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Caroline Calloway–Scammer (2023)

December 29, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 29, 2023] Scammer

We get a surprisingly large number of self-published books at my library.  Most of them I don’t look at, but some look interesting enough to flip through.

This one was packaged with a ribbon around in (and a bookmark), and I loved the text on the back of the book.

“Is Caroline Calloway a scammer?  No.” — The New York Times.

Suffice it to say I had never heard of Caroline Calloway and had no idea what she was scamming, but there was something about this book that made me want to read it.

The book sums up the scamming.  In fact, it is a memoir (of sorts) about her time as a scammer.  She calls this a daybook–the kind of book you could read in a day–although it took me a few days.

The book is set up in 67 vignettes.  And I found the narrator to be quite engaging.  She talks about her family and upbringing a bit, but for the most part she gets right to the scamming.

She always wanted to go to Cambridge University.  She was rejected twice and then lied (a bit) on her transcript to get in on the third try.  She also found an editor (through trickery) and secured a book deal although she had no intention of writing the book.  When she blew through the $100,000 advance and now had to pay it back, she started an OnlyFans account, did some topless photos and made the money back in a few months. Continue Reading »

Posted in Addiction, Caroline Calloway, Language, Liars, Natalie Beach, Nostalgia, Social Media, The Cut, Word usage | Leave a Comment »

Phish (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, December 28-30, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

December 28, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 28-30, 2023] Phish

I have been to the Phish New Year’s Eve run a few times.  I went on Night 3 in 2018 and nights 2 and 3 in 2019.  But I’ve never been to New Year’s Eve.

I have reached the point where Madison Square Garden is too much of a hassle for me, so I wasn’t even planning on trying to get tickets for these shows.  But I figured I’d give New Year’s Eve a shot and I actually got some!

So I had no desire to go to these shows.

It’s possible that New Year’s Eve will be my last Phish show (that will make 17 shows).  I don’t really feel the need to go for 20, but they do keep drawing me back in.

I’m not going to The Sphere, though, as cool as that sounds.

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish | Leave a Comment »

Olga Tokarczuk–The Books of Jacob, or: A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, drawing from a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment (2014) [translated 2021]

December 28, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 28, 2023] The Books of Jacob

I don’t recall when I checked this book out.  I think it was in September, which makes me feel less bad about finishing it in December.  Still three month?  Well, it was 965 pages and I didn’t really read it at home, so I guess that kind of works out.

And now in December I don’t exactly remember why I checked it out.  I think I had an audiobook ad for Tokarczuk’s other book Flights and it was raved about.  I checked out this and Flights at he same time, but Flights was recalled by another patron, so  didn’t get to finish it (I barely started it).

But so I didn’t know what this was about at all. But I love a large book, and this was a large book.  It also had the fun detail that the pages ran backwards (in the acknowledgments, she notes that it is because the book is inspired by Hebrew and is (kind of) right to left for numbering.

I can honestly say that I didn’t realize that this book was kind of non fiction until about half way through the book.  It’s not exactly non-fiction, it’s a fictionalized account of something that happened centuries ago based on research and primary documents.

It’s interesting but not especially compelling.  A whole lot happens but really not much happens.  I could have put it down at just about any point and felt “done.”  And yet I kept coming back to it.  I felt like it was a slog to read, but almost every time I read it, I enjoyed what I read and was surprised at how many pages I read in a sitting. Continue Reading »

Posted in Jennifer Croft, Language, Nostalgia, Olga Tokarczuk, Religion, Translation | 1 Comment »

Drew Buxton–“So Much Heart” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #25] (2023)

December 25, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 25, 2023] “So Much Heart”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Drew Buxton.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 25. To officially conclude the 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about family, friends, and mysterious suitcases stuffed full of cash.

This story features both Bigfoot and D.B. Cooper.

Set in Oregon, two young kids Collin and Shelley go into the woods with a film camera looking for Bigfoot. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bigfoot, Canadian Content, Christmas, Drew Buxton, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Willa Cather–“The Burglar’s Christmas” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #24] (1896)

December 24, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 24, 2023] “The Burglar’s Christmas”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Willa Cather.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 24. Willa Cather, author of O Pioneers! and My Antonia, died in 1947. “The Burglar’s Christmas” first appeared, under a pseudonym, in Home Monthly in 1896.

Yesterday was grifters, today it’s burglars. Continue Reading »

Posted in Burglary, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Parenting, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Willa Cather | Leave a Comment »

David Ryan–“Holiday” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #23] (2023)

December 23, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2023] “Holiday”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was David Ryan.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 23. David Ryan, author of Animals in Motion, would like to open a chequing account.

I happened to be listening to an audio book about a family of grifters–something that I feel like I don’t hear about all that often.  And yet here was a random short story in this collection that is also about a grifter.

Jeremy and Sophia are in bed together.  They have been a couple for a short time, and Sophia has just told him the Lost in the Bank story (her parents lost her in a bank).  Jeremy: Were they high?  Sophia: Probably. Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, David Ryan, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Anton Chekov–“Boys” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #22] (1887)

December 22, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 22, 2023] “Boys”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Anton Chekhov.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 22. Anton Chekhov, one of the greatest Russian writers of all time, died in 1904. His story “At Christmas Time” appeared in the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, among other places.

This story was translated by Constance Garnett (who died in 1946). Continue Reading »

Posted in Anton Chekhov, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Binnie Kirshenbaum–“The Gift of the Magi Revisited” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #21] (2020)

December 21, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 21, 2023] “The Gift of the Magi Revisited”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Binnie Kirshenbaum.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 21. Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of Rabbits for Food, can’t find the receipt, so will settle for store credit.

I was concerned when I saw the title of this one because it’s a lot to reference a stone-cold classic in the title of your story and then say you are revisiting it.  I feared the worst: either Kirshenbaum would try to improve on the story or she would make a kind of anti-Gift of the Magi, which would be negative and nasty. Continue Reading »

Posted in Binnie Kirshenbaum, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Leopoldine Core–“The Skull” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #20] (2023)

December 20, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 20, 2023] “The Skull”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Leopoldine Core.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 20. Leopoldine Core, author of When Watched, steers clear of Facebook Marketplace.

This was a short story about, yes, a skull.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Leopoldine Core, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Michael LaPointe–“Private Hands” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #19] (2021)

December 19, 2023 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 19, 2023] “Private Hands”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Michael LaPointe.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 19. Michael LaPointe, author of The Creep, has a line on a shoe once worn by Jerry Garcia.

I’ve read a lot of short stories over the years and I keep this blog as a way to remember them.  But it’s cool when I can start a story and recognize it.  I read this story over two and a half years ago in The Walrus, but it rang familiar after the first few paragraphs.  Interesting that i didn’t remember how it ended.

Harvey has a lot of rarities that he sells.  He is trying to sell a 1963 Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix played at the Juggy Sound Studio.  He asks $500,000 but he knows it’s too much (Harvey overpaid for it and wants to make some money back). Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Jimi Hendrix, Museum of the Dandelion, Provenance, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, The Walrus | Leave a Comment »

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