Books 1/11/05
I finished The Everlasting days and days ago. I haven’t written about it yet because I’m in the dual strange position of knowing the author and the book not being out yet. Now, I loved the book, so it’s not that I wasn’t writing for fear that he would read what I wrote- but I already wrote him a long e-mail detailing my thoughts about the book, so writing about it here feels repetitive, although it isn’t for you fine folks. So, for your benefit, some thoughts. When this book comes out, buy it. The characters are so honest, so genuine, and so realistically flawed that you will feel like you know them. In turns you’ll want to hug, shake, and at a number of points, strangle them, and you won’t want to leave them at the end. There are tons of other things I could say about it, about the irony of a guy only being able to be truly present in his relationship with his cat, or the accidents that happen when you try to reach forward toward new love while simultaniously looking over your shoulder at the past, but I’ll stick to my original statement: Buy it I say!
I tried to read Gilligan’s Wake Tom Carson, but my guess is that it’s probably based on Finnigan’s Wake, and that if I read that first I might understand it better. I liked what I read so far, but just had the overwhelming feeling that there were levels and levels that I was completely missing. So, once I remember to get Finnigan’s Wake and read it, I’ll try this one again.
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to use the library more and my bank account less, so I hit the library yesterday and realized that apparently I’m in a non-fiction mood. I picked up four biographies- two of Marilyn Monroe (one is actually an autobiography), one of JFK, and one of Marion Davies. I’m not actually reading of them at the moment, instead I’m reading Successful Large Account Management, a book my dad suggested. It’s a very smart look at how to approach customers, with the philosophy that to build their business is to build your own. It’s really very good, and I’m enjoying it in a completely different way than my recent reads.
Current Total: 2
Just Finished: The Everlasting by Jamie S. Rich
Currently reading: Successful Large Account Management by Robert Miller, Stephen Heiman with Tad Tuleja