV, two girls down — only three more to go!!)

(7) After reading Alison McCulloch’s review of Michelle de Kretser’s latest novel, The Lost Dog:

Michelle de Kretser’s latest novel, The Lost Dog

( 8 ) After reading David Margolick’s review of Benny Morris’ 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War:

Benny Morris’ 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

(9) After reading Jennifer Gilmore’s review of Alyse Myers’ Who Do You Think You Are? A Memoir:

Mommie Dearest, a memoir about what it’s like to have Joan Crawford as a Mum

Alyse Myers’ Who Do You Think You Are? A Memoir

(10) After reading Marilyn Stasio’s Crime column:

Tom Rob Smith’s first novel, “about a serial killer in Stalinist Russia,” Child 44

Kjell Eriksson’s The Demon of Dakar, and two of his earlier crime novels, The Princess of Burundi and The Cruel Stars of the Night

Blissful Tuesday, & the Return of the NYTBR Post

Oh, what a looovely day it is today. Self feels like singing. She’s on the couch, where she spent the morning grading papers. She reald an absolutely fascinating student paper on “Tool,” the heavy metal group, which enlightened her on Tool’s mastery of The Fibonaci Method. Then self realized she was probably not going to Bali in the fall (as she would have done if she weren’t teaching — ha ha ha ha!)

For a while self was engrossed in a TV show that re-enacted the Russian airline disaster of long long ago, when a pilot allowed his 14-year-old son to sit at the controls and the plane ended up crashing. What seems to have happened is that the plane was on auto-pilot, but something went wrong, and the boy did not have the arm strength to manipulate the levers manually, and his father could not help him because centrifugal force (the plane was in a steep dive) kept him pinned to the wall of the cockpit and he was unable to reach the controls to help his son.

After that uplifting program, self switched to the “Dog Whisperer”, and saw Cesar Millan helping singer Patti LaBelle with her dog problem.

Then self began to ponder what other writing contests she could still join this year.

Then self realized she had not posted about The New York Times Book Review in a month (amazing!), so now she will proceed to list the books she is interested in reading after perusing the 11 May 2008 issue of The New York Times Book Review (and at this point, self can’t be expected to remember how many issues she’s skipped, though she thinks it might be as many as two or three):

(1) After reading Ben MacIntyre’s review of Richard Bausch’s “brilliant” 11th novel, Peace:

Richard Bausch’s Peace

(2) After reading Bruce Barcott’s review of Louise Erdrich’s new novel, The Plague of Doves:

Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves

(3) After reading Kathryn Harrison’s review of Honor Moore’s account of growing up with her (bisexual) father, The Bishop’s Daughter: A Memoir:

Honor Moore’s The Bishop’s Daughter: A Memoir

(4) After reading Jonathan Miles’ review of Brian Hall’s fictionalization of the life of Robert Frost, Fall of Frost:

Brian Hall’s Fall of Frost

(5) After reading Marcus Mabry’s review of Robyn Scott’s Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood:

Robyn Scott’s Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood

(6) After reading James Glanz’s review of Patrick Cockburn’s biography of radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr, Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq:

Patrick Cockburn’s Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq

(7) After reading Maggie Scarf’s review of Andrew Sean Greer’s novel, The Story of a Marriage:

Andrew Sean Greer’s The Story of a Marriage

( 8 ) After reading Alana Newhouse’s review of Lily Koppel’s (fascinating) The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal:

Lily Koppel’s The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal

A Set of Prompts for MAYOR OF THE ROSES & NYTBR 20 April 2008

The sun is shining.

Even better, you do not have to teach today.

A few months ago (Time is a regular galloping chariot these days, especially when one leaves the realm of youth and graduates to the realm of whatever), you asked fab teacher Liza Erpelo if you could post the list of essay prompts she had devised for your collection, Mayor of the Roses. And, of course, you never did get around to posting the essay prompts, as so many things happened to you. To wit: Ying (leukemia), class from hell (still ongoing), not winning this or that writing contest (for which you paid a $30 entry fee), trip to Tel Aviv etc etc

But, today, today is the day when you finally get around to doing it. And here are the prompts:

* * * *

ESSAY Prompts for Marianne Villanueva’s Mayor of the Roses

1) In several of the short stories in Mayor of the Roses by Marianne Villanueva, the narrators were told stories that were meant to be warnings. Identify the “warnings” in each of these stories, and investigate the significance of these messages. What is the importance of storytelling for these narrators? In developing your response, consider such important factors as who tells these stories and delivers these “warnings,” what each of the narrators were warned against, and what each character does with the advice.

2) Even though the main protagonists in Villanueva’s short stories tend to be women, men also play important roles throughout this book. Identify these roles, and in your essay, consider how the men are portrayed as well as the reasons why they are portrayed these ways.

3) In a San Francisco Chronicle book review from 2005, the reviewer wrote, “An appropriate marketing scheme for Bay Area resident Marianne Villanueva’s collection of short stories, Mayor of the Roses, would be to offer a coupon for a cocktail with each copy; you will need something to lift your spirits.” Do you agree with the review? Why or why not? Use specific examples from the short stories to support your claims.

4) The themes of desperation, fragmentation and abandonment echo in many of Villanueva’s short stories — particularly when it comes to “family.” Choose a character whose actions reflect these themes, and describe the significance of this character’s actions. Why does this character behave the way he or she does? How is “family” portrayed or defined for this character? You may use more than one story to develop your response to this question.

5) Throughout the book, the author makes use of a variety of images that may be symbols, things that represent something else. Identify the patterns of images you see and use specific evidence from the text to investigate the significance of those images as symbols. Think about how the symbols influence your interpretation of the novel and determine what the author was trying to convey by means of the symbols.

