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Archive for the ‘Marriage Trouble’ Category

McSweeneys #26 [“New Stories from Overseas”, “New Stories from Our Shores”, and “Where to Invade Next”] (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Contests, Daredevils, Discworld, Gangsters, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Political Humor, Short Story, The Riches, War, WMDs on April 8, 2008| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: JOSE GONZALEZ-In Our Nature (2007).

I first heard Jose Gonzalez, as pretty much everyone did, in the Sony commercial. The one where thousands of superballs are dropped down a San Francisco street to the accompaniment of Gonzalez’ “Heartbeats”. It was a beautiful piece of video. And the song was really perfectly suited. A mellow ballad, which happened to be a cover of a song by a band called The Knife.

The rest of the album was similar: soft, beautifully played acoustic songs, hushed vocals, just very pretty.

Gonzales’ follow up doesn’t mess with the formula too much. He adds another player or two, to include some harmonies, and he does another cover (Cocteau Twins’ “Teardrops”) but overall the feeling is much the same. The Cocteau Twins cover is interesting for me because I have mentioned another Cocteau Twins cover in a review (by the Deftones) and this is yet another take on what I always assumed was an uncoverable band. This version strips the song down to its bare essentials but keeps the gorgeous melody intact. It’s quite striking.

There’s nothing especially fancy about Gonzalez’ guitar playing…he’s not trying to wow anyone with his virtuosity, which is nice. However, he is a very accomplished classical guitarist. He uses the classical techniques in his pop songs, and he tends to play certain notes harder than others bringing a natural percussion to his otherwise mellow fingerpicking. So, while I say there’s nothing fancy about his playing, it is still quite beautiful. His voice hasn’t changed either, it still retains that peaceful, serene feeling.

It’s funny then to read the words to his songs many of which come across as protest songs. Not about anything in particular but about human nature, and the animals that we can often be. The record is a really string collection of songs. It’s also quite short, about 35 minutes, which also seems fitting somehow: get in, say what you want, and get out.

Of the two records, I prefer the first one, possibly because I know it better, but I think it’s because in the follow up, the extra players detract somewhat from Gonzalez’ singular nature. Not that they do great harm, and surely he needs to evolve his sound, but I feel like with the addition of others, something is lost. Despite that, this one easily gets a 4.5 out of 5 where as Veneer got a 5 out of 5.

[READ: March 2008]: McSweeney’s #26

This was a great “issue.” I enjoyed all three parts of it. (more…)

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Salman Rushdie–“The Shelter of the World” (New Yorker, February 25, 2008)

Posted in Gruff Rhys, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Salman Rushdie, Short Story, Super Furry Animals, Supernatural on March 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »

tomine.jpgSOUNDTRACK: GRUFF RHYS-Candylion (2006).

candy1.jpgI’ve mentioned before that I really like Super Furry Animals. This is the lead singer’s solo album. It sounds very similar to an SFA album, although it’s a little less bizarre, a little less indulgent (which somehow seems odd for a solo album, but whatever.) Overall, it sounds somewhat more mellow, but it’s not exactly a mellow affair. The title song is a pretty little ballad. However, the album also has some great, if not rocking, then certainly rollicking songs that are great to sing along to like “Cycle of Violence” and “Now That the Feeling is Gone.” There’s lots of la la’s and Whooos! to add to the exictemnet.

And, even better, there are two songs in Welsh: “Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru” (that’s most of the lyrics, and it means “Drive”) and “Ffwydruad yn y Ffurfafen” which is just fun to imagine how to pronoucet. So, overall it sounds not unlike any other SFA album,

There is one thing though, the last song is a near 15 minute epic story called “Skylon!” It tells the tale of a mundane flight that turns into a near plane crash. There’s an actress on board as well and a bomb, and, well frankly, between Gruff’s accent and the meandering nature of the song, I’m not exactly sure what’s happening. And yet I like and learn more of the song with each listen.

I accept that this record will never be a big seller, except maybe in Wales, but you can do your part by ordering it and enjoying all of the coolness that is Gruff.

