Reusing the Excuse: July 20 2008

Love,

Personal

I'm physically back from the honeymoon, but mentally not completely back yet. LitKicks will return in just a couple more days -- good stuff is on the way! -- and I'll catch up with the Book Review next weekend.

Here's what we've been doing:

See you very soon!

This article is part of the Reviewing the New York Times Book Review series. The next post in the series is Reviewing the Review: July 27 2008. The previous post in the series is Reviewing the Review: June 29 2008.

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A Reader’s Manifesto

by Levi Asher Friday, April 1, 2005 08:50 pm

Statue of young Eugene O'Neill in New London, Connecticut

Reading is confrontation. At the end of a good book, you may decide to change your life, and a reader or writer is somebody for whom that possibility is always open. This is why a person who discovers a great work of literature (or music, or art, or any other form of creative expression) often appears for the moment like a crazed animal, twitching and mumbling, incomprehensible. Don't talk to this person -- give them time -- they are emerging from some cocoon right now, and you are an unwelcome witness ...

Dharma Bums

by Levi Asher Sunday, August 7, 1994 12:52 pm

Levi Asher reviews "Dharma Bums", Jack Kerouac's warm and colorful send-up of American Buddhism.

E. E. Cummings

by Caryn Thurman Friday, February 21, 2003 02:16 pm

The poetry of E. E. Cummings is easily recognizable, even for the literary novice. While many immediately associate the work of Cummings with the liberal use of lowercase letters and acrobatic word arrangement, the depth of his writing goes beyond this, both in form and meaning.

The Curious Incident of the Metaphor in the Book

by Levi Asher Sunday, January 30, 2005 09:47 pm

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

"I wonder if autism might be the metaphor for our new millennium, or at least our new millennium's first decade ..."

Favorite Poem: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

by Levi Asher Sunday, March 20, 2005 08:32 pm

A postcard from turn of the century St. Louis Missouri showing the Prufrock building, namesake of T. S. Eliot's poem

Levi Asher explains why he considers "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot the most impressive poem ever written.

Godlike, by Richard Hell

by Levi Asher Tuesday, July 5, 2005 11:21 pm

Richard Hell's beautiful new novel, an imaginative spin upon the legend of the French poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud.

Don DeLillo’s Game Six

by Levi Asher Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:16 pm

Don DeLillo has written a movie about baseball, 'Game Six', which is strange for several reasons ...

William James and the Theory of Emotion

by Levi Asher Tuesday, May 2, 2006 07:30 pm

According to William James, we don't smile because we feel happy or cry because we feel sad. The physical reaction happens first, the philosopher said, and it's more correct to say we feel happy because we smile, or we feel sad because we cry.

Doy, or the Etymology of Stupid

by Levi Asher Monday, September 25, 2006 07:57 pm

When I was a little kid on Long Island, we would always denote the fact that somebody was stupid, or had just said something stupid, by sticking a finger into a cheek and intoning "Doy". Everybody in town had their own stamp on "Doy": some would cross their eyes, twist their finger into their cheek and elongate the syllable until somebody told them to shut up, while others would give the word a Looney-Tunes-ish metallic boing, like "Doy-eey-eey-eey ..." (repeat for several seconds).

Great Chick-Lit of the 70’s (or, the Books That Raised Me)

by Levi Asher Monday, February 12, 2007 06:52 pm

Three novels I picked up from my grandmother, mother and sister when I was a kid that have influenced me to this day: Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York by Gail Parent, Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman, Kin-Flicks by Lisa Alther.

John Osborne’s Angry Looks

by Levi Asher Monday, March 26, 2007 09:20 pm

John Osborne's signature work is 'Look Back in Anger', which opened in 1956 and gave the "Angry Young Men" their name. It's the story of a fuming, flannel-shirt wearing London bloke named Jimmy who slaves away at a candy stand all day and plays hot trad jazz saxophone all night.

Doris Lessing and the Fifth Child

by Levi Asher Thursday, October 11, 2007 09:58 am

A disquieting novel about a strange child by Doris Lessing, the newest Nobel laureate.

The Agony of the Slow Player

by Levi Asher Tuesday, February 26, 2008 02:25 am

I was facing a loudmouth standup comedian and superb poker player who had an annoying device: when he bet, he flicked his wrist in a certain way that made the chips jump. It was a slick move calculated to aggravate, and after two hours at a table with this obnoxious player that's exactly the effect it had on me ...

Capitaine Achab

by Michael Norris Monday, March 17, 2008 03:57 pm

French film maker Philippe Ramos has recently released a film titled Capitaine Achab (Captain Ahab). It's the story of Herman Melville's obsessed sea captain, from the time he was a young boy until his last, fatal meeting with Moby Dick.

A Talk with Roxana Robinson

by Levi Asher Tuesday, July 22, 2008 09:09 pm

A talk with Roxana Robinson, author of "Cost", a shattering novel about a family dealing with drug addiction recovery.

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