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Two Girls, Fat and Thin, Mary Gaitskill, 1991. "At the beginning of October a new kid entered Justine's class. Her name was Cheryl Thomson. She was big, she had acne, and she wore old plaid skirts that were obviously not from Sears or Wards. This would've been all right; some very cool kids--Dody among them--dressed this way. But they had a ( Read more... )

The Long Rain: A Novel, Peter Gadol, 1997. "After my grandfather returned wounded from fighting in the trenches of France, he retreated to Oak Valley in an act of personal isolationism and planted his vines. But he planted them right as Prohibition began, and so he could neither legally make wine nor sell it for over a decade. Which is not to say ( Read more... )

I just finished the Kate Christenson book in the hot tub. It's chick lit, I suppose, but it's at the very top of the genre. Claudia, the narrator, is a ghostwriter for an aging, bitchy New York socialite. She's also three months behind on her rent, secretly in love with her best friend, and a pretty serious alcohol abuser ( Read more... )

I've read a lot of excellent books lately, and I'd like to post a review of each of them like Becky does, but I'm far too lazy. So I came up with the idea of quoting a representative passage from each.

In the Drink, Kate Christensen, 1999. "I brought my coffee cup over to my desk and topped it off with a dollop of vodka. I downed half of this ( Read more... )

I was cleaning out my car at Becky's this afternoon, and I lifted a box out of the back seat to show her the shoes I was sending back (not that she could see them through the sealed carton), and I found my calendar behind it. I whooped for joy, although I'd already moved on and fallen in love with a new calendar. Still, being able to transfer the ( Read more... )

California owed me a little money on my taxes, so I've been expecting a $49 check for the last six weeks. Today, then, I was pleased to get an envelope from the state Office of Disbursement. Imagine my joy when I opened it and discovered I'd miscalculated -- the check was for $267.98 ( Read more... )

July 22: "I got a new tape. The best song is True Blue and the 2nd best song is La Isla Bonita. La Isla Bonita means the pretty island. Te Amo means I Love you ( Read more... )

I must have it.