[READ: Feb 29, 2008] “The Shelter of the World.”

When the Satantic Verses came out, I was in college, and was somewhat friendly with an Indian guy (who two years later turned out to be the best friend of my then roommate…small world? Nope, small campus.) Anyhow I was talking to him about the hoopla and the fatwa and, he, very smugly, I felt, told me that I would never understand the book because it was very Indian, and an American like myself simply couldn’t get what was going on. I was rather offended by this, (and I’m sure I remember it being much more insulting than it actually was). But, when I finally read the Satanic Verses a few years after that, it turns out he was completely right. I had no idea what was going on in that book. And even though I may someday try again, I’m still pretty sure I won’t get it. That didn’t stop me from reading and enjoying Rushdie’s other books. However, I haven’t read much by him lately. So, when I saw this story in the New Yorker I thought I’d give it a go. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #25 (2008)

Posted in Dystopia, Fantasy, Funny (strange), Joyce Carol Oates, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Sigur Rós, Steven Millhauser on February 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

mc25.jpgSOUNDTRACK: SIGUR RÓS-Hvarf-Heim (2007).

hvarf.jpgSigur Rós put on one of the greatest live shows I’ve seen. There was nothing “special” about it , in that there were no real pyrotechnics, there was just a very simple film playing on a screen behind them, but somehow they took over the small theater I saw them in…I can’t remember which one, maybe The Limelight in NYC…and I had a tremendously trippy experience. Normally, I’d chalk this up to the surrounding smoke, but this time it was definitely the music. The high notes, the swirling tunes, the coda to a sing in which the singer snag into the pickup of his guitar (a very weird thing to see), and then used some of his guitar effects on his voice; wow. I actually had to sit down after the show.

If you really let it, a Sigur Rós CD will totally envelop you. There are many layers of lush strings and harmonies, and the Icelandic/nonsensical lyrics push it over the edge into an otherwordly realm.
But what do they really sound like? My blasphemous answer is they sound like Coldplay if you pushed Coldplay to the furthest edges of their sound. If you put acid in the Coldplay CD you’d get Sigur Rós. I have a friend who loves Coldplay and I burned a copy of the second Sigur Rós album; however, I’ve no idea if she liked it…great story huh?

So, anyhow, this collection, Hvarf-Heim, is a two disc set of rarities and an unplugged live performance. The rarities are nothing too different from a typical Sigur Rós collection. Which is not to say that they’re not great–they are–they’re just nothing out of the ordinary for them, more of a boon for collectors. It’s really the love album which is what stands out. I wondered, after seeing them fully plugged in, what an unplugged version of the band could do. What you find out is that the melodies are really strong, and the otherworldlyness comes not from studio trickery or something else, but from the excellent songcraft and the soaring vocals.

They use strings to play the swells that the songs usually contain, and the strings do a great job. The recording definitely sounds unplugged, but it still retains that otherworldly sound. There’s definitely something in the Icelandic waters that produces such wonderful music.

[READ: January 31, 2008] McSweeney’s #25.

This issue of McSweeney’s sees a return to the less audacious format. It is a smallish book with an overlaid cover of two different materials. The only color components of the work are a series of horses painted by. The series is called Horses say What and each story has a cover page of a beautiful horse.

And since this volume is all about the stories, so will this review, then, be.

CONNOR KILPATRICK-“Yuri”
This story of a Russian man who comes to work at a paper plant and befriends a slacker employee is very, very manly. It seems to be full of robust men, like Yuri who are fearless, until that fearlessness catches them off guard. The story is slightly off kilter in that the narrative watches the main action from something of a distance, which makes the story more compelling. The main plotline, such as it is, is pretty simple, so it’s really the oddness of the storytelling that makes you want to finish it.

STEVEN MILLHAUSER-“The Tower”
This is a cool story investigating the reality behind constructing the Tower of Babel (it never explicitly says that, but it is a tower that reaches heaven). It is neither mocking nor reverend, but it looks very much at the logistics that would be involved in creating such a tower. This is not to imply that it is a funny story, for it is not, it is actually a little sad, but it makes for a good look at the human condition.

