Friday Fifteen

March 8, 2013Leave a comment

It’s a gross Friday in these parts, but it’s also a certain playwright Walt McGough’s birthday, which makes the day infinitely better. To celebrate, today’s Friday Fifteen is all about plays. Here we go!

1. Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
First play I read. We acted it out in sixth grade. I was Agatha.

2. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
I spent the entire play hating Willie Loman and waiting for him to die.

3. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Inspired a YA short story adaptation. Also “Those are pearls that were his eyes”—awesomeness.

4. How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
What I imagine Lolita would feel like from Lolita’s point of view.

5. Wit by Margaret Edson
Stunning depiction of a prickly Donne scholar with cancer. Edson’s first play–the mind boggles.

Friday Fifteen

March 1, 20131 Comment

Welcome to March, everybody! They say March comes in like a lion, so let’s start the month with some lion-related books:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Tell me you didn’t open your closet and hope you’d find Narnia.

2. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce
My least favorite of the series; she’s away from the main cast for so long.

3. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Gorgeous take on Aesop’s fable. Try telling me children’s illustrations aren’t fine art.

4. Lionboy by Zizou Corder
Got this for free at the midnight release of Harry Potter #6. Didn’t grab me.

5. The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Here’s betting your family isn’t as messed up as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s.

Isn’t That About a Circus? And Other Misconceptions of Classic Stories

February 27, 20133 Comments

The other day, Walt mentioned wanting to see the A.R.T. performance of The Glass Menagerie. I agreed, and remarked I hadn’t even read it. “Isn’t it kind of weird?” I asked.

“Not really,” he said.

“Really? I thought it was about an old lady in a sandbox.”

Apparently that’s not what The Glass Menagerie is about. It is, however, what The Sandbox by Edward Albee is about. I think The Sandbox was in an anthology we had in high school, and for some reason I conflated it with The Glass Menagerie. But it got me thinking about other misconceptions I had/have about famous works prior to actually reading them. Some books and plays are so connected with popular culture that i’s almost impossible not to encounter them in some way. But hearing about something doesn’t mean you actually know it. Here are some other assumptions I’ve made about classic stories:

Somehow, NOT about actual wind.

Gone with the Wind
Real story: period romance set during the American Civil War, about a bitchy but determined southern belle and her romantic mistakes.
My version: like The Wizard of Oz, except without the magic.

Lord of the Flies
Real story: a group of British boys get stranded on an island, go crazy without the rules of society.
My version: the history of the devil; probably confused it with Paradise Lost.

Far from the Madding Crowd
Real story: courtship in English rural life.
My version: a traveling circus travels around, has feelings.

A Tale of Two Cities
Real story: two lookalikes (one a former aristocrat and one a drunk genius lawyer) get caught up in the French Revolution.
My version: I thought this was supposed to be A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I was really confused when I started reading it.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Real story: a young girl encounters racism in the deep South as her father defends a black man accused of rape.
My version: a young girl gets bitten by a rabid squirrel and goes crazy. (????? right? I guess the rabid dog from the real book somehow entered my subconsciousness and got really distorted.)

Do or did you have any wrong impressions about famous novels?

Links Galore

February 26, 2013Leave a comment

A few links for today:

Superellipsis…now….please. And other punctuation marks we wished we had.
Some of these classic novels told through emojis are really hard to guess but make total sense when you see the answer.
Somehow this list of the scariest books ever written does not include What to Expect When You’re Expecting.
It can feel frustrating, but agents have reasons for not explaining their rejections.
And yet someone didn’t pass on these books. Not even a title change, guys?
Fairy tale retellings are some of my favorite books. The Hub has some great suggestions that straddle that line between YA and adult readers.
Response to stress: taking deep breaths and looking at these beautiful bookstore/library photos.
Why are owls so popular in children’s lit? Just look at ’em!

Friday Fifteen

February 22, 2013Leave a comment

Happy Friday, everybody! Somehow it’s already the last Friday in February. Half the time I feel like February will never end, and the other half I feel like it’s over before I know it. To celebrate February’s status as the shortest month of the year, let’s round out the Friday Fifteen with some short story collections:

1. The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
My ideal Hemingway is served in small doses. “Hills Like White Elephants” is great, though.

2. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
A must for Glass family fans, especially if you’ve read “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

3. Selected Stories by Alice Munro
Munro is excellent, but mostly I remember the intense author photo on my library copy.

4. The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block
Cool Block-style spins on classic fairy tales, including lesser-known favorites like “Snow White and Rose Red.”

5. Best American Non-Requied Reading 2002 ed. Dave Egger and Michael Cart
My first foray into Best American. Would be curious to go back to this one.

Friday Fifteen

February 15, 2013Leave a comment

Another Friday, another Friday Fifteen! Check out this week’s best (only?) fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Still bitter that Jo ended up with Bhaer, who was down on her fiction.

2. Troubling a Star by Madeleine L’Engle
Feels out of place among the other Austins, especially after A Ring of Endless Light.

3. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Hornby captures an honest, relatable (if not always likable) voice.

4. The Messy Room by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Mama Bear loses it when Brother and Sister can’t clean up their stuff.

5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Collins provides a powerful look at how war sucks for everyone. Even the “winners.”

Quote of the Day

February 15, 2013Leave a comment

Valentine’s Day got a little away from me, so this is a day late, but no less swoon-y. When I was in middle school, one of my very favorite books was Cyrano de Bergerac. Poetry, fencing, unrequited love–what more could a shy middle schooler want? I must have read it a dozen times. It’s also the source of one of my favorite romantic quotes:

A kiss, when all is said,—what is it?
An oath that’s ratified,—a sealed promise,
A heart’s avowal claiming confirmation,—
A rose-dot on the ‘i’ of ‘adoration,’—
A secret that to mouth, not ear, is whispered,—
Brush of a bee’s wing, that makes time eternal,—
Communion perfumed like the spring’s wild flowers,—
The heart’s relieving in the heart’s outbreathing,
When to the lips the soul’s flood rises, brimming!

If you haven’t seen/read Cyrano yet, I’d recommend checking it out. Share your favorite romantic quotes in the comments!

Links Galore

February 13, 2013Leave a comment

A few more fun links for today:

Old English is new again–Beowulf is now online.
Maybe the grammar snob in me should relax.
Selecting books for awards is a huge job that doesn’t necessarily land you with a book that everyone loves. (There’s a chocolate metaphor in there, too, which left me hungry.)
An excellent post on how sexuality is portrayed for female protagonists in YA.
Color coding dystopian novels.
How has it been 15 years since Harry Potter was first published?! Good thing we have lovely new covers to help me get over the shock.

Links Galore

February 8, 2013Leave a comment

Lots of great links to get you through Friday:

The Outsiders was one of my very favorites in 8th grade. How could it get better? Add a hip soundtrack, that’s how.
It’s easy to take libraries for granted, but we need to remember that their resources weren’t always available to the public.
“These manuscripts, they are not just for us in Timbuktu…They belong to all of humanity. It is our duty to save them.” Compelling article about protecting precious historical manuscripts from extremist invasion.
Writers on seeing their books in print for the first time. Warm squishy feelings.
Fictional ladies and their noms.
Getting rid of book clutter aka me insisting I’m going to reread everything.
Kenneth Branagh, watch out–the Pigeon is tackling Hamlet.
Virginia Woolf knew her way around a doodle.
Maureen Johnson imagines classic literature remarketed as chick lit.
Love Jo Knowles’s storyboards!

How to Take a Great Author Photo–With or Without Cats

February 7, 20131 Comment

Since I’m married to a playwright, I know a bunch of actors and have gotten to see lots of lovely headshots in my time. But most actors are used to being in front of a camera. Authors aren’t quite as prepared for their author photos. Why can’t we

Fortunately, Scribner has some suggestions for making your author photo work:

Get your laser beam eyes ready, everyone. And don’t forget that crucial index finger!

(image: Scribner Books)

Annie Cardi

Tag: classics

Friday Fifteen

Friday Fifteen

Isn’t That About a Circus? And Other Misconceptions of Classic Stories

Links Galore

Friday Fifteen

Friday Fifteen

Quote of the Day

Links Galore

Links Galore

How to Take a Great Author Photo–With or Without Cats