masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-just-finished-george-saunders-new.html
Sunday, October 02, 2005. I just finished George Saunders' new novella The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. A fable about the dangers of power in the hands of the brainless, Reign of Phil. At first seems at first like a thinly-veiled critique of the Bush administration. But actually it goes deeper than that, and deals with people's fears in the face of oppression, and how they seek happiness. I like some of Saunder's other stuff better (see my earlier post. On some of his New Yorker.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/03/freaky-deakyby-elmore-leonard-solid.html
Monday, March 28, 2005. The follow-up to "Get Shorty" (also by him). I liked "Get Shorty," but I haven't seen the sequel. My guess: the books are better. Posted by Mason Inman at 2:04 AM. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. View my complete profile. FYI: In case you ran across this on its own, this bookshelf is just a sidecar to my main blog.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive: Summer reading so far...
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2004/07/summer-reading-so-far.html
Tuesday, July 27, 2004. Summer reading so far. By Jon-fren Safran Foer. A holocaust novel unlike any I've heard of- though I might not have read it if I'd known it was one. In letters from the narrator's Ukrainian penpal, Safran Foer murders English and resurrects it. His warping of English is even funnier than David Sedaris's in Me Talk Pretty One Day. Also, according to this New Yorker article. The author speaks as an Oracle through an electronic sign in Manhattan. Me Talk Pretty One Day. Well, I can h...
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive: The Case of the Female Orgasm
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/10/case-of-female-orgasm.html
Monday, October 31, 2005. The Case of the Female Orgasm. Bias in the Science of Evolution. Clearly women don't need to have an orgasm to get pregnant, but biologists have suggested that it helps bond men and women together, or that it has a mechanical function, helping women suck up sperm they want to keep and expel that which they don't. (Such things are known from the world of amphibians, for example, but there's little evidence for it in people.). Posted by Mason Inman at 5:22 PM.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/08/short-short-stories-by-dave-eggers.html
Wednesday, August 17, 2005. These are, as the title says, quite short stories. Most or all of these were published in the UK's Guardian newspaper, which makes puts all its content online for free. (Or you could buy the book like me. What is born every minute? Yes, a sucker is.) So really, rather than me wasting time talking you into reading one of these, you should just read one yourself. My suggestion of where to start: No More Death. The rest from this book, plus more, are here. You can thank me later.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2004/11/cloud-atlasby-david-mitchell-this.html
Saturday, November 27, 2004. Some friend, unclear who. Round three: 1975, California, a powers-that-be story of industrial greed and hit men. What next? Style shifts, settings jump, plot twists, always surprises. See A S. Byatt's review. From the Guardian (UK). Posted by Mason Inman at 3:25 AM. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. View my complete profile. FYI: In case you ran across this on its own, this bookshelf is just a sidecar to my main blog.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive: when was that now?
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/03/when-was-that-now.html
Friday, March 04, 2005. When was that now? More on Ali Smith's Hotel World. But even the girl in the story when she's remembering her sister she still can laugh and I think if my dad had a ghost would he want to see me crying or laughing? Even if it means he's kind of forgotten? Posted by Mason Inman at 1:03 PM. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. View my complete profile. FYI: In case you ran across this on its own, this bookshelf is just a sidecar to my main blog.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive: Down & Out in Paris & London
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/04/down-out-in-paris-london.html
Saturday, April 09, 2005. Down and Out in Paris and London. After the scary and sinister 1984. I didn't expect George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. Of the restaurant and hotel world; and it's a fascinating glimpse into the genesis of Orwell as a political satirist. Posted by Mason Inman at 2:57 AM. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. View my complete profile. FYI: In case you ran across this on its own, this bookshelf is just a sidecar to my main blog.
masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com
mason's bookshelf archive: going back to cali
http://masonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2005/05/going-back-to-cali.html
Saturday, May 28, 2005. Going back to cali. By Bret Easton Ellis. Set in the hills of L.A. in the 1980s, it follows a bunch of rich kids who spend their time getting fucked up and wondering why they feel nothing. And yet it makes me pine for California. I think it's funnier if you're not from there; most of it doesn't seem terribly shocking to me, though I'm sure to others it's outrageous. His previous book, Banvard's Folly. Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the Earth. Hope to hear from you soon!
