en-US Sat, 15 Sep 2018 13:11:20 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 2760017 A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), David Hume's comprehensive attempt to base philosophy on a new, observationally grounded study of human nature, is one of the most important texts in Western philosophy. It is also the focal point of current attempts to understand 18th-century philosophy. The Treatise first explains how we form such concepts as cause and effect, external existence, and personal identity, and to form compelling but unconfirmable beliefs in the entities represented by these concepts. It then offers a novel account of the passions, explains freedom and necessity as they apply to human choices and actions, and concludes with detailed explanations of how we distinguish between virtue and vice and of the different kinds of virtue. Hume's Abstract of the Treatise, also included in the volume, outlines his 'chief argument' regarding our conception of, and belief in, cause and effect. The texts printed in this volume are those of the critical edition of Hume's philosophical works now being published by the Clarendon Press. The volume includes a substantial introduction explaining the aims of the Treatise as a whole and of each of its ten parts, extensive annotations, a glossary of terms, a comprehensive index, and suggestions for further reading.]]> 320 David Hume 0020658303 Ginger 0 to-read 3.75 1739
author: David Hume
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1739
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/09/15
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]]> 983100
One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.
--back cover]]> 592 Neil Gaiman 0060558121 Ginger 0 currently-reading 4.04 2001
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/03/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 18133 Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Most of all, it is a meditation on love—love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.]]> 317 Vladimir Nabokov Ginger 5 3.97 1955
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 23168483
"Singer’s argument is powerful, provocative and, I think, basically right. The world would be a better place if we were as tough-minded in how we donate money as in how we make it."—Nicholas Kristof, New York Times

"Bold, fresh, inspired, reasoned, optimistic."—Walter M. Bortz II, MD, Huffington Post Blog

Peter Singer’s books and ideas have been disturbing our complacency ever since the appearance of Animal Liberation . Now he directs our attention to a new movement in which his own ideas have played a crucial effective altruism. Effective altruism is built upon the simple but profound idea that living a fully ethical life involves doing the "most good you can do." Such a life requires an unsentimental view of charitable to be a worthy recipient of our support, an organization must be able to demonstrate that it will do more good with our money or our time than other options open to us. Singer introduces us to an array of remarkable people who are restructuring their lives in accordance with these ideas, and shows how living altruistically often leads to greater personal fulfillment than living for oneself.

The Most Good You Can Do develops the challenges Singer has made, in the New York Times and Washington Post , to those who donate to the arts, and to charities focused on helping our fellow citizens, rather than those for whom we can do the most good. Effective altruists are extending our knowledge of the possibilities of living less selfishly, and of allowing reason, rather than emotion, to determine how we live. The Most Good You Can Do offers new hope for our ability to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.]]> 211 Peter Singer 0300180276 Ginger 5
Singer describes a group of people who have chosen to be called "effective altruists" and breaks this down: the definition, history, goals, motives and real world examples for such a group. He also walks the reader through some theoretical exercises for assigning value to various actions for the purpose of comparason, but is careful to disclose the complexity of many factors involved. The reader is left to make conclusions on their own, but is given a lot to think about.

For personality types such as mine (INTJ Meyers Briggs) showing me a framework for this type of reasonable decision making regarding giving is truly exciting. It engages my desire to give, and to give to actually make the most difference for others.

In the end, I did not come away from this book ripping out my checkbook, frothing at the mouth to give to charity, but I will think about this book for a long time to come and I sincerely hope that it has long term effects on my actions. I read a library copy of this book, but have just bought this book to give as a gift to others.]]> 3.79 2015
author: Peter Singer
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/01/01
date added: 2016/01/02
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review:
This was a very positive and engaging read that made me consider how to do more in my life for the betterment of the world. This book's title (and message) is not entirely clear until you read it. The book is not about simply doing the most good that You-the-Reader can do, although I am sure it is a play on words, but is about "what" one chooses to do, as rated by effectiveness.

Singer describes a group of people who have chosen to be called "effective altruists" and breaks this down: the definition, history, goals, motives and real world examples for such a group. He also walks the reader through some theoretical exercises for assigning value to various actions for the purpose of comparason, but is careful to disclose the complexity of many factors involved. The reader is left to make conclusions on their own, but is given a lot to think about.

