Jan 29, 2010 03:23AM
Finished Kim Chinquee's Oh Baby, a collection of prose poems and flash fiction. The works here are all very beautifully crafted, lapidarian even. They are also interestingly interrelated with recurring characters and an overarching structure to the whole book. An excellent review can be found here: http://bigother.com/2010/01/28/run-run-run-run-you-better-run-all-day-and-run-all-night-on-kim-chinquee%e2%80%99s-oh-baby/#more-3856
Feb 3, 2010 02:58AM
Ken Sparling's Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt turns out to be his most purely delightful and accessible book of the three I've now read so far. It's filled with charming and/or alarming vignettes of a father's daily life taking care of his two young boys during a period of increasing conflict with his wife and captures his explosive rages and frustrations along with his love and kindness. One of the most fascinating features of the book is this central character's frequent conversations with his creator, Ken Sparling, with whom he confides his troubles and asks for advice while at other times author and character bicker and annoy each other. A very enjoyable book.
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Hush ended up being my favorite of Ken's books as well. Though the other three are all close behind. The intense focus on fatherhood in this one really spoke to me.
ReplyDeleteWhich one haven't you read yet?
Haven't read his first, the one from Knopf that Lish edited. I'm pretty sure I'll get around to it though.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite so far is his Untitled book. I really, really loved that one.
That's the first one I read. I read all these people gushing about it so I found a copy online and that's how it all started for me.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Untitled a lot. It was probably my favorite before I read Hush. I'm looking forward to Book in April, too!
Book in April??? Oh my! Haven't heard about that one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm excited. Pedlar's doing it.
ReplyDelete