It’s everyone’s favorite Hallmark-and-FTD-invented holiday. So grab your honey or your favorite anime lady body pillow, light some scented candles, unwrap some chocolates, and cozy up with a book tonight. If you want some snarky* suggestions of what to read, here are some of our favorite books about pedophiles.
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The End of Alice, by A.M. Homes
This book contains one of the most graphic, stomach-churning scenes I’ve ever read (second only to one Charlotte Roche writes in Wetlands). If that’s not enough to entice you to read it, Homes’ track record of quality writing should.
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The End of Everything, by Megan Abbot
This book caught me by surprise. It manages to be both unnerving and touching (pardon the pun), and Abbott is no slouch of a writer. At times this book flirts with being over-written, but on the whole it is very good and pretty moving. Worth a look. (Read our review.)
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Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a thousand times, Lolita is one of the best books ever written. If you haven’t read it before, you should drop whatever your reading and pick this up. At the very least, it’s definitely the best book every written with a child predator for a narrator. (Read our review.)
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Touched, by Jerry Sandusky
I’m not sure if the existence of this book (pre boy-rape allegations) and the irony of its title are more funny or sad, but I’m leaning towards sad. Even the picture is unnerving. (Note: I haven’t actually read this book, and don’t plan to. You shouldn’t either.)
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Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
The Twilight books are not good books by any definition we care to acknowledge, but they do do a good job of doing what they set out to do–one of those things, of course, is to tell a “love” saga about an underage girl and an older, predatory monster asserting power over her through sexual manipulation. (Note: I actually have read this book and its sequels. You shouldn’t bother.)
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*We in no way support the idea of actual pedophilia, please choose a valentine appropriate for your age, and keep in mind that if you actually spend tonight reading any of these books alone it’s a little creepy.
This little indie darling came out of nowhere. You can get it for around one dollar, and that’s a steal. A send-up to 16-bit era JRPGs, this has the Lovecraftian “hero” break all convention and go on a quest to enslave the world’s minds. The writing is full of self-referential wry wit that really makes this worth your time. … Continue reading »
It’s been a while since I did one of these holiday recommendation posts. Back in 2009 I shared the likes of Poe, Lovecraft, Shelley, Stoker, and King, as well as the classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Here’s some more spooky reading to keep you busy over the weekend.
(Where possible I’ve linked to free ebook downloads.)
My favorite Gothic novel. It’s perhaps the most atmospheric book I’ve ever read. Udolpho reads a bit like a Jane Austen novel, but with tons of eeriness. And it’s a good story to boot. Gloomy castles, dark forests, mysterious strangers, it’s all here.
Speaking of Jane Austen and eeriness, this book inserts a whole bunch of zombies into Austen’s classic novel. I really enjoyed this book, and it saw a lot of ssuccess and praise. Unfortunately, due to this things got a little out of hand at Quirk.
James’s writing takes a little warming up to, so if you haven’t read any classic literature in a while, be prepared for a pretty slow burn. But this book is well worth your patience. It’s a subtle and creepy Gothic ghost story.
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House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewsky
This one tends to fly under the radar, in part because it’s just so weird. It’s about a family that moves into a house and discovers a seemingly endless closet. Danielewsky does a bunch of experimental stuff with the print setting (font flipped around and all shapes and sizes, lots of marginalia), so this would never work as an ebook. But if you can find a copy, get it; it’s one of the best haunted house (I use that pretty loosely) stories I’ve ever read.
Probably the best mad scientists book there is (Frankensteindoesn’t count). A man shipwrecked on an island becomes the guest of a madman whose experiments on humans and animals result in freakish creatures. It is grotesque and horrifying.
Finally, if you want to take a break from reading, here’s the original and excellent Nosferatu:
(I also recommend the Bela Lugosi Dracula and Boris Karloff Frankensteinclassics. The full movies are available on YouTube for free–but I can’t embed them)
[Every so often on on our Twitter feed we'll point to something other than books that caught our attention. In this occasional series, we highlight a few of those things, and a few others. Follow it here. The recommenders (Aaron, Sean, Eric, and Nico) are denoted by first initial.]
