Both Emma and Otilia from my previous interview, sister/sister, were chock full of book suggestions. They went into this harmonious discourse, finishing each other's sentences, about biographies on the infamous Collyer Brothers. The sisters were adamant about them!
Otilia led the way by giving me background information on Homer and Langley. "They lived in Manhattan and came from a wealthy family. Both of them were quite talented and well educated however they eventually became recluses who hoarded newspapers, furniture and trash in their home. They even had a Model T in their basement!" I paused and asked them to backtrack. "Wait, a Model T?! How in the world did they get one into their home?" Otilia matter-of-factly explained that Langley, the engineer of the two, took the car apart and put it back together in the house. Of course. Apparently the brothers stopped paying their bills so Langley rigged the Model T to generate electricity.
The brothers also booby trapped their mounds of garbage. These are the same booby traps that would kill Langley as he crawls through the rubbish to get food over to his blind and sick older brother. Emma chimes in, telling me that a pile of newspapers fell on him and then he got caught in the booby trap. Stories about how both bodies were found...eaten by rats...gah!
Next Otilia insists that I read books by Margaret Truman. "She's President Truman's daughter and wrote the 'Murder at the...' series. Her stories mostly take place in Washington D.C. Because she grew up there she has great insight on all aspects of the government." Both Emma and Otilia rave about Margaret Truman's descriptive and beautiful writing.
I noticed that both of their books were from the library. Who can miss the obligatory plastic wrap around the covers. "Oh we love to borrow books from the library. And our friends also borrow books for us. OUr favourite library in the city has to be the Pasadena Library." Otilia opens her copy of Mozart's Sister to look for the library's name. "We got this from the Will and Ariel Durant library right on Sunset. The Durant's are amazing people. Will Durant wrote the Brief History of Civilization collection. When you get a chance you must read them." At this moment Emma finishes off their sisterly song with a soft, "Yes...it's wonderful."
This is where I admit that I have never read any Bukowski. I've been meaning to (especially since he is one of John Fante's biggest fans) and luckily Bukowski's Post Office was chosen for our next book club read. (Thank you, Tracy, for this month's pick.) Stay tuned for more details on when we're meeting to discuss said book. Facebook invite pending!
Check out the book description below. Hope you can read along! This book/author should be ripe for discussion. "It began as a mistake." By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In a world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze, and racetrack betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug waterlogged mailbags up mud-soaked mountains, outsmart vicious guard dogs, and pray to survive the day-to-day trials of sadistic bosses and certifiable coworkers. This classic 1971 novel—the one that catapulted its author to national fame—is the perfect introduction to the grimly hysterical world of legendary writer, poet, and Dirty Old Man Charles Bukowski and his fictional alter ego, Chinaski.
Seriously...a big thank you goes out to Tara for hosting our book club meeting on Saturday! Not only did we discuss "The Black Dahlia Avenger" in her apartment (also Man Ray's former apartment/studio, which, by the by, is tied to the book) but Tara provided some amazing "props" and visual aids. And to top it all off we even got into our cars and took an impromptu Black Dahlia Murder Tour around the city! Picture 7 gals running around the streets of Hollywood and Downtown, peeping into old hotels/apartments and old haunts, and tip-toeing in the alley behind the Franklin House! Then picture these same ladies standing over what we believed to be the spot where Elizabeth Short's body was dumped and found. Creeping but absolutely thrilling! Plus, it worked out that we met on the 63rd Anniversary of the Black Dahlia murder. I mean, c'mon!
Great turnout. Great discussions. Great cat doing dog tricks.
Success!!
Sorry, I forgot to take pictures from our meeting. I know. #fail
I stopped by my beloved Peet's on Larchmont on Wednesday night to drop something off. First visit since I got back from vacation and all was well. On my way out I noticed two elder women sitting at one of the tables, reading books. One of them had her book perched on a silver wire book prop.
Turns out they were sisters! Emma, the oldest one and the same one with the book prop, is reading The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin. It was recommended to her by her sister who insisted that she read it, too. Emma had just started the book so her sister, Otilia, proceeded to describe the book to me. It's about a Turkish man in Venice trying to locate a painting by Bellini. It's a mystery and several murders take place. "Nobody wants the painting to be found and taken out of Italy so anyone who dares to find it pays with their life." They are not even sure of the painting even exists now but this man is determined to find out.
The sisters love this book because it is set in Venice. "We love reading about books that take place in Europe. We love to travel so it's nice to read about places we've been to. You start to remember the plazas, neighbourhoods, cafes, and museums. And if we've never been to a place it gives us an idea of where we want to travel next. For example, if a Count visits a certain museum or house I will make a note to visit it when I'm in that part of the world."