EMILY ANDERSON-“Love, The Frontier”
A series of diary entries propels this story of a contemporary woman leaving the city (Boston) for the frontier. She buys some oxen and starts roughing it, all in search of love. Some funny anachronistic moments but I felt they were used so sparsely that the jokes were not as strong as they could have been. I the story wasn’t meant to be funny, then it just left me a little flat.

JOYCE CAROL OATES-“Magda Maria”
This is a sad love story. The unnamed narrator is madly in love with a seemingly mythical character named Magad Maria. In the beginning of the story she is a beautiful, mysterious woman who is beholden to a brute of a man named Danto. Through the course of the story Magda’s life grows grimmer and grimmer, yet the narrator continues in his unyielding love. While not the most original of storylines, the storytelling was very compelling and really made you want to see what was up with this mysterious woman.

DAVID HOLLANDER-“The Naming of The Islands”
I didn’t like this story at the beginning. It was a nautical story about sailors being allowed to name the islands that they “discover.” It seemed to be just a simple story of conquest. However, as the story progressed, we learn that the islands are in fact a surreal collection of little islets. Each one proves to be progressively more bizarre and frustrating to the starving, dehydrated sailors. Although in reality this was a depressing story, the inventiveness of the crazy islands made the story very enjoyable to read despite itself.

ALEXANDER MACBRIDE-“The Ape Man”
A funny (strange) short story about a man who is switched at birth with a dead ape’s child. The two, who are in some respects stepbrothers, both grow to be kings in their respective cultures: the man in the ape culture and the dead ape baby in the kingdom of the dead. Like I said, pretty strange.

KENNETH BONERT-“Peacekeepers, 1995”
This was the longest story by far in this collection. It concerns a Canadian journalist named Henry as he is sent to Bosnia to cover the peacekeeping mission. As soon as he arrives, he befriends a soldier called Pigeon. Pigeon’s advice gets Henry in grave trouble with the locals. While trying to figure out what to do, Pigeon “helps” him some more. His entire stay in Bosnia, less than 24 hours turns into a whirlwind of violence, hallucinations and utter mistrust. This would have been a subject I wouldn’t have cared about, but the story was really gripping, with a surprising climax. I was a little disappointed that it didn’t “end” per se, but the story itself was great.

TERRY WRIGHT-“The Butcher, The Baker”
A one page story/poem/ramble. I read it three times and am still not sure what to make of it.

CHLOE HOOPER-“A Death in Custody”
This is a follow up to a story in Mcsweeneys #21. It is yet more depressing information amount racial inequities in Australia. A ray of hope is presented but is ultimately shot down. The realities of this area are staggering.

PADGETT POWELL-“No Empress Eyes”
This was a surreal little story about a girl who loses her horse “No Empress Eyes” and then falls in with a boy who wants to create a new harvester that will spare the lives of the deer who happen to be in the fields. The farm boy’s family takes in the girl, and they live in a cave together. Surreal, indeed. It didn’t leave to much of an impression, although I did enjoy the boy’s discourse on trying to save the deer. In fact, I’ll amend my opinion to say that I enjoyed his half of the story but not so much the horse part. Fortunately it was only 5 or so pages.

[For ease of searching I include: Sigur Ros]

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Tom Perrotta–The Abstinence Teacher (2007)

Posted in Election, Guns n' Roses, Marriage Trouble, Nick Hornby, Pearl Jam, Politicians, Religion, Set at School, Set in New Jersey!, Singles, The Believer, Tom Perotta, Tom Petty on January 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »

abstinence.jpgSOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Live at the Gorge 05/06 (2007).

gorge.jpgPROLOGUE: When Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction came out, it galvanized the three friends I had with the most disparate musical tastes. I knew an indie rock guy, a metalhead, and an industrial/goth guy, and all three of them loved Appetite for Destruction. It was the only record that they all agreed on. I thought the same would happen with Pearl Jam’s Ten. But, the goth guy didn’t think it was dark and sleazy enough (like GnR) and the indie guy found it too commercial. And, actually, I only talk to one of the three of them these days anyhow.

