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Showing posts from August 18, 2013

Book Recommendation: Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter

Are you looking for one last literary beach read for your summer? If so, might I recommend Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins . It's a juicy read. Complete with a tiny 1960s Italian seaside village and present-day Hollywood, it has just the right mix of pure, indulgent entertainment value, coupled with fabulous writing to provide that lovely reading-by-the-beach feel where you're slightly illuminated, deeply relaxed, and in the mood for a little escape. But a literary one. You know; one where you don't have to be embarrassed by the book cover. One where you feel a little wiser at the end because of something revealed in the writing. Take this little excerpt for instance: "All we have is the story we tell. Everything we do, every decision we make, our strength, weakness, motivation, history, and character--what we believe--none of it is real : it's all part of the story we tell. But here's the thing: it's our goddamned story!" Genius.  I