bookshelf

Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

Written 1939,Read 04/30/09, Blog 05/09/09

A sorry collection of misfits tries to make it in Hollywood in the 1930s. Sidetracked by booze, fighting, jealousy and lack of talent they are no better off than the dazed Californians who have come to die in the sunshine. A mob riots at a movie premier.

The Castle by Franz Kafka

Written 1922, Translated by Mark Harman (c) 1998
9 tapes / 12 hours, Narrated by George Guidall
Recorded Books, Read 04/06/09, Blog 04/19/09

Goofy costumes, inexplicable behavior on the part of the locals, incomprehensible motives, concealed identities, and myriad Catch-22 rules- this is the black-and-white grandfather of the Swingin' Sixties Technicolor TV fantasy, "The Prisoner"; the only thing missing is Patrick McGoohan.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

Narrated by Rick Rohan
(c) 1923, Edwin Lefevre, (c) 2006 Recorded Books
Audible Download Read 03/30/09, Blog 03/31/09

Just as Proust and his madeleines seem to be trotted out in every article about memory, this volume is continually cited in articles about investing and markets. Significantly shorter Proust's, this book provides insight into trading and the early 20th century.

Afternoon Men by Anthony Powel

221 pgs, written 1931, Little, 1963
Broward Library Read: 03/15/09

Underemployed museum clerk, Atwater, and his restless Bohemian friends drink and carry on unsatisfactory love affairs in substandard clubs, at the parties of strangers, in the country, and abroad. This satire was written and takes place in England between the wars.