Books of the Month: July 2008

Dear Readers,
In late June I started a wondrous new job. Now I work at a library! I see books everyday and get to read them each morning and each evening on my long bus commute. The great library scientist Ranganathan once said, "Every book its reader." And as such, I now present my July book reviews to match each book with its proper bus rider reader. (* = checked out from the library.)

The World According to Garp by John Irving
This, Irving's fourth novel, is considered one of his best. I thought it was annoying, self-indulgent, and way too long. Recommended bus reader: the annoying gum-flapping, cell phone-yammering hootchie who, like Irving and Garp, just won't shut up. (Readers, if you've read this or other Irving novels, I'd like to hear your thoughts. I really wanted to like this book. I did, I really did. But it totally rubbed me the wrong way.)

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
A sparse, poetic meditation on love, service, friendship, and forgiveness. Recommended for the quiet, pensive, and patient bus rider-reader.

The End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee
Recommended for Canadian bus riders or riders of Canadian buses. Set in Vancouver's Chinatown, this intergenerational family drama probably has a deeper impact on those familiar with one of the book's main characters, Vancouver itself. (As far as Asian-Canadian fiction goes, I hear Jade Peony is better.)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Recommended for anyone who's ever ridden a bus and for anyone who hasn't. One of the best books I've read all year. And readers, I read a lot. This is smart, edgy, and timely and deserves to be read attentively, not on a bus. I'm not generally a re-reader, but this is one I see myself easily returning to sometime soon.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel *
An excellent bus read! Why? Pictures! This graphic novel is a coming of age and coming out memoir and an exploration of a tenuous father-daughter bond. The first half was stronger, the earlier narrative tighter and more compelling. Recommended bus reader: someone whose route has frequent stops and distractions; they don't matter quite as much in this work.

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
Recommended bus reader: the awkward, mismatched couple that's always nuzzling and smooching on the bus. Nobody can figure out what you see in each other or why you're together, canoodling so gratuitously on the bus. You'll appreciate the quirkiness of this love story. Be prepared to suspend your disbelief. Don't ask too many questions.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Recommended bus reader: high school kids on the yellow school bus. This is a perennially-assigned classic, one that I skimmed in high school and liked substantially more the second go-round.

Falling Man by Don DeLillo
Not recommended for anyone riding around on a New York City bus. DeLillo's portrayal of 9/11 and the aftermath in the lives of a New York City family is a bit too intense. The terse and choppy style matches the stop-and-go rhythm of confusion of an average city bus ride, so it is thus recommended for your average city bus rider.