Bookloft Staff Picks

Last post I said there’s an incredible number of noteworthy books by good-to-great writers coming out in the 2nd half of 2009 & to keep a lookout here for this parade under the banner of Here Comes Everybody. Now it’s started & the grand marshall is Thomas Pynchon‘s INHERENT VICE, his stoned-soul beach-read of a detective novel, published today by Penguin Press. Before I launch into blurby verbiage, you should pause to sample the promo video from the publisher (voiced by the author?) via YouTube:

(A fellow Booklofter–thank you, Rick– told me of WIRED magazine’s interactive Google-mapped web article “The Unofficial Thomas Pynchon Guide to Los Angeles” where I clicked on ‘Pynchon’s home?’ & found the Penguin Press promo ad posted today, featuring a narrator sounding awfully like the Simpson’s Pynchon of several years ago.) Intriguing… & a really cool teaser/intro to the book, even if it’s not the author acting as his main character.

INHERENT VICE finds Thomas Pynchon back in California circa 1970. It’s not a baggy monster like his masterworks, but it has the same DNA (Do Nothing Average) as those awesome adventures & forms a loose trilogy as a hybrid of the psychedelic THE CRYING OF LOT 49 & the more sinister VINELAND. ‘Doc’ Sportello is our laid-back hippie P.I. narrator, on a breezy tour of beach shacks, surf-rockers’ mansions, Mansonized paranoia (you knew it would be here, didn’t you?) & the outer-limits hallucinations of America as it skews weirder from wonderful. The plot has shaggy-dog hairs all over it, but it ostensibly deals with the search for a missing billionaire, his shady real estate developments, dopers & detectives & assistant DA’s, with the odd resurrected surf sax player thrown in. It reads like Cheech & Chong & Chandler, & sounds like a classic Firesign Theatre record, i.e. stoned wordplay, ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ cartoony characters abound, with the heady, high-low, trademark Pynchon mix spiked with even more sex, drugs & surfin’ tunes. Enough… just dig this: Pynchon’s written a great summer beach read—Far out!

The critics are weighing in on this ‘lighter fare’ genre entertainment & I must say that I found another favorite writer Louis Menand‘s review in the August 3rd NEW YORKER to be especially illuminating about the Raymond Chandler private eye’s personal code of honor & other genre conventions & how Pynchon plays with them. Other reviewers invoke the Coen brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI & that seems an entirely right-on comparison to me too. I’d be interested to hear how you view this Pynchonian ‘departure’ & how you think it compares to his other California novels.

The Enthusiast @ The Bookloft

Looking for a great read?

The Bookloft, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has been a vibrant independent bookstore in the heart of New England for 35 years. Welcome to our new Staff Picks site, an integral part of our new web initiative to reach people searching for information and opinions about some of the great books being published these days. We have a staff of avid readers and our Staff Picks section has been a popular one in the store.

We, here at The Bookloft, read what we sell and love sharing our comments about particular books with our customers. A great many of you are already familiar with our Staff Picks and some of you have even found that one individual bookseller’s choice of reading has a particular appeal for you. If you are visiting the Berkshires, we hope you’ll visit the store. We’ll be happy to talk about our favorite reads (and yours!). If you can’t make it to the store, check out our ever-expanding selection of staff book reviews online.

What does our staff like?

Owner Eric: The big guy (he’s really tall), loves good fiction, often with a bent towards the gritty side of life. His favorite authors include Richard Russo, Annie Proulx, and Peter Matthiessen. His shelves at home are filled with books about the natural world (he makes maple syrup and keeps bees on his small farm). Wendell Berry is a favorite.

Co-owner Ev: Married to the big guy above, Ev is a writer herself. She reads a lot of contemporary fiction and is especially drawn to imaginatively written novels and stories that explore the far horizons of our thoughts and the complicated depths of our hearts.

Manager Mark: The literary giant in the store – as well as our musical guru. He’s as comfortable with Dylan Thomas as he is with Bob Dylan. He devours Thomas Pynchon (the subject of his Master’s thesis) and Don DeLillo. But give him Ry Cooder’s new musical/book combo or Al Kooper’s latest bio and he’s ready to rock and roll!

Assistant Manager Kat: Our children’s book buyer. She prefers reading children’s books over “grown-up” books because she feels the emotions portrayed in children’s books are more raw, more important, and closer to real life. Her adult reading preference tends towards the sciences.

Ellen: Doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed. She reads from all genres. Her only requirement – it must be well-written or she’s not going to put her stamp of approval on it!

Ellyne: Also a writer, Ellyne’s appreciates superbly crafted fiction – the stuff that creates Man Booker Prize winners. She also has a penchant for stories and history about NYC – a place she dearly loves.

Lauren: What attracts her in books are the words – words used well with a clarity and depth that push her further into life than she’s ever been before.

Linda: Our resident naturalist is most at home in her pick-up truck, arm-deep in her garden’s soil, or walking her hound in the woods. Her preferences are books on nature, animals and plants, along with a big dollop of history. She also loves a good mystery!

Rick: Our marketing guy is an enigma (especially to himself). He reads whatever strikes his fancy at the moment – that’s why he has so many books piled up on his nightstand! His only criteria for a staff pick – it’s got to make you stop and think!

With the click of your mouse, you’ll soon be able to order any of our recommended titles!