A Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole
Published: 1981
Pages: 444

The rise of the internet has had a profound effect on the collective subconscious of our society.  These days, we have unprecedented access to a near limitless fount of information and entertainment.  And although it has become a somewhat hackneyed expression, the world is quite literally at our fingertips.

But with every blessing comes a curse.  The internet is no exception.  Along with information and entertainment, we are constantly bombarded by huge amounts of junk data – the result of which is that we have all become increasingly discerning media consumers.  We have become smarter, more savvy – but also far more predisposed to boredom.

Perhaps the truest and most telling result of this paradigm shift is the decline of the feature article.  Old media’s poster-boy has been all but relegated to subscription-based niche publications – which I imagine are read exclusively by people who wear scarves.  But if you haven’t consumed a blueberry bagel in the past twenty-four hours, there’s a fair chance you know what I mean.  There is simply no place in today’s fast-paced mediascape for the lengthy diatribes of yore - and as a result, both the feature article and the institutions which traditionally bore them are fading into the ether.

But from the ashes of the old rises the new, and it appears that the web has caused the rise of a new journalistic model – one that favours the frivolous, the whimsical, the superficial and the downright banal.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the primary vehicle of our current journalistic revolution: the top-ten list.

Borne on the back of the inexorable rise of the blog (but certainly not confined to the amateurish philanderings of the web’s countless, faceless content producers) the top ten list provides an excellent avenue for a writer to quickly and easily present information which may otherwise be too lengthy or complex for the average media consumer.   Better yet, the top-ten list caters for the participatory nature of new media – providing one of the readiest ways of fostering an ongoing discussion amongst readers.

My search for quality reading material has taken me from one side of the interwebs to the other.  And on my never-ending quest, I’ve stumbled across countless top-ten lists.  And while these lists have been as varied and eclectic as the people who put them together, it seems that certain trends exist.

What books people like and identify with can tell you reams about an individual’s character – providing yet another reason why I think that people produce so many damn top-ten lists.  Quite simply, they provide an affirmation of the individual through their choice in material possessions.  Which, for the record, I am by no means condemning.  I personally love the idea of owning a library that is as much a talking point as it is a necessity.

I, for example, would state that my favourite book of all time is almost certainly Catch-22.  An entirely unsurprising choice?  Perhaps.  A testament to my literary naiveté?  Probably.  But should that detract from the unbridled brilliance that is Catch-22?  Definitely not.

Affirmation is certainly what I found while reading this book.  The book really resounded with me, feeling as if Mr. Heller penned it exclusively with me in mind.  Hence why I’m so attached to the novel.  But as it turns out, I’m not alone in rating Heller’s novel as somewhat of a literary masterpiece.  A quick trawl of the internet reveals that a great many other people (albeit mostly males) consider Catch-22 as one of their favourite books.

While it seems that there is some unwritten rule that men traditionally like Catch-22, similar patterns exist for women, too - especially when it comes to Jane Austen, who similarly seems to enjoy near-universal popularity.

But the point of this long and meandering introduction is this; in most lists in which people claim to have enjoyed Catch-22 usually feature another comic novel – one that had managed to elude me up until several months ago.  The novel I am referring to is none other than John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces – a book that won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the hearts and minds of millions.

Hailed as the one of the funniest novels ever written, I had high expectations for this novel.

Unfortunately, A Confederacy of Dunces isn’t nearly as funny, clever or well-written as Catch-22.

I give it three thinly-veiled poop jokes out of five.

Jordan - TheNile.com.au

Six hours of book cover design in a minute and a half!

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• Call me old fashioned, but if you are an adult, you should probably read a book written for adults. No?

• For books, it is the best of times. But also the worst of times.

Jordan – TheNile.com.au

The Zombie Queen of Newbury High

Amanda Ashby

Pages: 199

Year: 2009

Vampires that sparkle in the sun might be all the fashion in the Young Adult fiction world at the moment, but when you’ve exhausted the Twilight franchise but not your passion for the paranormal, pick up Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby.

At Newbury High School, Mia Everett happily exists in Fringeland – “doing okay at school, staying off the radar, and watching a little bit too much television”.  That is until Rob Ziggerman, hunky football star and Mr. Popular, asks her out.  But with senior prom rapidly approaching, Buffy the Vampire Slayer obsessed Mia has serious competition for his affections in the form of cheerleader and all round popular perky princess Samantha Griffin.  Mia will do anything to keep from the humiliation of being dumped by Rob.  So when her best friend (and raging hypochondriac) Candice suggests she try a love spell, Mia jumps at the suggestion.  The only problem is Candice’s herbalist is a Chaos Maker and the spell turns the entire senior year into zombies with Mia as their queen – and the first in line to be snacked on when they get hungry for humans.

