Book: Best American Non-Required Reading 2006
Album: Endtroducing - DJ Shadow
I picked up this book over Christmas break at the Spectrum Barnes and Noble with Shareen. It was recommended by an employee who also flagged Best American Comics which I had just recently finished. I had heard mixed reviews about this book, but I read the introduction by Matt Groening and decided to give it a shot. The introduction is very funny, which is of little surprise. Groening being the founder of the Simpsons, Futurerama and the comic My Life in Hell is a very smart and funny guy. So I ended up buying this and Skinny Bitch for Shareen.
What was surprising was how much I liked the collection of stories. The fiction in the book was not as good as the non-fiction. One story from the New Yorker further confirmed that the New Yorker needs to be shut down. However the nonfiction was both interesting and topical. From travels in North Korea, to the aftermath of Katrina on New Orleans, to Martyrdom in the middle east, to the creation of Dubai all of these stories kept my interest. The highlight of the book to me was from Kurt Vonnegut. It was from his book A Man Without a Country and was all about fiction. I highly recommend reading it. And Dallas this short piece absolutely sums up your class.
Endtroducing has quickly become one of my favorite albums. And like the book it is entirely a compilation. DJ Shadow mixed, scratched, and sampled god only knows how many albums to create an entirely new album. The album is part electronic part hip-hop and part soul. When put together it creates its own style that makes you sit down and listen. "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" is probably my favorite track off the album.
Bonus Book: Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
OK there is a reason that this is not its own separate entry in the 52, its because I started to read this last semester and then stopped with like 40 pages to go. No idea why I stopped I mean it is not a hard read. Well I saw the book in my room and had just written the review to Non-Required and decided to finish it. And ultimately I felt that Slaughterhouse was not as good as everyone claims it to be. I liked it well enough but I felt that Cats Cradle or Sirens of Titans were better. They were funnier and smarter than Slaughterhouse. That is just my personal opinion however. I do recognize the literary merits of the story and that Vonnegut certainly pushed the envelope with the book.
Album: Endtroducing - DJ Shadow
I picked up this book over Christmas break at the Spectrum Barnes and Noble with Shareen. It was recommended by an employee who also flagged Best American Comics which I had just recently finished. I had heard mixed reviews about this book, but I read the introduction by Matt Groening and decided to give it a shot. The introduction is very funny, which is of little surprise. Groening being the founder of the Simpsons, Futurerama and the comic My Life in Hell is a very smart and funny guy. So I ended up buying this and Skinny Bitch for Shareen.
What was surprising was how much I liked the collection of stories. The fiction in the book was not as good as the non-fiction. One story from the New Yorker further confirmed that the New Yorker needs to be shut down. However the nonfiction was both interesting and topical. From travels in North Korea, to the aftermath of Katrina on New Orleans, to Martyrdom in the middle east, to the creation of Dubai all of these stories kept my interest. The highlight of the book to me was from Kurt Vonnegut. It was from his book A Man Without a Country and was all about fiction. I highly recommend reading it. And Dallas this short piece absolutely sums up your class.
Endtroducing has quickly become one of my favorite albums. And like the book it is entirely a compilation. DJ Shadow mixed, scratched, and sampled god only knows how many albums to create an entirely new album. The album is part electronic part hip-hop and part soul. When put together it creates its own style that makes you sit down and listen. "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" is probably my favorite track off the album.
Bonus Book: Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
OK there is a reason that this is not its own separate entry in the 52, its because I started to read this last semester and then stopped with like 40 pages to go. No idea why I stopped I mean it is not a hard read. Well I saw the book in my room and had just written the review to Non-Required and decided to finish it. And ultimately I felt that Slaughterhouse was not as good as everyone claims it to be. I liked it well enough but I felt that Cats Cradle or Sirens of Titans were better. They were funnier and smarter than Slaughterhouse. That is just my personal opinion however. I do recognize the literary merits of the story and that Vonnegut certainly pushed the envelope with the book.
1 comment:
Thanks for the shout out! I'll check out that collection, too--I do like the Vonnegut book. (I also like the New Yorker, but whatever.)
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