Book report

What I've been reading instead of thesis material:

Steve Martin, The Pleasure of My Company
Light, charming, clever, funny. You know how they say "don't tell, show"? Steve Martin tells. But the tales he tells are sensitive, insightful, and engaging.



Steve Almond, The Evil B.B. Chow
A delightfully satisfying collection of very short stories ranging from hilarious to thought-provoking, and often both. Almond makes it seem so easy, he had me almost convinced that I too could write short stories.

Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.
If you don't have time to read the book, at least read the NYT's summary and assessment, which hits the high points beautifully. Have feminists (and women in general) been duped into buying that a certain, stereotyped sexuality is really indicative of empowerment?

Steve Martin, Shopgirl.
Tender telling (note above) of an intersecting web of human relationships and desires. Shorter than The Pleasure of My Company, and, I think, better.