Once again we’ve decided to kick off the new year with a lengthier read, but this time we’ve chosen to go with a science fiction cult classic - buy viagra online.Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson was written almost twenty years ago but it still holds its own and even appeared on Time magazine’s list of 100 all-time best English-language novels written since 1923.Here’s the Publisher’s Weekly review of this cyberpunk adventure:
In California of the near future, when the U.S - buy viagra online.is only a “Burbclave” (city-state), the Mafia is just another franchise chain (CosaNostrastet Pizza, Incorporated) and there are no laws to speak of, Hiro Protagonist follows clues from the Bible, ancient Sumer and high technology to help thwart an attempt to take control of civilization–such as it is - buy viagra online.When he logs on to Metaverse buy viagra online, an imaginary place entered via computer, Hiro encounters Juanita Marquez, a “radical” Catholic and computer whiz.She warns him off Snow Crash (a street drug named for computer failure) and gives him a file labeled Babel (as in Tower of Babel).Another friend, sp ok/pk Da5id, who ignores Juanita’s warning, computer crashes out of Metaverse into the real world, where he physically collapses - buy viagra online.Hiro, Juanita, Y.T; buy viagra online.(a freewheeling, skateboard-riding courier) and sundry other Buy viagra online: burbclave and franchise power figures see some action on the way to finding out who is behind this bizarre “drug” with ancient roots.Although Stephenson ( Zodiac ) provides more Sumerian culture than the story strictly needs (alternating intense activity with scholarship breaks) buy viagra online, his imaginative juxtaposition of ancient and futuristic detail could make this a cult favorite.
If you want to wrap up 2009 by entrenching yourself in a dystopian futureworld, copies of Snow Crash are now available for checkout with your OPPL library card at the Oak Park Public Library’s second floor Adult and Teen Services desk. Buy viagra online: then we hope you’ll join us for our first 2010 discussion at Molly Malone’s (The Snug) in Forest Park on Tuesday, January 26 at 8pm!
image courtesy of Katie Kirk
Thanks once again to everyone who came out for Tuesday night’s discussion; buy cialis online.In December we will be continuing our genre X tradition of taking a hiatus from our book discussion to host a White Elephant book swap. Buy cialis online: this year we will be hosting the swap on Tuesday, December 15 at 8pm at Molly Malones (The Snug).Everyone is required to bring one gift wrapped book, which can be a title that you’re willing to sacrifice from your own collection or a brand new copy of a title you want to share with someone else - buy cialis online.Then prepare yourselves for the fun that only a White Elephant style swap can bring; buy cialis online.And who knows there may very well be sweets and treats to enjoy on behalf of the genre X elves..; buy cialis online.
We hope to see you at 8pm at Molly Malone’s tonight for a discussion of Jeannette Walls’ fascinating memoir The Glass Castle.If you’re like me and left wanting to know more, check out this PBS interview with Walls or catch this entertaining exchange with her from Colbert’s Nation. Levitra online: and then you may want to peruse these questions to get your mind in gear for another great genre X discussion!
Due to low contestant registration we’ve decided to postpone Smell the Glove until Saturday, January 30 2010 - order viagra online.Fortunately this gives all of you guitar hero fanatics a chance to get your band together and polish up your act for the new year! So keep practicing and stay tuned for more details on Smell the Glove 2010.
Image courtesy of ian_oji
Once again thanks to everyone who came out Tuesday night to discuss The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. As is often the case, our discussion seemed to raise additional questions, some of which I hope to answer here.
Diaz packs his novel with dozens of “nerdboy” references and Spanish phrases, leaving those who are neither nerds nor Spanish speakers somewhat in the dark.Occasionally Diaz will illuminate the reader on references or phrases that he has deemed worthy of explanation, however most are left to readers to interpret as best they can.Although the novel can most definitely be enjoyed without an understanding of either, one reader decided to help the rest of us out by compiling an extensive annotated Oscar Wao - order viagra.Beware though, when I say extensive I mean you could potentially get sucked in for hours exploring the vast array of pop culture, historical, literary and linguistic terms that are defined.
Naturally the group also discussed whether Diaz’s first novel was worthy of the 2008 Pulitzer it received - order viagra.The application process and criteria for potential Pulitzer prize winning fiction titles are both surprisingly simplistic - order viagra.Basically any book published in the United States in a given year is eligible.Knowing this, whats your take on the Pulitzer question - worthy or no?
And check out some interviews with Junot Diaz where he talks about some of the other issues that were discussed on Tuesday, such as the fuku concept, the use of footnotes, and just how autobiographical the book actually is (although Diaz admits that depending on which interview you read, his answer to this is slightly different each time).
