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2001-02-06

The aftermath of what I've come to think of as the INTRUDER incident has been unpredictable. Initially B was freaked out and I was a little impatient with him, then I had one day of general edginess myself. He's taking it harder than I am, hasn't had a decent night's sleep since it happened. We are having an alarm system installed tomorrow; I hope that will give him some peace of mind.

In other news, hmm, what? Ever since the whole election mess got settled in December I've been listening to books on tape in the car instead of to National Public Radio. (I don't mind the news blackout aspect of this, I have to say.) I've been picking up books from the public library I wouldn't ordinarily read, but enjoy never the less. Here's what I've listened to over the past month or two:

Worst Fears by Faye Weldon

Weldon's novels are pretty dependably entertaining, as was this one.

Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit I spent as much time with it as I did (it's long). It drew me in despite its cheesiness but by the time I got to the dreadful ending, well, had it been an actual book I would've flung it across the room in disgust. Is book this typical of Oprah choices? Ugh.

Sleeping Beauty by Ross MacDonald

This noir-ish detective story wasn't just read by a narrator as books on tape usually are; the different parts were read by actors (Ed Asner and Mary Kay Place, among others) and it had well-done music. Kind of like a radio play. Atmostpheric and entertaining and I liked the voice of the narrator, someone named Harris Yulin.

The Liar's Club by Mary Karr

This is a memoir about the author's Texas girlhood. Karr has been getting lots of press lately because a second memoir, Cherry, about her teen years, is just out. I'm not sure how I missed hearing about The Liar's Club because it sold half a million copies and apparently revitalized the memoir biz. Anyway, it's not the kind of thing I'd usually go for, but it's really dynamite.

Most of the women who read the books on tape have really annoying voices, overly perky and "actressy" as a rule. Oh, yeah, I also got a tape of some New Yorker stories, including a wonderful John Updike story read by Updike himself, and Lorrie Moore's "People Like That Are the Only People Here" (the pediatric oncology story) read by the fabulous Frances McDormand. I wish she'd record some novels; I could listen to her all day.

Now I realize I've given all this attention to these books and given short shrift to the ones I've read. My newest discovery is Robert Cohen, who's written three novels. I read the second one, The Here and Now, and am partway through the newest, Inspired Sleep. He's very good.

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