Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser

Assigned to read chapters 1-3 of "Sister Carrie," for my class in "A People's History of Chicago," I had heard nothing of the book previously. Its publication was quite the scandal, as the 557-page novel chronicles the rise of a single woman from a factory girl in Chicago's wholesale district to one of New York City's most popular comedic actresses. Throughout the story, Carrie Madenda exploits the men who are drawn to her--the main reason for Dreiser's censorship upon publication in 1900.

After reading the first three chapters, I was compelled to continue and wound up deeply invested in the book's themes of vanity, materialism, class mobility (or lack thereof), perfectionism, and the hardships of poverty. I suppose my reading it came at the perfect time; a few of these topics had been on the mind since reading Yates' "Revolutionary Road" this past Winter, and maintained relevancy in the daily news. I found myself wanting to recommend "Sister Carrie" to friends interested in social change, in the world of theatre, in turn-of-the-century Chicago, in Austen-esque love triangles... "Sister Carrie" has it all.

My new homepage

http://www.literago.com/

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

For some reason, it took me an incredibly long time to finish this classic novel, but I'm very glad to have done so. I've never read anything like it, and, honestly, doubt that I will. Humbert Humbert's voice was a lesson in skillful narration, making it easy to understand Nabokov's distinction as a master of language. Every bit a love story as it was a memoir or a kind of mystery novel, Lolita is a classic that I am glad to have added to my literary repertoire.

Here is Nabokov himself, looking a little too much like H.H. on a road trip, hangin' out the side of his best friend's ride:

Printers Row

Good morning! I have been a delinquent blogger for far too long, probably due to the struggles I'm having with Lolita and a slight decrease in my amount of free time. Regardless, I come bearing updates!

1.) I've decided to include on this blog a few tales of another exploit I've had marinating for a little while now: an exploration of Chicago's independent bookstores! Partially inspired by Printers Row, I've realized how few bookstores I've been to in the city and I want to remedy that this summer. I'm making a list of ones catered to my interests (leaving out, for example, bookstores selling exclusively histories of the American military--of which I've encountered more than a few) off of Centerstage Chicago and Newcity Chicago. The blog paper moustache was devoted to checking out indie bookstores, but it hasn't been updated in three years, so I figure my adventures are fair game.

2.) I started taking a class at the Newberry Library called "A People's History of Chicago, 1880-1960." We're reading historical fiction about different eras of Chicago's history, so Sister Carrie, The Jungle, and Native Son have been added to my reading list.

3.) The Maze Branch of the OPPL hosted a discussion of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, so of course I had to go. Thumbs up to the pretzels and lemonade, thumbs down to the four old ladies who didn't finish the book because they couldn't read the footnotes.

4.) Finally, PRINTERS ROW! It's been a whole week, I know, but, to be honest, I had sort of forgotten about my responsibilities as a member of the literary blogosphere.

Despite the dreary, chilly, rainy day, I spent all day Saturday browsing the tents--from 10 am to 6 pm. I left with 2/3 of the books necessary for class ($7.00 total), two pristine Didion books (one for a gift), and some very, very cool old letterpress blocks. I heard Dave Eggers speak and met him at the signing that followed. I worked the 826CHI tent for a couple of hours and went home satisfied, with just a touch of hypothermia.

Adult Summer Reading Program

Starting today and running through August 7, my favorite neighborhood library (the Oak Park Public) will be hosting their annual Adult Summer Reading Program. You get a free reusable grocery bag if you're one of the first 100 to submit a log (super simple: just fill out personal info like name, address, etc. and the book title and you're in), and for each consecutive log submission, you are entered to win prizes from local sponsors. Score one for the nerds.