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    <name><![CDATA[Adele]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Emeryville, CA]]></location>        
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      <rating>3</rating>
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  <read_at>Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jan 06 20:38:25 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jan 06 20:46:28 -0800 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[From the literati club that is the Dave Eggers 826 empire comes this collection of short stories, written by authors for free to benefit 826 New York.  The stories were written from the prompt that editor Zadie Smith basically describes as &quot;create a character&quot;-- and mixed results ensue.  Smith's story, for example, is a mediocre effort about a father-son relationship that leaves much to be desired.  Eggers goes mythical and writes about giants, while Vendela Vida, his wife, delivers straight up realism in the form of boozy weekends at Lake Tahoe.  (Neither of their stories are among the best in the book.) Comic artists/graphic novelists Chirs Ware and Daniel Clowes contribute funny-yet-heart-wrenching strips that are a welcome break from the print...  An very quick, addicting book if you can get over the smug self-congratulation of the Eggers cult which I pretty much cannot.]]></body>
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