Haut or not
Haut or Not: A couplet
Alicia Gifford
Folks, here’s sneak (albeit pixelated) look at what the fiction editor of Night Train reads. Tempted as I was to ask her to resend a higher resolution pic, I thought about the ‘visual vocabulary of spines,’ how we’ve come to recognize a book by its design — how the spine often acts as an abbreviated version of the cover, in terms of color, fonts, etc. The title’s legibility is often not as important as the spine’s thematic composition. Yes, you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can judge how sauve the publisher is; and the publisher hires the editor that judges the book — so in the end it’s related. Matthew Simmons, who works at a bookstore, has a knack for pointing out books. So, what do you see?
Bear with me while I indulge in Carver (nice touch on the torn-off cover there). Someone once told me that Carver’s stories are about ‘defeated realization,’ wherein the characters arc towards moments of profound self-truth, only to recoil, perhaps horrified by what they realize. The restraint and clarity with which Carver (c/o Lish) conveys this provided moments etched in my ‘reader’s experience’ forever. The phrase ‘surburban surrealism’ comes to mind (Rick Moody and even Douglas Coupland plays with this idea I think), a kind of emotional grotesqueness under the most prosaic and benign conditions. I have difficulty with Short Cuts, a tie-in edition for the film, since the stories were not conceptually collated by Carver or his publisher. Regardless, all this Carver is, well, I think you know where I’m going.
Rating: [illegibility reprieve/Carver default] Haut
—
Brad Green
Brads cracks a joke about painfully dropping 2666 on his toe, which brings to mind a similar comment by Kathryn Regina (in this Haut or Not series) about tripping over The Fountainhead. I think the inherent hubris of writing a huge tomb of a book is not always met with respect. (In another unpictured entry, Musil’s The Man Without Qualities sucks the air from nearby books.) I’m thrilled to see what looks like a very early edition of Pale Fire, wrapped in that crispy cellophane I miss so much. Not sure about all the Updike and Murakami, the latter who in some odd yet invariable way, is slowly migrating into the former’s position as ‘the guy who writes the books that are all kinda the same.’ Brad’s heart is in the right place, but I ain’t feeling it.
Rating: Not
Tags: Alicia Gifford, Brad Green, raymond carver
Alicia Gifford, I’m pretty sure.
Alicia Gifford, I’m pretty sure.
whoops. thanks, it’s been corrected
whoops. thanks, it’s been corrected
Hehe, yes, Alicia Gifford. I wish I knew how to keep the resolution when you shrink the size. Is there a way? A higher resolution would show the dust though.
Hehe, yes, Alicia Gifford. I wish I knew how to keep the resolution when you shrink the size. Is there a way? A higher resolution would show the dust though.
I give Brad Green bonus points for having Blake Butler’s EVER and one of the lesser-know Barry Hannah books. It’s not BH’s best work, but it’s important for an author to have readers who will STAND BY THEIR MAN.
I give Brad Green bonus points for having Blake Butler’s EVER and one of the lesser-know Barry Hannah books. It’s not BH’s best work, but it’s important for an author to have readers who will STAND BY THEIR MAN.
oh, you’re the one with the headbashing blood profile gif. it’s all coming together now.
i think resolution shrinks along with size, so you need to start with a big file. also, your view is not really close up.
don’t worry it’s all good
oh, you’re the one with the headbashing blood profile gif. it’s all coming together now.
i think resolution shrinks along with size, so you need to start with a big file. also, your view is not really close up.
don’t worry it’s all good
i was tempted to, but felt like i already mentioned EVER twice in former posts. i don’t know who barry hannah is.
actually, it’s odd that i’m the haut or not judge because i never took an english/writing class outside of highschool and most of my knowledge is confined to the shelves of Borders books.
hey contributors, please write some of your own haut of not thingies. they are in the htmlgiant gmail inbox…
i was tempted to, but felt like i already mentioned EVER twice in former posts. i don’t know who barry hannah is.
actually, it’s odd that i’m the haut or not judge because i never took an english/writing class outside of highschool and most of my knowledge is confined to the shelves of Borders books.
hey contributors, please write some of your own haut of not thingies. they are in the htmlgiant gmail inbox…
seeing the other htmlgiant contributors tackle some shelves would be fun
seeing the other htmlgiant contributors tackle some shelves would be fun
good to see Tell Me by Mary Robison on Alicia’s shelf.
good to see Tell Me by Mary Robison on Alicia’s shelf.
Jimmy- stop what you are doing. Buy the following Barry Hannah books: AIRSHIPS. RAY. HEY JACK! Enjoy yourself & report back.
