Books about Literature and Fiction

Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Literature and Fiction

Editors, Kerry Fried, James Marcus, and Alix Wilber

FEATURED IN THIS E-MAIL:
* What We're Reading: Oonya Kempadoo's "Buxton Spice," Ivan
Doig's "Mountain Time," Nicholas Rinaldi's "The Jukebox
Queen of Malta," and Elwood Reid's "What Salmon Know"
* James Baldwin's Passionate Embrace
* A Prophet in His Own Country: An Interview with Paul Auster
* Curious Jorge (Borges, that is)
* Editors' Choice: Claire Messud's "The Last Life," Richard
Beard's "Damascus," Veronica Geng's "Love Trouble," and
William Weaver's "Open City"
* New Literature & Fiction Paperbacks: Harold Bloom's
"Shakespeare," Ann Beattie's "Park City," and Sebastian
Barry's "The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty"
* Not Yet Published: Stephen King's "Hearts in Atlantis,"
Patrick O'Brian's "Blue at the Mizzen," and Michael Downing's
"Breakfast with Scot," among others

WHAT WE'RE READING
******************
"Buxton Spice"
by Oonya Kempadoo
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525945067/entertainmentsit>
In "Buxton Spice," Oonya Kempadoo preserves her Guyanese
childhood in exquisite (and often erotic) amber. Her slender
novel includes a surprisingly large cast of small-town
eccentrics, as well as a catalog of the local flora--but
it's the author's musical prose that makes this such a
delicious debut.

"Mountain Time"
by Ivan Doig
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068483295X/entertainmentsit>
Ivan Doig sets the first half of "Mountain Time" in the
overcast, caffeinated metropolis of Seattle. But his hero,
an aging environmental columnist, soon finds himself back
home in Montana--where the Old and New West are squared off
in a prolonged and comical clash.

"The Jukebox Queen of Malta"
by Nicholas Rinaldi
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684856123/entertainmentsit>
"The Jukebox Queen of Malta" is perhaps the first novel to
make literary hay from that minuscule Mediterranean isle.
But Nicholas Rinaldi's latest, which is set in the early
years of the Second World War, is an irresistible frolic--
complete with lovesick American pilots, homegrown beauties,
and a pack of elderly, irredentist schemers.

"What Salmon Know"
by Elwood Reid
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385491212/entertainmentsit>
In "What Salmon Know," Elwood Reid depicts his blue-collar
protagonists with deadpan accuracy. Whether they're
squabbling over a bucket of fish innards or stumbling
through an inebriated softball game, these are men's
men--redeemed not only by glimmers of hope but by the
author's explosive, no-frills prose.

And check out these other recommended reads:
Literature & Fiction

JAMES BALDWIN'S PASSIONATE EMBRACE
**********************************
Born 75 years ago at the very epicenter of African American
life--in Harlem Hospital, no less--James Baldwin went on to
chronicle our black-and-white culture with pitiless,
passionate accuracy. As far as Michael Downing is concerned,
"There are few writers we so desperately need." See what
Downing has to say about the late author's penetrating
genius and take a look at our list of essential titles by
and about Baldwin.
Literature & Fiction

A PROPHET IN HIS OWN COUNTRY
****************************
Novelist, essayist, poet, and occasional filmmaker, Paul
Auster is both prolific and critically acclaimed--so why
isn't he better known in his native United States? His
latest novel, "Timbuktu," examines the seamy underbelly of
America's dispossessed through the eyes of homeless Willie
G. Christmas and his dog, Mr. Bones. In an exclusive
interview with Amazon.com, Auster describes its evolution
and explains, among other things, the connection between
this story and Bugs Bunny.
Literature & Fiction

CURIOUS JORGE
*************
Throughout his career, fabulous fabulist Jorge Luis Borges
demonstrated that the best things--not to mention eternal
things--come in small packages. Check out our overview of
this majestic minimalist, as well our list of Borges
essentials.
Literature & Fiction

