OK. These are some of the books I read back in ought-one. That was another good year for books unfortunately I can't for the life of me remember all that I read. White Teeth was Zadie Smith's first book, I'd heard all the hype and wondered if it was based in anything. I was hooked after the first ten pages and really enjoyed it up till the ending that sort of fizzled. William T. Vollmann was inspired by Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata's "palm-of-the-hand stories" and came up with The Atlas. Unlike Kawabata however, Vollmann's stories cannot be read in the five minutes between going to bed and turning off the light; you're more likely to stay up eyes glued to the page until well after the time you should hve been sound asleep. Life Turns Man Up and Down is an anthology of (mainly) west African pamphlet literature from the 1960's and early 1970's (around '73). Although unreadable at times it is a great selection of sometimes naive self-help, how-to's and love stories. Stormy Weather was my introduction to Carl Hiaasen's fiction and I'll definately be reading some more. I was reminded, stylistically, of Kurt Vonnegut and was completely entranced by the interwoven story lines within the book. Stanley Elkin is a man who deserves a bigger audience. There are some books that you read and forget about soon afterward, not so with The Dick Gibson Show. This fictional tale follows the life of radio personality Dick Gibson (not his real name) from the early days of radio on up. It's a fascinating look at early radio in middle America from a writer as great as Elkin. Chuck Palahniuk is compared to a lot of writers but to tell the truth the closest book in style and 'sound' that I've read is Walter Kirn's Up in the Air. It was far and away a more intersting read than his previous book, Thumbsucker (a coming of age novel about a boy and his addictions). Musician Steve Earle was treated rather unkindly by the critics for his first volley into the world of letters but you know what? It don't matter a cuss, I liked Doghouse Roses and iffen he wrote somethin' else—I'd be damned if I dint read that too. My first reading of the William Gass's Cartesian Sonata was one of those forehead smacking moments, "why have I never read this guy before?" You just know his neck's got to be fire-plug thick to hold up the giant brain. For me, the wonder of the man lies in his power of description which nails reality to the board in the most eloquent way imaginable. Another one of my all-time favourite novelists is David Markson. He hasn't written many books (4 novels and one book of poetry) but I've read them all (except the poems). Two books of his stand out; Reader's Block and This is not a Novel. These are extraordinary books, quasi-novels really. Both are told interspersed between lists of facts. His latest, This is not a Novel is fascinating and heartbreaking. I would suggest this as an introductory for reading him. Donald Barthelme, ahhh. Mr. Barthelme is one of those writers you know won't let you down. His stories are intelligent, funny, intense and at times completely mind-boggling. I included two of his books because he rules, I read both of these short story collections before and I can say with all honesty—I will read them again. In 2001 there were two authors works I waited for; Don Delillo's The Body Artist and Padgett Powell's Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men. Both delivered. Powell's book was reminiscent of Michael Ondaatje's early works (like Collected Works of Billy the Kid or Coming Through Slaughter). Mrs. Hollingsworth sits down to write a grocery list but what comes out surpises her as much as us. Delillo's Body Artist is a lean, seductive story about artist Lauren Hartke, whose work defies the limits of the body. The Gates of Eden by Ethan Coen (of the Coen Brothers fame) shows he writes books as well as he does screenplays. The stories in this book are funny and twisted—and at times brilliant. I have a soft spot for Southern writers, guys like Harry Crews, Thom Jones and of course—Tom Franklin. Although the stories in his book Poachers do contain humourous moments they are still dark tales of hardship, abuse and murder. The title story was a brilliant piece of work centered in the swamps of the deep South. The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner is a book that doesn't need any explanation. This was my second reading in six months and I still want more. I've said enough about Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers already. No? OK, this was the story of his parents death and his becoming guardian of his younger brother. It's a fun read even if uneven. I know I went through a few of Raymond Carver's but only included Cathedral as it was my favourite (don't get me wrong, the guy is a master of the modern short story and each book was good enough for me to go out and buy another to read).

• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• The Atlas by William T. Vollmann
• Life Turns Man Up and Down (African Market Literature) selected by Kurt Thometz
• Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen
• The Dick Gibson Show by Stanley Elkin
• Up in the Air by Walter Kirn
• Doghouse Roses by Steve Earle
• Cartesian Sonata: And Other Novellas by William H. Gass
• This Is Not A Novel by David Markson
• 40 Stories & 60 Stories by Donald Barthelme
• The Body Artist by Don DeLillo
• Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men by Padgett Powell
• Gates of Eden by Ethan Coen
• Poachers by Tom Franklin
• Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
• Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
• Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Welcome to the book section. A mixture of reviews, beefs and lists. I considered separating them into topics (non-fiction, fiction, et al) but since that isn't how I read them I listed them as is. This year has been a good year for books. I'd been eagerly awaiting new books by Zadie Smith (Autograph Man), Chuck Palahniuk (Lullaby), Dave Eggers (You Shall Know Our Velocity) and Dan Fante (Spitting Off Tall Buildings) and now that I've got them all and have finished reading them I can say that it was worth the wait (in gold). I was surprised to read that the critics were unsatisfied with Smith's book, I found the book more controlled than White Teeth which in my opinion had a poorly resolved ending. The critics have been a lot more friendly to Palahniuk whose book saw a return to the brilliance of his earlier works. Frankly I was disappointed with his last endeavor, Choke, which seemed to lack the balance between the 'facts' and story needed for his style of 'dangerous writing' to coalesce into a believable story. Suspension of belief is needed to enjoy any book, especially so for Chuck's, but a foundation of reality has to be fabricated for his work to shine and in this Choke failed. The reviews for Eggers is mixed and extreme; personally I'm enjoying the book even with the copy-editing mistakes. He is a good writer, there's no denying it. There are some really strong passages in this book that I happily reread a couple of times but in general it's not a masterpiece (and neither was A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, no matter who told you heard otherwise).

Enjoy,
Paul