For personality types such as mine (INTJ Meyers Briggs) showing me a framework for this type of reasonable decision making regarding giving is truly exciting. It engages my desire to give, and to give to actually make the most difference for others.

In the end, I did not come away from this book ripping out my checkbook, frothing at the mouth to give to charity, but I will think about this book for a long time to come and I sincerely hope that it has long term effects on my actions. I read a library copy of this book, but have just bought this book to give as a gift to others.
]]> 29015 Now the truth can finally be revealed about the mysterious day long ago when the authorities found a child, calmly walking in the boiling desert, covered with blood.
The girl is Roberta Rohbeson, and her rant against a world bounded by "the cruddy top bedroom of a cruddy rental house on a very cruddy mud road" soon becomes a detailed account of another story, one that she has kept silent since she was eleven.
Darkly funny and resonant with humanity, Cruddy, masterfully intertwines Roberta's stories -- part Easy Rider and part bipolar Wizard of Oz. These stories, the backbone of Roberta's short life, include a one-way trip across America fueled by revenge and greed and a vivid cast of characters, starring Roberta's dangerous father, the owners of the Knocking Hammer Bar-cum-slaughterhouse, and runaway adolescents. With a teenager's eye for freakish detail and a nervous ability to make the most horrible scenes seem hilarious, Cruddy is a stunning achievement.]]> 305 Lynda Barry 068483846X Ginger 4 4.17 1999
author: Lynda Barry
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2002/01/01
date added: 2009/12/17
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I wish I still had a copy of this book, mostly because there was a great line in it that I used to love to say, and now I forget how it goes. Something like, "sometimes you just don't feel like being contemplated by a fly." yeah. but better. also it made sense in context versus in this sad sad review.
]]> 14180
In "The Days of Perky Pat," people spend their time playing with dolls who manage to live an idyllic life no longer available to the Earth's real inhabitants. "Adjustment Team" looks at the fate of a man who by mistake has stepped out of his own time. In "Autofac," one community must battle benign machines to take back control of their lives. And in "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon," we follow the story of one man whose very reality may be nothing more than a nightmare. The collection also includes such classic stories as "The Minority Report," the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," the basis for the film Total Recall. Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.

