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Deep in the grubby sump of one of those so-called ‘Social Media’ sites, there is a clump of aging comics fanboys called The Really Very Serious Alan Moore Scholars’ Group, known to its sad and lonely adherents as TRVSAMSG. When they’re not annotating everything in sight, or calling down ancient evils on the heads of […]

No. We’re good. We fang it!

Every fair set-up and break down is a challenge, an adventure, and a chore. In the art world, “installation” is where the vision becomes cemented for the curator or artist.  Without being to fussy, installation at a book fair is similar, in that, a bookseller has the option to design visual gestalt with a display, to tell a story, or even to offend, dazzle, and educate. With that, part of the concept is driving an aesthetic attachment for a potential person to immediately hone in on something they absolutely desire to acquire for personal or pragmatic reasons.

Again, the thematic diatribe of Lux Mentis to “mock conventionalism” emerges case by case with groupings of “sex, death, and devil,” artist’s books, fine press, esoterica, and other bits of seemingly harmless or seemingly objectionable material. The process can sort of look like this:

When it is all said and done, you can hear Ian blather on in a nice little package with sound and image! Useful words and phrases to add to your regularly rotated vocabulary: “brutally cool” “spectacular” “just exquisite” “interesting bits” “fabulous” “astounding”. You can also learn how to properly stroke your beard.

What is important to note is while we go gangbusters with stuff, selection is important, as well as time management, you can fiddle around with one shelf for hours, believe me.  That being said, all in all, installation was smooth and considerate, every shelf both notes and confronts a narrative.  See for yourself.

Next time: Gettin’ granular, or how to give good looks and books.

It's funny, but sometimes, especially when I'm in the thick of writing one of my stories, it's very refreshing to read some non-fiction, or at least something totally unrelated to the story I'm crafting.

Cue Cheesemonger by Gordon Edgar.

My boss gave me this book to borrow, because, he said, "You're the resident foodie." I started to read a little bit every day on my lunch break and found myself hooked into the story of how a punk rock kid living in the Bay Area found work at a cheese counter and in doing so, a whole new life as a cheesemonger.

Punk rock and cheese? I know, right? They don't seem related, but Gordon brings the two together, talking about culture and agitation and individuality. He also makes some great points about small producer cheese versus factory cheese - about valuing the artisan's work and nourishing your palate in the process. About the need for food and farm workers to have a healthy, safe life. About how people should be adventurous and step away from commercially produced cheddar, jack, and swiss cheeses every once in a while.

Do you guys this this is totally crazy of me to read a book about cheese? Well, I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love to read - so it's kind of a good fit for me. And actually, it's a pretty great read. I savored it, cover to cover. (And -- here's a shocker -- it made me hungry for cheese!)

So, what's the most off-beat non-fiction book you've read?

Hugs,

Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
Never Cry Werewolf - HarperTeen
The Clearing - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wherever You Go - Harcourt - Fall 2011

Over the weekend (entirely by accident) I met director Paul Rachman, the man behind the documentary American Hardcore as well as scores of music videos that my buddies and I would watch in high school.

He worked with some of my favorite bands--The Replacements, Temple of the Dog, and Alice in Chains (the trippy "Man in a Box" video!). Last night I dug through his website, interviews, and music videos. It took me back to a much simpler time, and I started writing about my hometown again.

If those bands mean something to you, you must check out Rachman's website -- the memories are priceless. If you don't know the music, read Rachman's reminder about the importance of community in this Evening Class interview:

"However small it was, we knew we were part of something intricate, that had this ethic of helping your friends. Everybody had to work hard to make that show happen on Sunday afternoon at the VFW Hall. Everybody. You had to show up. You had to help. You had to help the band get there. It was a sense of community. You really counted on each other to make it happen because it wouldn't if not. There were too many forces against you."

Beige by Cecil Castellucci. ARC supplied by publisher, Candlewick. Publication date: June 2007. (Amazon says May).

