Rather than posting a Saturday Poem -- today I thought I might just blab a bit about how great my Birthday Weekend is going.All in all, it just keeps being great.
Even now, this very moment, I am sitting at an over-stuffed Chapters, in the Starbucks section, at one of the only free [much coveted] tables.
I have a great book beside me. They provide free refills of coffee here. In other words, things are great.
Admittedly, the word "great" means different things to different people.
Personally, I define it [in reference to weekends] according to a measurement of:
The Three Essential Criteria.
1) Coffee.
2) Hamburgers.
3) Reading time.
It's finding the right balance of these three things that ensures a "great" weekend for me. This weekend I am getting the perfect melange of all three.
<-- A few minutes ago I was walking through the store and had a look at this book on yonder display.The newly-released Chronic City, by Jonathan Lethem.
The sheer urbanity of the dust jacket drew me in. Reading the inner blurb intrigued me even further, because the book is set in a sort of alternative-reality Manhattan.
And I just like that kind of jazz.
But what really got me is the part that describes one of the central characters, a pop-critic named Perkus Tooth, "whose conspiratorial riffs are fueled by high-grade marijuana, mammoth cheeseburgers, and a desperate ache for meaning."
Did someone say, "mammoth cheeseburgers"?
I'm in!
As long as the word "mammoth" is being used as an adjective here, I guess.
Oh, but who am I kidding. I'd eat mammoth!
Anyhoo -- please forgive me this near substance-less blog. I'm just doing some light musing while high on caffeine. Chronic City is Lethem's eighth novel and I haven't read any of them.
Have any of my dear Bookpuddle friends read anything by this author?
If so, who is he comparable to?
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5 comments:
What about birthday cake to go along with the hamburgers?
Haven’t read any of Lethem’s work – hope you bought that new one so you can review it for us. ;)
I haven't read anything by this author, but I like the cover too.
I was drawn into your post by the title just because I was out to dinner with a friend yesterday and her burger while not huge, was undercooked (bright red in the middle). I was so glad I ordered an omelet! :)
Beth:
Yes -- to me, the perfect birthday cake would be a giant hamburger, hold the candles!
I did not buy the book -- my budget for the year is........ overspent!
Alyce:
Oooooh... I love beef, but yeah, it's gotta be well-cooked! Yikes. Undercooked cow, that is just not good.
My husband has read Letham and liked him and I have heard many good things about him. and if the book is about mammoth hamurgers then I think it must have been meant for you :)
Well, all I know about Lethem is that he is a fan of cartoonist Patricia Storms. So he's in.
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