Kim Jong Il Looking at a Cucumber
Watch
Billy’s Balloon – From the twisted mind of Don Hertzfeldt who brought you Rejected, the heartwarming story of a boy and his balloon. [E]
The Guard – Surprisingly hilarious movie about an Irish Cop working with (sort of) the FBI. [E]
Homeland – The new Showtime series puts a new spin on the Manchurian Candidate story of an American soldier turned sleeper agent by questioning the sanity of not just the soldier, but the CIA analyst, played by Claire Danes, who insists he’s a walking time bomb. It’s not fun by any means, but it’s compulsive viewing nonetheless. [A]
The Pod F. Tompkast – Every episode of comedian Paul F. Tompkins’s podcast features the host’s improvised, meandering (in a good way) monologues, a skit from Tompkins’s live variety show at Largo in Los Angeles, a chat with fellow-comedian Jen Kirkman, and a new installment of the long-running, impression-fueled radio drama, “The Great Undiscovered Project”, all of it hilarious. Season two just started this month, but new listeners will want to stream all of season to fill the excruciating month-long gap between new episodes. [A]
The Fantasy Football Guys – A podcast made by two regular dudes, who know their football and are pretty funny to boot. This is my first choice in fantasy football podcasts (second is Fantasy Freakin Football). [N]
Games- Most recent Radiolab about games of all kinds, inventing the rules and breaking them. [E]
The NPR Music iPhone app – Most everything NPR does about music, in one handy place. The killer feature is the ability to stream full albums of new, unreleased music, from a great selection curated by NPR. You can also find most of this content at their website. [N]
Yuck: Deluxe Edition, by Yuck – I missed this album when it was first released in February, but after seeing the band live I’m an ardent fan. Skipping the awful synth-splashed 80s revival that’s infected much contemporary music, the lads and lass of Yuck instead take 90s indie rock stalwarts like Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub, and Dinosaur Jr. as inspiration. The songs on Yuck are too catchy to be melancholy, but too dark to be happy, which makes it exactly my kind of record. [A]
Read
Partners – New Yorker profile from a couple of months back about Clarence Thomas, who holds the record for consecutive cases without asking a single question in argument. [E]
Flip Flop Fly Ball, by Craig Robinson – Awesome book full of infographics on all kinds of obscure and quirky baseball stats, most nontraditional. Check out the accompanying blog here. [S]
Cake vs. Pie – From the previously C4 Recommended Hyperbole and a Half, this post settles the age old question “What’s better, cake or pie?” using science, even charts and graphs. [E]
View
Bookshelf Porn – Blog featuring pictures of bookshelves. Usually large, unique ones, and often complimented with spiral staircases. [S]
Kim Jon Il Looking at Things – Exactly as the title describes, this blog has pictures of Kim Jong Il looking at things. [S]
One Chance – Clever freebie flash game. Your actions can save or end the world, and you only get one try—unless you clear your cookies cache. [S]
Eat
Microwave nachos – Seriously, they’re easy and good. Cheese, chips, and whatever else you like (I go for onions, peppers and baked beans). Takes about ten minutes, start to finish. [N]
[Every so often on on our Twitter feed we'll point to something other than books that caught our attention. In this occasional series, we highlight a few of those things, and a few others. Follow it here. The recommenders (Sean, Eric, Marc, and Nico) are denoted by first initial.]
Brick— Unique high school noir movie from Focus—instantly streamable from Netflix. [S]
Sad Soldier Red — The first album by Babydriver, who rocked the C4 Issue #1 launch party. You can download it for free. [S]
“Don Quixote”— The latest production from Synetic Theater in DC, active entertainment for anyone who likes classic stories told in strange and acrobatic ways. [E]
“Gunshow” — Bizarre webcomic. Often very funny. [E]
“Los Trabajadores” — A print and wood panel series by artist Nicholas Naughton depicting migrant workers in the Southwest. [E]
“Words” — An old Radiolab episode about language, how we acquire it, and how it changes us. [E]
Hector Berlioz — A classical composer who loved to read. Especially check out Harold in Italy based on Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. [M]
Grantland — Bill Simmons’s new sports writing website. Only a few weeks old and they have already published some fantastic articles by Chris Jones and Chuck Klosterman. [M]
Don Hertzfeldt’s films — Hertzfeldt is a cartoonist famous mostly for his short piece The Rejected, but his real masterpiece is the Bill series. You can watch part one of the Bill trilogy (Everything Will Be OK) on Hertzfeldt’s website. [N]
Waltz with Bashir — I’m not usually a documentary guy, but this animated doc about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon is quite simply a masterpiece. Not instant streaming, but worth it. [N]
[Every so often on on our Twitter feed we'll point to something other than books that caught our attention. In this occasional series, we highlight a few of those things (and a few others). Follow it here.]
