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The arrival / |
Shaun Tan's stunning wordless graphic novel is instantly compelling, aimed at young teens but sure to impress older readers as well. The story is a familiar one: a man in a troubled land makes the painful decision to leave his family behind to start a new life for them in a strange land. Though it's an old story, Tan uses some clever devices to make sure his readers feel some of the same disorientation his hero feels. The stunning sepia-toned artwork is reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg's work, and the animal companions may remind some of The Golden Compass, but this powerful book proves Tan has his own unique voice. |
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The big sleep / |
Considered a classic of crime fiction, Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep is one of the granddaddies of noir, and marked the birth of the quintessential tough-talking private eye, Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is called to the house of the dying General Sternwood, where he meets the general's two beautiful but dangerous daughters. The younger daughter, Carmen, is apparently being blackmailed, and Marlowe is hired to make it stop. When the blackmailer ends up dead, Marlowe becomes determined to find out the rest of this family's secrets. The period atmosphere, evocative descriptions and dialogue that influenced a whole generation of writers are all much more important than the resolution of a famously convoluted mystery plot. |
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Courtroom 302 : a year behind the scenes in an American criminal courthouse / |
An in-depth look at the life of the courthouse at 26th and California ("beloved" by jurors throughout Cook county), Courtroom 302 makes for a fascinating read and would surely inspire excellent book club discussions. Covering problems such as media indifference, systemic racism, out-of-whack drug laws, and the conveyor-belt approach necessitated by an overwhelmed docket, Bogira interviews everyone from the judge and courtroom deputies to the accused and their families. Although it's especially of interest to Chicagoans, the book is relevant to all Americans for what it reveals about our justice system. |
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Dress your family in corduroy and denim / |
Well-known humorist David Sedaris mines his childhood, his everyday life, and, to their constant annoyance, his family for material in another collection of off-beat essays. Stories that could be poignant become hilarious when seen through his eyes, even when concerning childhood disappointments, teenage humiliations, or adult neuroses. Highlights include a hilarious riff on the bizarre Christmas customs of the Dutch and a surprisingly sweet tale about his foul-mouthed brother's experience of fatherhood. Reminding us that you can reinvent yourself to everyone except your family, Sedaris seems more willing than ever to look inward, but luckily he is still quite willing to mock what he finds there. |
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Pictures at a revolution : five movies and the birth of the new Hollywood / |
Has there ever been a motlier Oscar race than 1967's? Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, and In the Heat of the Night: strange bedfellows, indeed. In his story of the making of these five films, Mark Harris brilliantly captures the breakdown of the old Hollywood studio system. In the mid-60s, the imaginations of young people were captivated by the French New Wave and other daring European visions, the puritanical Production Code was stifling creativity, and the Civil Rights era made a top star of Sidney Poitier. Stodgy old Hollywood suddenly had a lot of catching up to do, and studio founders like Jack Warner were clearly not up to the task. Harris handles complex material with masterful dexterity. Make sure you have plenty of popcorn on hand. |
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The Spellman files / |
Growing up in a family that runs a private investigation firm might have warped Izzy Spellman a bit. Her parents run background checks on her boyfriends, her baby sister picks locks and tails people as a hobby, and at an early age she herself went on stake-outs. But while an irrepressible urge to know everything about everyone might be an advantage in a PI, it can be a bit off-putting to potential dates. When she decides she want to leave the firm, her parents agree providing she take on one final, seemingly unsolvable cold case. With a breezy style, funny dialogue and an appealing heroine, The Spellman Files manages to have a lot of heart and deal with real family issues, even if the family is more dysfunctional than most. This is a great debut novel, and the first of a series. |
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Zeroville / |
Vikar Jerome arrives in Los Angeles in 1969 with little more than the clothes on his back and a tattoo on his bald head of a scene from his favorite movie, A Place in the Sun starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. The tattoo is just one symptom of Vikar's film obsession, and although it causes some stares, it also serves to open some doors for him into the movie business. Vikar becomes a film editor, and we get a glimpse of the dawn of the independent movie movement as he dreamily drifts around the edges of the "it" crowd of 70s filmmaking. Vikar is not an easy character to identify with (one character describes him as not just a cineaste, but as cine-autistic), but his single-mindedness is coupled with a certain innocence. The plot weaves in movies, punk music, and a strange quest to discover the origin of a single frame of film that Vikar has been dreaming of for years. It's a strange trip, but a compelling one, and the surreal is shored up by some of the human (rather than celluloid) relationships that Vikar develops, especially his quest to protect the daughter of a B-movie actress. Film lovers will thrill to some of the set pieces, including a scene where Vikar discusses movies with a man who has broken into his apartment. It will also send you racing for the DVD shelves to check out some of the classic movies the author describes with such passionate devotion. |