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TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The Flamethrowers: A Novel
by Rachel Kushner (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2013

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Michelle Wildgen (Executive Editor, Tin House Magazine): I have not been the most fascinating consumer of culture this month, but I can tell you this: Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers is so far so authoritative, unexpected, and compelling—my favori...more Michelle Wildgen (Executive Editor, Tin House Magazine): I have not been the most fascinating consumer of culture this month, but I can tell you this: Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers is so far so authoritative, unexpected, and compelling—my favorite in my early reading of it is a scene in which the narrator happens upon a couple in a bar and just stays with them throughout the evening as it expands and moves from one place and crew of people to another, and it captures so perfectly the way these nights can occur when you are at a certain age, a certain unfetteredness, naivete and openness, and maybe a certain sheer foolishness and bravery too.

I feel as if a lot of people were recently talking about the BBC series Call the Midwife, and I have not yet watched it but have been reading the book, choosing for some reason to do so when I cannot sleep in the middle of the night. Sometimes it soothes and sometimes it doesn’t, but what it demonstrates, again and again, is this unalloyed truth: inventing birth control is probably the single best thing the human race has ever done. When I read an account of these women in 1950s East End London held hostage to baby after baby and think of the Republicans trying to actually take it away, it makes me want to tear someone’s face off. See, now I won’t sleep tonight, either.

Rob Spillman (Editor of Tin House): Believe the hype. Kushner can flat-out write. From the Bonneville Salt Flats to the pits of Italian politics, covering what it means to love and what it means to make art, this is a serious and deeply engaging novel. “I was in an acute case of the present tense. Nothing mattered but the milliseconds of life at that speed.”

Tony Perez (Editor, Tin House Books): This isn’t the first time that Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers has made an appearance on our Friday Reads, based on what I’ve seen my colleagues carting around lately, I suspect it won’t be the last. What’s blown me away about the book is the way Kushner manages to maintain such momentum even while she’s moving around in time. The narrative is discursive and often anecdotal, but never loses its drive. Even while she’s flashing back and stepping aside, she’s always moving us forward (appropriate for a book that takes speed as one it’s primary subjects). I’ve got forty pages to go, and I fear withdrawals—thankfully I’ve got an ARC of Elliott Holt’s You Are One of Them to calm my shakes.(less)

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Play It as It Lays
by Joan Didion

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Historical Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon: A Shortened Version
by Louis de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon

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TinHouseBooks is currently reading

Airships
by Barry Hannah

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TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

x
by Dan Chelotti

read in May, 2013

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TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The History of Vegas
by Jodi Angel (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2013

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TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Something Bright, Then Holes
by Maggie Nelson

read in May, 2013

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Emma Komlos-Hrobsky (Assistant Editor, Tin House Magazine): Seeing Maggie Nelson read with Wayne Koestenbaum at St. Mark’s a few weeks ago inspired me to dip back into some (relatively) vintage Nelson, her collection Something Bright, Then Holes. Thi...more

TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The Ruins of Paris
by Jacques Réda

read in May, 2013

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Heather Hartley (Paris Editor): Jacques Réda’s The Ruins of Paris guides the reader through the city’s neighborhoods and suburbs–from beautiful to gritty, noble to popular, spirited to silent. A true flâneur (stroller or walker or loafer), Réda moves...more

TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars

A Thousand Days of Wonder by Charles Fernyhough

A Thousand Days of Wonder: A Scientist's Chronicle of His Daughter's Developing Mind
by Charles Fernyhough

read in May, 2013

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Diane Chonette (Art Director of Tin House): A short while after my son was born last year I was listening to Radiolab on NPR. In the episode titled, “Voices in Your Head”, Jad Abumrad talked to psychologist and novelist, Charles Fernyhough, about the...more

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TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Flamethrowers: A Novel by Rachel Kushner (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Michelle Wildgen (Executive Editor, Tin House Magazine): I have not been the most fascinating consumer of culture this month, but I can tell you this: Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers is so far so authoritative, unexpected, and compelling—my favori...more
May 14, 2013 12:56pm · see review
TinHouseBooks is currently reading Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 14, 2013 12:55pm
TinHouseBooks is currently reading Historical Memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon: A Shortened Version by Louis de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 14, 2013 12:55pm
TinHouseBooks is currently reading Airships by Barry Hannah	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 14, 2013 12:53pm
TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars x by Dan Chelotti read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 14, 2013 12:53pm
TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars The History of Vegas by Jodi Angel (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 14, 2013 12:53pm
TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars Something Bright, Then Holes by Maggie Nelson read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Emma Komlos-Hrobsky (Assistant Editor, Tin House Magazine): Seeing Maggie Nelson read with Wayne Koestenbaum at St. Mark’s a few weeks ago inspired me to dip back into some (relatively) vintage Nelson, her collection Something Bright, Then Holes. Thi...more
May 14, 2013 12:52pm · see review
TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Ruins of Paris by Jacques Réda read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Heather Hartley (Paris Editor): Jacques Réda’s The Ruins of Paris guides the reader through the city’s neighborhoods and suburbs–from beautiful to gritty, noble to popular, spirited to silent. A true flâneur (stroller or walker or loafer), Réda moves...more
May 14, 2013 12:51pm · see review
TinHouseBooks rated a book 5 of 5 stars A Thousand Days of Wonder: A Scientist's Chronicle of His Daughter's Developing Mind by Charles Fernyhough read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Diane Chonette (Art Director of Tin House): A short while after my son was born last year I was listening to Radiolab on NPR. In the episode titled, “Voices in Your Head”, Jad Abumrad talked to psychologist and novelist, Charles Fernyhough, about the...more
May 14, 2013 12:50pm · see review

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