Peep Show (hilarious British comedy show; available on Hulu) , recommended by Nico
Exit Through the Gift Shop (the Banksy documentary—better than they say, and funny, too—find it here), recommended by Nico
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, by Kanye West (the latest Kanye album—and easily his best—play it here), recommended by Nico
The Other Guys (Will Ferrell/Marky Mark comedy—surprisingly hilarious—find it here), recommended by Nico
The Dead Chipmunk (an article in The Believer about jokes—read it here), recommended by Eric
Chacarero (awesome chilean sandwich shop, two locations in downtown Boston—beef or chicken, you can’t go wrong), recommended by Eric
Hyperbole and a Half (MS Paint webcomic about awesome stuff—the author describes herself as “heroic, caring, alert, and flammable”), recommended by Eric
“Open Water,” by Urban Waite (short story about a scuba diving class—available at AGNI online), recommended by Eric
Invariable Heartache, by KORT (album—Cortney Tidwell and Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner covering obscure country tracks from the Chart Records catalog—here’s a bit of a preview), recommended by Aaron
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, by Mogwai (album—the Scottish post rockers latest varies the formula a bit, even verging on danceable, but retains the band’s trademark stormy mood—listen here), recommended by Aaron
Goldeneye 007 (Wii game—updates the classic game with a contemporary first person shooter feel, but doesn’t lose any of the goofy charm (and difficulty) of the original), recommended by Aaron
Bioshock, Mass Effect, Braid, Mother 3, and others (video games—for more info, read Sean’s post here), recommended by Sean
Spirit Kid (band—rocked the C4 mag launch party—tour dates and album info available on their site), recommended by Sean
The Go! Team (their new album, Rolling Blackouts, just came out and is as playful as its predecessors–listen here), recommended by Sean
Hamilton Carver, Zombie P.I. (excellent indie video series created by some friends of C4—watch online for free), recommended by Sean
It’s that time of year again where all I want to do is curl up under a blanket, read books, and play Nintendo. I enjoy both pursuits for similar peace of mind. I play a lot of games for my age and station in life. While certainly not all boast strong writing, games as a medium are a credible source of fiction-driven entertainment. As the industry grows, we’re seeing it reach much more complex and sometimes cinematic levels.
But games as taletellers is not new. Since the beginning of gaming, there’s been story. Sure, there was plenty of Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros. and Mortal Kombat (and even then, they bothered to include background fiction–usually in the manuals), but there was stuff like Ninja Gaiden, which introduced cutscenes to your typical action game.
Here are ten video games with strong narratives and writing. These are just a few selections of many good examples out there, old and new.
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10. Secret of Evermore
A very underrated game from the Super Nintendo era. The story line is great: a boy obsessed with B movies is pulled into an alternate dimension, one that exists in the imagination of 5 lost dimensional travelers. He explores the imaginary world as he seeks a way home. There is plenty of wit to the writing, and the scenario is inventive and unique amongst the game’s peers. The boy’s trusty dog changes breeds depending on the part of the world he’s in, and proves endearing and a handy plot trigger for some interesting story events.
For most of us, Labor Day is a holiday about one-last barbecues and Wiffle ball games before the shorts get swapped out for sweaters. However, in case you’d rather sit around and read a book about unions and industrialization, here are some suggestions:
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The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
This is an important book, and one you probably read in high school for it portrayal of historical working conditions for immigrant laborers. But it’s also a very good book. If you don’t remember it, give it another read. It’s pretty short, so you should still have time for beach bocce.
