There is something so delicious about the beginning of a holiday and the prospect of several extra hours of reading! Having just finished All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab this morning, I welcomed the serendipituous opportunity to pick my new read on the eve of a five-day vacation. As much as I try, I'm never really as organized about what's next in line as I probably should be. Alas.
Thankfully, while adding the links to various book award websites to this blog the other day, I ran across the Thurber Prize for Humor and noticed Ian Frazier had won this year's award for his collection of essays Lamentations of the Father. A quick check of the online catalog of one of my local public libraries (yes, I live in public library heaven in Silicon Valley and have several to choose from) I discovered this award winner awaited me on my way home from work. The Thurber site indicated that Frazier had previously won this award for Coyote vs Acme, so picked that up as well. I'll report back soon. (Hopefully those extra hours will actually transpire.)
I discovered the Thurber Award last year when I learned that I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle had won it last October. Doyle's novel had been recommended to me by one of my students. And it was a worthy tip. I laughed aloud for the entire Saturday I allowed myself to be consumed by it. Later, my school's reading club universally loved it as well. I didn't bother to go see the movie last summer, but feel pretty confident in guessing that it didn't begin to compare to the book.
Seeing Ian Frazier's name on the Thurber site intrigued me immediately. Several years ago I read and enjoyed his Great Plains. I'm pretty sure I picked up a copy of this in the bookstore in the Badlands National Park visitor center. I'd not read anything by him previously -- nor since -- but the magic of his prose has stayed with me. He's quite a writer and I look forward to revisiting his prose over the break.
Oh, and about All Unquiet Things: Don't waste the time on it. A very big disappointment.
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