Emma and Otilia also enjoy mysteries, history, and biographies. "I like to read about the Kings and Queens" Emma tells me. "I especially love reading about Queens Victoria and Elizabeth. Spanish and Italian history are also some of my favourites. We also like to read about art." They even mentioned reading a number of foreign operas. These ladies are classy!
A friend of theirs recommended this book to them. He had seen it at the library and he knows both of their reading tastes so he picked them up a copy. Plus, it revolves around Italy and Turkey, talks about history and art, and is a mystery. All their favourites rolled into one.
This same friend also recommended Otilia's book, Mozart's Sister, since he thought she would enjoy it. Otilia was intrigued to read this book since it's a novel about Mozart's sister. "Few people knew about her. She was actually quite a talented musician herself."
Both Emma and Otilia live together in a home in Larchmont and often come to Peet's just to read. Both sisters agree that Peet's is an absolute treat. "Oh, we come here all the time because everyone is so nice! The customers are so friendly and the people who work here are so personable." Reading in a coffee shop suits them fine and isn't distracting at all. "I tune out any commotion, if any. And I really love that they play classical music here." They especially love coming on Sunday afternoons. Otilia shifts her body and points at that glass window. "If you face toward the window you can also see the most adorable dogs walking around the neighbourhood! Oh, they are so cute. We love them so." A.DO.RA.BLE! I wanted to hug them even more at that moment. They are just like me, scoping out all the dogs....and hip, young fathers.
I spent a good amount of time just listening to all their amazing book recommendations. They even started telling me about (Downtown) Los Angeles back in the day since I told them I had been reading a few books around this ol' city, particularly Dowtown. I will save all that for another post. They seriously read a lot. Otilia told me that Emma has over 170 books at home. "I recommend so many books for her to read and she's asked me to slow down since she still has so many to get to." I told them I was the same way. I buy/procure so many books thus I have a long line of books aching to be read. I need to read quicker.
...brought to us by one of my favourite book stores EVAR, Green Apple Books. I was just on their blog this morning and saw that they posted their Top 10 Most Sold in 2009 list. Quite interesting to see indie store numbers. Some interesting reads on the list. Check 'em out. Thoughts? Read any of them?
10. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - (I've been meaning to read this myself. I ran into quite a few folks reading this on the muni a few days ago. Came out in 2006 and still trucking along. Also part of Food Inc. Just watched the movie. HIGHLY recommend it.)
9. If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
8. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - (I've been intrigued with this book for a while. Have not heard much about the plot however I keep seeing the book around and seen a few friends say they've enjoyed it. I suppose I will add it on my "to-read" list)
6. City of Thieves by David Benioff
5. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
4. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - (Definitely on my list of books I've had my eye on.)
3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - (in the midst of reading this one already! Sneaking in pages as I finish another. Perhaps I will make this next month's book club read. Recommended by Liz at Chevalier's Books in Larchmont and everyone seems to love it. Thoughts so far? Me likey. Yes, I said "likey".)
2. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith - (Okay, I was hesitant to read this book along with the others in the series however many tell me it's funny and entertaining. I might have to give it a shot. Perhaps it will also make me want to re-read Austen's classic. Speaking of Austen, has anyone watched the movie "Lost in Austen"? Netflix highly recommended it to me however I could not get into it once I started. I gave it 10-15 minutes.)
I know, I know. My interviews have been few and far between. With the holiday break and being sick (flu and now an ear infection) I haven't really had much time. I was even surrounded by readers while in San Francisco (what's new, right?) but was too stuffed up or too deaf to hold a conversation. I did snag a handful of books. Will discuss soon.
Before heading off on winter vacay our lovely Office Manager and my office buddy, Vanessa, rushed over to my desk. She just came back from the Border's down the street. The store is closing so the clearance sale had commenced. 40% off everything! Vanessa was heading back East to visit her family in Boston over the holiday break and needed a book to read for the flight and beyond.
She had been meaning to pick up a copy of "Voices of People's History of the United States" after seeing a documentary of it on the History Channel. Vanessa explained that Matt Damon, among others, appear in said documentary. How apropos since he's from Boston, too!
The book talks about how history is shaped differently from the history books we are so used to versus hearing about the stories first hand from people who were actually there. "These are the people who were there in that moment. They saw how things actually went down. You hear these stories or read letters from soldiers in the war. Their perspective is not all black and white or sterile."
Vanessa got a copy of the 2nd edition so it includes everything through 2009. The first edition went all the way up to the 1980s. She was pretty excited to start the book all because of this documentary.
What did you read over the holiday break?
I was pretty thrilled to find out that my co-worker, who braved and summited Mount Kilaminjaro, brought me back a beautiful leather Tiger bookmark all the way from Africa!
I could not stop staring at it, to say the least, because the painting was so intricate. Plus, the kitty face is so cute.
Lovelovelove it. The bookmark currently sits betwixt the pages of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
