Book Review: Suicide Casanova by Arthur Nersesian
Suicide Casanova by Arthur Nersesian
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this — it’s a bit on the predictable side, and the language, although it claims to be pulpy and contempo-noir, mostly falls flat and sounds silly. I had read The FuckUp many years ago and was looking forward to another by the author. The packaging was pretty great, although I ended up just getting the standard paper back. All in all, I stuck with it but it was trying. A couple of decent moments. Interesting structure in the book, but hasn’t held up well with the passing of a few years. (more…)
Seeing Eye to Eye by William T. Vollman, my favorite writer, for Bookforum’s print issue. In Which George Bush Enters History by David Warsh at Economic Principals. Ten Greenest Buildings in the World over at Easy Ways to Go Green. The Wrestler: The Redemption of Mickey Rourke by Eli S. Evans over at The Fanzine. “Break it Down” by Lydia Davis as read by actor Matt Malloy from an episode (Episode #88: Numbers) of This American Life, available in podcast form for download. This is an excerpted short story from Lydia Davis’s book titled, Break It Down, available for purchase through this link. The Islamic Republic of Lashes in the New Yorker by George Packer. This Won’t Hurt a Bit by Jonathan Cohn, about health care reform for dummies in The New Republic online.
Old Godard blog posting with tons of great material, in word and video, at the New Yorker online from October, 2008.
The End of White America by Hua Hsu in the Atlantic, current issue (January-February).
The Things They Carried, scenes from the Gaza border, by Yossi Klein Halevi in The New Republic online.
“No Signs Kim Has Eased Control in North Korea,” an interview from the Council on Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs Magazine. Interviewee:Don Oberdorfer, Chairman, U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; Interviewer:Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor, CFR.org.
Hal Ashby by Darren Hughes, from Senses of Cinema.
William T. Vollman’s author page from McSweeny’s Internet Tendency.
Lydia Davis’s story (abstract from) “Thyroid Diary” from the New Yorker.
Things to Read Around the Web:
The Man in the Middle, on New York Senior Senator Chuck Schumer, by Joshua Green in the Atlantic Monthly. Should Obama’s Inaugural Address Be Bleak, by Eve Fairbanks for The New Republic.
McSweeny’s features a selection of children’s letters to newly elected President Obama, from what I believe is a forthcoming book. Between The Ritz and the Gutter: Francis Bacon’s Life in London, by Amabel Barraclough for The Fanzine. Interview with Benjamin Weissman from an older issue of The Believer, in part (subscribe for the entire feature). Also pick up Benjamin Weissman’s two awesome collections of short stories here, by clicking either Headless or Dear Dead Person.
Analysis of The Seventh Seal, a film by Bergman, written by Dennis DeNitto and William Herman for Winona State University.
They Are It, and article about The Strokes by Gerald Marzorati from the NY Times, originally published October 6, 2002.
History and Information on Niagara Falls from Info Niagara. Inaugural Galleries: Gilbert Stuart at the NGA, from Modern Art Notes by Tyler Green. Interview with Los Angeles-based artist Alexandra Grant from ArtSlant LA, September 2008.
