Friday Night Links

Friday Night Links/P.J.'s Picks

I've been trying to read more lately and that has lead me to finishing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in about three weeks. My pace is pathetic, but it is faster and more consistent than it used to be. Thank goodness for small favors.

I didn't like the book at first, finding the narrator's voice to be excessively flashy and verbose. Later, I came to see its purpose and found the style to be quite affecting. I ended up liking the novel a lot, but wouldn't rate it among my favorites. It won a Pulitzer, which I guess it deserved. I don't know which other books were contenders, so I can't really say.

Also on my reading stack is David Foster Wallace's, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Before this book the only other work of his I'd read was his short story collection, Girl with Curious Hair. I still rate the collection's final story, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way" as among my favorites. Brief Interviews is a less straightforward read, interspersing "interviews" with more traditional short stories. The interviews slow me down a lot because the fictional subjects tend to be men who are deeply neurotic, self-deprecating, and obsessive. Who knew a story about how annoying a baby could be would last for 25 pages? I find most of the stories rewarding and am continually amazed at how Wallace can transform seemingly pointless and neurotic obsession into something profound and illuminating. His writing takes patience, but I find the struggle worthwhile. His mix of heavy intellectualism, emotional self-flagellation, and humor, make for a very unique and awe-inspiring read. I hope to continue my DFW reading trend with Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Funny Thing I'll Never Do Again.

I just started Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics and am enjoying it immensely. The man can do no wrong. I'm not sure what I want to read next, though I am leaning toward something by Lydia Davis.


P.J. has been trying to get me to join Twitter, but I have held strong against him. I am willing to concede that there are some cool people to follow including, Aziz Ansari, John Hodgman, Eugene Mirman, Jim Gaffigan, and Michael Ian Black. I chose these guys specifically because they are funny comedians and they retain that humor on Twitter. As you may have noticed, Michael Ian Black is up there, but his Stella brethren, Michael Showalter and David Wain are not. As much as I love the other two guys, I found their Tweets to be more pedestrian (i.e. "I have to confess that even though it's in Los Angeles, Langers Delicatessen has by far the best pastrami in the world. I had it today!" ) Thank, David Wain! Although, in his defense he also said, "Redoing my bathroom as one huge urinal, so you can just open the door and pee anywhere. Cost me a fortune but how awesome is that?" I found it funny. Maybe it's 'cause I'm a guy with the mind of a 12 year old.

In other, slightly more important news, I stumbled upon a few cool sites dealing with print design and art.

Velhetica

PSFK

Design Observer

If you feel hungry after all that interwebs browsing, try a recipe from Sam the Cooking Guy.

Least, but certainly not last, the official homepage of professional Canadian and all around cool guy, Mr. Logan Esdale.