Welcome to this inaugural edition of Book Pile, a place where I'm gonna talk about books...
I like to surround myself, at certain times, with many products of creative energy... I have been known to make piles of new CDs freshly bought in a hurried speed only to sparsely release the CDs one by one as needed when needed. I find comfort knowing that something new is awaiting discovery. I guess it’s a way to fool myself into looking forward to something new... I do this same practice of piling with books and even movies too. I will buy four or five books and leave them stacked where I can view them, pick them up from time to time and sometimes even, thumb [through] them and actually read them when the time strikes.
I’ve gotten away from my piles here lately. I just haven’t been buying media (CDs, records, books, movies) like I use to... But just this past month a Barnes & Noble gift certificate has made it to my hands via my awesome mother and father-in-laws (once again, thanks Randall and Shirley) so I took an opportunity to 'stock up' on a few things I had my eye on recently...
Of course now I sport a Nook Color, which has verily much changed the way I read everything, including books and even how I choose to publish my poetry and other writings (just as I have become adept at reading several books at one, all without using pesky old fashioned bookmarks) So the books I got, were Nook Books, E-Books or whatever the kids are calling them these days...
I’m gonna use ...THWART! As a vehicle to talk-up the stack one by one. What you are about to read isn’t a review, its a preview (at best)... A why I got the book... Maybe how... A pre-read?... A statement... A choice...
Thumb through the book pile with me. Lets see what we find...
We find EXLEY by Brock Clarke... A local, Cincinnati based author whose first book I read, AN ARSONIST GUIDE TO HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND really knocked me for a loop. I was so impressed that I immediately got ORDINARY WHITE BOY (another great read) and his short story collections (look up the stories THE FAT and GERONIMO they are awesome.) I even got a chance to meet Brock at one of his readings where he performed a pre-emptive strike at introducing himself to me first! Anyway EXLEY is his latest book and deals with truth, and the perception of truth, which is something that I can wholeheartedly connect with because I ALWAYS put emphasis on the story in everything I do. The truth is a tool to use and redefine as needed... Or that’s what I keep telling myself. I’m looking, expecting, for EXLEY to change my way of thinking. Similarly to when I watched (and later read) FIGHT CLUB or read Philip K. Dicks RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH, two books that changed my life. I realize that it’s dangerous to place such a high expectation on a book by any author... or any book that I have yet to read for that matter... But the potential that Brock has with EXLEY only exist by judgment of his past work, which, as I stated, is strong. I thoroughly enjoyed An Arsonist Guide, which remains a spot in my top books of all-time, but I want EXLEY to blow me away… is that so much to ask for?
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