Audrey Niffenegger’s novel The Time Traveler’s Wife isn’t the sort of book I’d expect to enjoy. In fact, I did everything I could to resist its premise for the first half or so, until I finally realized how much I liked the characters and wanted to learn what happens next.
Why was I so convinced that […]

Or, wow, how did I miss so much the first time?
The bigger themes of choice vs. fascism, the paradox of infinite choice, the cycles of pleasure/satisfaction and pain/craving, the whole Marat-Sade angle, Hal as Hamlet paralyzed by indecision, the glorious hilarity of the Eschaton section, the incredibly satisfying Gaudeamus Igitur (i.e., Mario’s ONANtiad section), the […]

It has been such a lovely weekend so far. It seems especially luxurious after having to go to work last Saturday for the big site launch (a roaring success, hooray, and worth a bottle of Veuve Clicquot at the company meeting Friday), and getting Martin Luther King Day off tomorrow will be the icing on […]

When I finally arrived home after a tiring trip to California, my wonderful boyfriend greeted me warmly and had a surprise (actually, five): a stack of beautifully wrapped books, one of which was Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. It’s a beautifully told personal history of the author, her father, and the secrets her […]

Have you heard about this book-swapping site? The concept is great: get rid of books you no longer want (maybe never did want, but which you picked up from the book-and-magazine-trading wall in the subway station) for the cost of Media Mail postage; get others’ unwanted books for free. Neato, right?
I’ve sent out nine books […]