When You are Englufed in Flames

When You are Engulfed in Flames

By David Sedaris

Here's the thing about David Sedaris...he's like getting drunk or having sex, there is no time like the first time. Project your own positivity or negativity on that statement, it doesn't change the fact that they are completely like changing, unique experiences for a most of us. So while the initial excitement of discovery might not linger past his first book, that is where David Sedaris echoes eating at your favourite restaurant, or, well...having sex. Even though you know how its going to go, and even how its going to end, you are still soooooo glad to be doing it.

Such was my experience with When You are Englufed by Flames, Sedaris' latest collection of essays. Yes it's familiar, yes it's the same characters. Yes, some of the jokes he's told before. But guess what? I don't care. He's still doing it better than almost anyone else...and he's a wise man to keep doing the same thing over and over again...why mess with perfection?

Collections are a little harder for me to reflect on, but I will hit some of the highlights here. In "Keeping Up" Sedaris brilliantly outlines the perameters, demise, and ressurection of his relationship in the span of an afternoon...all within his mind of course.

One of the things that I appreciate most about Sedaris is his ability to write himself and his siblings as children with zero sentimentality. "The Understudy" is a particularly hilarious example of that.

And, as always, he manages to paint himself as the absolute quirkiest of characters, not to be believed in his willingness to risk isolation and ridicule in his commitment to self expression and search for identity. (Interesting of course that he is willing to ostracize himself for normal society for the sake of self expression, when his self loathing is just as powerful a force.)

I think what compelled me most about this book was the sudden realization that Sedaris is more than just a queen being fabulous, he's actually an alcoholic and drug addict in a life long struggle. It began to dawn on me about half way through the book that, while he always mentions his constant drinking and pot smoking, it seems in the book he refers more to being drunk, being high, and that it is more a way of life than a required behaviour of the hilarious and chic. And then of course there is the last story in the collection, one of his longest I have ever read, "The Smoking Section" in which he outlines the process of quitting the various substances to which he's been addicted. Its Sedaris at his best...funny, relevant, and as sharp as it gets with an underlying poignancy you don't even recognize until he lets you in on the secret. Great stuff.

Up Next: The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar

The Clothes on Their Backs

The Clothes on Their Backs
By Linda Grant


It seems that the juries of the Man Booker Prize and I have a lot in common, or at least the same taste in books. Shortlisted novel The Clothes on Their Back is not the first of their picks that I have loved. I need to remember to print out their list next year and have at it.

The Clothes on Their Backs a delicately written account of what it was like to grow up as the child of refugees in London. Taking place mostly in the late 70's it helped fill in a time period that has somehow remained a literary vacuum in my personal reading experience. It seems like everything I read is current, or set before 1965.

The story unfolds as Vivien, (barely out of University and already suffering from her own personal tragedy) reconnects with her long lost uncle, the black sheep of the family, a pimp and a playboy, made famous in London after serving time for being a slumlord. As she gets to know him, in search of her own history, his history and that of her parents begins to emerge, and it is a history that has been shut away in the proverbial attic for good reason. As she finds out more and more about the past, Vivien begins to reexamine who she is as a person and how she has let her concept of herself and where she has come from dictate her life - even when so much of it was a black hole.

I found the use of clothing as metaphor deftly and sparingly used, adding to the beauty and layers of the story. Not surprisingly, I found the scenes between mother and daughter and the storyline of their relationship most compelling, at times bringing me to tears (one scene in particular when her slightly disabled mother dresses for a party will haunt me for a while I suspect.) Of course those are the scenes that often affect me the most because of my personal experience, but they are truly magnificent in this story.

Poetic and economically written, this is a beautiful book. Grant manages to pinpoint lonliness and bring it to life, whether it is the experience of being a person without a country or someone who has just lost a loved one. A lovely, and quick read.


Next up: When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

The Believers
By Zoe Heller


Due to a nasty flu (which I still suspect to be Swine in nature, but have no proof) I was able to read this book in a very short period of time. I mention this only because I think the sort of largely uninterrupted reading session helped me truly appreciate this book. At a lazier, more spread-out reading, I could see myself having missed some of the brilliance of this simple story.