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The Pullman Case, by David Ray Papke
I’ve never read this, so I can’t attest to it. But Papke’s got a pretty cool name. If you’re into history books, this could be a good pick-up. In case you don’t know. The Pullman case was a landmark in labor laws–and was helmed by Clarence Darrow. It stemmed from a railworkers strike that got violent when federal troops arrived. It was the reason Grover Cleveland (or Congress then, whatever) established Labor Day and all the hot dogs that entails.
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Labor Day, by Joyce Maynard
I’ve never read this book either, but after reading the description at Amazon, I kinda want to. Also, it is set in New Hampshire, which increases its odds of being good by about 11%, because everyone knows NH is the awesomest state in the union.
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Baker Towers, by Jennifer Haigh
This book I actually have read. And it’s very good. A coming of age family drama set in a Pennsylvania coal town, Haigh’s novel isn’t directly about labor unions, but salt-of-the-earth, blue collar existence permeates the tale. It mostly takes place right after World War II, when middle America clawed its way to prominence and backyard barbecues were the cat’s meow.
Merry Christmas from C4 (and our best to whatever other holidays you may–or may not–enjoy this year). Rather than put together a list of obvious Christmas/Hanukkah book choices, I figured I’d share some recommendations for novels that focus on family coming together, and to a lesser degree that explore a suburban culture that, at least in America, seems to have blended in definition with that feeling we think of as ”holiday spirit.” (All links go to C4 reviews.)
Liars and Saints was the first book that came to mind when I becan compiling this list. Maile Meloy‘s debut novel nicely tangles then untangles generations of a family as messed up as our own always seem to be.
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This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper, is actually quite similar to Liars and Saints. It’s a little funnier, and a little less complex.
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Wonderboys would represent the apex of most authors’ careers. But Michael Chabon is a special case, and wonderful (sorry) as this book is, it’s probably not as good as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or (I’m told) The Yiddish Policemens’ Union. This book gets pretty madcap, and a lot of the family stuff is secondary, but this excellent book nails the suburban thing.
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White Noise is the bleakest novel in this list. Don DeLillo’s books don’t tend to be cheery, so this shouldn’t come as much surprise. Being pretty postmodern, it’s not the most casual of reads, but it’s an excellent book worth reading. Also nails the suburban thing.
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Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. I’m probably the only person to recommend Lolita as a holiday read but I make a point to recommended this book at any given opportunity. It does, however, fit into this category quite nicely. This is in part becuase Nabokov does an exceptional job of capturing 50′s suburban kitsch better than any photograph ever can.
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Middlesex is a broad book to say the least. It covers generations of a family and at the same time chronicles the modern era in America. Eugenides is an excellent writer, and this book is a tour de force of his mastery of both plotting and narration. As much as the book fits this list, my real pick by Jeffery Eugenides is…
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The Virgin Suicides, which is probably one of the finest examples of a suburban novel I’ve ever come across. It is narrated by a collective “we” of a group of boys who develop an obsession with 5 sisters who were suicides. The first person plural cleverly and humorously compares suburbia to the choruses of classic poetry, which is perfeect to say the least.
Time for another American holiday celebrating the decimation of a native society. Here’s a quick selection of some books you may want to cozy up to during the long weekend once you’ve eaten your fill of turducken. These aren’t about pilgrims or feasts, and I haven’t included Gracias, the Thanksgiving Turkey, but rather these are three books by Native American authors. Happy Thanksgiving.
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The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
A powerful collection of short stories that tackles a lot of the truths and misconceptions about modern Native American culture and life on a reservation. It was even made into an iffy movie, but you’re probably better off watching the Lions losing in the background and just reading this.
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Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
A poignant novel about WW2 vet caught between two cultures and two world. Much like Alexie’s better works, in that while on the outside this is a novel about Native Americans on a reservation, the themes it tackles are universal and remain relevant 30 years after the book was originally published.
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Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives by Ray A. Young Bear
A fascinating blend of poetry and prose that steps in and out of memoir and fiction, I definitely enjoyed this book. Might be a little hard to find, but keep an eye out for it.
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And for year-old Thanksgiving fun, here’s a video of Sarah Palin vomiting words while yummy turkeys are slaughtered in the background:
The End of Everything, by Megan Abbot
Touched, by Jerry Sandusky
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives by Ray A. Young Bear
