Fave Books / Currently Reading

[Mike Desert]

Untold story of the original Circle Jerks bass player.  Author Hunter Bennett really did some detective work to put this together, and it pays off with one of the most interesting punk bios I've ever read.  Rogerson was a real life Jon Wurster character from start to (sadly early) finish.

Was a fun read! I liked this tidbit:

[Carver]

Untold story of the original Circle Jerks bass player.  Author Hunter Bennett really did some detective work to put this together, and it pays off with one of the most interesting punk bios I've ever read.  Rogerson was a real life Jon Wurster character from start to (sadly early) finish.

Was a fun read! I liked this tidbit:

Ha!  Well the guy deserved a nice paycheck for his bass playing on Back Against the Wall alone.

[not that clay]

I'm reading all the books about Keynesian economics I always meant to get around to. It's about as fun as you would think.

[Mike Desert]

Art Sex Music
by Cosey Fanni Tutti

[puffskull]

Interesting... is it any good? I know this is only tangentially related, but i'm listening to Psychic TV for the first time and loving it (turned on by 'Shovel'... how droll)

I just started reading fiction again after a very long hiatus... Michael Chabon's 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay'

absolutely loving it so far... has anyone else read this one?

I've got a bee in my bonnet all of a sudden to have a squiz at Chabon and also Jonathan Lethem... this one's first cab off the rank purely because i couldn't find a copy of Motherless Brooklyn

[Mike Desert]

It's great. Genesis sounds like a monster, ha. Only half way through, I pretty much just read on the commute to work these days

[mnstrfrc]

I've got a bee in my bonnet all of a sudden to have a squiz at Chabon and also Jonathan Lethem... this one's first cab off the rank purely because i couldn't find a copy of Motherless Brooklyn

I thought Gun, with Occasional Music and Amnesia Moon were exciting reads, but everything else I tried to read by Lethem has bored the hell out of me. I tried to read three or four other novels of his after that promising start, but I put them all down pretty quickly. I got into Chronic City a bit but when I realized it's just shitty Pynchon I wished I could throw a .epub out the window. Bored and angry with this guy.

[puffskull]

haha yeah i bet Genesis could be a bit, uh, mercurial... a hard one to deal with on any sort of regular basis.

interesting to know re: Lethem... I was thinking of maybe picking up Gun, With Occasional Music as it seems like praise for that one is almost universal (even from people who dont like his other stuff...), though i'm still intersted to check out some of his other stuff too. Interesting that you said that about Pynchon, because he's next on my list... i've read Crying of Lot 49 a few years ago and liked it, but not as much as i expected to. Then a friend of mine gave me his copy of Gravity's Rainbow and its been sitting on my bookshelf looking at me... maybe i should skip straight to that, if he's the master?

[mnstrfrc]

interesting to know re: Lethem... I was thinking of maybe picking up Gun, With Occasional Music as it seems like praise for that one is almost universal (even from people who dont like his other stuff...), though i'm still intersted to check out some of his other stuff too. Interesting that you said that about Pynchon, because he's next on my list... i've read Crying of Lot 49 a few years ago and liked it, but not as much as i expected to. Then a friend of mine gave me his copy of Gravity's Rainbow and its been sitting on my bookshelf looking at me... maybe i should skip straight to that, if he's the master?

'Ah yes, the master.' Took me a year of false starts and breaks to make it through Gravity's Rainbow. The second half I found much more digestible and enjoyable than the first, so that made finishing easy. It's very rewarding. I read Crying of Lot 49 after Gravity's and found them to be not on the same wavelength. Crying is much much lighter. Bleeding Edge is my least favorite book that I've read by him. Pretty dull. Inherent Vice, which is closer to Crying, is awesome, but V. is another masterpiece. Haven't cracked Mason and Dixon, Vineland or Against the Day yet.

You could read Lethem's Gun in a few sittings and I would highly recommend that again.

[Mike Desert]

Kill Me Darling
by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins

I had no idea that since 2008 Mickey Spillane's unfinished books and what not have been finished by someone and released. Almost done with this one.  Reads just like an old Spillane book...so I dig it.

https://crimefictionlover.com/2015/03/kill-me-darling/

[Carver]

Before this had never really gotten past Minor Threat (all time fave) or Youth of Today (liked to rattle the walls in high school).

Pretty facinating look at the strong views and fashion of the scene.  Didn't find any new fave bands but good read.