I’m usually pretty cynical about celebrities. And, I know well enough that rock stars who say “We love you” and “Hello, Cleveland” are, at best, pandering to us. And yet, there are some who seem sincere enough to be believed.

Eddie Vedder is one of those sincere fellows. Ever since Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster, they seemed to be using their fame and influence for the good of the common man (or at least the common fan). Since then they have donated to various charities, thrown their support behind a (in hindsight, bad) politician (Ralph Nader, a guy whose idealism I supported, but whose reality was less than ideal), and tried their best to muckrake against the current administration. So, when he thanks the audience for letting him share music with them, when he says he’s genuinely glad to be there, and when he acts moved by the show, it all seems genuine. Again, maybe he’s a good actor (although I just watched Singles, for the first time in many years, and Eddie and some of the other PJ guys are in it, and he’s not exactly a scene stealer) but I believe him.

This is all a long set-up to review this recent live collection. It’s a collection of three shows: one set is 3 CDs the other two are 2 CDs each. The first show is from 2005 and the second and third are their tour-ending shows of 2006. All of these shows were performed at The Gorge amphitheater outside of Seattle. From the talking that Eddie does, the Gorge sounds like a great place to see a show, and it sounds like there is camping on the grounds. I only wish they included photos of the show, as I’d love to see it.

The 2005 show starts out with a disc of acoustic songs. The band appears to be in unplugged mode, chilling out before letting ‘er rip in the second half of the show. As with most of their shows, the set list is long and varied. Their shows often clock in at over two hours, with a break at about the midway point. There is a decent selection of tracks from throughout their career, as well as a couple of covers. The notable aspect of this show is that Tom Petty is performing on the following night, and Vedder vows to keep him awake all night. He gets the crowd to chant “Hello Tom, Come down, Tom,” which, sadly Tom never does. But Vedder does a rendition of “I Won’t Back Down.”

The two 2006 shows are back to back two nights in a row. It sounds as if people camped out overnight. And there is some good-natured banter between Vedder and the crowd. What is especially interesting to me about this two-night event is that they play 61 songs over the course of the two nights and the only ones they repeat are “Alive,” “Corduroy,” “Even Flow,” “Given to Fly,” “Life Wasted,” “Severed Hand,” “World Wide Suicide,” and “Yellow Ledbetter.” It’s quite apparent that the band knew there would be lots of folks for both shows and they designed a nicely diverse set list for both nights.

There’s also an interesting shout out to the previous year’s show. On the last night he mentions the Tom Petty taunting from last year, and a large portion of the audience begins the “Hello, Tom. Come down, Tom.” chant.

If you’ve been a big fan of Pearl Jam (as I am) you probably have this. But if you’ve been a mild fan of Pearl Jam over the years, this is a great set to get. You’ll get all of the hits, you’ll get a bunch of songs you’re unfamiliar with, and you’ll get a band playing at its peak. The live renditions of their songs are typically fast and furious. There’s also a lot of room for improvisation. And, it’s a chance to see the lighter side of such a “serious” band. A lot of people used to like Pearl Jam but feel their works since Ten have gone steadily downhill. I disagree, but I think that’s because listening to the live versions of the songs makes you appreciate them even more. So, check it out, it’s well worth it.

[READ: January 8, 2008] The Abstinence Teacher.

My first book finished in 2008! And, I can only hope that this is a good portent for future books this year. Wow, this book was great!

(more…)

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Maile Meloy–Half in Love (2002)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Barenaked Ladies, Maile Meloy, Marriage Trouble, Short Books, Short Story on December 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »

half.jpgSOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Stunt (1998) & Maroon (2000).

stunt.jpgStunt. BNL took over the world with “One Week,” one of the most ubiquitous songs of 1998, and one that I never actually got sick of, which is pretty surprising. But it’s got many different elements and–and I think this is the clincher–the words are so hard to understand, that I spend most of my time while listening to the song, just trying to figure them out. Weird Al even parodied it (called “Jerry Springer”) so you know it was big.