Thankfully for Mia, the intelligent and introverted new boy in school Chase Miller works for the Department of Paranormal Containment.  Together they set about reversing the spell, saving their classmates’ skin and the senior prom.

Australian born author Amanda Ashby (who now resides in New Zealand) has written a delightfully light and frothy read - her second novel but her first foray into the young adult genre.  Her writing is well paced and fluid and her characters are pitch perfect; she captures the angst of tumultuous teenage emotions in her flawed yet quirky heroine Mia as she tries to right her potion wrongs while battling her conflicting crushes on Rob and Chase.

Moreover, it is extremely witty read with plenty of pithy one liners that had me snorting out loud, proving this book isn’t just for the teens.

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby is a fast and fresh young adult take on some enduring and relatable romance themes, with a dose of killer flesh eating zombies thrown in.

Kelly

To celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday, here’s a clip of Jesse Jackson reading from Green Eggs and Ham. Did you know that the book came about due to a bit of a wager? Publisher Bennet Cerf bet the good doctor $50 that he couldn’t write an entire book using less than fifty words – and Ol’ Seussy proved him wrong!

• Editor fails to adequately edit poorly written story about needing editors.

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• The Guardian interviews Sharon Osbourne about her upcoming book, smashes the world record for swear words per sentence.

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• An antique dealer wearing a $5,000 pair of sunglasses walks into a library carrying a stolen Shakespeare folio worth $6 million. And then things get weird.

• What’s the point of a dust jacket, anyway?

Jordan – TheNile.com.au

Onion to recent the report rules on changes grammar

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• Digested Read – Lee Child Edition.

• One of the most critically acclaimed titles of last year, The Last Train to Hiroshima, found to be riddled with shamefaced lies.

• “CHILLAX BLOGOSPHERE, THE RUMORS ARE TRUE! PETSWHOWANTTOKILLTHEMSELVES: THE BLOG WILL SOON BE PETSWHOWANTTOKILLTHEMSELVES: THE BOOK. IN A RELATED STORY, LITERATURE IS DEAD.”

Jordan – TheNile.com.au

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The Well and the Mine
Gin Phillips
Year: 2009
Pages: 288

In 1930s America, everyone is suffering through the effects of The Great Depression.  Coal mining towns like Carbon Hill, Alabama are no exception.  And from this bleak and austere setting comes a surprisingly gentle story about poverty and racism in Gin Phillips’ debut novel The Well and the Mine.

The Moore family are surviving the Depression a little better than most, with a small area of farmland and livestock to subsidise the harsh living Albert ekes out in the coal mines.  They are a well respected family, known for their generosity even in the toughest of times, never turning away a neighbour or friend needing assistance.

So it is with great surprise and a certain amount of disbelief that nine year old Tess Moore witnesses a woman steal through the darkness, pull the cover off her family’s well and drop a bundled up baby in.  At first no one believes her.  How could a mother do such a reprehensible thing?  And why did she choose the Moore’s well?

Plagued by nightmares of the baby in the well, Tess along with older sister Vergie, set out to find the woman responsible.

Suffusing the main story are the trials the family individually faces.  For Albert it’s a growing challenge to his sense of justice as he labours alongside Black men in the mines every day but above ground faces a world divided along race lines.  For Leta, it’s the daily grind of maintaining a home and providing for her family, often at her own expense. Vergie experiences an emerging sense of wanting more from her life than simply marrying and having babies as is expected.  And for Jack, the youngest child, he just wants to emulate the strength and pride of his father.

The story is told through the five alternating voices of the Moore family, each with distinctive tones.  It’s not a fast paced novel but is instead a tender and quiet sort of read, one that stays in your thoughts even after you have put the book down.  I found myself often in the days since I finished it thinking back on Carbon Hill and wondering how Tess and the tireless Leta in particular were fairing.  It’s fair to say I adored The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips, and its temperate approach to some very gritty and unrelenting themes.

-    Kelly

Hunter S. Thompson just bought a new AV system.  And he’s not happy.  Really… not… happy…

• “Literary biopics usually cater to the fantasy that writers are drunk, mad, sex-obsessed geniuses inspired by the holy spirit (50% proof)…. (But) the problem is, writers’ lives don’t always make for great cinema. If writers are any good, it’s usually because they spend weeks alone, in a room…”

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• The first big plagiarism row of 2010 has begun! A seventeen year-old German author has recently been generating both critical claim and immense commercial success off the back of her debut novel. Unfortunately, large passages of the book are directly lifted from the blog of a different Berliner – albeit in a pseudo-reverential fashion. Is it plagiarism? Is it homage? Is it legal? Who knows? Not me! BONUS: The novel is called ‘Axolotl Roadkill’.

