The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao--Junot Diaz

This is a bit of a recap for Friends Recommends. I wrote a post about this book HERE back in February, based on the strong recommends it received. I hadn't read it but still made a post...what a book! Anyway, I bought it in preparation for my trip to San Francisco some weeks ago along with Michael Chabon's Mysteries of Pittsburgh (a good book, but maybe not worthy of a full-on recommend at this time) and Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which I often site as my favorite book, although like a top-5 song list I'm not sure how completely accurate that is). Regardless I have read Perks at least 7 times in my life, and love it enough to buy it for the second time since I lent it to someone who never gave it back. Perhaps a future recommend for that is forthcoming.

For those who need to know, is the Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao worth the hype it has received in these parts? Recommended by HSV, Mike Gittings, and indirectly by Jenny Kinniff I would say that yes, with 100% certainty it should be read by everyone who checks this blog. It was an outstanding book...although for me it started a bit slow, but that might have been the mood I was in where starting to read it. Regardless, I put this on par with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Windup Bird Chronicle, and Skinny Legs and All as the best books that have ever been recommended for me to read. Top-notch, A+, prime-cut, top-shelf kind of reading.

I don't really want to go too much into the book itself. If you haven't read it yet my recommend to you is to do so. Be warned that it is heartbreaking. There isn't a whole lot of good that happens to poor Oscar Wao, or anyone in his family for that matter but this is a great book. One small thing that took away from my reading is that my Spanish is horrible, even though I studied it for 5 years in middle/high school. Some of the character dialogue in the books goes untranslated (usually just a one or two-word phrase) but taken in context you can usually figure out what it means. It really didn't present much of a problem, but if I were to read it again I would probably look up all these little phrases to make sure I knew what was going on.

To be specific Heather's recommendation was to listen to the author read this book on tape. She has some strong feelings for this guys voice, and she certainly thinks it is worth a damn. In a recent conversation she actually told me to post THIS CLIP which isn't from Oscar Wao, but it gives you an idea of the kind of voice we are dealing with. She says the speaking starts at minute 1:50 and assures our readers that it is worth the listen. What do you have to lose? Upon listening to it, I could see her argument. It has some nice flair. Better than the voice in my head when I read, that's for sure.

All I can say at this point is read The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. It is worth it. I'll let you borrow it if you want. Mike Ward, I have an Eric and Jessica copy of Skinny Legs and All on my floor. You should read this too...I just need to get it to you. That's all. Todd tomorrow.

*This post was not proof read or edited. Deal with it!

Letterboxing

Before Jenny submitted her list two weeks ago I had never heard of letterboxing, and a guess at what it was would have been far off the mark. I must admit that after investigating the website I'm still not 100% sure that I know how it works. Here is Jenny's summary taken directly from her list:

Letterboxing: I am on a never-ending treasure hunt of finding hidden packages from strangers in trees, under rocks, and in streetlights all over the country. In letterboxing, you carve your own stamp and you find other people’s stamps. You leave your stamp in their hidden notebook and put theirs in your notebook.

This sounds awesome to me. As a little guy (although after Jessica pulled out some family pictures on Mother's Day, and it appears I wasn't so little but more a shrunken Lou Grant from the Mary Tyler Moore Show) the idea of hidden treasure, fossils, maps, etc. was always very exciting to me. The problem was, with the exception of Easter egg hunts, I would have to bury these treasures on my own, or create my own maps, or secret language (via a club called RAD in the second grade) for any of this to be possible. Letterboxing really appeals to this inner-child, never-extinguished desire to find such things. You can read all about it on your own at letterboxing.org. I will try to sum it up as best as I can, but a recommend from the editor is to check out the website because I might not know what I'm talking about.

Basically, from what I understand, there are about 20,000 letterboxes buried throughout North America, with more in other areas of the world. Every letterbox contains a logbook, a stamp, and an inkpad. Every letterboxer has their own stamp (sort of their identity), trail name, and logbook to keep track of the letterboxes they find. When you find a letterbox you put it's stamp into your logbook and leave behind your stamp, your name, and maybe a little write-up about how you found the box in their logbook. This is a seemingly neverending treasure hunt, where while the reward isn't gold or eternal life or three wishes, it seems like it would be pretty exciting to find one.

While I am really interested in this activity, it would probably take some time to get started up. You can purchase a stamp from somewhere like the Teacher's Resource, or you can choose to make your own. Really, the website covers all of this and tons more. Once you get your letterboxing identity together you can start looking at clues in your area to find some of them. I like this. I hope that one day I choose to actually participate, but maybe for now I will just bombard Jenny with questions every time I see her. For now can you answer just a few if you are reading this? How many letterboxes have you found? Is this something that Mike also participates in, or would he just break down and cry? What does your stamp look like? (If I am getting too personal, please stop me). Have you done this outside of Maryland?