[DIGRESSION]: Some day I’d like to plot the fortunes of any band that has been parodied by Weird Al. My theory is that a parody by Weird Al = instant commercial failure on future records…some day when I have free time I’ll see what I come up with.

This song helped Stunt sell millions of copies. But to me, Stunt is, overall, one of their weakest efforts. It starts off so strongly with “One Week” and “It’s All Been Done” (a song that is even catchier than “One Week.”)  There are some other strong songs on the disc: “I’ll Be That Girl” is a pretty ballad, and “Never is Enough” is another poppy gem. While “Who Needs Sleep” is one of their silly sounding songs that packs a great chorus. However, the rest don’t so much balance out the mania of the rest of the album as deaden it. I’ve listened to the album twice in the last few days and can’t really remember what some of those middle songs sound like.

Despite that, I made sure to buy the limited edition with bonus tracks, and I must say the bonus track “She’s on Time” is one of the best things on the record.

maroon.jpgMaroon. When I grabbed this record next, I had complete forgotten it existed. I assumed that the next one was Everything for Everyone, so imagine my surprise to find Maroon. And, evidently I’m not the only one who forgot about that album: allmusic says sales were off pretty far for this one (do I blame Weird Al?)

Regardless, I think that Maroon is a far superior record to Stunt. Reviewers suggest that it is sort of a Stunt 2.0, but I think the melodies are stronger and the hooks are sharper. “Pinch Me” is a fun conflation of ballad and the manic energy of “One Week,” while “Too Little, Too Late” starts the record off with a strong singalong. And “Sell Sell Sell” is a fun, over the top rocker.

Steven Page, for the most part, could sing anything and make it interesting. However, when BNL fall into a slightly more “adult contemporary” vein as they did on Stunt, Page tends to lose the pizazz that makes his voice interesting. He gets it back on Maroon, so even some of those middle songs that aren’t awesome, are still enjoyable. Of course, Ed Robertson, the other singer doesn’t fall into that same trap, but I think that’s because he doesn’t often do the mellow songs.

There’s also a bonus song by Kevin Hearn at the end of the album. And, I hate to say it, but I’m just not that big a fan of his. His songs and singing style are all very pleasant, but his whole style is just a little too pleasant. There’s no edge, and I find myself drifting away during his songs. He has more songs coming on later albums too, and they’re all very pleasant, but often very forgettable.

[READ: September 2006] Half in Love

As you can tell by the date, this is one of those books from over a year ago that I read at my previous job. I’ve been reading pretty quickly lately and haven’t had a chance to catch up on some of the old ones on my list. So, my memory is a little rusty of the details (always a danger if you read a lot). (more…)

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Roger Thorpe–Glove Pond (2007)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cancer as plot device, Consumerism, Douglas Coupland, Edward Albee, Marriage Trouble, Roger Thorpe, Short Books on December 14, 2007| 3 Comments »

glove.jpgthorpe.jpgSOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Gordon (1992) & Maybe You Should Drive (1994).

I first learned about Barenaked Ladies from a friend of a friend in college, whose name I don’t remember. Oh, and the original friend (whose name I do remember) I’ve lost touch with. So BNL outlasted all of them.

This fellow described them as being very funny and no doubt alluded to “If I Had $1,000,000” and “Be My Yoko Ono.” Now, I enjoy funny songs, so I figured I had to check them out. I was initially disappointed with Gordon because it’s not really funny. It’s definitely a light-hearted album with some funny lines in songs, but it’s not comedy rock. Of course, any band of 5 guys who call themselves “Barenaked Ladies” is not going to be serious, right?I have since grown to appreciate the vast difference between comedy rock and witty, funny songs. (Usually, you have more tolerance for the witty, funny songs. Or at least I do.)

As of this writing, I’ve seen BNL live about five times. Their stage shows are really great. I was able to see them just before they got huge (with the release of “One Week”) and, of course, right afterwards, when their audience became surprisingly filled with frat boys.

