Super Sad I Won't Be Able To Go To This...

I love our public library here in Los Angeles. The downtown branch is huge, historic, and really lovely. It's only a ten-minute drive from my house (sans traffic, of course), and the parking is easy. Plus they have ALOUD, a great lecture series that gets really good writers and other cultural figures to speak, and they're often interviewed by other really good writers and cultural figures. Plus the lectures are usually free.

On May 12, Gary Shteyngart is speaking, but the event was already full by the time I got the email. Somehow that always seems to happen to me--I'm not sure how these things fill up before I even hear about them. Clearly I'm getting some sort of second-class email notification.

It's too bad, because I just finished Shteyngart's book Super Sad True Love Story, and I'd love to hear him speak about it. If anyone goes, you'll have to let me know how it is.

Booking Through Thursday--Favorite Unknown

This week's Booking Through Thursday question:

Who’s your favorite author that other people are NOT reading? The one you want to evangelize for, the one you would run popularity campaigns for? The author that, so far as you’re concerned, everyone should be reading–but that nobody seems to have heard of. You know, not JK Rowling, not Jane Austen, not Hemingway–everybody’s heard of them. The author that you think should be that famous and can’t understand why they’re not…

I guess I don't read that many authors that nobody has heard of, because I can't truly answer this question the way it's phrased. However, I do have a pretty long list of authors who are not unknown or unread, but who I think are underappreciated. My list includes the book I've read that puts them on my list...

Elizabeth Bowen (The Death of the Heart)
Dawn Powell (Dance Night)
Elizabeth Hardwick (Sleepless Nights)
J.L. Carr (A Month in the Country)
May Sarton (Kinds of Love)
Lynne Sharon Schwartz (Rough Strife)

It doesn't surprise me that a couple of these books are published by NYRB Classics. I'm sure I could go on. Who is your favorite underappreciated author?

A Surprise Encounter

After posting about my encounter with Sir Ken Robinson in the airport, I remembered that I had another surprise encounter with an author recently.

I went to a charity lunch to benefit a wonderful women's shelter where I occasionally volunteer, and one of the speakers was a very charming author I didn't know was going to be speaking.

Her name is Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, and she is the author most recently of Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a young adult novel about a young middle school teacher in Brooklyn. I had never heard of the book, but after hearing Ms. Bynum speak, I'm going to get myself a copy.

Hearing Ms. Bynum speak was such a pleasant surprise. She talked of how this novel grew out of her own experiences as a middle school English teacher in Brooklyn, and she told some very entertaining anecdotes about the mistakes she made as a teacher, and funny things her students did. It was clear that she had been very enthusiastic about teaching English, and that her students probably loved her.

She also talked about the transformative power of reading--for her students and for everyone. She said that in her experience both writing and reading give one the unique opportunity of becoming deeply immersed in someone else's consciousness, and this teaches empathy.

Ms. Bynum also talked about the writing process, and studying writing with Michael Cunningham (whose writing I also admire). She talked about figuring out what story you want to tell. She quoted Cunningham, who said that you should be able to imagine that the last sentence of your (or anyone's) book could be, "And after that nothing was ever the same again." I thought that was a great point. In screenwriting, they often talk about how the two hours that comprise a movie should tell a story about the pivotal point in the main character's life. You should be able to say the same thing, that nothing was ever the same afterward, at the end of a movie, too--at the end of any good story.

It was nice to hear Ms. Bynum talk about writing about one's experiences, good storytelling, and the power of reading.

I have also been reading the Fairacre Series of novels by Miss Read, about a teacher in a village school in rural England in the middle of the last century, and have been enjoying reading about teaching and marveling that I recognize so many of the issues that Miss Read writes about, even though she wrote about them something like 69 years ago. So perhaps after finishing my reading about English country schools, I'll move ahead in time and across the ocean, and read about teaching in Brooklyn a few years ago, in Ms. Hempel Chronicles.

I'd love to hear about everyone else's favorite books about teachers and teaching--do you have any titles to share with me?

Airport Serendipity

As you probably know, I live in Los Angeles. Among other things, this means that celebrity sightings are a fairly regular part of life. Half the time a trip to the supermarket means seeing someone you think you know, but then you realize he or she was not someone you went to high school with, he or she was actually some bit part actor from a B movie that you caught late one night on cable. (Less often you might nearly get knocked over by a paparazzo trying to get a shot of Heidi Klum in her sweatpants, while she tries to buy some orange juice in peace...true story, but I digress...)

