MobileRead July 09 book nominations

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

My Man Jeeves (1919) — Four stories in a book of eight, all four reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves.

Thanks. Was really looking for a "back-o-the-book" blurb about the story.

BOb

[toomanybooks]

I'll second Three Men in A Boat and Augusts Carp. I have read and enjoyed both of them.

I would like to nominate The Silence of Colonel Bramble. (http://manybooks.net/titles/mauroisa...l_bramble.html) Andre Maurois served as a liaison officer with a British regiment during WWI and wrote this book based on his experiences.

[Ham88]

I'd like to second I am america an so can you By Stephen Colbert.

Truly an amusing book.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by toomanybooks

I'll second Three Men in A Boat and Augusts Carp. I have read and enjoyed both of them.

I would like to nominate The Silence of Colonel Bramble. (http://manybooks.net/titles/mauroisa...l_bramble.html) Andre Maurois served as a liaison officer with a British regiment during WWI and wrote this book based on his experiences.

I'd like to second "The Silence of Colonel Bramble" - never heard of it before, but it sounds intriguing.

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Thanks. Was really looking for a "back-o-the-book" blurb about the story.

BOb

From DailyLit :

Description
In this 1919 short story collection, P.G. Wodehouse’s beloved star characters, the very silly Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, must face the perils of pushy relatives, swooning debutantes, and the hare-brained schemes of well-meaning friends.

This collection also features the fictional hi-jinks of another favorite Wodehouse character, the hapless Reggie Pepper, whose piles of money never seem to make up for his utter lack of intelligence. Wodehouse will keep every reader giggling at the wild adventures in which Reggie manages to find himself and the ridiculous dilemmas from which the lucky Bertie is rescued, without fail, by the ingenious Jeeves.

And : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeeves

Have it on my TBR list, since april...

[Fathermole]

I nominate ,"A Confederacy of Dunces" is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword) and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a mainstream success. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. It is an important part of the 'modern canon' of Southern literature.

The story is set in New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. (Jacques) Reilly, an educated but slothful man still living with his mother at age 30 in the city's Uptown neighborhood, who, because of family circumstances, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces

nevermind can't find it in ebook format anymore

[pshrynk]

I'll third Three Men in a Boat.

[Elsi]

All of the nominated books sound good to me. I'm in favor of a humorous (comedic?) book rather than something serious. And, something that's available in the MR library or other free download would be preferable to having to buy something -- well unless it's less than $1 and won't require format-shifting. I downloaded Thorne Smith's Night Life of the Gods a couple of months ago and intended to read it, but I'm up for a re-read of Topper if that's what the group decides.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

All of the nominated books sound good to me. I'm in favor of a humorous (comedic?) book rather than something serious.

considering that July is for a humor book, I assume everything being nominated falls into that category. Are you saying that there are humor books that are serious?

BOb

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Fathermole

I nominate ,"A Confederacy of Dunces" is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword) and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a mainstream success. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. It is an important part of the 'modern canon' of Southern literature.

The story is set in New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. (Jacques) Reilly, an educated but slothful man still living with his mother at age 30 in the city's Uptown neighborhood, who, because of family circumstances, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces

nevermind can't find it in ebook format anymore

I completely agree with your assessment of this book: It's an important novel and has relevance to the Southern Gothic tradition in liteature. I would also like to see Barry Hannah's catalog made available.

I'll PM you about another issue regarding contemporary modern literary fiction (in addition to postmodernist fiction), and the limited "understanding" of websites that have a fan-base catering mainly to genre fiction and the growing ebook industry. In fact, there have been reports that genre fiction is the main driving force of the ebook market. This is a matter for serious discussion and contemplation among a select few. However, my feeling is that once the ebook industry really takes off, that ebooks and the level of discussion (in general) will improve drastically as contemporary literary fiction is anyalzed, critiqued, and enjoyed.

Cheers,
Don

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

considering that July is for a humor book, I assume everything being nominated falls into that category. Are you saying that there are humor books that are serious?

BOb

Yes.

In my opinion, the best books of humor are those that elevate the Human Condition to one of laughter and reveal to us those elements that allow us to see connections with other people - loveliness, beauty, horror, and humor. (I'm making a distinction - as I hope you realize - between this kind of humor and the silly/stupid humor that I've been posting and which is available in other places.)


Don

[pilotbob]

Come on people? Are we really going to poll with only three?

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

i'll third "Augustus Carp, Esq. - Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man" by Henry Bashford. it's been on my list for some time now, this seems like a good occasion to move it to the top.

(that brings the count up to 4 !!)

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by Elsi

All of the nominated books sound good to me. I'm in favor of a humorous (comedic?) book rather than something serious.

Originally Posted by pilotbob

considering that July is for a humor book, I assume everything being nominated falls into that category. Are you saying that there are humor books that are serious?

Ummm... to be perfectly honest, I missed the part in your original post which said July's topic was to be humor. I think the one I reacted to as serious was A Confederacy of Dunces and its billing as "an important part of the 'modern canon' of Southern literature".

And, to give us a bit more to choose from, I'll second (or third) Life With Father.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i'll third "Augustus Carp, Esq. - Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man" by Henry Bashford. it's been on my list for some time now, this seems like a good occasion to move it to the top.

(that brings the count up to 4 !!)

Thanks... you're a doll... a psock doll... but none the less.

Any one else we have seconds for:

I am America an So Can You By Stephen Colbert.
The Silence of Colonel Bramble
Life With Father

...waiting for thirds.

BOb