The Tournament of Books 2011 | Raging Biblio-holism

Kapitoil

May 13, 2012 by Drew

The Short Version: Karim moves to New York from Qatar to do some Y2K programming for a major multi-national corporation. He develops a new program while there and skyrockets to success – but the hurdles of American culture are confusing and even as he begins to acclimate and become more “American”, he wonders about what it is he’s losing. In the end, he has to weigh everything he’s gained against the man he is and wants to be – and […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Fiction, Kapitoil, Literature, Teddy Wayne, The Tournament of Books 2011

The Sense of an Ending

April 19, 2012 by Drew

The Short Version: Tony Webster is an average man. He has lived an ordinary life, with ordinary adventures. He has comfortably receeded into later middle age with a comfortable divorce, a comfortable retirement, and a comfortable sense of his history. This changes when he receives an unexpected bequest and is forced to starkly re-examine the life he thought he’d lived. The Review: This just struck me as I was doing up the summary there: this book and Open City are kindred […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Fiction, Julian Barnes, Literature, Man Booker Prize, The Sense of an Ending, The Tournament of Books 2011, WMFU novel

Open City

March 28, 2012 by Drew

The Short Version: Julius, a young Nigerian psychiatry resident, walks the streets of Manhattan in the middle years of the 2000s – post-9/11 but pre-Obama. As he walks, he finds himself observing moments as though an outsider, isolated from the world while living in it. He has encounters with various people and all the while philosophises about our world and about human nature. The Review: SPOILERS may be present. This is a book in which everything and nothing happens. It’s […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Fiction, Literature, New York City, Open City, Philosophy, Teju Cole, The Tournament of Books 2011

Green Girl

March 22, 2012 by Drew

The Short Version: Ruth. She’s young and American and living in London. She’s empty inside, mostly – but she can’t quite figure out why. She is affected and disaffected all at once. She is one of the listless generation, who can’t quite figure out why she’s trapped inside herself – let alone figure a way to escape. The Review: This year, I had at least heard of each of the Tournament of Books shortlist books except for this one. So naturally, […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: BookClub, Fiction, Green Girl, Kate Zambreno, Literature, London, The Tournament of Books 2011

Bloodroot

November 1, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: The story of three generations of women living on Bloodroot Mountain in Appalachia. All of them touched with some hint of witchery, all of them wild and unruly – all of them caught up with men who are far less than they seem. The Review: Okay, I’m sorry, but how did this ever make it onto the ToB shortlist last year? At least its competition (the well-matched The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake) actually had a unique […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: A Visit to October Country, Amy Greene, Bloodroot, Fiction, Literature, The Tournament of Books 2011

Savages

September 24, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: Ben and Chon grow and sell amazing pot. O (short for Ophelia) loves them both. Ben does humanitarian aid, Chon has PTLSD (post-traumatic lack of stress disorder, natch), O loves shopping and coming. It’s a pretty amazing life – until a Mexican drug cartel decides they want in on Ben & Chonny’s action. Shit gets real, kids – shit gets real. The Review: Okay, first thing first: the first page. This is the gambit that got everyone talking about […]

Categories: Fiction • Tags: Crime, Don Winslow, Fiction, Savages, The Tournament of Books 2011

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

May 31, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: On the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose develops the peculiar ability to taste not only the innate details of food – where it comes from, down to the particular factory or farm in the world – but also the emotions of the person who made it. Suddenly, she’s privy to a whole realm of information she had previously never even imagined. She grows up with this ability, struggling to fit in – but it turns out her […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Aimee Bender, Fiction, Literature, Magical Realism, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Tournament of Books 2011

Freedom

April 12, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: The story of Walter and Patty Berglund. Their lives, from childhood to the present, and their various passions, failures, successes, etc. Their children play big roles as does a ‘rocker’ who apparently looks like Quaddafi and is called Richard Katz. There is much Americana… and way too much about birds. The Review: I’m coming late to the Freedom train and even later to the Franzen one. Haven’t read The Corrections or any of his other work – […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Fiction, Freedom, Jonathan Franzen, Literature, The Tournament of Books 2011

Room

March 16, 2011 by Drew

The Short Version: Jack and his Ma live in Room. Room is Jack’s entire world – but what he doesn’t realize is that there’s an entire world beyond Room’s walls. His mother was kidnapped in college and has been locked in Room for the last seven years. Finally, shortly after Jack’s fifth birthday, they decide to try for an escape – but the challenge of re-entering the real world is more than they realize. The Review: Let’s get three things […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Emma Donoghue, Fiction, Literature, Room, The Tournament of Books 2011

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: The Tournament of Books 2011