After “One Week” BNL was pretty much written off as a one-hit wonder novelty band, a tag they have been labeled with for pretty much their whole career, which would probably be weird, if they didn’t seem to embrace it so well.

BNL recently switched to releasing their own records (before Radiohead did their grand experiment–even if it wasn’t quite as grand as Radiohead’s downloadable disc), so I thought I’d review their oeuvre and see if they’ve changed much. I felt that their recent records were a bit too mellow for these guys, but I was surprised at what I found upon re-listening.

gordon.jpgGordon.
It’s funny to hear how almost two-dimensional the sound of this record is. As the band progressed, their sound got a lot fuller, and Jim Greeggan’s bass really began to stand out. But on Gordon, it’s a rather tinny affair. Many of the songs are witty, if not funny, and they are not afraid to skewer (comparatively easy) targets (New Kids on the Block, Yoko Ono).

There are of course the funny songs (“Grade 9” with a great Rush shout-out , “$1,000,000” of course). But what is surprising is the depth of some of the tracks; beautiful ballads of lost love, which is quite a theme of the band.

And, lest we forget, the melodies and harmonies are top-notch, something which elevates them above the “novelty” tag. There’s a couple of clunkers in the set, which tend to be a few mellow tracks where the melody just sort of drifts into the ether (perhaps a stab at adulthood) but overall Gordon is a keeper. (more…)

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Douglas Coupland–The Gum Thief (2007)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Digression, Douglas Coupland, Edward Albee, Epistolary Novel, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Marriage Trouble, Meta, Tom Petty, Unreliable narrator on December 12, 2007| Leave a Comment »

gum.jpgSOUNDTRACK: TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS-Anthology: Through the Years (2000).

petty.jpgTo me, Tom Petty suffers more than anyone else from egregious overexposure. I’m not sure if it’s just me who feels that way, but in my experience, “Free Fallin'” was utterly inescapable for what seemed like an eternity. And, geez, his mug was all over MTV when that album came out. It got so bad that I simply decided I was done with him.

Well, as it turns out, Sarah is a fan, so I decided to get her a greatest hits for her birthday. We’ve listened to it a few times, and it made me remember that, hey! I used to like this guy. In fact, disc one of this set is pretty darn great. There are about three songs that I didn’t recognize immediately, but otherwise I was singing along to all of his old classics.

There’s a great memory from Fast Times at Ridgemont High with “American Girl,” And there’s some songs that I forgot about like “Breakdown” and “Refugee.” However, I feel that the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” was the original overexposure video on MTV. I can’t decide how many times I saw that video when I was a young’un watching MTV in its nascent years. It was so ubiquitous that even Weird Al made a parody of it on his first album called “Stop Dragging My Car Around” (which was not terribly inspired, really).

Through much of the post-Dylan years people were described as the “next Dylan.” What really struck me, re-listening to Tom Petty is that, he seems to have misunderstood that they were speaking about his lyrics, not his voice. It’s bizarre how Dylanesque he sounds, especially on “Breakdown,” If not Dylanesque necessarily, he is at least very idiosyncratic in a way that Dylan made commercial.

Even the second disc (the overexposed era) holds up pretty well, and now, seventeen (!) years later, I can sing along to “Free Fallin'” without cringing. See that, Tom, all I needed was a decade away and now we can hang out again.

[READ: December 10, 2007] The Gum Thief.

An unusual title, The Gum Thief.

I’ve enjoyed Coupland’s work for many years now (see the JPod review), and I’m always excited to see a new book come out. I opted for the autographed box set from amazon.ca which actually turned out be pretty cheap at the time I ordered it. The box set contains Roger Thorpe’s book Glove Pond, (which will make sense in a few paragraphs) which I will be reviewing shortly.

[DIGRESSION]: Incidentally, amazon.ca is THE source for imported items from England. Most of the time, the imports on amazon.com are really expensive. But the retail price on amazon.ca for British imports is usually quite good. (This was even more true before the looney reached parity with our dollar…the exchange rate for awhile was practically half off list price!)

Back to The Gum Thief.