Also, this seems like a good activity to do with kids. Maybe I will promise myself now that if somehow I have a kid I will force them to participate in letterboxing, something they may love in their youth, but may end up talking to a psychiatrist about if I force them to continue doing it into their 20's. Here are some letterboxing pictures whether you are interested or not:

Jenny Kinniff

So the Top 5 songs run is nearly over and we are moving on. I say nearly over because Colmus sort of placemarked his Top 5 this evening with an email saying it was coming tomorrow, complete with mp3's. I suppose this will pass, and there is a chance of an HSV Top 5 coming as well. Is this true? Anyway, I have this great list from Jenny, and I have been wanting to get it up here, so now is the perfect time and it should offer a break from these Top 5 songs (although they too have been great). I don't know about the other chumps around these parts, but I will be commenting on this list next week.


I didn't have a personalized picture of Jenny because I don't take pictures of anything, but I stole both of these off her facebook page (technology!). I've included a picture of what Jenny looks like, but also of her diorama entitiled "Twin Peeps" submitted for this, which I think is awesome. I hope you won a major award, Jenny. Anyway, I know Jenny through Mike because I have known Mike a long time. She is amazing and has to be the coolest librarian anyone knows. Even if you don't know her, she would be the coolest librarian you knew if you did. Also, I doubt I have told her this, but she has one of my favorite laughs of anyone that I know. This list re-motivates me to check out new things. Strangely, for a librarian there are very few books included. Very few meaning none. Whoa! Here. We. Go.

Jenny says:

Just to keep things fresh, I won’t repeat any other recommendations that have already been made, even though I love Murakami and Junot Diaz and Lost (among lots of other stuff mentioned). So here are my never-before-seen-on-this-fine-blog recommendations:

Music:

Janet Weiss: I thought about making this one “Sleater-Kinney” since she drummed for my favorite band, but Janet’s awesomeness can’t be contained by one band. I think S-K are sometimes seen as being riot grrl leftovers from the 90s, but they made really catchy, loud, smart rock and roll. Recommended albums: One Beat, The Woods, Dig Me Out. Janet’s in another great band, Quasi, with her ex-husband Sam Coomes. Recommended Quasi album: Field Studies. Also drums with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

Palomar: I first heard Palomar at a live show at the Talking Head and I thought “Damn, the sound in here sucks.” Three women singing delicate harmonies over sometimes loud guitars was too much for the crappy sound and acoustics. Thankfully, the Ottobar has done them better since. Recommended albums: Palomar III and All Things, Forests.

Movies:

Clue (1985): This is a childhood favorite that I’ve probably seen 20 times b/c I made my parents rent it constantly. I LOVE it—it is so gloriously cheesy and the ending(s) are ridiculous, but how could you not love a movie that features Jane from the Go-Gos, Martin Mull, Tim Curry, and is based on a board game? Answer: You can’t. You can’t not love it.

Dead Man: A Jim Jarmusch film (1995) featuring Johnny Depp going on a bizarre spiritual quest with a mysterious Indian named Nobody in a 19th century gold rush town. They run into Iggy Pop in the woods. Weird stuff happens.

Bande a part (Band of Outsiders): For a while Mike was on a kick of renting obscure old French and Italian movies, resulting in me taking many unplanned naps on the couch. This one (Godard, 1964) rules, though—French teens/20somethings try to rob someone and flirt with each other. Most of the time they hang out talking, smoking, and dancing in cafes.

TV:

Mad Men: A Manhattan advertising agency in 1960. It’s hard to believe it’s the same country: unbelievably chauvinist men, women whose only power is their sexuality, and everyone smokes and drinks all day long. Jello molds and life’s disappointments abound. It’s an amazing show.

Comedy:

Mike Birbiglia: The comedian of choice for adorable nerds—he doesn’t really swear or talk about anything remotely vulgar, but manages to be hilarious nonetheless. He was a year ahead of me at my college, where he won “Funniest Act on Campus” with a passionate ode to Carlos, his bouncy ball from when he was a kid. Recommended album: Two Drink Mike.

Activities and Websites:

Letterboxing: I am on a never-ending treasure hunt of finding hidden packages from strangers in trees, under rocks, and in streetlights all over the country. In letterboxing, you carve your own stamp and you find other people’s stamps. You leave your stamp in their hidden notebook and put theirs in your notebook. Go to www.letterboxing.org to find out more!

Camping/Hiking: Toasted marshmallows, crackling fire, pretty hikes…what’s not to like? Maryland has lots of good places, too. Recommended: Susquehanna State Park, Catoctin National Park, Gambrills, Billy Goat Trail outside DC, Harper’s Ferry area (www.thetreehousecamp.com).

GoodReads (www.goodreads.com): Track what you’re reading and what you want to read, and see what your friends are reading. Get on it! I want to see what you’re reading!