Consider The Lobster - David Foster Wallace

(Well, thanks to several months of work by the ACLU and a letter writing campaign by Amensty International, we've finally got a review by our newest "guest blogger" - Jose Padilla! Better late than never, eh Jose?)

It's recycling day at the Wallaces and luckily for us, what we have here is another collection of old essays by the author of infinite Jest! My Lord, what a wonderful book. All of these articles were first published years and years ago and reading Consider The Lobster takes me back to a time when I was walking around and breathing fresh air instead of being chained up in a dank hole in an undisclosed location.

In fact, after my latest water-boarding session the other day, I happened to mention this to the CIA guy who'd been given the task of shoving my head into the tub. Well, it just so happens that he did his thesis on Wallace at Brown and thought he was the "coolest" writer around. Yeah, it was a nice little bonding moment. We both had a chuckle and next time, he promised not to go "so hard-core" on me!

Sigh. I might never see sunlight ever again but at least with this book, I can bask in the brilliance of David Foster Wallace (and use it to chase away the rats in my cell!)

The Dissident - Nell Freudenberger

(Hey, it's been a little quiet around here lately but let's kick off the Fall Book Season with a guest review by longtime Chinese human rights activist Joseph Chang!)

My goodness, what an amazing novel. A lot of people have been saying that this is just another unreadable book by a good-looking Ivy-League grad but they're wrong. I don't know how she did it but Nell Freudenberger has captured the quintessential essence of being a political prisoner under a totalitarian dictatorship. (And they say you can't research a book only using the Internet these days. Umph!) And moreover, take a look at a recent PR photo of the author:



See? If you were undergoing days and weeks of electro-shock torture, wouldn't this sustain you in your hour of need? Let me tell you. A hard-cover edition of The Dissident retails at $25.95, which is about three years wages at the prison labor camp where I was sent after Tiananmen Square, but without a doubt, this book would be worth every 18-hour-day I suffered making headlights for General Motors. Yes, God Bless You, Nell Freudenberger, and keep up the good fight.

The Righteous Men - Sam Bourne

A really, really exciting thriller in which an all-powerful media figure works behind the scenes to gain power and glory, striking down all those oppose him. Some people might call this a turgid little rip-off of The Da Vinci Code but I say this is one of the greatest books ever written! (Ed. - Is this good enough Jon?)

Thanks, Fellas!

Wow, it must be neat to be so rich you can sit around all day and put up new entries on your blog. Thanks to those lucky fellas over at Freakonomics, who reminded us of that burning question: Whatever happened to Nathan Englander? Gosh, I hope nothing's happened to him...

On Beauty - Zadie Smith

A true post-modern take on how people living in one culture can sometimes completely misunderstand another one or even to fail to comprehend it at all. Believe the hype!

The Human Stain - Philip Roth

My goodness, why hasn't this man gotten the Nobel he so richly deserves yet? Still, struggling mightily with the terrible lack of recognition which he's gotten over the years, Roth comes up with a novel that hasn't become dated at all in the years since it was published. And while it might read like a really, really involved persecution fantasy, The Human Stain shows once again what a keen observer of racial relations Roth is.

And if you don't have the time to read the novel, rent the movie. It's even better!

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

A fantastic, not-to-be-believed real account of a real tough guy! Are you tough enough to read it?