Some Books I've Finished

This year is starting to turn out to be a pretty good reading year. Unfortunately, there is really only one place to go from here and I'm not holding hope that I'll find better books than these two. I'll hold off saying anything about these books until my end of the year lists come out so I'll just say that they are really, really good. There are images in these books that I'll never forget, and single lines that I've read over and over and marveled at how simple but full of meaning they are.

The McSweeney's Book Club has already paid for itself.

Top Three Reasons

K has taken to saying that I would love living in a small town (I think she said that I pretend that I actually live in one) , and while I did look for jobs at one point in rural Vermont I've always liked the big city going-ons. Anyway, here are three recent examples of why she just might be right.

1. I went to a local chili cook-off in a church basement and had a smile on my face the whole time. Even when I was eating the really bad, overcooked varieties. I talked to the local newspaper reporter about the experience at the chowfest and discussed rating methods with the elderly couple that I was sitting with.

2. When the train into Chicago was delayed because of "severe switch problems" K and I decided to drive into the city. I made the suggestion that we should ask strangers if they would like a ride with us. One guy took us up on the suggestion. Nothing like looking out for neighbors, I suppose.

3. Speaking of neighbors, today on my jog I began talking to sixty-year old guy about running and whatnot and ended up eating lunch with him later. Turns out he ran cross-country and was a sniper for the IRA when he was a teenager, moved to the States, earned a couple of master's and now teaches remediation classes at night at the local high school. Who would have thought?

Ice Carving

Went to the National Ice Carving Championship today in Downer's Grove, IL. Check out the pics here: link to pics

I think they speak for themselves.

The Middle Stories

I guess I should start out by saying that this isn't the book that I read. My book has the sharpie graffiti in the form of fish surrounding the guy's head and then a cat face on the actual guy. This book has several various stickers that are slapped on the covers, all of the big guy seen here but with a slight, not-so-subtle change. Why? I guess so you'll know which one is yours at the book club.

So even the cover is gimmicky and while many of these stories are good, some are really good - it never really gets past its cuteness. They all seem like the beginnings of really great stories but end up with vague not-quite-conclusions. But since Heti's style is unmistakably polished ("Every plan fails. That's what the man had refused to tell him. Every single body's. But that, my friend, is precisely life's sorrow.") You can't deny that that there is something there.

Maybe I'm out of touch, out of practice with the modern short story. But at the end of the stories you aren't given hope about the state of fiction. It is easy to see why people stay with the classics, why people aren't sure why they should read anymore. The monotonous, intelligent, austere, polished prose doesn't lead the reader to new discoveries, instead it leaves him confused. I realize that, after reading this, that it sounds like I hate this book. Not true. I like it. I like the challenge. I would read more by Heti. It is a book that does not comfort. It does not provide conclusive, moral endings. In fact, the goals it often seems to deliberately confuse. But then you return to them, and you might possibly think: how curious, how interesting, how nervy. Maybe it's the same reason why I got tired of John Barth or never really began liking Donald Barthelme. Maybe it's a reaction to how things aren't nice and tidy anymore, that we aren't told - or aren't able to tell - what the morals or dreams or ideals should be passed on because it can't fit into a sound bite or short story.

A Good Barber is Hard to Find

One of the hardest things about moving to a new town is finding a place to get a haircut. It is usually a case of the Goldilocks' porridge. It was no difference in my case.

My criteria was simple:
1. Have a barber's pole out front.
2. Not part of a corporate chain.
3. Have old-fashioned barber's chair (not expecting a porcelain base or anything).
4. Cash only.

Too Crass:
I thought that I found paydirt on my first shot: small shop down by the riverwalk and historic downtown area. Barber pole spinning (yes - even spinning!) out front trying to centripetally force me in. There were old fashioned register in the middle and five chairs on the perimeter. The guy that cut my hair was in his fourties and made some 'funny' jokes about having an old nag as a wife and about how he hated school. I was still looking for a job at the time (which prompted the school digs) and I had an interview the next day so it seemed natural that when I landed the job the next week that I would return. However, the jokes got old/uncomfortable the next month so I never went back. Next!

Too Inconvenient:
So I moved on. I found a barber shop even closer to my house with a working pole plus only two chairs (community must happen here!); the bathroom is even charmingly hidden behind 3 doors in the basement; and it is right on the corner. What sold me here was that the barber respected education but put an amusing twist on it. "I was doing great until seventh grade - then I went to a Who concert" How can you not fall for a one liner like that!? To make things even more perfect the barbers use a straight blade to trim up the back of the neck instead of the regular trimmers. However, they close at 5 on weekdays and are only open for a few hours on Saturdays which means that when IU lost in that foul-fest marathon vs Iowa; I couldn't even get my haircut. Next!

Just Right:
The barber's name is Joe; has 50 years experience; uses the lather and straight blade, and knows the name of the haircut that I want after I describe it (Princeton, long) - the shop is between the two other shops but still within walking distance,has seven chairs, and lots of chatter. Joe talked about convertible care, his stint in Greenland during WWII, and beards. He also had a great one-liner of his own, "Men don't wear clean gym shoes." He works until 7:00 on Thursdays. I'll return.