The Simpsons is no longer the only place to hear Thomas Pynchon speak
If you think you are a superstar vacation reader, wait until you see President Obama’s ambitious reading list for his week-long holiday. We also have a glimpse into Thomas Pynchon’s reclusive ways and a book about chimps. Enjoy!
- Obama is reading in Cape Cod, and you know what that means – a spike in book sales! Publishers are waiting to see if the 5 books Obama brought with him on vacation will take off the way Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland did at the beginning of his presidency. It seems the President enjoys 10-lb beach reads like Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded and David McCullough’s John Adams. There are a couple fiction titles mixed in as well, but none qualify as “quick reads.” The Guardian and Jacket Copy have the full list of Obama’s vacation books, but neither mentions what Sasha is reading – probably War and Peace.
- Fans of Koko the signing gorilla might enjoy a new book about connections between humans and animals, The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals. Written by Charles Siebert, a frequent contributor to New York Magazine, the book uses chimps to explore the thin line between human and animal. NPR says the book avoids sentimentalism and is “a well-researched, deeply felt work encompassing centuries of the troubled interactions between humans and animals.” You can read an excerpt about life in an ape house here.
- Thomas Pynchon (author of yesterday’s Critical Consensus book Inherent Vice) has long been known as one of the most reclusive American authors. He rarely gives interviews or appears in public, and his photo isn’t on any of his book jackets. His voice, however, can be heard in an old Simpsons episode and the recent trailer for Inherent Vice. After fan speculation equated the voice in the trailer with the Simpsons clip, Penguin confirmed that Pynchon is indeed the narrator. Short Stack has both videos as well as commentary on Pynchon’s reclusive nature.
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