Just Giblets

The Graveyard Book is Neil Gaiman’s latest work for children coming out in September. Now I don’t remember what it was like to be 10 or 11, but his man in his forties loved this novel. No one writes books with appeal to all ages as well as Neil Gaiman. Borrowing a concept from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which tells the story of an orphan raised in the jungle, The Graveyard Book features a toddler who wanders out of the house and into the graveyard after his family is brutally murdered, and is raised by the spirits and others beings who live there.

Young Bod (short for Nobody) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a kindly couple who died childless, and watched over by Silas, a mysterious and powerful being who is neither alive nor dead. Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard, and things no living beings know. As he grows up, he begins to encounter the living from time to time, and a curiosity is sparked. All the while, Jack, the man who murdered his family, is hoping to correct his failure by finding and finishing of Bod as well.

Gaiman populates The Graveyard Book with all the sorts of mystical and fantastic creatures he is known for. Silas’ wonderful, Eastern European substitute guardian Miss Luprescu is surely my favorite, but from ghouls to witches and other denizens of the dead, there is something to astound and capture everyone’s imagination. Watch for this one when it’s published in September.

Of course, friends of mine will know I’ve got a long-standing admiration for Mr. Gaiman, and about a month ago, while attending BookExpo America in Los Angeles, I was able to meet and hang out with Mr. Gaiman not once, but twice!  The second time I even was so bold as to ask to have my picture taken with him.  It was a geeky thing to do, and I’m smiling way too hard in the photo, but at least I hvae it.  I’ve been reading Neil’s work since the 80’s when he broke into comics at DC with the Black Orchid miniseries.  Shortly after that Neil began what has become arguably his most popular work, The Sandman.  His work as a novelist began with the riotously fun Good Omens, co-written by Terry Pratchett.  He has since hit the NYT bestsellers’ list on his own with the titles American Gods and The Anansi Boys.   He has done screenplay work for such films as PRINCESS MONONOKE, MIRRORMASK, and BEOWULF.  His young adult novel Coraline has been adapted for the screen and is due out later this year.

Don’t really know why, but this does make me giggle! The title on You Tube is “Project Make McCain Exciting: Gray Ambition”. Awesome.

(Yeah, Michael posts book reviews and I post stupid videos. Something for everyone, right?)

I think my geek status has lapsed! You’ve probably seen this already, but I totally missed the new beverage of choice for nerds: Brawndo, The Thirst Mutilator! I usually get Red Bull every week at the grocery, but apparently, I’m a totally wuss for buying the teeny cans of pee-yellow, slightly carbonated, “gives you wings” beverage. I need to upgrade to the lime-jello-colored, half-quart, ass-kicking, made with five kinds of sugar, manly-man drink!

Just look at their awesome ad campaign. You gotta love a drink that argues “Drink BRAWNDO and not WATER because WATER is from the TOILET!!!”

Of Men and Their Mothers by Mameve Medwed - “Medwed writes with clarity and humor, and even as Maisie’s life seems to falling apart around her, we never worry too much, because things always seem to work out for the best in a Medwed novel. But what makes her work so satisfying is that those happy endings are never cheap or unearned. Maisie works hard for her happy life, and we can do naught but cheer her on when she makes it.”

Dust by Elizabeth Bear - “Bear is adept at writing big, complex sci fi sagas such as this. She also ignores convention with regard to sexuality and relationships, having her characters love come in varied forms. Bear is clearly talented, but some of she may be mixing in a few too many elements, cluttering her story to the point of distraction.”

The Perfect Waiter by Alain Claude Sulzer - “There is a lot of restraint on display, and plenty of control just waiting to snap. Sulzer and his translator John Brownjohn do a great job with language to convey the conflicting desires simmering just under the surface of these characters.”

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - “Garth writes the family relationships and the emotional scenes nicely, which is why so many people respond to the novel and why people are calling it a tear-jerker. While Enzo and Denny are bonded, my favorite part of the book was the way Enzo’s relationship with Eve develops. It’s tentative at first, yet grows into some of the most powerful moments in the novel.”

The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey - “Livesey has a strong sense of place (the book takes place in London, Edinburgh, and across the British countryside) and character, and weaves a powerfully emotional story as well. For adult drama, Livesey is master.”

Andorra by Peter Cameron - “Cameron has created a marvelous batch of eccentric characters around whom sadness seems to hover like a vapor. There are moments of brilliant honesty even as secrets are kept close to the heart, and moments of sublime revelation. Andorra makes an already sparkling body of work including The Weekend, The City of My Final Destination and Someday This Pain will be Useful to You shine even brighter.”

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes - “Ultimately striving for a Neil Gaimanesque dark fantasy, The Somnambulist misses more than it hits, but judging from the first third of this tale, there’s some real talent there.”

The Thief Queen’s Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon - “Fantasy series have to work really hard to keep me engaged nowadays, and I’m pleased to say that Haydon’s The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme has me hook, line and sinker.”

I was just watching Seinfeld on TBS and saw the latest Dunkin Donuts ad. What made you sell your song to them? I know you like coffee, but surely you think Dunkie’s coffee is overrated like I do. Don’t you? And besides, the donuts are dry and cakey and sit in your stomach like a rock.

Krispie Kreme may have been a better choice. Or if you really needed money, you coulda called me.