This is what’s called an epistolary novel, meaning it is written as a series of letters. This book varies the premise somewhat by having the letters written to each other in a diary. But it is not a series of diary entries; rather, Bethany discovers Roger’s diary and begins writing responses to his entries in it. It’s a very interesting conceit, and it plays very nicely with these characters, both of whom are completely antisocial. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Roger is an alcoholic, divorced father whose life has been generally going downhill; he more or less bottomed out with a job at a Vancouver Staples. Bethany is a post-high school goth whose life is stalling while she works at the same Vancouver Staples. Roger begins the book with some diary exercises in which he tries to get into the mind of Bethany. Bethany discovers the entries and is appalled and flattered at the same time. She writes back to Roger, telling him what he got right, but also emphatically insisting that they never acknowledge each other outside of the diary.

What Roger’s diary also contains is the beginning of his novel: Glove Pond. The box set I bought contains Glove Pond as a separate item as well, and I’ll review that next. But for now, I can say that Glove Pond is basically Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, in tone, mannerism and setup. [I rather hope this will get people to read the great Albee play]. It is about an older, long-married couple (he is a writer) who inadvertently invite a young, newly-married couple (he is a writer) over for dinner. The angry resentment between youth and age, success and failure and so many other things brews up into a heady mixture of Scotch and insults.

What makes the story even more meta- is that Kyle, the young writer in Glove Pond is writing his new novel, about an old, drunken man who works in an office superstore.

Surrounding the chapters of Glove Pond are the actual letters of the story. Primarily they are between Roger and Bethany, but they also include some correspondence with Bethany’s mom (whom Roger knew in high school), and, in a break from the “in Roger’s diary” aspect, some letters between other co-workers (who also discover Glove Pond, and do not share Bethany’s (genuine) enthusiasm for it).

Aside from all of the intricacies of the make-up of the story, what about the narrative? Well, the story is basically about a young girl–whose life had been full of close people dying–connecting to a frankly pathetic father-figure (but her own father is also out of the picture, so it’s understandable). It is at times very sad, especially as you watch these characters shut themselves down internally and externally.

Ultimately, Bethany tries to make a bold move outside of Staples, a risk that she didn’t think she was capable of. And Roger sets his sights on accomplishing at least one thing in his life, namely, finishing a book. You watch these characters slowly come alive until the last chapter, in which the meta- world comes crashing in on Roger and makes you rethink a lot of what you have just read.

As with most Coupland, the pop culture references, and corporate skewering, are fast and furious. And, as with most Coupland, just when you think the novel is going to be light and funny, weighty themes are opened and genuine sadness falls over these seemingly frozen people. What I think is particularly cool about this book is the way he is able to take a somewhat detached literary style like the epistolary novel and imbue some real passion into these shells of human beings. Obviously, diary entries tend to reveal impassioned thoughts by the writer, but in a series of letters written to two people who are not wooing each other, one wouldn’t expect high emotion. And yet it comes out, and it comes across very naturally.

And, as it turns out, stealing gum does play a pretty big role in both the novel and the novel within the novel, so the title does make sense.

Oh, and there’s also some cool videos available from Random House Canada. They are promotional shorts for The Gum Thief, and they’re available at Coupland’s My Space page as well as on You Tube, which is funny given the You Tube references in the book.

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Roddy Doyle–“The Dog” (New Yorker, November 5, 2007)

Posted in Foreign Books, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, The Go! Team on November 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »

ny115.jpgSOUNDTRACK: THE GO! TEAM-Thunder, Lightning , Strike (2004).

goteam.jpgThe Go! Team have a new album out and so I dug out their first to see if I liked it enough to check out the new one. This first one is such a weird album. It feels intensely like what I would call a joke album. There are cheesy horns, crazy samples of cheerleaders cheering, and hooks hooks hooks! It all sounds like the soundtrack to the best 70s action TV show that never existed. And yet the whole thing works so well. It is just so damned catchy. I listened to it about 3 times today and never got sick of it.

I can’t really imagine how you would follow it up…more of the same would be lame, but where could you possibly go from there? I’ll definitely be looking into it.

