MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: The Loser by Thomas Bernhard & “The Loser” by Gay Talese

Last Mudd Up Book Clubb, the Naked Singularity meetup, was a great one, as Sergio De La Pava and his wife made a gracious appearance. Sergio was a passionate, funny, and generous guest, sharing insights which made our experience of his excellent novel even better. There was discussion of moral concern, conservatism of the publishing … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: The Loser by Thomas Bernhard & “The Loser” by Gay Talese

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: DE LA PAVA’S ‘A NAKED SINGULARITY’

It’s true: the Mudd Up Book Clubb lives increasingly offline, but these posts form a useful public record, tracks in the mud, if you will – so here we go: This Sunday, April 28th, we’re meeting to discuss Sergio De La Pava’s wonderful, humane, laugh-out-loud funny, 689 page novel involving a public defender in New … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: DE LA PAVA’S ‘A NAKED SINGULARITY’

MORE MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB KINDLE SCREENSAVERS!

I started the Mudd Up Book Clubb as a celebration of books, readers, libraries, face2face meetups, and all the hot people who love slow media. Last year I gave away hand-drawn portraits of all the authors we’d read so far by artist Rocio Rodriguez Salceda, and I’m happy to announce that we’ve added 5 new … Continue reading MORE MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB KINDLE SCREENSAVERS!

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: The Other City by Michal Ajvaz

Every genuine encounter destroys our existing world. That’s a line from our next book clubb selection, Michal Ajvaz’s The Other City (1993, English trans. 2009). It is set in Prague, where an unnamed protagonist chances upon a book written in a strange script and slowly discovers the existence of another equally-present city, at once metaphysical … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: The Other City by Michal Ajvaz

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: Nada by Carmen Laforet

The October Mudd Up Book Clubb selection is Carmen Laforet’s Nada, completed in 1944 when she was just 23 years old. First novels of this caliber are rare indeed. In many ways, Nada form perfect counterpart to last month’s selection, OuÅ™edník’s Europeana. Whereas OuÅ™edník presents the 20th ct seen through a kind of radically wide-angle … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: Nada by Carmen Laforet

BOOK CLUBB: Patrik OuÅ™edník’s Europeana

This month’s Mudd Up Book Clubb selection is Patrik OuÅ™edník’s Europeana: A Brief History of the Twentieth Century, and we’re meeting next Sunday, September 16, to talk about it. Europeana is a brilliant, simple/sly/hypnotic little book, which of course isn’t simple at all, so few things are. Rather incredibly, the New York Public Library files … Continue reading BOOK CLUBB: Patrik OuÅ™edník’s Europeana

BOOK CLUBB: NALO HOPKINSON’S MIDNIGHT ROBBER

I’m a fan of judging books by their covers. Check this one out: Awesome, right? Our August Mudd Up Book Clubb selection is Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber. The novel kicks off during Carnival on a Caribbean colonized planet, where the AIs speak patois, and expands from there. Folklore from Hopkinson’s native Caribbean meshes with a … Continue reading BOOK CLUBB: NALO HOPKINSON’S MIDNIGHT ROBBER

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: AUGUSTO MONTERROSO MARCH EDITION

Announcing a short-notice edition of the Mudd Up Book Clubb. We are meeting this Sunday, March 24rd, to discuss Augusto Monterroso’s short story “Mister Taylor.” Those unfamiliar with the Guatemalan writer who lived most of his life in Mexico City are in for a treat! Monterroso’s agile and darkly comic meditations on “resource extraction,” colonial … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: AUGUSTO MONTERROSO MARCH EDITION

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: VLADIMIR SOROKIN – ICE TRILOGY

For the January edition of Mudd Up Book Clubb, we will be reading an epic and incandescent piece of contemporary Russian fiction: Vladimir Sorokin’s Ice Trilogy. It’s ambitious, totally nuts, capable of generating new emotions, perhaps the first “21st Ct” novel I’ve read. Ice Trilogy is like a joke without the relief of a punchline. … Continue reading MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: VLADIMIR SOROKIN – ICE TRILOGY