Notice: Yes, this is a long, long way away. But this book is so fabulous that I must blog about it now. Like many of my fellow bloggers, I'm being a total booktease, in that I'm saying I love it yet not going into any details now, but will do a follow up post once this has been on the shelves six months or so. It's one of my Best Books for 2007.

The Plot: Katy, 15, is a nice, good girl who gets along with her mother; she dresses like a prep and likes boy bands. Mom is headed off to an archaeological dig in Peru for two and a half weeks; Grand-maman is in an old age home; so Katy leaves Montreal for LA to visit her father, the Rat. She hasn't seen Beau "the Rat" Ratner since she was seven. Needless to say, she isn't happy about this at all. Picture Rory from the Gilmore Girls shipped off to the Osbournes.

The Good: I am trying to be very, very good about spoilers.

While at first glance it seems the Rat is called the Rat because Katy hasn't seen him since forever, it's actually his punk name. Y'see, the Rat is the drummer for the "famously unfamous" band, Suck.

This is not one of those books where a girl goes to LA and has a Pretty Woman shopping experience when she meets her rich and famous father. C'mon, Castellucci is better than that (tho if she wrote that type of book it would kick ass because Castellucci is that good of a writer.) Because Suck is "famously unfamous" (i.e., they never made it big) the Rat lives in an apartment and has a day job to pay the bills.

Beige does not use the "famous Daddy" teen formula as an excuse to go shopping or teach us a life lesson about being rich. The Rat is not a musician so that Castellucci can show us the life styles of the rich and famous; the Rat is a musician because it is his life, it is his world view, it is the reason he's alive. For Katy, music is something that plays in the background. She likes boy bands. How do two people, related by blood yet total strangers, create a relationship when they have nothing in common?

What else can I say without significant spoilers? As you know, I am very tough on the absentee Dad becoming devoted Dad for no good reason. Here, the Rat has a great reason for not seeing Katy for all those years: he was a heroin addict. He is now a recovered addict.

What works, again without being spoilerific:

Katy's anger and distrust of her father; Katy's deep attachment to her mother; the mother changing her life from drugged out teenage groupie knocked up by famous drummer to respectable mother earning a PhD. (Imagine Penny Lane from Almost Famous, but in the early 90s punk rock scene; she gets pregnant and leaves the whole rock'n'roll world behind.)

What also works is that Castellucci knows and respects the punk rock scene. Every chapter is headed by a song name and band.* Katy is a fish out of water -- "beige" in this land of people who live for music -- yet Castellucci shows Katy (and the reader) a thing or two or three about punk rock. (And whether it's music or something else, who hasn't felt beige every now and then? You haven't? Just me? Oh.)

Final words: Castellucci at all times respects Katy and respects the Rat. There is no "good" person or "bad" person; no right or wrong way; only finding what is one's own way.

Final, final words: While I cannot give any specific examples without being a spoiler girl (I am such a booktease!), one of the things I love about Castellucci is that she leaves things to the reader to figure out. She doesn't spoonfeed it to you. There are parts here, things about the parents, Katy, the music scene, that I am dying to talk about.

Words after the final, final words: Age: teen. Is it OK for middle school? Depends on your community. C'mon, people it's punk rock! The word f*ck appears (but much less often than Nick and Norah.) Someone gets a boner. And Katy is result of a groupie and musician hook up. The Rat and Katy's mother are now sober, but this book honestly looks at their drug use in the past and the consequences, without being all Afternoon Special about it. I think it would work in a middle school in all but the most conservative towns, but read and judge for yourself.

More words after the final, final words. I know I am old when I'm older than the parents** in the teen books I'm reading. But that aside, while I love Castellucci's YA books, given that she never falls for the "parents are evil" trap and creates well-rounded, very human people, I would be the happiest person in happydonia if she ever wrote a grown up book.

*I'm a librarian. I cannot resist a list. I knew 10 of the 45 song titles.

** Actually, older than the mom but not the dad.

Links: Beige is Punk: Essential Punk Rock songs
The Chasing Ray review
Cecil Castellucci....Between the buns at Bookburger
Win an ARC contest: Deadline February 20, 2007
The Goddess of YA Literature review