Saturday, January 27, 2007

Down These Mean Streets

I've been meaning to read Piri Thomas' book, DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS for about 5 years. I finally caved in when I saw a used copy for a couple bucks and I'm sorry I didn't read it earlier.

It's so delicious in all sorts of ways and its push-you-up-against-a-wall style won't let you breathe until you finish it. It's harsh, but it has such tender moments that many prison memoirs don't touch. Don't think for a minute that Thomas lets it be about that alone. He talks about growing up in Spanish Harlem with a keen eye to detail. One thing that you can tell is that this book, still in print after 40 years, is that it has definitively been an influential work.

Maybe that influence lies in the weaker aspects of the book (few and far between). I mean, so often one book is influential to a generation of writers and then one of their books is influential and so on and at the end of it all, you get an incredibly dense and stylistically tight book that comes only from a sound brickwork. This isn't to say that Thomas' book is weak. I think it's incredibly strong. It's just obvious that his writing is based on a lack ; his lack of formal education, his lack of resources, lack of means, etc. This is of course, what gives the book its edge. It isn't fiction, it's not pretend.

Piri Thomas gives no apology for his life, but that's exactly what makes this book such a powerful force.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

You'll Notice...

that my list at the bottom of the page resembles many lists from many books by many writers. It's as much a list for me as it is for hypothetical you. I don't care that it isn't my original idea.

And the reason why people are fascinated by lists of what people have bought is because we're all such big nerds.

Chin Music Press

If you're looking for something so bright that it's going to make your blog glow, then look at my new favorite small press. The book industry seems to be fighting itself right now to stay afloat. Why did I say seems, it doesn't seem. It is fighting to stay alive. Anyway, one bright star in all this mess is Chin Music Press.

So far as I can tell, they've published 3 books. Wait, let me start at the beginning. A few months back, we had an event with Jason Berry (author of LAST OF THE RED HOT POPPAS)and since it was a dark and stormy night and not a soul was alive except for a few liberal ghosts that haunt Manuel's Tavern, we got to talking about the technical/design aspects of his book that would have gone ignored if a crowd showed. What I like about Chin Music is that in addition to great content, the design staff has it going on. Is it goin' on? All 3 titles so far are stunningly gorgeous and intensely different. Berry's book, to start with, has a dust jacket that unfolds to become a poster of one of the characters. Not only that, but the poster's otherwise blank spaces are filled with wonderful little extras. Once you open the book, you will marvel at the quality of not only the exquisite endpapers, but also every other page in the darn thing. I know what you're thinking, expensive small press book, right? You've never been so wrong in your life. If you go to their website you can see that it's a normal price for an exeedingly above-normal book. Also, if you feel like you don't really want to shell out $25 for the book, you can get slightly-marred combo packages for cheaper than that!

What I really love is the first book they put out, KUHAKU. The design is so good, you can just smell it and you might even want to eat it. Once you're done reading and absorbing every nook and cranny of this little treasure, go to the website and it will explain what all those nooks and crannies mean.

It's like a neverending easter-egg hunt where YOU actually are the one finding all the eggs. Everyone wanted to be that brat.

Also check out DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS?, published by none other than Chin Music Press.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

one small thought

I think that if I were inclined to have children and then got divorced and went through a custody battle, it might be easier to give up my kids than my books.

If Nick Hornby Can Do It....

I suppose that a very not-famous person such as myself can write about books. Granted, Mr. Hornby has some clout. But I figure that I have the inside edge of working in the book industry. RATATATHAT is something that at some point, must have some meaning.

Also, in some wierd way I think the following works out to be some great unknown mathematical truth or something.

I know Jack Pendarvis.
Jack Pendarvis has a book of short stories.
One or five of those short stories has been published in THE BELIEVER.
Nick Hornby writes a monthly column on books for THE BELIEVER.
In the "books bought" column of his June/July 2006 piece, he mentions buying Jack's book, THE MYSTERIOUS SECRET OF THE VALUABLE TREASURE.

All this means is that basically all things equal, I must actually live next door to Nick Hornby and my next drink is on him.

I'm not sure about you, but in my head, it makes sense.

And this is all to say that I very much enjoy Hornby's monthly and Jack's smiling face.