For someone who pokes fun at shallow social networking relationships (one click and you’re a “friend”) I am awfully quick to claim comradeship with noted authors.
Without demonstrating equal talent, one can still bask in the approbation of kindred opinions.
Masterfully expressing viewpoints I share this week: Rebecca Mead and Annabelle Gurwitch. Mead’s My Life in Middlemarch is balm for the souls of George Eliot admirers who love the notably lengthy Middlemarch, often dismissed as dry and irrelevant. Paralleling events and impressions from her own life with those of Eliot and her characters, New Yorker writer Mead conveys the novel’s timeless appeal. But then, I’ve always been a fan.
Gurwitch‘s new essay collection on the perils of middle age– I See You Made an Effort–has just fallen into my clutches, so I haven’t spent quality time with it yet. Reviewers deem the edgy commentaries “rollicking” and “hilarious”. In the library professions, aging is unfashionable these days, so I smiled to note Bob Odenkirk‘s assessment: “a book about the worst thing a person can do in America: get older”.
Among Ms. Gurwitch’s other writing and comedic accomplishments you may recall her stint as co-host of TBS’ Dinner and a Movie a few years back–which represents a further opportunity for me to glom onto a proven concept: why not suggest themed pairings featuring library stuff?
Some of these resources will be new to your entertainment menu:
1920s DINNER AND DVD:
Try Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, based on Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher books, with high production values and authentic vintage costumes and settings. You can sample foods trendy in the Twenties (see Food Timeline). Or, search Los Angeles Public Library’s Digital Menu Collection with date 192*.
THE ROCKWELL EXPERIENCE:
Read Deborah Solomon’s new American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell and enjoy (what else?) Apple Pie; here you’ll find step-by-step instructions, each stage illustrated.
WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE:
That’s what Mango Languages calls its latest feature, classic films offered in conjunction with your language lessons.
DISNEY FAVORITES:
The Saving Mr. Banks soundtrack CD set includes previously unreleased pre-demo recordings by the Sherman brothers. According to Richard Sherman, “Tuppence a Bag”/”Feed the Birds” was Walt Disney’s favorite song. You could pair a project with Walt’s pick: listen, then search the library’s Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center for “bird feeders”.
TWAIN’S TREATS:
Read The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature by Ben Tarnoff and savor some of Twain’s favorite foods. According to Menus from History by Janet Clarkson, there were many; Twain’s list from A Tramp Abroad includes at least three iterations of bacon, fresh seafood, a spectrum of the bread/pone/biscuit family, and “all sorts of American pastry”.
TED:
Explore (book or audio CD) Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds, “the ultimate guide to public speaking”; then view a TED Joy of Eating segment.
RETRO-TECH:
Input “steampunk” in the library’s Catalog Quick Search for a Steampunk fiction read. From there, consider the definition of “Steampunk Cuisine”, perhaps even entertaining with “Tips for a Retro-Industrial Steampunk Party”. And there’s always RRPL’s Small Engine Reference Repair Center…
