Bookish

When your job by definition involves staring at a computer screen for8 hours daily -- seriously, we don't even have paperwork, and my presence is required at very few face-to-face meetings -- every so often, your eyes have to pay the piper. Meaning, I've been suffering from tension headaches come quittin' time most days this week, so for the sake of my prized 20/20 vision I've put a moratoriumon after-work computer use and most extracurricular reading (except for the book of the week on my morning commute. That's sacred). Which is all a very long, drawn-out way of saying that I haven't been updating the blog as much as I'd like. (But that's perfectly OK 'causeI suspect the readership includes only two or three of my friends, who talk to me all the time anyway. Hi guys!)

There are several new books I've been meaning to get my hands on:

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis I consider myself a Bellis fan, even though I've read only two of his books: American Psycho, which I thought was brilliant although I had to skim over the most graphic parts, and The Rules of Attraction, which was just OK. (Back when the latter was first published, there may have been fewer print columns devoted to exposing the drinking, drugging, rich and spoiled and sleeping around nature of elite college students than there is now inthis I Am Charlotte Simmons age. Am I right? Maybe? And anyway, I read it the year after I graduated from a private liberal arts college, so my reaction was not shock, horror! but more along the lines of "duh." ) Anyway, definitely planning on picking up Lunar Park to hear what the author has to say about the 'burbs, but might not get around to it 'til paperback.

I must also add that I adore watching/reading interviews of Bret Easton Ellis. He speaks incredibly candidly and intelligently, even when the interviewer doesn't deserve it. I really wanted him to stand up and spew blood at Katie Couric, Patrick Bateman style.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith This one I might actually have to spring for in hardcover. Girl's wicked smart.

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel I'm intrigued by the high-profile raves this has received, but it seems like the kind of book that would ultimately piss me off. Do I really need to read a novel -college ennui and confusion? I get enough of that with my inner monologue, thanks, minus the whining.

Plus, I already have a favorite young-f'ed-up-20-something-guy-in-New-York novel. It is The Frog King, by Adam Davies. Love it!