Books

Get it Shorty

Nocketback — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:15:46 -0700

Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
Vintage (2006)

By: Nicholas Nocketback

Coming of Age in The East Involves A Touch of Oedipal Prophecy, Conversing With Cats, and Falling Fish—It’s Huck Finn in Japanese, Baby!

Giraffes? Giraffes!

Jessi — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:54:27 -0700

The Haggis-On-Whey World of Unbelievable Brilliance, Volume 1
Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-On-Whey

reviewed by Jessi Hafer

Did you know…that giraffes first came to Earth from Neptune via giant conveyor belts?

Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican in America

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:25:44 -0700

Rose Castillo Guilbault
2005

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

In Farmerworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican in America, author Rose Castillo Guilbault tells her story of moving from Mexico to California’s Salinas Valley, where she grew up during the 1960s. Rose’s mother divorced Rose’s biological father, who was discovered to be raising another family in another city. Although the extended family disapproved, Rose and her mother moved from Mexico to Kings City, California. They lived with a distant cousin until Rose’s mother married a farmworker.

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:23:02 -0700

Lemony Snicket (Introduction by Daniel Handler) (2002)

Reviewed by Jessi Hafer

Dear Mr. L. Snicket:

Traffic Life: Passionate Tales and Exit Strategies

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:15:41 -0700

An Anthology, Edited by Stephan Wehner
Wandering Soliton Publications
www.trafficlife.com
2004

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

I’ve heard people say, “The only thing the government should pay for is the roads.” If you’ve ever wondered, even briefly, “Well, why should the government even pay for the roads?” then you should read Traffic Life: Passionate Tales and Exit Strategies.

Anansi Boys

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:14:04 -0700

Neil Gaiman (2006)

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

“There is a theory that, in the whole world, there are only 500 real people. …In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands of groups of about 500 people, all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. … It’s not even coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.”

Blithe Tomato

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:11:46 -0700

Mike Madison
Heyday Books
2006

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

Blithe Tomato is a self-proclaimed “wry look at farmer’s market society.” This is not accomplished with essays or with a single, linear story. Instead, author and grower Mike Madison tells us pieces of stories about the individuals he meets at other farms, in his community, and at the farmer’s market. He also shares the tasks he completes through the year.

Consider the Lobster and Other Essays

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:09:50 -0700

David Foster Wallace
Little, Brown and Company (2005)

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

Those already familiar with David Foster Wallace will not need much convincing, just a reminder that this book is out there, and you need to get it.

Paddy on the Hardwood

Jessi — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:07:39 -0700

By Rus Bradburd
University of New Mexico Press

Review by: Jessi Hafer

“How I wound up there – after fourteen years of coaching major-college basketball in the States – and what unfolded in the town of Tralee is less a story than a tale. In fact, it’s less a tale than a ballad; a ballad without discernible meter, which might make it what the Irish call a “slow air.”

Jamie Oliver's Italy

Nocketback — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:57:23 -0700

Jamie’s Italy
Jamie Oliver
Hyperion (2006)

by Nicoletti Nocketback

Italian for the Masses, or the Proletariat’s Prosciutto