A week ago, the family and I were heading out on our trip to the east coast, and we were stuck in the airport waiting for our plane's air conditioning system to be fixed, when I saw a man who looked familiar, waiting for the same flight.

After scouring my sieve-like memory, I realized that I did not actually know the man, but had seen him online, giving a talk about education. Not just a talk about education, a really entertaining, informative and very funny talk about education. A friend had forwarded me a link to one of the TED talks.

(Do you know the TED talks? They're really great, and you should check them out here. TED is an annual conference that bills itself as "ideas worth spreading". The lectures at the TED conferences are really great, and range in subject far beyond the "Technology, Entertainment, and Design" of their acronym. The keynote speaker at their conference this year was Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame. Other speakers have included Al Gore and Jane Goodall. But I re-digress...)

So after I heard the man speaking with an English accent, I decided that he really was Sir Ken Robinson, the education and creativity expert I'd heard speak about how today's education is killing our kids' creativity. It's a great lecture--but more than that, it's very funny--and you can watch it here.

So I went up and said hello! Okay, except at appropriate venues like the LA Times Festival of Books, I've only once approached a total stranger in to tell him I enjoyed his work. (That was Michael Moore, while we were in line at a movie theater). And granted, I doubt Sir Ken Robinson gets recognized all the time and has to dodge fans to have a restaurant meal in peace--but still, I actually approached the man. And he was really nice! And we chatted about his book. He was charming in person, too. And he gave me his card. Which I will frame. Just kidding!

Once I was in shooting distance of a bookstore, I bought his book, which is called The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Reviews tell me that not only does the book tell the stories of a wide range of people who found the place where their natural talent met their personal passion--people like Paul McCartney, Vidal Sassoon, Matt Groening and Meg Ryan--it also gives practical advice to the reader for finding one's passion and quieting the naysayers who might keep you from it.

Sounds like something I could really use. I will let you know if I find it educational, entertaining, useful, or all of the above!

TLC Tour Stop--Jennie Shortridge, author of Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe

I am honored to be joined by novelist Jennie Shortridge, whose third novel, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe, is out in paperback (and which I review in yesterday's post). Her earlier two novels are Riding with the Queen and Eating Heaven, and she also has a new novel coming out next year, entitled When She Flew. She kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me.

First, let me say that Jennie has already answered many good questions on her website, where there is lots of interesting information about her background, and about the genesis of her writing career. So if you’re curious about how Jennie got started writing, or just want to read more about her, check out her site here.

Jennie also has some great guest posts at Books on the Brain, one an open letter to book bloggers, readers and book clubbers, and another entitled The Power of Women Who Read.

Here's our conversation:

GR: Reading about you on your website, I see that you had a band as a teenager, wrote songs, and formed an acoustic duo with your husband Matt. This, of course, reminds me of Mira’s rebellious musician daughter Thea, which made me wonder how much of you is in that character. I personally found myself relating very much to Mira, as a wife, as a mother, and as a woman of a certain age. So my question is, how do you relate to both Thea and Mira?

JS: I love to write about music and musicians, as I did in my first novel, Riding with the Queen. I was so glad to be able to again in Love and Biology. I think I probably relate more to Lannie, the former rock and roller, than Thea. I have a niece who is Thea’s age and very musical, and I only realized after finishing the book that I was probably channeling her for Thea! I also relate to Mira, even though I’m not a mom. I set out to write about this crazy-making period of life called peri-menopause, and the things we do to get through it!

GR: The settings in your book are so real that they are really almost characters in themselves. The small coastal Oregon town Mira escapes from, Pacifica, and the place she escapes to, the Fremont section of Seattle, are both quirky and beautifully drawn. I know you live in Seattle, and have lived in Portland, Oregon, but what made you choose these particular settings, and what kind of research did you do to make them come alive?

JS: I’d been spending a lot of time on the Oregon coast, writing at the Oregon Writers Colony house, and I really love everything about it. I wanted Mira to be from a small town, and they’re ALL small down there. Plus it’s just so beautiful and idyllic there. It would take a lot to make someone leave it. When I started this book, I lived in Portland, and I thought Mira would end up there, but then I moved to Seattle, so Mira did too! She discovered Fremont pretty much as I did, because I live on a hillside looking down on it, and I hear that little bridge rise ever so often and watch the seaplane drone by from my home office window. I often go down there to take breaks, stroll around, have a coffee at one of the many coffee shops. I wish there really were a Coffee Shop at the Center of the Universe, but there are several others that are wonderful.