It occurs to you, looking over these prompts today, that they are genius, just genius, dear blog readers. To Liza and her students, self’s most heartfelt thanks.

And now, to Part Deux of this post, the list of books self is interested in reading after perusing The New York Times Book Review of 20 April 2008:

(1) After reading Valerie Steiker’s review of Susan Nagel’s latest, Marie-Thérese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter:

Susan Nagel’s Marie-Thérese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter

(2) After reading Louisa Thomas’ review of Elizabeth Strout’s “novel in stories,” Olive Kittredge:

Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kittredge

(3) After reading Marilyn Stasio’s review of the new mystery by Booker Prize Winner John Banville (writing under the pen name Benjamin Black), The Silver Swan:

Benjamin Black’s first mystery, the Edgar Award Nominee for Best Novel, Christine Falls

(4) After reading Karl Taro Greenfeld’s review of Martha Sherrill’s Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain, about “a legendary breeder of prize-winning Akita dogs” :

Martha Sherrill’s Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain

(Sweltering) Sunday Afternoon: Planning Dinner & The Return of The NYTBR

Be careful what you wish for. Just a week ago, self was complaining how cold it was in the Bay Area. The weather made her groggy and tired and self wanted to sleep all the time.

In contrast, yesterday and today were hot. This afternoon, self wheedled hubby into watching “Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day,” showing downtown.

The streets felt empty. The two restaurants across the street from the Redwood City Main Library on Middlefield Road — A Tavola and Milagros — were shuttered and silent. Self used to love seeing the customers chatting at tables on the sidewalks, but A Tavola hasn’t been open for almost a year now — a sign says the restaurant is closed for re-modeling, but no work has been done. She hopes it hasn’t shut down.

There was a little more life in the theatre lobby. Self couldn’t help thinking: Is this what a recession feels like? Silent streets, and everyone moving sluggishly? Hubby declared the movie “sappy” (though self thought Lee Pace was dee-lightful!) He said he wished he’d spent the afternoon watching Tiger on TV.

Now, self is home. Ah, what to do, what to do? She watered, a few buckets. She continued digging a hole for the passiflora vine she’d bought from the Mountain View Farmers Market before going to Tel Aviv. The vine is so long now that its stems flop all over the place. But the ground is so hard and gravelly that self gives up after just a few minutes.

Self should probably plan dinner. In Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens, Book 2, there’s a recipe for “Delicious Hamberger” (spelled exactly that way). Self thinks she can manage this: the photo shows a white serving plate, hamburger patties (in some kind of brown sauce) arranged around a centerpiece of pearl onions, cherry tomatoes, and chopped green beans.

Perhaps that’s too simple. Here’s another dish: on a round serving platter, an arrangement of brussels sprouts, asparagus, and broccoli. The caption identifies the dish as “Asparagus, Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts in Oyster Sauce.” Self doesn’t have the asparagus or the broccoli, but she does have brussels sprouts. And, how silly, this morning self was in Costco and she forgot to get soy sauce. Also, hubby complains about the rice she bought a few days ago from Marina Mart, which is some fancy Japanese rice that he says is too sticky. But since self bought a 25-lb. bag, it will be several weeks yet before self can think of getting a different kind. She’ll just have to put up with hubby’s grumbling.

In the meantime, self has begun reading The New York Times Book Review again. Amazing that it’s been almost a month since she read the last one. This morning, she reads the March 9 issue. And here once again, dear blog readers, is the list of books self is interested in reading after perusing it:

(1) After reading Walter Kirn’s (in self’s opinion, somewhat digressive) review of Richard Price’s new novel, Lush Life:

Richard Price’s new novel, Lush Life

(2) After reading Thomas Mallon’s review of Joshua Kendall’s The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus:

Joshua Kendall’s The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus

(3) After reading Scott McLemee’s review of Eric Alterman’s Why We’re Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America:

Eric Alterman’s Why We’re Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America

(4) After reading David Rieff’s review of Michael Scheuer’s new book, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq:

Michael Scheuer’s earlier book, Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror

(5) After reading Lorraine Adams’ review of Jenny Siler’s — aka Alex Carr’s — new spy novel, The Prince of Bagram Prison:

Jenny Siler/ Alex Carr’s first Stella Rimington spy novel, 2004’s At Risk

(6) After reading David Berreby’s review of Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions:

Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Since Self is Dining Alone: NYTBR 25 November 2007

Since hubby informed self that he wouldn’t be home until 8 or thereabouts, self decided to go ahead and have dinner. Which she prepares in a jiffy, since all she has to do is open the refrigerator and take out the Never-Ending Ham — yes, that same ham that she purchased over a week ago. The thing with ham is, it never quite gets old, and self has dreamed up countless variations of how to eat it: ham with hot pan de sal, ham chopped up in fried rice, ham in fettucine carbonara, baked ham and macaroni casserole, etc etc etc. Tonight she’s having ham with pasta.

In addition, self had time to peruse latest issue of The New York Times Book Review. So, here’s the list of books self is interested in reading after perusing the 25 November issue:

(1) After reading George Johnson’s review of James D. Watson’s Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science:

James D. Watson’s Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science, and Watson’s account of how he and Francis Crick discovered the replicating properties of DNA, a discovery which led to the Nobel Prize, The Double Helix

(2) After reading Katie Hafner’s review of Fake Steve Job’s Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, A Parody :

Fake Steve Job’s Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, A Parody

(3) After reading Walter Kirn’s review of Ha Jin’s novel, A Free Life :

Ha Jin’s A Free Life