» Introduction by Jonathan Lethem
1. Beyond Lies the Wub ()
2. Roog ()
3. Paycheck (, )
4. Second Variety (, )
5. Imposter ()
6. The King of the Elves (, )
7. Adjustment Team (, )
8. Foster, You're Dead! ()
9. Upon the Dull Earth ()
10. Autofac ()
11. The Minority Report (, )
12. The Days of Perky Pat ()
13. Precious Artifact
14. A Game of Unchance
15. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (, )
16. Faith of Our Fathers ()
17. The Electric Ant ()
18. A Little Something for Us Tempunauts ()
19. The Exit Door Leads In ()
20. Rautavaara's Case ()
21. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon ()]]> 496 Philip K. Dick 0375421513 Ginger 5 4.26 1982
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 2003/01/01
date added: 2009/12/17
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I've read a lot of PK Dick and I truly love, love, love! his work. I also must admit that he is a pretty crappy writer. If you are looking for beautifully crafted sentences with a sensual or startling command of words, then, sorry man, time to move on. If you are looking for some seriously wacked out ideas, plots, characters, situations... here you will find the truly uncomfortable. If you are going to read only one Dick... this short story compilation is the one. Philip K Dick's writing works best in the short story format. I swear this is true! Most of his full length books are fantastic, but he never really flushes out any characters, and he sometimes ends up filling space with his rambling insanity. Stick with the stort stories. Just as you are attempting to recover from the adrenaline rush of the last story, you'll already be freaking out about the current one you are midway through. I got this particular compilation because I love Dick (heh) plus the introduction by Jonathan Lethem (who was my current art crush of the time).
]]> 1526479 96 Daniel Marzona 3822829609 Ginger 4 4.00 2005
author: Daniel Marzona
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2008/03/01
date added: 2008/03/28
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A survey of historically important conceptual artists and a brief description of their work. Fun to read, lots of photos.
]]> 912301 304 Doris von Drathen 8881584476 Ginger 5 4.00 2004
author: Doris von Drathen
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2008/03/01
date added: 2008/03/28
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]]> 103625 192 David Bohm 0415336406 Ginger 4 4.11 1998
author: David Bohm
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2007/12/01
date added: 2008/02/06
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An interesting book discussing the relationship between art and science. After reading this, I attempted (again) the quantum physics book that's been dogging me. The introduction is especially fascinating, written by a blackfoot native american covering (this guy's) philosophical interactions with Bohm regarding language and creative thinking. There could be a whole book written just about this. Anyhow, I started skimming "On Creativity" in a book store and had to buy it because I was getting a crimp in my neck and the introduction was so strong. The rest of the book is quite readable and although it is a fairly quick read, it does present plenty of ideas. I really enjoyed his 'reconstructions' of Einstein, Newton, and Hellen Keller's creative processes. As an artist it made me think very seriously about my own creative process.
]]> 1991609 372 John Niemeyer Findlay 0195198794 Ginger 0 to-read 2.75 1964
author: John Niemeyer Findlay
name: Ginger
average rating: 2.75
book published: 1964
rating: 0
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date added: 2008/02/06
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]]> 510234 Book by Yenawine, Philip 160 Philip Yenawine 0810924854 Ginger 0 to-read 3.63 1991
author: Philip Yenawine
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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]]> 158205 256 Richard Polsky 1582345244 Ginger 0 to-read 3.72 2003
author: Richard Polsky
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2008/02/06
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]]> 12074
An engaging mix of philosophy, history, biography, and literary detection, Wittgenstein's Poker explores, through the Popper/Wittgenstein confrontation, the history of philosophy in the twentieth century. It evokes the tumult of fin-de-siécle Vienna, Wittgentein's and Popper's birthplace; the tragedy of the Nazi takeover of Austria; and postwar Cambridge University, with its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell. At the center of the story stand the two giants of philosophy themselves -- proud, irascible, larger than life -- and spoiling for a fight.]]> 368 David Edmonds 0060936649 Ginger 0 to-read 3.76 2001
author: David Edmonds
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2008/02/06
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]]> 1978366 Vintage book 229 Stephan Körner 8420621889 Ginger 0 to-read 3.75 1955
author: Stephan Körner
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2008/02/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 354681 336 Calvin Tomkins 0140043136 Ginger 4 4.16 1965
author: Calvin Tomkins
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at: 2008/02/01
date added: 2008/02/06
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Duchamp, Tinguely, Cage, Rauschenberg, Cunningham. Book focuses on the artists' lives rather than solely on their artwork. Concise yet seemingly thorough.
]]> 244995 84 Octavio Paz 0151003521 Ginger 5
I am now obliged to hunt down everything Octavio Paz has written. His writing is phenomenal. His essay on de Sade was both intellectually stimulating and beautiful.]]> 3.87 1994
author: Octavio Paz
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/02/06
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review:
Did I really give a book about the Marquis de Sade five stars? Yes I did. I'll probably even read it again.

I am now obliged to hunt down everything Octavio Paz has written. His writing is phenomenal. His essay on de Sade was both intellectually stimulating and beautiful.
]]> 925682 223 Tom Marioni 1891300172 Ginger 3 3.81 2003
author: Tom Marioni
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2008/02/06
shelves:
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Bay area conceptual artist's memoir. Not the best writer, but his artwork is interesting, ground-breaking even (for the time). I'm not familiar with 60's Bay Area conceptual art history, so that was interesting. Worth the read (only takes a few hours).
]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Ginger 5 4.29 1937
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Ginger 4 4.15 1985
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 9717 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. This magnificent novel juxtaposes geographically distant places, brilliant and playful reflections, and a variety of styles, to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of one of the world’s truly great writers.]]> 314 Milan Kundera 0571224385 Ginger 3 4.12 1984
author: Milan Kundera
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1984
rating: 3
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]]> 11
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 216 Douglas Adams Ginger 5 4.21 1979
author: Douglas Adams
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1979
rating: 5
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 8844 96 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 0152048049 Ginger 4 4.30 1943
author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1943
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 3985 639 Michael Chabon 0312282990 Ginger 4 4.18 2000
author: Michael Chabon
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 1845 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.]]> 207 Jon Krakauer 0385486804 Ginger 2 4.01 1996
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 2
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]]> 68310 208 Arthur C. Clarke 0575072636 Ginger 4 3.94 1953
author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1953
rating: 4
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]]> 4900
A reflection on corruptive European colonialism and a journey into the nightmare psyche of one of the corrupted, Heart of Darkness is considered one of the most influential works ever written.]]> 188 Joseph Conrad 1892295490 Ginger 4 3.43 1899
author: Joseph Conrad
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1899
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 1686610 180 Michael Szymczyk Ginger 2 3.43 2004
author: Michael Szymczyk
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2004
rating: 2
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 2748
Funny, illuminating and ultimately touching, Microserfs is the story of one generation's very strange and claustrophobic coming of age.]]> 371 Douglas Coupland 0060987049 Ginger 4 3.89 1995
author: Douglas Coupland
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1995
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 76677
Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer.

