Community Discussion
Topic: What Are You Reading Now?

#	Author	Message
671	avromark Fri 4/7/2006 5:47p	**notes to give the pesky one "adverbs" :P**
672	Tinkerbell819 Sat 4/8/2006 5:23p	JohnS, is "Tricky Business" the book about the gambling/cruise ship that takes place in FL? That book was laugh out loud funny! (I love Dave Barry!)
673	MissCandice Sat 4/8/2006 6:27p	As soon as I finish my Entertainment Weekly magazine I will start "The Ice Storm" by Rick Moody.
674	JohnS1 Sat 4/8/2006 9:25p	Tink - yes, that's the book. I love Dave Barry too. I also feel a particular bond with him because I won a national contest he once held related to his column. He asked for readers to list tax tips for paying less to the IRS. My tip was that taxpayers should take to heart the IRS recommedation to "round off" the amounts you list regarding income. "For example," I wrote, "I make $35,867 a year and dutifully round it off each year to $30,000." I also got to meet him when he came to the university I worked for to give a talk.
675	alexbook Wed 4/12/2006 9:35a	"Reversible Errors" by Scott Turow
676	avromark Thu 4/13/2006 5:53p	"The Tale of a Body Thief" - by Anne Rice HINT HINT
677	JohnS1 Fri 4/14/2006 10:58p	Here's a question which sort of ties in to this topic (and will no doubt make me seem very antiquated and prudish and thin skinned) but do any of you older people out there (40s and 50s) agree with me that popular fiction books have become increasingly crass? I finished the Dave Barry book I referred to a few posts back, and while I enjoyed the typical Barry brand of humor, I was somewhat disheartened that not only the villains of the stories, but the "heroes" such as they were, cussed continuously, initiated all sorts of violent acts and participated in all manner of premarital, extramarital and post-marital (is that a word?) sex throughout the book. And this was Dave Barry, for crying out loud. Then I started a book by Carl Hiassen (sp) which my 24-year-old daughter recommended. More of the same, swear words, crude behavior, sex every few pages and a decent plot, but emphasis throughout on the seamy side of life. Is it just the mystery genre that dwells on these aspects of life? I fear not, because I work in a book store now, and can't believe the stuff I read in Harlequin romances bought by 80-year-old grandmothers. I try to skim through a number of different types of books from Nora Roberts to Clive Cussler to Maeve Binchy because I'm am making an attempt to become knowledgeable as to contemporary authors precisely because I DO work in a bookstore (and because I have some story ideas of my own and like to see what's already out there). But I have continued to be disheartened at the crassness of so much fiction out there. I used to put people on a pedestal if they were avid readers rather than TV watchers, but now I see that there is crap out there in books just as there is on TV. Or am I just living in the past and expecting contemporary fiction to rise to the level of 19th century authors such as Bronte and Austen and Hardy and Dickens and Twain and Hemingway and Steinbeck, et al?
678	TALL Disney Guy Fri 4/14/2006 11:09p	Well JS1, I think it's nice that you have "classic standards" so to speak. There can be fascinating, terrific, beautiful works of writing out there without resorting to cursing, "for the sake of it" sex, and violence. I'm a little lost on "post-marital sex" though...is this sex after a broken marriage, or what?
679	DyGDisney Fri 4/14/2006 11:11p	I'm reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to my kids.
680	JohnS1 Fri 4/14/2006 11:25p	TDG - that was just my my little attempt at humor. What I mean is that there seem to be no ethical or moral standards or rules or guidelines adhered to by characters in the books I've been looking through. It's one thing if bad people do bad things and are shown to have paid the price for their actions by the end of the book. But so far, all I see is people from all walks of life committing violent or unkind acts, initiating sexual relationships with little thought at all, at all ages with all sorts of people and while they are already engaged in monogamous relationships, etc. Sex is treated as casually as a trip to the grocery store, which I suppose some academics would claim is "reflecting" our society, whereas I can't help but wonder if society's actions follow the literary and film professions' lead. I guess what I'm saying is that I have read three or four works of contemporary fiction over the past few months, and have yet to meet one character I would be interested in befriending were they real people, not fictional characters. Or - are fictional characters simply supposed to be characatures, larger-than-life fictional entities whose actions in the books exaggerate the sorts of actions taken by real people in the real world???

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