Mark Sarvas's Blog, page 24

TO PARIS

I'm off to Paris, where the French edition of Harry, Revised will be published next week.  So things will be quiet here until my return.  In my absence, please visit the fine sites noted to the left.  Also, a reminder - if you're in the LA area, there is still some space available in my Novel I class at UCLA, which kicks off January 19.  You can check out my syllabus if you like, subject to change, of course. 

See you all next week ... à bientôt.

L.A. EVENT: VERMIN ON THE MOUNT

SUMMERTIME REVIEW

My review of J.M. Coetzee's Summertime has gone live over at the Barnes and Noble Review.  It opens thus:

John Coetzee is dead, and you can feel his relief on almost every page of Summertime.  It's hard to imagine a more liberating conceit for an author as private and elusive as J. M. Coetzee, who has artfully constructed a second self through a trilogy of third person  "fictionalized memoirs" -- to use his U.K. publisher's inelegant designation -- of which Summertime is the concluding...

TITLES OF THE TIMES

I tend to agree with the old saying that it takes an immigrant to truly appreciate America, and so in that spirit I direct you to Colum McCann's lovely, moving Titles of the Times.  I remember feeling much the same, and being proud that my daughter would be born into an America where all briefly seemed possible.

Then on the evening of Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama stepped onto the stage of a country maimed by war, cleaved by greed, riven by a collapsing economy, and I walked outside my New York...

DAVID LEVINE DIES

David Levine has died and it's hard to imagine the New York Review of Books without him.  An era seems to be passing before our eyes.

"They were extraordinary drawings with extraordinary perception," Jules Feiffer said in a recent interview about the work of Mr. Levine, who was his friend. He added: "In the second half of the 20th century he was the most important political caricaturist. When he began, there was very little political caricature, very little literary caricature. He revived...

SUM (AND SO LONG)

Baby's first Christmas is upon us here at Chez TEV, so I'm shuttering the site until the new year.  Look for signs of life here around January 13, when I'm back from my Paris trip.  (I do have a very interesting book review set to run in the interim, and I will pop back to alert you to check it out.)

It's been a real challenge to keep things going here in the shadow of diapers, feedings and the rest, but I remain committed to keeping things interesting and lively.  I'm grateful to have such...

WITH THANKS ...

... to Katherine Taylor for so heroically keeping the fires burning at TEV in the face of illness and other travails.  Come back any time.

We'll be logging off for the holidays in just a little bit but we'll back with few tidbits later today before bidding y'all an official adieu.  Stay tuned, loyal readers. 

Katherine Taylor Cheers You Up!

I say goodbye today, TEV readers, and return you to your regularly scheduled Sarvas. 

And though I have this dreadful sinus infection so cannot even enjoy my day lounging in bed as I usually do, I have come up with some cheerful holiday links!  Yes I have.  You're welcome.
Bill Keller, last observed writing Election-style letters to the Pulitzer committee, has good news for his NYT staffers.
It's encouraging when a book continues to get reviewed 46 years after publication.

"Gee, you were...

Katherine The Grouch.

The sore throat has asserted itself as a sinus infection.  I am extremely grumpy.

The New Yorker has the transcript from Lydia Davis's live chat the other day.  
I prefer lists of best books you've never read (here, too) to the depressingly predictable best-of lists.
A lot of people keep getting punched.  Probably they deserved it.  No links, just a thought.  I am grumpy.
The Liu Xiabo story got me so depressed I can't even really be bothered to round up more links.  That's no way to go out on a...

Demand The Immediate Release of Liu Xiabo.

A week ago, the dissident writer Liu Xiabo was formally indicted by the Chinese government on charges of inciting subversion.  PEN has organized a click-and-send letter-writing campaign for supporters here. 

(The Frankfurt Book Fair can't hear you; it has a banana in its ear.)