The relationship between Lije and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!]]> 272 Isaac Asimov 0553293400 Ginger 4 4.00 1953
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1953
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 40861 278 C.D. Payne 1882647157 Ginger 4 3.79 2000
author: C.D. Payne
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 1663120 95 Sara Sandberg Ginger 0 currently-reading 4.40 2002
author: Sara Sandberg
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2007/08/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 16717 224 Jonathan Lethem 038551218X Ginger 0 currently-reading 2.85 2007
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 2.85
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2007/08/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 14295
The stories in Pastoralia are set in a slightly skewed version of America, where elements of contemporary life have been merged, twisted, and amplified, casting their absurdity—and our humanity—in a startling new light. Whether he writes a gothic morality tale in which a male exotic dancer is haunted by his maiden aunt from beyond the grave, or about a self-help guru who tells his followers his mission is to discover who's been "crapping in your oatmeal," Saunders's stories are both indelibly strange and vividly real.]]> 188 George Saunders 0747553866 Ginger 0 currently-reading 4.10 2000
author: George Saunders
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2007/08/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 113429 205 Miranda July 0743299396 Ginger 0 currently-reading 3.83 2007
author: Miranda July
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2007/08/11
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 422612
His mother thinks he needs to go to work. He does, in a succession of jobs. Each job rapidly escalates into a lunatic adventure, a full-blown disaster; yet each has, like Don Quixote's, its own eerie logic.

His girlfriend, Myrna Minkoff of the Bronx, thinks he needs sex.

Ignatius is an intellectual, ideologue, deadbeat, goof-off, glutton, who should repel the reader with his gargantuan bloats, his thunderous contempt, and one-man war against everybody: Freud, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Protestants, and the assorted excesses of modern times.

A tragicomedy, set in New Orleans.]]> 462 John Kennedy Toole 0517122707 Ginger 5 3.93 1980
author: John Kennedy Toole
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1980
rating: 5
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 2529
"A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the door for petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear . . ."

Why the petitioner required a boat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him, the reader will discover in this delightful fable, a philosophic love story worthy of Swift or Voltaire.]]> 51 José Saramago 0156013037 Ginger 5 3.96 1997
author: José Saramago
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> 4136 Us and Them); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French (Jesus Shaves); what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm (Let It Snow); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations (Six to Eight Black Men); what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like (The Monster Mash); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry (Cow and Turkey).]]> 176 David Sedaris 0316191299 Ginger 5 3.92 1997
author: David Sedaris
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2007/08/11
shelves:
review:
this gets 5 stars because this is provided a rare event: it made my dad actually laugh out loud while reading it. You'd have to know my father to understand...
]]> 4143 National Enquirer, Sedaris’s collection of essays is a rollicking tour through the national Zeitgeist: a do-it-yourself suburban dad saves money by performing home surgery; a man who is loved too much flees the heavyweight champion of the world; a teenage suicide tries to incite a lynch mob at her funeral; a bitter Santa abuses the elves.

David Sedaris made his debut on NPR’s Morning Edition with “SantaLand Diaries�, recounting his strange-but-true experiences as an elf at Macy’s, and soon became one of the show’s most popular commentators. With a perfect eye and a voice infused with as much empathy as wit, Sedaris writes stories and essays that target the soulful ridiculousness of our behavior. Barrel Fever is like a blind date with modern life, and anything can happen.

