JanuaryYou'd think more books would start in January. Does it not feel original enough to open a story with the new year? Or do we find more natural beginnings in the spring or when we return to work or school after the summer? What, after all, is born in the dead month of January besides a calendar?
Description:
Ever wonder which literary figures were born or died on a particular day? Curious about references to events in literature or real life that happened on specific days? Ever want quotes from books about characters thoughts on certain dates?
Yeah, me neither. Just bring on the books they wrote.
But with Tom Nissley's A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year in hand, I found myself becoming more and more fascinated by the minutiae found on this literary calendar. Each page in A Reader's Book of Days represents one day of the year (after an introduction to the specific month), with birth and deaths of authors for that day noted, as well as several paragraphs detailing particular literary events in history or fiction that occurred on this day. On one short page there are plenty of interesting tidbits about authors, books, writing, quotes, and even some illustrations.
These can be quite addicting, even if you only try to read the listing for one day. I started off skipping around to important dates in my life to see what significant events happened then, but now have given up and am happily reading the entire calendar of days straight through from January 1 to December 31.
For example, here are a few sentences from the intro from a month selected at random, June, that are typically well-written by Nissley, unusually interesting, and certainly thought-provoking:
June 2 is also marks the death of George S. Kaufman (1961 - author of The Man Who Came to Dinner) as well as these interesting, useless tidbits:
There are several other short instances found on this date as well, filling it's double-column format neatly onto one page. The references to literary works give glimpses into unknown as well as familiar books that make you want to go out and grab them for further reading... if only you could stop flipping through A Reader's Guide.
You can see why delving into any date brings unexpected knowledge and personal delight as you learn about people and the world of writing. The trivia and events make this one of the hardest books to put down in my experience. Just try to stop after only one page, even if your eyes are drooping as you read in bed before going to sleep. Impossible.
It's one of the few books I can recommend unequivocally to any reader. It is the perfect bedside table book for yourself or a guest, always providing something new, unexpected, or just plain old astonishing. It probably would make a great gift, but I'll never part with it. Go get it and jump into this detailed world of books, authors, and writing. Hours of fascination, guaranteed.
Happy reading.
Yeah, me neither. Just bring on the books they wrote.
But with Tom Nissley's A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year in hand, I found myself becoming more and more fascinated by the minutiae found on this literary calendar. Each page in A Reader's Book of Days represents one day of the year (after an introduction to the specific month), with birth and deaths of authors for that day noted, as well as several paragraphs detailing particular literary events in history or fiction that occurred on this day. On one short page there are plenty of interesting tidbits about authors, books, writing, quotes, and even some illustrations.
These can be quite addicting, even if you only try to read the listing for one day. I started off skipping around to important dates in my life to see what significant events happened then, but now have given up and am happily reading the entire calendar of days straight through from January 1 to December 31.
For example, here are a few sentences from the intro from a month selected at random, June, that are typically well-written by Nissley, unusually interesting, and certainly thought-provoking:
June is sickly sweet; it's insipid. Is that because it's so warm, or because it rhymes so easily? June, moon, spoon, balloon ... But while Robert Burns happily rhymed his "red, red rose / That' newly sprung in June" with a "melody / that's newly sprung in June," Gwendolyn Brooks burned off any sugar in the terse rhythms of "We Real Cool": her "Jazz June" is followed by "Die soon" ...Continuing on to a random date in that month, June 2, we see that this is the birthday of Thomas Hardy (1840 - author of The Return of the Native) and Norton Juster (1929 - author of The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line). Who else besides Nissley remembers The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, much less makes a reference to this fantastic line-drawing children's book? And that's why I love A Reader's Book of Days.
June 2 is also marks the death of George S. Kaufman (1961 - author of The Man Who Came to Dinner) as well as these interesting, useless tidbits:
1963 Former car thief Jacky Maglia, a protege of Jean Genet, won a race in Belgium in a Lotus that Genet had paid for with a sizable loan from his publisher.
1977 Not yet forty, Raymond Carver had hit bottom and sobered up before, but never for long. After his first book of stories, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, was nominated for a National Book Award in March, he stayed sober for a few weeks, but at the booksellers convention in San Francisco he went on a final bender....[A]fter the publisher offered him $5,000 to write a novel, his first book advance, Carver went to the bathroom to cry and then to the liquor store to celebrate. But on this day four days later, at a bar in Arcata, California, he took the last drink of his life.
1978 After not seeing his difficult father, Vladek, for a couple of years, Art Spiegelman went out to Queens to remind him he still wanted to draw a comic book about his life in Poland during the war.... now he sat down with him in earnest and began sketching out the pages that he would fashion, over the next thirteen years, into the two volumes of Maus, the history of his father's survival of the war and Auschwitz.
There are several other short instances found on this date as well, filling it's double-column format neatly onto one page. The references to literary works give glimpses into unknown as well as familiar books that make you want to go out and grab them for further reading... if only you could stop flipping through A Reader's Guide.
You can see why delving into any date brings unexpected knowledge and personal delight as you learn about people and the world of writing. The trivia and events make this one of the hardest books to put down in my experience. Just try to stop after only one page, even if your eyes are drooping as you read in bed before going to sleep. Impossible.
It's one of the few books I can recommend unequivocally to any reader. It is the perfect bedside table book for yourself or a guest, always providing something new, unexpected, or just plain old astonishing. It probably would make a great gift, but I'll never part with it. Go get it and jump into this detailed world of books, authors, and writing. Hours of fascination, guaranteed.
Happy reading.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Pearl, Nancy. Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason
The best book by far or succinct, witty, and passionate reviews of high-quality books for any situation from "Action Heroines," to "Aging," to "Zen Buddhism" and everything in between. (previously reviewed here)
Queenan, Joe. One For the Books
Queenan has read over 15,000 books in his lifetime, with no less than 15 going at the same time. His books reviews are opinionated, diverse, and witty and there are plenty of titles for him to discuss. (previously reviewed here)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add a comment or book recommendation.