What I loved so much about this book is that while the characters are expertly defined, sympathetic, enraging and lovable at the same time, the pace and events of the book struck me as remarkably subtle. With a couple of notable exceptions, Heller uses the almost Shakespearean model of major events happening off-stage, and using her time on the page to recount and reflect. With shifting and varied perspectives she writes from different character points of view, sometimes within the same paragraph. At times the language of the book is almost daunting, (I am slightly ashamed to admit) but nothing insurmountable.

The Believers reminded me alot of The Corrections in its unflinching approach to the lies we tell each other and ourselves. It's an amazing study of family dynamics, really wince-able and tragic at times, but real and lovingly told. And it is a tale about believers to be sure, but the kind of believers rarely credited with belief (or as the Litvinoff's might say, denigrated with the word 'belief'); that is the believers of the left. The socialist, atheist believers just as caught up in the dogma of their own rules as any orthodox religion. And, as we see in the book just as indignant and unaccepting of others beliefs a lot of the time. As Heller beautifully illustrates int the book, more so than believing something different, it is the shifting, evolution of what one believes that can be really scary, and of course what is most important.

UP NEXT: The Women By T.C. Boyle

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

The Hour I First Believed

By Wally Lamb

I knew I was in trouble when I was in tears halfway through the forward. Wally Lamb is one of those writers who always hits me where I live: he's funny, he's detailed, and he's not afraid to go to incredible sentimental and simultaneously dark places. I bought this book the instant I saw it having LOVED his first two, and was salivating at the thought of it while I pushed through my other (albeit excellent) reads.

And it did not disappoint. I remember having this experience when reading I Know This Much is True; I can read his books while the television is on. I am so engrossed in his stories that I am able to tune out everything around me. And though I am insanely busy right now, and the book is no light weight (over 700 pages) I finished it in just under two weeks, through tear clogged eyes, naturally.

And, I happened to begin it the very day of the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shootings, which was just a weird coincidence. But the use of Columbine in this book, while pivotal and life changing for his characters, is just a jumping off point for a much larger story, spanning whole centuries, and encompassing more that one personal and national tragedy. If there is any criticism of WL's writing I would imagine it would be that he's almost too topical, incorporates too much of real-life events, but personally I appreciate that about his writing. He, like the rest of us, struggles to assign meaning to all of it.

One particularly thrilling moment of the book for me was an undeniable shout-out to his readers by mentioning a character and event that occurred in one of his other books. Like many writers (Anne Tyler, Stephen King) he is committed to his New England location and world, and even though Columbine plays a huge role in this book, Connecticut and its citizens are the main characters and most of the story takes place in that part of the country. Some might feel it is a bit of a cheap gag to throw in a reference to another book, but personally, I love it when a writer is so confident in the universe he has created that he is able to do that.

Naturally, as with all his books, it is not for the easily depressed, or those who loathe sentimentality. It goes to some pretty dark and depressing places. And it still wraps up nicely in the end, but I felt a lot less neatly than did She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True. His ability to capture the average, selfish, yet relatable and likable man is proven again in this novel, and it had me gripped from cover to cover.

I highly recommend.

Available everywhere!

UP NEXT: The Believers by Zoe Heller

Woman's World by Graham Rawle

Woman's World
A Novel
By Graham Rawle

When I first read about this book over a year ago in Bitch Magazine, I was so intrigued by the description, I went on a immediate search. At the time, it was mysteriously hard to find, and even Amazon.com claimed to be "out of stock" indefinitely. I think what was happening is they were republishing the book, and changing the book's image from "graphic novel" to straight-up "novel", and I can see why. When the fan boys picked up the "graphic novel" they must have been disappointed to find themselves embroiled in a pseudo mystery in the language of 1960's women's magazines. I, on the other hand, was thrilled.

