a book meme.

aped from fluffy dollars, and perfect for my lazy friday evening...

a book that made you cry: Plays Well with Others. it’s a novel about AIDS set in new york city by allan gurganus, and i finished it in a florida airport. i had to go hide in a bathroom stall for five minutes to compose myself.

a book that scared you: The Shining. i read it when i was about thirteen...why??

a book that made you laugh: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. i distinctly remember family members sticking their heads into my bedroom, saying “what the hell are you laughing at?” i think that was one of the times where they started to understand just how odd i was, as i sat holding a little paperback, laughing so hard that tears were running down my face.

a book that disgusted you: The Rules of Attraction. i think that i got about 5 pages into it before i returned it to my friend mike, who i’m sure was horrified at my lack of literary appreciation. but i just couldn’t stomach it.

a book you loved in elementary school: are you kidding me? i don’t remember elementary school. ask my mom.

a book you loved in middle school: i was a big fan of the Fudge books by judy blume, if i remember correctly. the only title i can actually recall is Superfudge.* that probably would've been around the beginning of middle school, right? or maybe this belongs in the above category. i dunno.

a book you loved in high school: The Great Gatsby. and i will take on anyone who wants to put some other book above this one on the Candidates for the Great American Novel list. anyone.

a book you hated in high school: The Catcher in the Rye. it actually wasn’t even assigned through a class, but when i was 16 i wanted to see what the fuss was all about. about half of the way through, i decided i would finish only as an exercise in masochism. when i turned the last page, i closed the book and literally threw it across the room.

a book you loved in college: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. “…the sinful thought conceived in an instant: non serviam: I will not serve. That instant was his ruin.”

a book that challenged your identity: The Second Sex. i could write a whole ‘nother post about how this book changed my life.

a series that you love: you know, i can’t think of any series that i’ve read in the last decade. i see the harry potter movies, does that count?

your favorite horror book: haven’t read too many of these – i have a very low threshold for fear. i will say that “The Turn of the Screw,” the short story by henry james, is good for a chill or two.

your favorite science fiction book: sorry to my sci-fi people, but this genre has never really been able to hold my attention. see Hitchhiker’s Guide above for my only bonafide contact with sci-fi.

your favorite fantasy book: ok, so this meme is really starting to show my narrow literature predilections. i’d argue that at least half of Ulysses could count as fantasy, so that’s my choice! the “circe” chapter? c’mon.

your favorite mystery book: i’m going to say The Blind Assassin here. i don’t think you’d find it in the mystery section, but to me, it was a great narrative that centered around a number of questions, the answers to which came very slowly.

your favorite biography: Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? this is CatCat’s favorite book too. honorable mention for W.B. Yeats: A Life.

your favorite "coming-of-age" book: Cat’s Eye. atwood is just so good. i’m not sure i’ve ever read a word of hers that i didn’t like. plus, there’s such a dearth of girls’ coming-of-age stories represented in novels, it was like a breath of fresh air to come across this one.

your favorite book not on this list: oh, dear. Ariel. Backlash. Heart of Darkness. A Short History of Nearly Everything. Breakfast of Champions. Wuthering Heights. The Fire Next Time. and so on, and so on.



* oh my god, so i was just googling Superfudge to see if that was how the title was in fact laid out – no spacing, etc – and i found this article: “Cultural Arrogance and Realism in Judy Blume's 'Superfudge'”. seriously? is there nothing else we freaking english-major academics haven’t mined to death? cripes.