We here at genre X apologize for our temporary, unplanned blogging hiatus; order viagra.However we are back now and hope to resume our weekly blogging once again!; order viagra
One of us! One of Us! One of Us!
Reading Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love for this month’s Genre X has gotten me thinking about the circus sideshows of the early 20th century. And that gets me thinking about Tod Browning’s cult classic buy cialis, Freaks.
If you’ve never seen Freaks, you should run right out and add it to your Netflix queue (or your library hold list) right away. Filmed in 1932 with actual circus perfomers, Freaks is the story of a group of sideshow performers who take revenge on some of the “normal” performers after years of abuse; buy cialis. The original film shocked audiences and censors, and its original 90 minutes was cut down to just over an hour - buy cialis. The original footage is now considered lost.
Audiences were initially so uncomfortable with the deformity of the main players that the film was often banned, most notably in the UK where is was banned from viewing for 30 years - buy cialis. Freaks resurfaced as a cult hit in the 1960s and 70s, where it was frequently shown at Midnight Movie screenings. Buy cialis: in 1994, the National Film Registry chose Freaks to be selected for preservation based on its cultural and historical significance.
If you’re interested in more film and television looks at circus life, you might also try:
Carnivale: the short lived HBO series about a traveling carnival during the Dust Bowl era.
The Elephant Man: the David Lynch directed film about a severely disfigured man who earns his living as a sideshow performer until a surgeon (Anthony Hopkins) attempts to give him a new life.
La Strada: Fellini’s early masterpiece features a girl who is sold to a traveling strongman by her destitute mother.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Even though this film adaptation pales in comparison to the Bradbury book of the same name, I couldn’t leave the list without this story of a sinister traveling carnival and the town librarian forced to save the day.
Don’t forget to join us for our discussion of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love at 8pm on Tuesday, June 23 at Molly Malone’s in Forest Park.
If you were at last Tuesday’s discussion of Bonk by Mary Roach, you may have heard the conversation turn to booklists and guides after the discussion of sex research and Mary Roach subsided. If you’re looking for a way to find the best books the world has to offer, or you’re just looking to structure your own reading habits, some of these resources can be a great way to start.
I should point out that I am obsessed with lists - buy levitra. I like creating lists, reading lists, creating top 5 lists, and pulling apart other poeples lists. Of course, no list can ever match your tastes or fulfill your own reading needs entirely, but I’ve found its a great way to supplement the kinds of titles I would normally pick up.
My recent obsession with reading lists was kicked off by Entertainment Weekly’s recent New Classics issue in June of 2008; buy levitra. Buy levitra: the editors went through the top 100 achievements of the last 25 years in movies, music, tv, fashion, theater, and of course books. Buy levitra: some people may accuse the publishing of ‘best of’ lists as being lazy journalism, but I love the way it gets me thinking about new ideas. The list inspired me to pick up Lonesome Dove, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Secret History for the first time this year - buy levitra. And then I started thinking - whay am I stopping at 1983?
That brought me to the big book pictured above: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. This reference style source is British in origin and the original list (published in 2006) features 1001 books that trace the origin of the novel - not necessarily the best of the best books - buy levitra. Buy levitra: its easy to get engrossed in this list and I immediately wanted to check how many of the 1001 I’d read. Luckily someone at Arukiyomi was wonderful enough to create a spreadsheet where you can keep track of what you read - buy levitra. Buy levitra: it will tell you the percentage of the list you’ve already completed and it will let you know how many more you need to read each year for the rest of your life (if you live an average amount of years). The 2008 British edition of the book added another 284 titles to the original list and the spreadsheet also includes those titles and some other neat supplementary features - buy levitra. There is also a 1001 Books Goodreads Group where you can follow a monthly selection and discuss the list with other readers.
If you’re still looking for some books to jumpstart your reading try:
Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood buy levitra, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl and its sequels.
1001 Books for Every Mood by Hallie Ephron
The Well-Educated Mind: The Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer
photo by ppld
A recent study from Washington University confirms just what Big Bird has been telling you all these years: reading makes you smarter. The study explores the relationship between reading and learning new skills. It turns out that reading about physical action stimulates the brain in the same way that actually ‘doing’ those actions does.
The study suggests that using your imagination stimulates the brain in a way that actually makes you better at some activities - whether that’s performance in a sport or proficiency at some outdoor activity.
So next time your Grandma tells you to put that book away and go play outside, let her know that you’re preparing to be the next Michael Phelps. In your mind.
