In Review

I've been enjoying the luxury of doing a lot of reading lately. I thought I'd pass on some impressions from some recent books, and a movie.

I finally finished Blackwood Farm. I'm afraid I don't recommend you do the same. Even with 30 pages missing from the middle of my copy, it was a total slog to get through, and I only finished it to finish it. It's like Anne Rice took some Lestat bread and made a book sandwich out of it but forgot the meat and mustard. The plot is plodding and nonsensical, and then the ending is rushed through and poorly executed, In the end, I didn't really care what happened to anyone.

Next, I finished and really enjoyed The Social Lives of Dogs. You can read the Publisher's Weekly review of the book on the Amazon page. It's spot on. I can only add I found the book fascinating and touching and remarkably funny. I found a lot that applied in getting to know my new dog.

I can't recommend enough that you pick up a copy of Magical Thinking by Augusten Burrows. It's great summer reading and you can finish it quickly, or do what I did and carry it around with you, It made waiting for subways and take out food as well as bus rides about as enjoyable as can be. I saw alot of myself in these stories, and I love the way he writes. I'll be picking up his other books very soon.

The movie I absolutely loved I've been wanting to see for some time now was Mysterious Skin. It was directed by Greg Araki, whose work I've been following for years. This is probably his finest, most complete film to date. Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers a nuanced, mature and complex performance of a boy truly fucked up by his childhood. While the subject matter is disturbing, the story itself is powerful and the ending, while predictable, is satisfying.

So there you have it, proof that I don't just watch porn. Anybody want to recommend my next book?

PS. I was going to post some pix of my visit to Folsom Street East but Blogger is being all uppity right now. Maybe tomorrow.