MOVABLE TYPE
What to read this summer
... and where to read it
Not all summer books are good for the beach. Location can definitely affect your reading experience, so here are some recommendations of recently released and forthcoming titles, along with suggested locales for perusing, pondering, and appreciating them.
THE MUSEUM BOOK
The Confusion, Neal Stephenson (William Morrow). For many fans of the Cryptonomicon author's "Baroque Cycle," which began with Quicksilver, the whole summer will be devoted to this single, immense novel. Where can you grapple with such a massive, intimidating conglomeration of historical, scientific, and mystical knowledge? Try the newly opened Tula Tea Room at the Museum of Jurassic Technology (9341 Venice Blvd., Culver City, 310-836-6131), where the exhibits or the museum's Library for the Diffusion of Useful Information might help elucidate some elements of Stephenson's story. Open Thur. 2 p.m.-8 p.m.; Fri.-Sun 1 p.m.-6 p.m.
THE LITTLE TOKYO BOOK
Sayonara, Gangsters, Genichiro Takahashi, translated by Michael Emmerich (Vertical Inc.). Published in Japan in 1982, this is the first English translation of the celebrated debut novel by the postmodern Japanese writer also known for his as-yet-untranslated novel John Lennon vs. the Martians. An utterly whimsical, bewildering work of contemplative fabulism about a poetry teacher who ponders the mysteries of names, cats, language, and violence with a style more experimental than his contemporary Haruki Murakami, Takahashi's novel recalls the surreal worlds of Boris Vian and Julio Cortazar. Read it in the traditional garden of the New Otani Hotel (120 S. Los Angeles St., 213-629-1200), before or after strolling modern Little Tokyo.
THE PERSHING SQUARE BOOK
American Desert, Percival Everett (Hyperion). Aldous Huxley's 1948 dystopia Ape and Essence depicts downtown L.A.'s Pershing Square in 2018 as "the hub and center of the city's cultural life," and the site of mutants burning books from the Public Library to fuel ovens for baking bread. If any modern author shares Huxley's propensities for erudite absurdities and grim social satire, it's Percival Everett. En route to committing suicide, American Desert's protagonist is decapitated in an auto accident but survives to become the headless (horse)man ushering in Everett's apocalyptic attacks on academia, media, and religion. Find a bench in Huxley's old "hub" and revel in Everett's scathing look at our current cultural climate.
THE METRO BOOK
Iron Council, China Miéville (Ballantine). In one of the year's most highly anticipated science-fiction novels, Miéville returns to New Crobuzon, the city first introduced in his impressive Perdido Street Station. Decades have passed, and the metropolis is now beset by political strife, engaged in a war, and witness to strange acts of rebellion and violence. Do justice to the diverse textures of Miéville's urban sprawl by reading it on a city bus or train while traversing L.A.'s various neighborhoods.
THE ROCK BOOK
The 33 1/3 Series: Electric Ladyland (# 8), John Perry; Unknown Pleasures (#9), Chris Ott; The Velvet Underground and Nico (#11), Joe Harvard (Continuum). Last year, I discovered Andrew Hultkrans's marvelous exegesis of Love's Forever Changes in this collection of rock-album commentaries edited by David Barker. Brilliantly researched and written, these three new contributions are compact enough to carry in a pocket (or a guitar case) while you wait for friends or troll for tickets outside the Troubadour, the Wiltern, Spaceland, the Echo, the Anarchy Library, or any other music venue.
THE CINEMATHEQUE BOOK
Conjunctions: 42, Cinema Lingua: Writers Respond to Film (Bard College). Bradford Morrow's eminent literary journal always includes enough prominent writers and variations on a theme to rival any anthology. The latest issue is a diverse and dazzling compilation of essays, poems, and fiction inspired by the movies, including an unpublished play script by John Sayles; C.D. Wright's reflection on "Rewatching The Passenger"; writings by William Gass, John Haskell, and William Vollmann; and poems by Geoffrey O'Brien and Arielle Greenberg. Take it to the courtyard of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre (6712 Hollywood Blvd.) or a booth at Musso & Frank (6667 Hollywood Blvd.) before or after the film.
THE OBLIVION BOOK
Oblivion, David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown & Co.). Like summer vacationers, summer readers are ultimately seekers of oblivion. What better title to signify your state of mind, wherever you should find yourself, than this long-awaited short-story collection by the obsessional storyteller of Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and, of course, Infinite Jest? These tales of loneliness and love, self-absorption and self-deception, will carry you out of yourself, but, like summer, the respite will seem all too short.
Published: 05/20/2004
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