GR: One of my favorite things about this book is your exploration of the family dynamics, the relationships between mother and daughter, grandmother and granddaughter, father and daughter, and even between best friends. What is your favorite relationship in the book, and why did you enjoy writing about it?

JS: Well, that’s hard to pin down, because I love them all. I particularly love the relationship with the grandmother, and how it changes just enough by the end to know that in spite of her strict rules, Nonna has a human side, too. And I love the relationship between Lannie and Mira, and Lannie and Thea. I think we’d all like a friend like Lannie, who can just be there for us, and still be totally her own woman (which is quite a woman).

GR: After I finished this book, I realized it was really about a successful midlife crisis, and I really admired the way Mira came to terms with her past, stopped living in denial, and came to a more accepting place. Have you had any sort of midlife crisis? If so, how did you resolve it?

JS: I absolutely love that description, a successful midlife crisis! I will borrow that, if you don’t mind. ☺ I am definitely in the throes of midlife, and I’m sure I’ve done many crazy things because of it, but nothing so dramatic. I think that by writing about it, I get to do it vicariously through Mira. (For which my husband is grateful.)

GR: I love to ask writers about their practice of writing. What is your writing routine?

JS: Every weekday morning, I’m at my desk with my second cup of coffee first thing, and I write (on a Mac) until I feel done, usually around lunchtime. Then I edit or do other book-related tasks (there are MANY) in the afternoons. Or I volunteer with kids at 826 Seattle, helping them with their writing.

GR: Do you have a plan for your next book, and can you tell us about it?

JS: I’m just finishing the new book, When She Flew, which will be released in November 2009. It’s a bit of a departure for me, in that I fictionalized a true story about a father and daughter found living in the woods near Portland, Oregon. In my VERY fictional version, I write from the point of view of the 13-year-old girl and the policewoman who breaks all the rules to try to keep her out of foster care and reunite her with her father.

GR: One final question: coffee or tea?

JS: Triple tall nonfat latte! Hey, I live in Seattle—it’s essential.

Thank you so much, Jennie Shortridge, for stopping by, and TLC Book Tours for letting me join in. Here is the schedule for Jennie Shortridge's TLC Book Tour Stops:

Saturday, November 1st: Estella’s Revenge e-zine
Monday, November 3rd: Booking Mama
Tuesday, November 4th: Booking Mama
Wednesday, November 5th: She is Too Fond of Books
Friday, November 7th: Curly Wurly Gurly
Monday, November 10th: Fizzy Thoughts
Wednesday, November 12th: Tripping Toward Lucidity
Friday, November 14th: Literarily
Monday, November 17th: Shelf Life
Wednesday, November 19th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Friday, November 21st: Bookshipper
Monday, November 24th: Minds Alive on the Shelves
Wednesday, November 26th: Book Addiction
Sunday, November 30th: B & b ex libris

Blumesday

I grew up reading Judy Blume's books, especially those written with girls in mind. I started with Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret, and I worked my way through them up to Forever . . ., which was titillating and much talked about, mostly because the teenage protagonist had sex. I didn't read her novels for adults, and I didn't read the Fudge books until I had kids of my own to read them to. But now I love Fudge, too.

But Judy Blume had a profound effect on me as a tween girl, because her books talked frankly about all the things we girls thought about, but were sometimes too embarrassed or afraid to talk about openly. Of course, this is probably why her books were sometimes banned--how crazy is that?

When I was in the fifth grade, my soon-to-be sixth grade teacher (an amazing teacher, I still remember how great sixth grade was) handed me a copy of a book by Judy Blume called Deenie. It was about a girl with scoliosis who has to wear a brace on her back. I, too, had scoliosis and had just gotten my back brace, so it was amazing for me to receive a book written about my very situation--especially since I knew exactly zero people who wore back braces at that point, and had no idea what I was in for.

So when I opened my email the other day, I was excited to see this flyer telling me that Jill Soloway, a hilarious writer and comedienne, is participating in this tribute to Judy Blume (full disclosure--I know Jill and she's fabulous). Looks like it's a night of "readings, performances and reflections" about Judy Blume's books. What a great idea, wish I'd thought of it myself. Anyone in the L.A. area--should be a great event.

Judy Blume has a great website, by the way. It has resources for kids who are doing reports, her thoughts about censorship, her advice about writing, and a blog. Definitely worth visiting!