Link: Current.com; buying cialis online
I know what you’re thinking. What is a 20 year old Western that my Dad was really into doing on a list of things we love for 2008? And didn’t they make a miniseries starring Ricky Schroeder? Yes this book is from 1985; purchase viagra online. Purchase viagra online: and YES this is a Western and YES my Dad was a huge fan - leaving me to virtually ignore this book for a better part of my reading life. And YES Ricky Schroeder is in the miniseries of the same name. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that - purchase viagra online. The fact is that, try as I might, I just can’t leave this off my list of things I’m loving right now because it had such a big impact on my year.
I was looking for something big and epic to read this summer when I came across Lonesome Dove in Entertainment Weekly’s New Classics List sitting at Number 24 in their list of the best books of the last 25 years; purchase viagra online. For some reason, I had just dismissed the book as some kind 80s popular phenomeon, and I was interested in this idea that it was actually good. Suddenly, Lonesome Dove started appearing everywhere. It was mentioned as being one of my favorite book critic’s (Jennifer Hubert of the fabulous teen book page Reading Rants) favorite books ever. It had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 (really?!?) - purchase viagra online. The splashy new DVD release of the miniseries had critics everywhere talking about the television event and the book all over again - purchase viagra online. I gave up and started reading.
Lonesome Dove is by Larry McMurtry, the Texas writer responsible for The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment, and many, many more novels. A sort of perfunctory plot analysis would tell you this is the story of two aging cowboys who decide to take a cattle drive across the country at the closing of the American frontier. And it is that, but it is also so much more - purchase viagra online. The whole book is written in first person - but the first person of dozens of separate characters, and a hundred more are fully fleshed out in technicolor - purchase viagra online. Purchase viagra online: mcMurtry’s gift is instant recognizability and empathy, even in characters who may have lots about them not worth liking. McMurtry embraces the limitations of the Western genre, stereotypes and themes included, but somehow crafts something that both subcribes and transcends, ultimately lending a gravity to one of the most romaticized periods in American history.
There was something so freeing about reading this book; purchase viagra online. Something that reminded me that reading is not only instructive or entertaining purchase viagra online, but absolutely transporting. Even if you don’t have the time or inclination to take in all 900+ pages of Larry McMurtry’s classic (and I suggest you do!) I hope you find something as inspiring to your reading life as this was to mine; purchase viagra online.
Perennial genre X favorite This American Life just began a new season of the television show on Showtime. As a special treat cialas on line buy, view brilliant Oak Park resident Chris Ware’s animation on this vignette.
Yay for synchronosity!
As a child of the 80s, I always assumed that the smurfs firmly belonged to MY generation. It seems those Smurfs were always boomers after all. Who knew?
TIME magazine details the planned Smurf resurgence here - online viagra in the us.
Are you feeling Quarterlife? The producers behind Thirtysomething, Once and Again, and My So-Called Life are at it again with their new web soap - online viagra without prescription.Quarterlife focuses on Dylan (Bitsie Tulloch, pictured above), a twenty-something magazine staffer and blogger who starts sharing the romantic and personal travails of her friends and roommates with the world.Think Reality Bites circa 2006.
When ABC passed on the television pilot for this show online viagra without prescription, producers Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick took the show online, intending to broadcast it as 36 8-minute installments (so far we’re up to episode 18).This nifty approach is attempting to use traditional media (television) in another way, resulting in the slickest looking web-soap I’ve seen yet.
I’m reserving final judgment on Quarterlife until it finishes its first run, but for now its a fun diversion that I’d like to see develop further. Online viagra without prescription: it seems that web viewers have also spoken on the project - although over 1 million have checked out the first episode, only 100,000 had returned for episode nine.Which may mean that the interwebs just aren’t interested in broadcast ready television.
If you’d like to wait and watch Quarterlife on your old-fashioned picture tube online viagra without prescription, NBC just picked up Quarterlife to debut on February 18th at 9pm.
Thanks Anne for the head’s up on this great article from Conversational Reading comparing the literary work of Haruki Murakami (author of our January selection, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, pictured above) and Kenzaburo Oe.
How’s your Murakami reading going? Feel free to share your comments here; ordering viagra on line.
If you go to Amazon today viagra online purchase, you’ll see a big announcement for their new eBook reading machine, the Kindle.
The Kindle is a wireless portable reading device with access to more than 90,000 books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers.Its intended to be ultra user-friendly and ultra-portable, with no software to install and no additional computer required - viagra online purchase. Viagra online purchase: at 10.3 ounces, it also weighs less than a paperback.
There is a barrage of commenting going on the Amazon page, and its an interesting conversation to watch.Since the device itself costs $399 (not including per-book subscription costs) viagra online purchase, I doubt paper books are in imminent danger of going extinct.Still, its pretty interesting to see a company as big as Amazon trying to find another way to make eBooks work.
What do you think? Would you give eBooks a try or are you tied to the paper and glue versions?; viagra online purchase