Jimmy- stop what you are doing. Buy the following Barry Hannah books: AIRSHIPS. RAY. HEY JACK! Enjoy yourself & report back.
ok, thanks, but i have to first finish what i’m reading now, Gombrich’s history of the world and it’s taking *forever*
ok, thanks, but i have to first finish what i’m reading now, Gombrich’s history of the world and it’s taking *forever*
In addition to at least 3 by Carver, we’ve got collections by Ron Hansen, Thom Jones, Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff, George Saunders. Hey, Alicia, the 80s called, they want their stories back.
(Actually: 70s and 90s, too, just sounded punchier to say 80s. Also, might not be a Wolff collection there; I do see one of his novels.)
In addition to at least 3 by Carver, we’ve got collections by Ron Hansen, Thom Jones, Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff, George Saunders. Hey, Alicia, the 80s called, they want their stories back.
(Actually: 70s and 90s, too, just sounded punchier to say 80s. Also, might not be a Wolff collection there; I do see one of his novels.)
haha
you’re never getting into night train
haha
you’re never getting into night train
on Alicia’s i see a copy of Tin House, something by Joan Didion, i think the O. Henry collection (it looks like the spine of the one i have from 2003), Blood Meridian, Love in the Time of Cholera (i think), a Hemingway (can’t tell which). plus i like the feng shui of her stacks. Hawt.
on Alicia’s i see a copy of Tin House, something by Joan Didion, i think the O. Henry collection (it looks like the spine of the one i have from 2003), Blood Meridian, Love in the Time of Cholera (i think), a Hemingway (can’t tell which). plus i like the feng shui of her stacks. Hawt.
Extra points to Brad for Bend Sinister, Harry Crews, and William Gay.
Extra points to Brad for Bend Sinister, Harry Crews, and William Gay.
i see ‘how fiction works’ in that pile to the left on alicias
i think
i see ‘how fiction works’ in that pile to the left on alicias
i think
we have an email account?
we have an email account?
William Gay and Barry Hannah get a haut rating from me.
William Gay and Barry Hannah get a haut rating from me.
Books on Alica’s:
If I’m correct, that is the 2003 O’Henry prize collection featuring Denis Johnson’s novella.
Books on Alica’s:
If I’m correct, that is the 2003 O’Henry prize collection featuring Denis Johnson’s novella.
I second the Airships recommendation. Good stuff.
I second the Airships recommendation. Good stuff.
seriously, get on this.
seriously, get on this.
I’m kinda disappointed in Murakami. I’d heard so much good stuff, but the actual text more often than not just leaves me flat. Jimmy shoulda posted the other pile too. It has a Tao Lin book in it, which would have made me automatically haut, right?
And a Salter book. I almost went to the shelf and pulled off Light Years and A Sport and a Pastime and put them on the pile, even though it would have polluted the currently reading theme.
I’m kinda disappointed in Murakami. I’d heard so much good stuff, but the actual text more often than not just leaves me flat. Jimmy shoulda posted the other pile too. It has a Tao Lin book in it, which would have made me automatically haut, right?
And a Salter book. I almost went to the shelf and pulled off Light Years and A Sport and a Pastime and put them on the pile, even though it would have polluted the currently reading theme.
it’s been a long time since i tried, but i could never get myself into Murakami either.
it’s been a long time since i tried, but i could never get myself into Murakami either.
It’s not like he’s bad or anything. The prose is just blah. No great efforts toward style. Maybe it’s because I’m reading in translation. I like things to have a little zing or pow in them. Nabakov, William Gay, Salter…they all do that.
I’m just glad I removed all the dildos before I took the pictures.
It’s not like he’s bad or anything. The prose is just blah. No great efforts toward style. Maybe it’s because I’m reading in translation. I like things to have a little zing or pow in them. Nabakov, William Gay, Salter…they all do that.
I’m just glad I removed all the dildos before I took the pictures.
I think Brad put that Updike book in purposefully because of the title “self consciousness.” I think Brad is 30.
Alicia’s pile warms me because it’s messy. (Just like Reb’s pile warmed me cause it was so neat. I can be warmed by all sorts of stuff.) I think Alicia is 32.
I wouldn’t mind being 30. I just bought the Updike books three days ago. I’d read a post somewhere saying how the Rabbit books (which I’ve read) weren’t his best works and that his style was heavily suppressed there for the content. I figured I best take a look at his other stuff. I couldn’t recall which ones were recommended, so I just grabbed two that interested me.
I like Salter. I like Cheever. I guess this makes me old?