[READ: November 5, 2007] “The Dog.”

My initial exposure to Roddy Doyle was through his early, funny stories (Woody Allen shout out, there). And as he continues writing, his stories get darker and darker. Not mean spirited or sadistic, just kind of sad and fate-filled. While I do miss the funny Roddy, this newer side writes so precisely and so beautifully that it’s hard to complain. (more…)

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Paul Theroux–“Mr Bones” (New Yorker, September 17, 2007)

Posted in Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Paul Theroux, Short Story, Swans on November 6, 2007| Leave a Comment »

ny917.jpgSOUNDTRACK: SWANS-Omniscience (1992).

swans.jpgWhen I was in college, I really liked the Swans. They were noisy as all get out, and were at the forefront of an industrial style that has since become mainstream. But at the time they were pretty scary.

I particularly liked Children of God, a great album split between noisy M. Gira songs and pretty, soft Jarboe songs. Shortly after this record they released a very soft record called The Burning World with a totally mellow cover of “Can’t Find My Way Home.”

I had sort of stopped listening to them sometime after college, and then my friend Lar got into them and found out that I had a bunch of their older, then out-of-print, records, so we started sharing them. I got back into them and was able to fill out my collection of Swans works, all except Omniscience. He made me a copy of it and I liked it, and I just found a used one for myself.

Omniscience is a live record which came towards the end of their career. And the amazing thing is how beautiful the record is, for the most part. There are still some noisy, bass-heavy parts, but Swans had changed so drastically from the noisy band of yore that Omniscience is practically atmospheric in feel.  There are some interesting samples of dialogue that are simply weird and arbitrary, but they do set a mood for the show.  But compared to say, Public Castration is a Good Idea, it’s soothing.

[READ: October 15, 2007] “Mr. Bones.”

This is the second story by Theroux that I have read. (The first one was in the New Yorker a few months ago, and is being released in a new collection of his shortly). I’d heard the name of Theroux over and over, but wasn’t really familiar with his work. The other story was set in India, as I’m led to believe much of his stuff is. So, this one came as quite a surprise. (more…)

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Elliot Perlman–The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming (2005)

Posted in David Foster Wallace, Elliot Perlman, Foreign Books, Marriage Trouble, Short Story on October 10, 2007| 6 Comments »

perlman.jpgSOUNDTRACK: NED SUBLETTE: Cowboy Rumba (1999).

sublette.jpgTypically I’m the one who introduces our house to new music. My wife has great taste, but she doesn’t typically seek out new stuff like I do. So, it was a nice surprise when she found this record. I think she heard about it on NPR. I was trying to figure out how best to describe the record, but really the title says it all. It is a country-tinged record that is primarily backed by horns in a “rumba” style (although Sublette admits in the liner notes that it’s not really a rumba). I’m not a big fan of country music, and I’m not a huge fan of South of the Border horn music (sambas, rumbas etc). However, Sarah and I took some ballroom dance classes, and my appreciation for these styles has really grown. We even requested one of these songs (“Feelin’ No Pain”) for our wedding reception.

Overall, the album is good fun, the songs are boozy and dancey, upbeat and downtown. Sublette called in some players from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, which adds some authenticity to his tales of loss and lust. In general, all the songs overstay their welcome a little. I don’t know if this is a feature of the region’s songs, or if Sublette would rather stretch his pieces out to 5:30 when 4:30 would suffice. Despite that, “Cheater’s Motel” “Ready to Be Your Lover” and “Feelin’ No Pain” are really great, fun songs. It was only after a number of listens that I really got to hear what he was saying in his monologue pieces (like “Her Point of View”), and they’re all pretty amusing tales. So don’t just listen for the fun horns, stay for the story!

[READ: October 9, 2007] The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming.

There are nine short stories in this collection. It’s tough to review a series of short stories simply because you don’t want to give away too much, or even devote a lot of space to a small part of a book. These stories seem to fit very well with each other, so I think it’s safe to make some claims about the book as a whole, but there are enough distinctions between the stories to select some details from each. (more…)

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