Parade --
Music for lovers --
The last you'll hear from me --
My manuscript --
Firestone --
We get along --
Glen's homophobia newsletter vol. 3, no. 2 --
Don's story --
Season's greeting to our friends and family!!! --
Jamboree --
After Malison --
Barrel fever --
Diary of a smoker --
Giantess --
The curly kind --
SantaLand diaries]]> 196 David Sedaris 0316779423 Ginger 4 3.80 1994
author: David Sedaris
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1994
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 10176 --davidsedarisbooks.com]]> 257 David Sedaris 0965904830 Ginger 3 4.12 2004
author: David Sedaris
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 4138 Naked, Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview—a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable. A tart-tongued mother does dead-on imitations of her young son's nervous tics, to the great amusement of his teachers; a stint of Kerouackian wandering is undertaken (of course!) with a quadriplegic companion; a family gathers for a wedding in the face of imminent death. Through it all is Sedaris's unmistakable voice, without doubt one of the freshest in American writing.]]> 304 David Sedaris Ginger 4 4.10 1997
author: David Sedaris
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 4137 272 David Sedaris 0349113912 Ginger 5 4.01 2000
author: David Sedaris
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 5
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 10050 Six months in the life of the world's most dangerous teenager.

Youth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt.

As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive Type-A father, murderous canines (in triplicate), and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response—all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad.]]> 512 C.D. Payne 0385481969 Ginger 5 4.04 1993
author: C.D. Payne
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1993
rating: 5
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]]> 146861 108 Jonathan Lethem 039332253X Ginger 3 3.19 1999
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.19
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 16716 294 Jonathan Lethem 0156032481 Ginger 4 3.68 1996
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 32079 55 Jonathan Lethem 0970335520 Ginger 5 3.30 2001
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 16719
Pella's father, Clement, has just been swept out of elective office in New York and has set his sights on the next political frontier: joining the first human settlers on the Planet of the Archbuilders. Once the domain of a super-evolved alien species who used "viruses" to alter their ecosystem before abandoning it, the planet is now a hothouse landscape of ruined towers and refuse inhabited only by skittery, mouselike "household deer" and a few remaining Archbuilders.

Clement's mission, to forge a community that embraces the Archbuilders, puts him on a collision course with Ephram Nugent, a xenophobic homesteader.]]> 280 Jonathan Lethem 0375703918 Ginger 5 3.58 1998
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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]]> 32078
It's an unusual and at times unbearable existence, but Chaos soon discovers that his post-nuclear reality may have no connection to the truth. So he takes to the road with a girl named Melinda in order to find answers. As the pair travels through the United States they find that, while each town has been affected differently by the mysterious source of the apocalypse, none of the people they meet can fill in their incomplete memories or answer their questions. Gradually, figures from Chaos's past, including some who appear only under the influence of intravenously administered drugs, make Chaos remember some of his forgotten life as a man named Moon.]]> 247 Jonathan Lethem 015603154X Ginger 5 3.50 1995
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> 16715 Men and Cartoons contains eleven fantastical, amusing, and moving stories written in a dizzying array of styles that shows the remarkable range and power of Lethem's vision. Sometimes firmly grounded in reality, and other times spinning off into utterly original imaginary worlds, this book brings together marvelous characters with incisive social commentary and thought provoking allegories. 
�      A visionary and creative collection that only Jonathan Lethem could have produced, the Vintage edition features two stories not published in the hardcover edition, "The Shape We're In" and "Interview with the Crab." 
]]> 229 Jonathan Lethem 1400076803 Ginger 5 3.48 2004
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2004
rating: 5
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]]> 16720 Gun, with Occasional Music.

Alice Coombs is a particle physicist, and she and her colleagues have created a void, a hole in the universe, that they have taken to calling Lack. But Lack is a nullity with taste � tastes; it absorbs a pomegranate, light bulbs, an argyle sock; it disdains a bow tie, an ice ax, and a scrambled duck egg. To Alice, this selectivity translates as an irresistible personality. To Philip, it makes Lack an unbeatable rival, for how can he win Alice back from something that has no flaws � because it has no qualities? Ingenious, hilarious, and genuinely mind-expanding, As She Climbed Across the Table is the best boy-meets-girl-meets-void story ever written.]]> 212 Jonathan Lethem 0375700129 Ginger 3 3.68 1997
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> 16718
Metcalf has been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an affluent doctor. Perhaps he's falling a little in love with her at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in a crossfire between the boys from the Inquisitor's Office and gangsters who operate out of the back room of a bar called the Fickle Muse.