I wouldn’t mind being 30. I just bought the Updike books three days ago. I’d read a post somewhere saying how the Rabbit books (which I’ve read) weren’t his best works and that his style was heavily suppressed there for the content. I figured I best take a look at his other stuff. I couldn’t recall which ones were recommended, so I just grabbed two that interested me.
I like Salter. I like Cheever. I guess this makes me old?
william gay is awesome
william gay is awesome
Where’s Simmons and his sharp eyes? Well, I work at a bookkstore too (my bookstore is bigger than yours, Matthew!) and I see in the first one: Geek Love, Blood Meridian, Amee Bender, Gracia Marquez, Alice Munro, Pastoralia, Tin House, Kim Chinquee, James Wood, Yates, Didion, Laila Lailami, Carver, Ship Fever, some Pushcart anthologies, Old School, and a bunch of thin pamphlets that look like One Story. Some flashes of goodness, but I say Not.
I am glad to see that a lot of you have appreciation for the southern writers. Indeed, Hannah, Gay, and Crews are all essential.
Where’s Simmons and his sharp eyes? Well, I work at a bookkstore too (my bookstore is bigger than yours, Matthew!) and I see in the first one: Geek Love, Blood Meridian, Amee Bender, Gracia Marquez, Alice Munro, Pastoralia, Tin House, Kim Chinquee, James Wood, Yates, Didion, Laila Lailami, Carver, Ship Fever, some Pushcart anthologies, Old School, and a bunch of thin pamphlets that look like One Story. Some flashes of goodness, but I say Not.
I am glad to see that a lot of you have appreciation for the southern writers. Indeed, Hannah, Gay, and Crews are all essential.
Sorry about those typos.
Oh–I meant to say that I’ve had a hard time with H. Murakami too. But I did like Almost Transparent Blue by that other Murakami, Ryu.
Sorry about those typos.
Oh–I meant to say that I’ve had a hard time with H. Murakami too. But I did like Almost Transparent Blue by that other Murakami, Ryu.
Can’t recommend Haruki Murakami’s short story “Dancing Dwarf” enough. It’s in The Elephant Vanishes. Maybe the best jumping-off point for understanding his idea of what storytelling can be, should be.
Can’t recommend Haruki Murakami’s short story “Dancing Dwarf” enough. It’s in The Elephant Vanishes. Maybe the best jumping-off point for understanding his idea of what storytelling can be, should be.
Yeah, you wouldn’t say Not if I’d put my copy of BEFORE YOU SHE WAS A PIT BULL front and center. Which is here. Somewhere.
Yeah, you wouldn’t say Not if I’d put my copy of BEFORE YOU SHE WAS A PIT BULL front and center. Which is here. Somewhere.
You should read Couples. if not for that and a few short stories, I’d have never read Updike.
You should read Couples. if not for that and a few short stories, I’d have never read Updike.
Thanks, Rusty. I’ll look for that one next time I’m at the book store. I’ve always been quite impressed with the authors you’ve recommended.
Thanks, Rusty. I’ll look for that one next time I’m at the book store. I’ve always been quite impressed with the authors you’ve recommended.
Brad, as you know , I LOVE Cheever. I thought maybe you put that Updike book there to be clever–putting your shelf on display makes one self-conscious.
I hope 30 is OK. My age guess thing is pure silliness, but fun for me.
Brad, as you know , I LOVE Cheever. I thought maybe you put that Updike book there to be clever–putting your shelf on display makes one self-conscious.
I hope 30 is OK. My age guess thing is pure silliness, but fun for me.
Alicia, Are those One Story? If so, I’ll stick with the not. If they’re something else and you do have El-Ell hiding somewhere, I’ll sway to a HOT. Seriously, if I saw this at someone’s place, I’d be impressed.
Alicia, Are those One Story? If so, I’ll stick with the not. If they’re something else and you do have El-Ell hiding somewhere, I’ll sway to a HOT. Seriously, if I saw this at someone’s place, I’d be impressed.
Brad should also get bonus points for economy, having the only picture where you can read all the titles.
Anybody who hasn’t read Updike should at least read his short story A & P.
Brad should also get bonus points for economy, having the only picture where you can read all the titles.
Anybody who hasn’t read Updike should at least read his short story A & P.
Yeah, they’re old One Storys. And Quick Fictions between Kim Chinquee and How Fiction Works. But I do have Elizabeth Ellen’s book. Maybe that makes me warm.
Yeah, they’re old One Storys. And Quick Fictions between Kim Chinquee and How Fiction Works. But I do have Elizabeth Ellen’s book. Maybe that makes me warm.
If 30 were a baseline, my line would trend upward.
If 30 were a baseline, my line would trend upward.