• Russian writers: “…They’re profound and all that. But they’re also incredibly hard. I mean, there’s Pushkin: died in a duel. Lermontov: died in a duel. Tolstoy: fought in the Caucasus. Dostoevsky: sentenced to death, exiled to a Siberian prison camp. Solzhenitsyn: fought in the second world war, sent to the Gulag, survived cancer, defied the USSR …”

• The sinister truth about Calvin and Hobbes.  (Actually there is nothing sinister about it - I just thought that sentence was lacking panache.)

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• Think people screwing with intellectual property is a new thing? Think again!

Jordan – TheNile.com.au

Ricky Gervais suspects ‘Flanimal Rights’ movement of stealing thousands of copies of his latest book – thankfully leading to this hilarious interview!

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• Vapid reality TV star and sometime author Lauren Conrad has released a list of her all time favourite books. Gawker provides commentary.

• “The group’s passion for Salinger was achingly sincere. They loved his books and claimed to have been saved by his stories. They signed their plea “the young people”. But instead of accepting Salinger’s published works as gifts, they sought his unpublished writings as their due, like ungrateful children. Surely art is not an obligation. It must always be a choice.”

• Just about every man and his dog has had a go at poor Elizabeth Gilbert and her maddeningly popular pseudo-intellectual essays. Isn’t it time someone stood up against the backlash?

• Nick Hornby might get an Oscar! But then again, he might not.

• Jurgen Habermas is not on Twitter! Jurgen Habermas is not on Twitter! Jurgen Habermas is not on Twitter!

• Just because you’ve written a masterpiece doesn’t mean anyone is going to remember you. Sad, but true.

• And finally, a list of literature’s greatest fictional drugs. Enjoy!

Jordan – TheNile.com.au

Billy T: The Life and Times of Billy T. James

Matt Elliott

Year: 2009

Pages: 256

He was born William James Te Wehi Taitoko, but New Zealand knew and loved him as comedian and entertainer Billy T. James. For the first time since his death in 1991, comes a biography on the man famed for his cheeky giggle, black singlet and yellow towel: Billy T: The Life and Times of Billy T. James by Matt Elliott.

Starting life in Cambridge before moving to Whangarei, the young Billy (or Te Wehi as he was originally known) was not obviously a comedic talent in the making. Musically however, he was clearly gifted and was never far from a guitar. It was through music he first began performing, eventually touring the globe with the Maori Volcanics cabaret act where he began honing his on stage skills and his unique sense of humour and timing began to emerge.

The book explores his career as it flourished. Billy toured extensively throughout New Zealand with his stand up comedy routine fused with music and singing (the later a career many believed he could have successfully pursued professionally also) before creating a string of popular television shows and appearing in an award winning, film stealing cameo in the film “Came A Hot Friday.”

But Elliot’s book also shows the lesser known, darker side of the funny man’s life; bad financial dealings, tax investigations, a sinister series of threats on his life (including gun shots fired through his living room window) and the health problems that claimed him at just 42 years of age. The events around his death and the subsequent “body snatching” to lie in state on Waahi Marae in Huntley – an event which polarised opinions - are also covered.

It’s a comprehensive and deep delving biography, with not just the chronology of Billy T’s life covered, but lots of background information about the man who almost single handedly developed a New Zealand stand up comedy scene. It is the first time many of Billy’s close friends, including his wife Lynn, have spoken about our greatest comedian and with their help the book reveals the man behind the laughter and accolades as someone who, while always ready with a joke, was almost shy in nature and never seeking of the limelight and praise which naturally flowed to him. I particularly enjoyed the insights into the creations of some of his best known skits including Marae Network News, Turangi Vice and the Captain Cook landings.

However, the book does suffer at times from a deluge of over information, particularly about other people connected to Billy. Sections ranging in length from paragraphs to at times, whole pages are devoted to the back story of people Billy met or comedians that influenced him. These at times bogged the story down and I found myself beginning to skim over these unnecessary detours.

But don’t let that one niggle put you off. Billy T: The Life and Times of Billy T. James by Matt Elliott, the first ever biography on Billy, is a great read about the man who taught us to laugh not only at each other but at ourselves. Thorough and detailed and liberally sprinkled with Billy’s trademark jokes, it’s a must read.

- Kelly