Chuck Palahniuk's darkly comic and
rhythmically written "Lullaby" turns the old
nursery rhyme "sticks and stones will break my
bones, but words will never hurt me" on its head.

The lullaby of the title is an ancient African
culling song. Traditionally it was used to give a
painless death to the old or the infirmed. A
greedy bookseller has collected the culling song,
along with many other poems considered public
domain, in a collection entitled "Poem &
Rhymes from Around the World." (click to read
the rest of the review)

Despite the rave reviews about
"Middlesex" I wasn't sure how much
I would enjoy reading a book about a
Greek-American hermaphrodite and his
family's immigration from Turkey to
Detroit. I bought the book on the
weight of the reviews, the Pulitzer
Prize it won, and my confidence in the
author.

I read Eugenides' first book "The
Virgin Suicides" when it was published
in 1993 and enjoyed it immensely. I am
a sucker for first-time novels. I was
wowed by Eugenides' confident,
atmospheric writing that drew me right
into the world of suburban American
teen-age boys, fantasizing and falling in
love with the beautiful and mysterious
Lisbon sisters next door. (click to read
the rest of the review)

Overall v. entertain-
ing if somewhat  
fluffy. Cool
depiction of  S.F. in
the vaudeville days.
About 100 pages too
long & a little too
self-important.

Love what I've read
so far: story by Rick
Moody, quote from
Louis Begley, story
by Jay McInerney that
later became 'Bright
Lights Big City'

the topshelf of one
of the bookcases:
"Abbey's Road"
through "Where I'm
Calling From"