By Josh Landon
The Passage of Power by Robert Caro
The fourth volume in Caro’s (insert hyperbolic adjective here) Lyndon Johnson biography is a must-read for his depiction of Robert Kennedy alone. Wow, who knew he was such a [expletive deleted]?
Zona by Geoff Dyer
Ostensibly a shot-by-shot analysis Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 film “Stalker,” this book quickly spins off the rails (as is Geoff Dyer’s trademark) into long and fascinating discursions about the authors lifelong desires and regrets, and whether we actually, deep down, really want what we think we want. I should probably add that it’s also extremely funny.
Rule & Ruin by Geoffrey Kabaservice
Geoff Kabaservice’s supremely readable and entertaining book about the collapse of a moderate wing within the Republican Party couldn’t be more relevant in light of the country’s ongoing fiscal cliff/plan B/debt ceiling debates which are, apparently, never going away. Ever.
NW by Zadie Smith
Worth reading if only for Zadie Smith’s incredible ear for dialogue. An insightful, if frequently uncomfortable, look at urban life in the 21st century.
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
This story about the rise and fall of a fictional upstate New York commune in the 1970’s was my outside-my-comfort-zone read of the year. It’s the kind of book you get excited about by the time you get halfway through because you realize you now have the perfect Birthday/Mother’s Day/Christmas gift for the next year.
Bonus Book (originally published in 2008)
How to Be Useful: A Beginner’s Guide to Not Hating Work by Megan Hustad
I deeply regret not having the opportunity to read this book in my early/mid 20s. The book, which culls the best ideas from a century’s worth of “career” books (some brilliant, some tacky), is filled with ideas and suggestions that will flat-out make you a happier person.
Josh Landon is a National Account Representative to Barnes & Noble, Follett, & BAM for Oxford University Press, and the B&N Rookie of the Year 2012 Award winner.
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The post Josh Landon’s top 5 books of 2012 appeared first on OUPblog.
I haven't posted an illustration in a while. Here's one I did last week.
Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of American magician William Robinson. He changed his name to Chung Ling Soo to add an air of foreign mysticism to his act. The name was a variation of a real Chinese magician's name - Ching Ling Foo - and he performed many of the tricks that Foo had made famous.
Chung Ling Soo maintained his role as a Chinese man scrupulously, keeping in character even off-stage. He never spoke onstage and always used an interpreter when he spoke to journalists. Only his friends and a few other magicians knew the truth. (A similar character was briefly featured in the 2006 film
"The Prestige".)
Soo's most famous trick was known as "Condemned to Death by the Boxers" (as in
The Boxer Rebellion ). In this trick Soo's assistants — sometimes dressed as Boxers — took two guns to the stage. Several members of the audience were called on the stage to mark a bullet that was loaded into one of the guns. When the gun was fired at Soo, he seemed to catch the bullets from the air and drop them on a plate he held before him. In some variations he pretended to be hit and spit the bullet onto the plate. Actually, Soo palmed the bullets, hiding them in his hand during their examination and marking. The muzzle-loaded guns were rigged such that the gunpowder charge fired in the chamber and the bullet would drop into a chamber below the barrel. The bullet in fact never left the gun.
Soo was performing in London, on March 23, 1918. Soo had not cleaned the gun properly. Over time, the gap that allowed the bullet to drop out of the barrel into the chamber slowly built up a residue from the build-up of gunpowder. The bullet remained in the barrel and the gun was fired in the normal way. The bullet hit Soo in the chest. "Oh my God.", he said, "Something's happened. Lower the curtain." It was the first (and last) time in 19 years that William "Chung Ling Soo" Robinson had spoken English in public.
My baby is turning 7 — how did that happen?! Here's his invite for this year. As you might have guessed, he's really into Indiana Jones. I found this typeface and a tutorial on the web. I thought I'd have to trace and create the logo from scratch. I was thrilled.
