SOUNDTRACK: TOM WAITS-Orphans (Bastards) (2006).
This is the piece de resistance of the Orphans set. All of the really, really weird songs by Waits get thrown together on this disc. Weird and wonderful, including a crazy cover of “Heigh Ho” from Snow White.
[READ: Summer 2006] Consider the Lobster.
When I was living in Boston, and going to graduate school, I used to keep up so well with books and culture and hipness. And at that time, Infinite Jest was all the rage. It was a BIG BOOK, full of BIG IDEAS. 1,011 pages! And, I LOVED it. I got so hooked I read the whole thing in three days. It had a large portion set in Boston, so I felt even more in tune with book. It was marvelous. I even went to hear him speak, and got his autograph. The book has stayed with me all these years, and I still laugh about things that he mentioned. I even love his (to some) annoying footnotes. It’s so meta! And I’m a meta kind of guy. So, if DFW puts out a book, I’m there.
Somehow, I missed the release of Consider the Lobster until Summer of ’06. But as soon as I found it, I got right on it. His essay on touring with McCain for the 2000 election “Up Simba,” is so powerful and insightful, it has colored my views, not only of McCain, who I once admired, but on electioneering in general, and even on the Gilmore Girls’ Rory’s “career choice” of covering Obama’s ’08 campaign for an online magazine. “Big Red Son” is a hilarious and yet poignant look at Porn Awards. And “The View from Mrs. Thomspon’s” is an interesting look at a small town’s take on the September 11, 2001 incidents. His biting criticism of the Tracy Austin biography is a wonderful insight into sports biographies in general, and certainly makes you rethink their viability. Overall, Consider the Lobster is at times gripping, frustrating, confusing and ultimately wonderful.
I Just Read About That... 
there’s no way your read jest in three days.. haha
Well, when it came out, I was unemployed, and living by myself. I had nothing but free time!
I keep thinking I’d like to re-read it, but realistically, it would take me about two or three months now. And, being able to read it really quickly definitely keep the cohesion of the story. I think trying to read it over several months would make it a real jumble.