Wild at Heart by Barry Gifford

I was a big fan of the Nicolas Cage film Wild at Heart and when I found out it was based on a book, of course I had to read it. Most of the story beats are the same, without David Lynch's theatrical pizzazz. This story is part of a longer volume that I didn't finish and assume tells about our minor characters. Altogether it's a pretty good piece of writing for those who like crime, wild romance, and Big Tuna. 

No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This is an interesting piece of literature. It's a personal narrative story written entirely in the form of tweets. So it feels like a book of poetry, almost. The 'posts' are definitely all profound in their own way. And I assume this is how most non-writers do their best writing these days. Very cool. 

Our protagonist is an influencer type who hit it big with some viral tweets about important issues. She gets paid to travel and tweet about things which start our story. Then she veers away from 'relevant' cultural events to tell the story of her nephew's cancer. Deep stuff. 

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This book is about a young team of dreamers and game designers who hit it big. It's about the romance of working obsessively with your best friends on a project of passion and ambition of heights never before dreamt. It's about the depth of friendship that can form from such an experience, and the struggles their relationships face as they become very successful and life happens. If you have any feelings at all, you'll probably like this book. It'll really get you. 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

I read this one because a couple of my friends said they had started it, or were going to read it. I love when this happens because I yearn for friends to talk about books with. As it turns out, my friends didn't read this book. Maybe they have by now. I should ask. Anyway, My Year of Rest and Relaxation is about a depressed young woman who lives alone in New York City. As she was already enabled to support herself as a part time receptionist at a gallery, she lost her parents who left her a house and enough money to live on for a while. So our heroine decides to get herself prescribed to as many downers as possible, so she can sleep almost all the time, until she feels better. Eventually she finds a drug to make this happen, and an artist who's willing to take care of things for her, so she only has to be awake or cognizant for one day out of every week or so. As it turns out, she takes for granted the ones she truly cares about those who truly care for her in turn. 

Cybele by Joyce Carol Oates

This was a good book to finish my flight and first few nights in Seattle. It tells the story of a very successful man in the sixties, and his complete fall from grace. Let's face it, most people put in positions of absolute power are not equipped to manage it. In fact, I doubt many career men with famlies knew how to take care of themselves very well. Not in the sixties.

But still, you kind of root for the guy to get better. Do better by his wife and following string of lovers, each reflecting a new stage of horrid self-discovery. Oates gets to the juice good in this one. I found myself unable to read the pages fast it enough. It's such a fun, dark time. Cybele very much affirmed the stun of Oates's talent. It's always great to go back to.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

I listened to a lecture series on existentialism in which this book was mentioned a few times. I must have really gotten the concept, even in the enjoyment of this book. But I suppose there was supposed to be some kind of deeper meaning to The Stranger. Sometimes life goes bad when you live in complete indifference.

Choke by Chuck Palaniuk

This book is a story of a sex addict, told by himself. He's had a messed up life and he's a messed up guy. And when us readers are more than ready to find out how it ends, our minds are blown. But I felt less than blown away.

Aurora Dawn by Howard Wouk

I think this book is a classic, but I don't know where I found the reccomendation for it. It's about the radio business and the American Sell-Out. I'm not sure if that's an official trope, or where I've last experienced it. Good people can win their battles, but the world will continue on its course.

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

Miles from Nowhere tells the story of a teenage immigrant runaway in the Bronx, in the 1980s. Who wouldn't want to read it? Who doesn't try to imagine a young life of independence at the cost of all safety? I definitely fantasized about it, with how boring and regimented my adolescent years were. This story does get pretty dark, as our hero Joon has to overcome some terrible stuff. The world can be pretty dangerous.

With Shuddering Fall by Joyce Carol Oates

For those who don't know, Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors, easily one of the best to produce work in my lifetime. With Shuddering Fall is her first novel, taking place in the days before air conditioners were common place, in small towns surrounded by country.

It tells the story of a sheltered young girl, stupidly innocent, and hungry for a real experience. As it turns out, these real experiences in life can be pretty awful. And she finds herself a dangerous attachment to a racecar driving man whose talent leans heavily on detachment and dysfunction.

While this isn't my favorite of Oates's novels, it's overflowing with the darkness, juice, and drama her fans have come to expect. If you haven't read anything by her before, I think this is a fine place to start, seeing how it's easier to stomach than some of her other books.

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski

I may have read the rest of Bukowski's novels, this being his last which tells his life story as lived by Henry Chinaski. He's an old fashioned drunk ass hole. Everything is ugly from the view of this ugly man. And there's a definite poeticism to it. There's a reason Bukowski's so famous.

He doesn't waste his reader's time, regardless of what contempt he might feel for anyone who might pick up his books. Bukowski's writing was likely the only good thing he did. And there's something special about that. Every page is indulgent and juicy. And the scenes of the first and last time his dad beat him come out like songs. Dark songs before their time.

We could talk for ever about separating art from their artists, and I think every case is different. Often art is the good that comes from the most depressing of realities and delusions. To create is to channel the good and move forward, connecting the quiet within to the nastiness on outside.

The high points in Bukowski's story are mostly about getting in fights and peeping on his neighbors, masturbating in the bushes. And one who can make others feel happy for them in such moments must have a gift. That's my piece on Bukowski. You've heard of him and you already have an opinion.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

I briefly visited Saint Augustine in April, and asked my friends to let me borrow their favorite books, with the promise of reading them.The only book I got was this one, loaned from my pal Dawson, who says it's amazing.

Much of the story in this book is told through letters between Jonathan (the american hero) and Alex, who lives in the Ukraine and speaks some english. Alex has a very unique verbiage, choosing English words that relate to what he intends to translate from Ukranian. But the story told is mostly about Jonathan's ancestors and their village (shtetl) of Trochenbrod, which was annihilated in World War 2.

Like most highly-acclaimed literary novels, Foer is very liberal with his syntax. You know what they say about Picasso. He was a master of traditional painting, so when he broke the rules, his art was made better. I don't think that's the case here. Some of this book's "scenes" made no sense.

You might have already guessed it, this book sheds a little extra light on just how bad the holocaust was. I know it was bad, but my understanding is very small. So you might credit much of this story's acclaim to the fact that these kinds of stories need to be told. The world should never forget how bad Nazis really were/are.

But the story isn't all about the holocaust, or else it would be a joyless horror story. Within the tale of Foer's family and shtetl, there are some very romantic romances. Others tales were likely weathered and imbelished the way legends are. And that's okay. I'm not going to forget Trochenbrod.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

You might call this a literary low fantasy, but does that sound adequately exciting? Piranesi is the nickname of our protagonist in this story. While a victim to some level of reality distortion, he lives a life of its own substance, exploring and documenting the endless labyrinth where he lives. He calls it The House, beautiful and so immersive that we begin to understand how Piranesi could have forgotten about everything outside.

The story hints at a lot of philosophy regarding the use of intuition in opposition to modern, rational thought. Piranesi doesn't have to think about who he is or what he needs to do. The world tells him what to do, and he is constantly listening and learning, sipping from an endless stream of natural dopamine.

At less than three hundred pages, you could read this book in a day or two. So why not? It's not without its villains, but to tell you anything about them would spoil it.