Literary Love

Last week Rachel Donadio wrote about literary dealbreakers - when someone either misses a literary reference or makes one that is so misguided as to make clear that there is no potential for a relationship with that person. I thought it was a fascinating article, and so I embarked on a bit of introspection to see if it might apply to me and my relationships. It turns out it does, at least partially.

I do think that not reading is a character flaw. But in contrast to many of those Ms. Donadio interviewed in her article, in most cases I don't really care what people read. My only prejudice is that I have some trepidation about developing friendships with people who read stuff like Proust on the beach. In my opinion it means they don't know how to relax.

What do you think of literary dealbreakers?

Totally Unrelated Food Link

The Observer has a great article on Mark Ladner, the Clark Kent look-alike on Mario Batali's Iron Chef team. I've always been a fan of his, and it's nice to see him getting some coverage (though it's clear he'd rather stay in anonymity).

Dear Anonymous Commentator

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for your attempts to post rude and idiotic comments on my blog. I'm sorry that my rejection of your query has led you to this immature response. You're so brave to post anonymously too, and clearly very sharp for not realizing by now that I moderate my comments.

Sincerely,
Jonathan

Cold Comfort Farm : Thoughts?

I am more exhausted than I can express - not sure I have fully recuperated - and have only energy for a sentence or two... I've just re-read Cold Comfort Farm and had Book Group on it, but before I tell you what I thought... what do you think??

Let me know, then I'll see how we match up...

What's Wrong with Pink?

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez on Jane Smiley's rather strange dislike for the color of Jennifer Weiner's new book.

Pulitzer Prize

Here are the book-related winners of the Pulitzer Prize:

• Fiction: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• History: What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe
• Biography: Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson
• Poetry: Time and Materials by Robert Hass and Failure by Philip Schultz
• General Nonfiction: The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander

The Book Quiz

Back from a lovely time in Snowdonia, where it snowed and was unutterably beautiful. Reminded me of Psalm 95 - specifically: "In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."

Consequently I am rather sleepy - walking and playing and praying and travelling have taken it out of me. So I shall just point you in the direction of a great BBC quiz, and shall duck when those of you who aren't from the UK realise that you can't watch The Book Quiz. In an age when mass media is accused of dumbing down, often quite rightly, it is nice to see a literary quiz - and, what's more, a very tricky one. See this week's episode here, if you're in the UK, and see if you can do better than me.

The rounds involve identifying opening lines of novels; poet's reading their own poetry; picture clues for a book; quickfire questions, each interlinking; thirty seconds or so to name as many examples as possible of, say, George Eliot novels. The team got one for that - Middlemarch. Go on, how many can you get in thirty seconds? Shamefully, I managed three - and none of them were the one I've read. Pressure!

Good fun, very challenging, and covers an enormous range of literature. Well done, BBC.

In other culture news, I spent this evening pretending to be Doctor Who for a Social Sciences Library introductory video...