EDITORS' CHOICE
***************
"The Last Life"
by Claire Messud
Claire Messud's second novel starts with a bang: "The
beginning, as I take it, was the summer night of my
fifteenth birthday when my grandfather shot at me."
Throughout "The Last Life," Messud has an eye for the
mechanisms of familial shame, an ear for our daily
impersonations, and a memory for forgetfulness. Ranging
between France, the U.S., and colonial Algeria, her book is
a heated exploration of tenses: the past, present, and, all
too often, the pluperfect--the might-have-been. Check out
Kerry Fried's choice for this month and other transporting
titles.
Literature & Fiction

"Damascus"
by Richard Beard
You've heard that old chestnut, "Today is the first day of
the rest of your life." But for Hazel and Spencer, it's
the only day. In "Damascus," all the action takes place on
November 1, 1993, the day Hazel and Spencer are born, meet
for the first time 12 years later, and eventually make love
12 years after that. It's also the day that Spencer hopes
beyond hope to finally find his Damascus: "a sign, any sign,
telling him that he and Hazel were right for each other and
that therefore his life had changed direction overnight."
Time may have stopped for Hazel and Spencer, but life moves
right along in Richard Beard's brilliant, funny, and
definitely weird meditation on all the moments that lead up
to a defining moment. And see what else Alix Wilber has been
reading recently.
Literature & Fiction

"Love Trouble"
by Veronica Geng
Veronica Geng is to the short humor piece what John Coltrane
is to improvisational jazz. The 69 sketches in "Love
Trouble" take an improbable premise (in one, a teenager
speaks in Jamesian dialogue; in another, LBJ plays pranks on
George Bernard Shaw) and riff on it in ways that are as
witty as they are unexpected. A superlative mimic and a
fearless satirist, the late New Yorker editor was one of a
kind; her final collection will give you the grownup's
equivalent of milk coming out of your nose. Read more about
"Love Trouble" and some of Mary Park's other current
favorites. Milk not included.
Literature & Fiction

"Open City"
by William Weaver
Among our finest translators of Italian, William Weaver has
transformed Calvino's conceits and Eco's extravaganzas into
superlative English prose. Who better, then, to take us on a
guided tour of Italy's literary landscape? "Open City"
includes seven writers whom Weaver encountered during his
postwar Roman sojourn, among them Giorgio Bassani, Natalia
Ginzburg, and Carlo Levi. He's also thrown in a deeply
entertaining, celebrity-studded memoir as a curtain-raiser.
Check out this superb title, along with a list of James
Marcus's other Italian favorites.
Literature & Fiction

NEW LITERATURE & FICTION PAPERBACKS
***********************************
Calling all Shakespeareans: Harold Bloom's monumental
meditation on the Bard is finally available between
soft covers. If, as the author argues, Shakespeare was the
virtual inventor of human character, then Ann Beattie is
surely one of his literary descendants--at least when it
comes to the neurotic, middle-class characters she depicts
so exquisitely in "Park City." And last but not least, don't
overlook Sebastian Barry's epic novel of Irish displacement,
in which the wandering Eneas never stays put on his native
turf.

"Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human"
by Harold Bloom
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157322751X/entertainmentsit>

"Park City"
by Ann Beattie
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679781331/entertainmentsit>

"The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty"
by Sebastian Barry
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140280189/entertainmentsit>

NOT YET PUBLISHED
*****************
The fall will bring such crowd-pleasing fictions as Roddy
Doyle's "A Star Called Henry," Patrick O'Brian's "Blue at
the Mizzen," and Stephen King's decidedly nonhorrific
"Hearts in Atlantis." We're also anticipating many quieter
triumphs, including Andrew O'Hagan's "Our Fathers" and
Michael Downing's "Breakfast with Scot." And don't forget
two impending paperback arrivals: Barbara Kingsolver's "The
Poisonwood Bible" and Andrea Barrett's "Voyage of the
Narwhal"!
Literature & Fiction

******

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interviews in Amazon.com's Literature & Fiction section at
Literature & Fiction

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