The book is art, to be sure. I have never seen anything like it. Collaged entirely from women's housekeeping, fashion and some romance magazines from the 1960's there are many passages left intact, just punctuated with the appropriate name or pronoun. It is so expertly put together however, that you often forget it is constructed that way, until a hilariously placed bit of advertisement, or a well-meaning generally dated bit of advice to the "girl on the go" slips out. That said it is a well told, simple but haunting story in it's own right and once you are in a few pages the device is clear, and feels less like a gimmick and more like an incredibly creative way to tell a very unique story. In fact, now that I have read it, it is hard to imagine the story told any other way. I will admit for a few pages, I was jealous of the crafting ingenious of it, and devising my own plans to put an original spin on this amazing idea. But by page 200, I was exhausted by the sheer energy that must have gone into the cutting and collection of each phrase that went into the story. My hands cramp just thinking about it.

I won't say too much more, because I don't want to give away any of the twists and turns (which there are few that you can see coming to different degrees), but I will say that the main characters are among the most fascinating, funny and heartbreaking I have encountered in a long time.

I highly recommend this book.
Check it out online at amazon.com or in Canada at amazon.ca

Next up: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

Only A Theory - Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul

Only a Theory
Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
By Kenneth R. Miller


I picked up this book in the bargain section of McNally Robinson a few weeks ago, primarily because I had gift certificate, and I wanted to spend it on something I wouldn't normally buy. As a creative writer and reader, science non-fiction is not my usual thing, but I was attracted by the title and cover, and the debate over evolution falls firmly into political issues I am perpetually irritated and fascinated by. (Although, as I was to discover, according to Miller anyway, evolution is far from a political issue.) I was so glad I did pick up this book, as it really laid out a lot of the issues for me in a way that was (mostly) in layman's terms. So should I ever come across an anti-Darwin person who wants to argue, I will be at least partly armed with some understanding of the points.

Seems unlikely, I know, but as I discovered reading this book, the concept behind ID (Intelligent Design) is not as foriegn as one might think, even to the most rational, agnostic, (or atheist leaning) non-practicing Jew among us (ahem, three guesses as to who I am talking about.) But seriously, I have no doubts about evolution whatsoever, but I realized, reading this book, that despite my total lack of interest in a higher power, I have left room in my imagination for "Intelligent Design". That is not to say I think it should be taught in schools, regarded as an alternative to evolution, or even a legitimate scientific theory (and after reading this book, I definitely don't think so) but I realize that there has always been that you-never-know part of me, that left the option open, in a "well then where did the big bang come from?" kind of way.

And that is what is most compelling about this book. It is a given (to me) that teaching intelligent design is a religious foot in the door and should not be tolerated. And it is a given to me that we are descended from the same primordial goo as the insects and the kitties, and certainly the apes, and I have no qualms about that (more on this later.) But reading this book I was forced to examine my own holdout ideas that maybe somewhere off in the distance, someone, something has a plan for all of this.

But Kenneth R. Miller says no, and his arguments are sound. He dissects the main arguments of ID like "irreducible complexity" to the likelihood of like forming the way it did, and I won't get into the specifics now, but suffice to say, he makes it clear. There was no designer, at any point, in all of evolution. In essence, if there was, "he" was a wasteful, inconsistent, slow architect prone to huge mistakes. Its a major over simplification of his arguments, but it is what I found most compelling.

Miller starts with a specific comparison between ID and evolution but quickly expands the scope of the book to get at the heart of the ID movement, and America's seeming rejection of evolution, and that comes down to two things; reticence to admit that we as humans are "nothing more than animals", and the terrifying possibility that we are all here, not as part of a plan, but by virtue of sheer dumb luck.

As to the first point, the question of "Are we nothing more than hairless apes?" has never bothered me much. I recognize the author is trying to reach out to other readers who struggle with this idea, but for me this is no concern. Anyone who knows animals knows they are our betters in many ways, and it seems so irrational to worry that we emerged from them. Does that change our ability to reason, to create art? Doe it make US the same as THEM? In some ways, but it doesn't diminish what is different about us. If anything, it just makes animals and our similarities that much more fascinating, and should relieve some of the confusion we feel as humans about our instincts and some of our baser desires.