Mixing elements of sci-fi, noir, and mystery, this clever first novel from the author of Motherless Brooklyn is a wry, funny, and satiric look at all that the future may hold.]]> 271 Jonathan Lethem 0156028972 Ginger 5 3.77 1994
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1994
rating: 5
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]]> 9799 Motherless Brooklyn, a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th-century America.

This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude. They live in Brooklyn and are friends and neighbours; but since Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple.

This is the story of 1970s America, a time when the simplest decisions—what music you listen to, whether to speak to the kid in the seat next to you, whether to give up your lunch money—are laden with potential political, social and racial disaster. This is also the story of 1990s America, when nobody cared anymore.

This is the story of what would happen if two teenaged boys obsessed with comic book heroes actually had superpowers: they would screw up their lives.]]> 528 Jonathan Lethem 0571219357 Ginger 5 3.85 2003
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> 328854 Motherless Brooklyn is a brilliantly original homage to the classic detective novel by one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation.]]> 311 Jonathan Lethem 0345803396 Ginger 3 3.86 1999
author: Jonathan Lethem
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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date added: 2007/08/11
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]]> 43440 Forty Stories, the companion volume to Sixty Stories, we encounter a dazzling array of subjects: Paul Klee, Goethe, Captain Blood, modern courtship, marriage and divorce, armadillos, and other unique Barthelmean flights of fancy. These pithy, brilliantly acerbic pieces tangle with the ludicrous, pose questions that remain unresolved, and challenge familiar bits of language heretofore unexamined. Forty Stories demonstrates Barthelme's unrivaled ability to surprise, to stimulate, and to explore.]]> 246 Donald Barthelme 0141180943 Ginger 5 4.22 1987
author: Donald Barthelme
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1987
rating: 5
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]]> 118349
An American short story writer and novelist acclaimed for his playful, postmodern style of short fiction, Barthelme’s first novel, Snow White , is a countercultural, experimental reconstruction of the Disney version of the traditional fairytale.

In Barthelme’s modern day world, Snow White is a seductive woman waiting for her prince to return to New York. Pushing the bounds of fiction and form, Barthelme subverts the classic tale, prompting The New York Times to call him “a splendid practitioner at the peak of his power� and inspiring a new generation of authors including Charles Baxter, Dave Eggers, and David Gates.]]> 192 Donald Barthelme 0684824795 Ginger 3 3.52 1967
author: Donald Barthelme
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1967
rating: 3
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]]> 118345 480 Donald Barthelme 0141180935 Ginger 5 4.20 1981
author: Donald Barthelme
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1981
rating: 5
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]]> 30593 Pnin features his funniest and most heart-rending character. Professor Timofey Pnin is a haplessly disoriented Russian émigré precariously employed on an American college campus in the 1950's. Pnin struggles to maintain his dignity through a series of comic and sad misunderstandings, all the while falling victim both to subtle academic conspiracies and to the manipulations of a deliberately unreliable narrator.

Initially an almost grotesquely comic figure, Pnin gradually grows in stature by contrast with those who laugh at him. Whether taking the wrong train to deliver a lecture in a language he has not mastered or throwing a faculty party during which he learns he is losing his job, the gently preposterous hero of this enchanting novel evokes the reader’s deepest protective instinct.

Serialized in The New Yorker and published in book form in 1957, Pnin brought Nabokov both his first National Book Award nomination and hitherto unprecedented popularity.]]> 184 Vladimir Nabokov 1400041988 Ginger 4 3.89 1957
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Ginger
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1957
rating: 4
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]]> 7805
Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterpiece is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum.

Part of a major new series of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita and Pale Fire, in Penguin Classics.]]> 246 Vladimir Nabokov Ginger 5 4.17 1962
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 5
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]]> 117833 The first complete, annotated English Translation of Mikhail Bulgakov's comic masterpiece.

An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is recognized as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of the common Russian speech.

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him. What ensues is a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth, a work whose nuances emerge for the first time in Diana Burgin's and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's splendid English version.]]> 372 Mikhail Bulgakov 0679760806 Ginger 5 4.31 1967
author: Mikhail Bulgakov
name: Ginger
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1967
rating: 5
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]]>