Monday, August 12, 2013

A Reading Agenda



Here is my reading agenda for the week:

So Big
by Edna Ferber - I was totally captivated with the start of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The prose and the characters are like nothing I expected. And, I learned on the first page what the title refers to which was unexpected as well. I am only one chapter (25 pages) into the story, which begins in Chicago around the turn of the 20th century, and focuses on the life of Selina Peake.

Drowned Hopes by Donald Westlake - Master (well, sort of) criminal John Dortmunder has his work cut out for him in this his seventh caper. An ex-cell mate has engaged Dortmunder to help him retrieve a coffin he buried in upstate New York that holds $700,000 in cash - the bounty from a job. The only problem is that now the coffin is not only in the ground but also under 50 feet of water - thanks to a newly formed reservoir. I have High Hopes for this one!

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace - This was a recommendation by Kevin Smokler in his book Practical Classics (here). The titular piece, one of seven non-fiction pieces included in the book, takes a look at Wallace's 'fun' traveling aboard a luxury cruise liner. This will be my first experience reading anything by this almost legendary author who is probably most well-known for his fiction.

4 comments:

  1. Nice variety. I've got David Foster Wallace on my list to read but have never picked up anything by him. I would like to read "Supposedly Fun" because I've had a couple of extremely non-fun experiences on cruises, including a bout of norovirus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy, the DFW piece will be perfect for you based on your own personal knowledge of Cruise Hell. I don't know that I will move on to read any of his fiction, but his journalism pieces are quite entertaining.

      Delete
  2. Belle, I loved So Big! She is really quite good, and though she won the Pulitzer, no one seems to read her anymore. She's a little like Willa Cather. (Well, perhaps not really, but somewhat.)

    I still have Donald Westlake on my TBR list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kat, I don't know quite what I was expecting from Ms. Ferber, but I am delighted to find that I really like her writing. Some of her books were on the family bookshelves when I was growing up so I guess I figured she was too old and perhaps too fussy for me! When will I ever learn.

      Delete