As to the second point, that I can relate to a bit more, and might account for some of my deeper, buried ID beliefs. Not only is the idea of "random evolution" scary, in that it just as likely might not have happened, but as he says in the book,

"...furthermore, the idea that there is a link between the element of chance at the core of evolution and a host of bad consequences for society."

In other words, if we are just animals, why bother with the laws and rules and niceties of society? Miller has a lot to say on this, and on the definition of "random" and the universe having a "plan" in itself, a self-perpetuating growth to which we were the ultimate conclusion. Its a nice thought, and might be true. But for me, the question of "What are we doing here?" is a compelling one, but not compelling enough for me to turn my back on science for a concept like ID just because it makes me feel better.

What is scary to me, is not what it means for us a species if evolution is true (all that existential crisis shit it so 17th century), but what it means for our species if we deny science because its a little scary, and embrace a concept like ID, a non-reality based theory. As Miller says, accepting ID as a valid theory is accepting a change to the fundamental rules of science, and that can have disastrous consequences.

"What would a science of the future look like if we considered 'non naturalistic' causes to be legitimate scientific explanations? At a stroke they would be accepted in every branch of science. That earthquake devastating part of the third world might have been caused by shifting tectonic plates, but it could also be punishment for the sinfullness of those now suffering in the rubble. Why bother to construct an exhaustive molecular search through simian virus genomes to find the source of HIV when clear-thinking ID scholars have concluded that it was sent as a divine warning against deviant lifestyles? In fact, even the rainbow might just be a phenomenon presented to us by a 'whimsical' designer, according to ID theorist William Dembski. Why worry about the physics of light itself when the mystery of the rainbow can be solved by easy reference to the personality of the creator?"

It might seem far fetched, but Miller explains how that slip down the theism-as-science slope is right around the corner when ID starts to grip the minds of Americans.

The book loses a tiny bit of credibly for me near the end, when Miller draws the comparison between evolution and capitalism, and how the 20th century has proved both of them the superior theory (and when he speaks of capitalism, he refers to 100% free market.)

"At the beginning of the 21st century evolution has won the scientific argument just as surely as capitalism has won the economic one."

Well, not exactly. Not only does this statement (almost hilariously) date the book to having been published pre-2008, but it is one of the weakest arguments for me. Also, a self-identified Christian, Miller speaks a lot about how believing in God does not preclude a strong belief in science or a rejection of ID, but he never explains then, what is God's role in our universe, if not the creator?

All in all, this turned into a fascinating read, although I will admit it took me about three times longer to read than the average book. (And a blog that, I imagine, will be three times longer than my average blog) But in the end it not only 'armed' me with valuable information for the things I already believed, it made me face and question some things I did not even realize I believed.

I highly recommend this book.

Available in hard copy and paperback at McNally Robinson or on Amazon.com

NEXT UP: Woman's World: A Novel, by Graham Rawle

A Corner Book Shop

When I was growing up, my mom and I would go every Friday to the book shop in our neighborhood, called The Corner Book Shop. It was a tiny little store packed ceiling to floor with paperbacks, and whatever they didn't have, they were happy to order. In those days, there was no Amazon.com, no book Mega stores, and you were willing to wait days, even weeks to get a book you were looking forward to reading. In those days my requests often consisted of Sweet Valley Twins, the occasional science fiction read, and a lot of required reading for school. My mother also indulged in her Anne Tyler novels. We loved our trips there, and the quirky people who ran the place.

Needless to say, The Corner Book Shop disappeared a long time ago, gone the way of the corner coffee shop, the corner copy shop, the corner hardware store etc, etc, etc. My mom and I continued to enjoy our books, and I finally caught up with her, so we could read the same books, discuss and bond over them. Now my mom is gone too, and I find that my thoughts and feelings about the books I read get lost in the shuffle of every day life.

Hence The Corner Book Shop Blog. I don't think of these entries as reviews, although my observations and feelings will definitely reflect my opinions at times. I like to think of my entries more as meditations on the books I read, so that they don't just fade into my past. Its a way of recreating the joy and excitement of visiting that Corner Book Shop. And maybe restart that conversation about books that died with my mom.

So happy reading.