Member: BeckyJG

Brilliant Jericho's Fall review!

That SK story in the NYer btw, OMG, is it cringe-inducing (too real perhaps? yes, definitely too real) and dark comedy as dark comedy gets. I refuse to say what happens to the dog. Perhaps I've said too much. Do read it when you can, and tell me King couldn't be a literary golden boy (grampa) if he so chose to be.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 8:31 pm (EST) on Nov 7, 2009

WTF???

So I get my mail today, open up The New Yorker, and who's Fiction is featured?: Stephen King's??? in the New Yorker??? First thought: Must alert BeckyJG.

"Premium Harmony" is the story. Check it out. Am reading it as I write.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:29 pm (EST) on Nov 7, 2009

Glad someone feels the same way as me about The Weight of Silence. I went into it expecting a fantastic thriller and I was thoroughly disappointed.

I've gotten a few other confirmations about the policies of book-pushing at Borders. Kind of disappointing, this lack of regard for customer satisfaction. (Though I'm glad you mentioned The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in your list of worthwhile books since I have a copy sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.)

Thank you very much for the advice and information. :)

posted by amandapsychedelia at 6:59 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2009

So are there like some duelling banjos playin' anywhere in Grave Secrets? Ick is it!

Bummer that the new Koontz garnered such a mediocre rating. I was hopin' he'd turned a corner (like King) back toward his glory days.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:22 am (EST) on Nov 3, 2009

Have you seen this? - the latest sock puppet scandal to rock the LT community: http://www.librarything.com/topic/75837

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 4:51 pm (EST) on Oct 27, 2009

I completely forgot that the dog in Watchers spoke! I knew it had some special powers of some sort, but its been so long I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Now I remember.

Hey, if you need some more optimism (besides reading more Koontz, which is always a good idea) I hope you'll consider the salon's December-Feb. read: Les Miserables. I didn't see it in your library, but knowing you, I'd be surprised if you haven't read it. It's my all time favorite novel. Yes, it does get dark at times, very dark, but overarching all the despair and misery, is the sublime triumph of the human spirit overcoming grave injustice: Love winning over Hate; Good winning over Evil; Freedom over Imprisonment; Faith over Unbelief; Grace over Law....Optimism, in other words, over Pessimism.

Don't know if you still lurk thereabouts in the salon, but I do hope you'll consider giving Les Miz a go. It's a surprisingly easy, compelling read, that enrichens the soul as you read. If you do, (and I'm crossing my fingers you will) I'd avoid the recent Julie Rose translation just released in paperback, and stick with the fat, Signet, MacAfee trans. pb ed. (1,400+ pages!) - the fastest 1,400+ page read you'll undoubtedly ever read. Or the Wilbour trans. is good too.

And I can't wait either for that Koontz review. Know why? To quote a certain BeckyJG I know in a recent review of hers: it's that darn feel-good factor that keeps me coming back for more.

I sent this post a few minutes ago and somehow duplicated it in a mish-mash of unreadablity toward the bottom. Weird. Don't know how I did that! This is the corrected post.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 11:23 am (EST) on Oct 24, 2009

oooohhh, is that the new Koontz I see? I do like Koontz a lot. I like that he's an optimist first and foremost - always - and the predictability of his optimism doesn't bother me either. I love that so many of his settings are right here in Southern California: Orange, CA, in particular, where I went to college (Chapman Univ.) In fact, have you read Watchers? Say you're driving down the 22 toward Orange; those mountains you see (the Santa Anas) directly in front of you, are central to the setting of Watchers. I've hiked all over those mountains (even drove the dirt road to the very top of Santiago Peak (Old Saddleback), where you can see all the radio towers and whatnot. Probably tmi, eh?

I love love love Watchers. A friend of mine met him at the Buena Park Mall back when it came out; not for a signing, he just happened to be there and she recognized him; said he was cordial and cool and actually spoke to her (and her dog!) for awhile. Dogs are huge in his books. Especially Watchers. Haven't read that recent one of his featuring a dog on the cover.

I could also rave about Phantoms and Seize The Night and The Door to December, the last which was originally released under a pseudonym, you may know, that I saw (the original version) selling at a specialty sci-fi shop in, well, Orange of all places, not too long ago, for a whopping $160.00. Needless to say, I did not buy it. I've read that Koontz has slipped of late, say the last 10 years or so, but I thought False Memory was good nevertheless, and the first Brother Odd book too. He's one of the most likable writers out there; I don't know what his secret is - it's probably his optimism and hopefulness in the human spirit - but I think he's a really cool author and a super great guy. Holy shit, I think it's time I stopped posting now. Sheesh, stop adding Dean Koontz to yer library will ya? and then I won't be forced to post so long! Yer fault!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 10:10 pm (EST) on Oct 22, 2009

otherworldly indeed!

and I just searched his books and found this: Don't Bump the Glump!: And Other Fantasies. I ask you: What parent in their right mind would allow this man to share his fantasies w/their precious children?!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:04 pm (EST) on Oct 18, 2009

I just caved and googled photos of Silverstein. And you are so right! Shel gives me quite the fright! - look (is this the pic?): http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Clu...
This creepy looking guy was a children's author?! He makes me think of Goliath, for some reason, a brutish beast. And he was also the founder of the Church of Satan? I am shocked!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:52 am (EST) on Oct 18, 2009

Well shoot! The edition I have of the Giving Tree does not have an author photo. I will to have to investigate further....

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 11:40 pm (EST) on Oct 14, 2009

Hmmm indeed! I no longer own the SB, but the menacing picture of dearest Anton is forever seared in my mind. I do have The Giving Tree, somewhere in the children's wing of my vast (so vast) library. I will give it a look tonight and get back to you.

But wait...how did you know just right off the bat like that, Lavey's & Silverstein's mysterious similarity of features? Oh no! Can it be? Is BeckyJG **whispers** a closet Satanist?

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:37 pm (EST) on Oct 14, 2009

Glad you liked my profile page.

I'm curious what you liked about my library, given that we only have 25 works in common. But then, I suppose anyone who has Thurber in their library has a pretty good library by definition? ;-)

posted by Noisy at 9:34 am (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

Pleasure to meet you, as well. And thank you for all of the support. I'll definitely let you know about the next book when it comes out. If you're ever interested in doing a signing or event for BREATHERS, let me know. Even though I live in San Francisco, it's pretty easy for me to make a trip down to L.A.

Scott

posted by SGBrowne at 10:15 am (EST) on Oct 5, 2009

While I realize it's late notice, I'll be swinging by your favorite bookstore in El Segundo on Saturday afternoon after my reading and discussion in Torrance.

Scott

posted by SGBrowne at 2:04 am (EST) on Oct 3, 2009