On the Nightstand

Well, I don't have a nightstand, but if I did I'm sure the books I'm reading at present would be on it at night. I had 4 books on hold at various times the past couple months thru Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (excellent service, this requesting of books on the Internet to pick up at whichever branch one desires). They came up at different times, so there are three separate due dates for four separate books, which would be a bit of a hassle except that the Library also offers an e-mail reminder service for due dates (good thing or I'd be paying a lot more late fees). In any case, the four books I got from the Library, of which I am really only reading 3 at a time, but give me some time and I might get all four going are as follows, with my initial impressions. In order that I received the books:

• Book of Blues, by Jack Kerouac: I am alternatately awestruck and stupefied. At times I find the writing brilliant and full of such clarity and true vision. At other times I am not sure what I'm supposed to be getting out of it. Sometimes I am struck by the accuracy of the unexpected metaphors and imagery, other times I am baffled. I guess that's Kerouac until reading more Kerouac hopefully trains me in how to read Kerouac. This is my first real forray into Kerouac's poetry outside of anthologized material. My favorites so far are the 27th chorus in "San Francisco Blues" (the city as muttering bum), the 38th, and the first half of the 30th chorus in the same:
  

  Old Age is an Indian
  With gray hair
  And a cane
  In and old coat
  Tapping along
  The rainy street
  To see the pretty oranges
  ... (p. 31)

• White Teeth, by Zadie Smith: I was just rereading the jacket of this book to try to give you a more concise summary of it than trying to recount everything I've read so far. I'm a little annoyed that Zadie Smith was 24 when she wrote this. I guess I should be happy that she's so brilliant at 24. Anyways, this is a very compelling book so far. It does, as the jacket states, take on "the big themes-- faith, race, gender, history, and culture-- and triumphs" The stories and characters are strong. There is some jumping back in forth through time, but it's structured so that it's manageable. My only issue with it has been the voice of this omnicient narrator who isn't always there jumping in from time to time. At first it pulled me a bit out of the flow of the story, but then I started liking the humor and cynicism it brought to parts of the story that might otherwise have come off as cliche or overdramatic. I am not sure WHO this all-knowing-eye is, perhaps the writer herself, but it helps keep perspective. Current status: p. 201/448pp.
  
• Bushido: The Way of the Samurai, based on The Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, edited by Justin F. Stone, original translation by Minoru Tanaka: I was first turned on to The Hagakure by watching the movie Ghost Dog, mentioned in the previous post. In this movie, Forrest Whittaker plays a modern day Samurai, and the movie is interrpted with quotes from The Hagakure, some of which I found quite intriguing. I put this one on hold a while back, but there's apparently only one copy and others had it for a while before it got to me. I'm now on page 30 of 98. Some of the words strike me as very apt and wise. Others strike me as being the ideal, but hard to achieve. Yet others are too superficial for my liking, and at tension in my mind with the more philosophical and intrinsic entries in the same book. I have greatly devoured the sections thus far on thinking and self-discipline and achievement and perception of oneself. However, the portions on not yawning, on not doing arts and crafts, on how to behave at parties strike me as less useful. I suppose how others perceive you does have an effect on an outcome you may be trying to achieve, but I hate playing a game.
  
• Disappearing Acts, by Terry McMillan: This is a book that is on Rhoda Mills Sommer's list of suggested reading (as was White Teeth). I have not started on it yet, so I'll quote her blurb here:
  

  "This is one of her first three books. These were more substantive than the books that followed afterwards. She beautifully captures men who don't follow
  through" ~ Rhoda Mills Sommer

Well, that's a long enough break from the reading. I want to be finished with all four by the time my Fall university classes start!

~S

Sherman Alexie IS f-in funny (He's also not yet rated)

S. Alexie NR 7:00

Sherman Alexie didn't read a damn thing out of his new novel, Flight, but it was worth every damn penny of the thirteen dollars and fifty cents to get it and hear him tell stories. He basically just talked about the first stop on his book tour, Norfolk, but he weaved in so much backstory flawlessly. The transitions! He held us captivated. This was his last stop on the book tour, and it was at a movie theatre. He was pretty psyched that his name was below Ocean 13. I found it amusing he was NR (not rated). He also was gracious enough to sign all 4 of my books of his. One of which he noticed was in fact a library book. No, Mr. Alexie I did not steal it, but I cannot verify that the party I purchased it from did not. He signed it to the "book thief." One of my others ones, the copy of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven that I bought in New Mexico and read on the plane ride home, had proof of that origin in it's very pages. It still had a South West Airlines napkin in it! "You kept the napkin!" He seemed surprised at this. "Well it makes a good book mark" I wasn't sure how to respond. He signed that one "She kept the napkin". It was a great experience, and I was so ecstatic afterwards that I took of my shoes and joined two little boys in one of those street fountain things where the water comes up from the ground level and you can run around in it. It was quite exhiliarating thank you, but then my feet were a tad bit slimy. I'm looking forward to reading the new Alexie book, and we also got a preview of a young adult novel he'll be putting out called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.





~Sarah

The Short Answer: Response to a Coffee Cup

The Starbucks cups have a series of quotes called "The Way I See It," printed on them. I saw one on a prof's coffee cup and then found the whole lot of them online. I read the new ones from time to time. Today I was struck by one of the quotes and felt the need to answer the question in it. I will try to spend more time in reflection and composition of a well-thought-out response, but for now, here is the short answer.

But first, the question:

The Way I See It #168

The human brain is the only object in the known universe that can predict its own future and tell its own fortune. The fact that we can make disastrous decisions even as we foresee their consequences is the great, unsolved mystery of human behavior. When you hold your fate in your hands, why would you ever make a fist?
-- Daniel Gilbert, Harvard professor of psychology and author of Stumbling on Happiness.

Because sometimes, the end result is worth any of the consequences that come about on the way to it. The best way isn't always the easiest way. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made towards an ultimate goal. Suffering is often a part of living.

Starbucks: The Way I See It is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that appear on the Starbucks cups.

Public Reading

I had a public reading on 12/29/2006 at the Art Gallery on campus. Above is a picture of me in action. I read the following of my poems: "Sensory Recall," "Grandma's House on the Ohio River," "Whirling Towards Ecstasy," and "Nettle and Dock." Below, is a picture of me after the reading, greeting my adoring fans (haha, just kidding).

READINGS

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to attend a Drue Heinz lecture featuring writer Jhumpa Lahiri. Lahiri has written a Pullitzer-prize-winning collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, and a novel, Namesake. It was really great to hear her talk- my impressions of her were as a humble, down-to-earth, extremely talented, genuine woman. I enjoyed hearing her speak of how, for her, the act of writing creatively developed naturally from her love of reading. I was also able to sign a book for me. She was an amazing trooper, sitting there and signing for every single person who desired her signature.





Anyways, I got to thinking, if I become a famous writer, what will my readings be like? Here's an idea of what I have in mind:

(this was generated using: http://atom.smasher.org)

~SEA