What book are you reading?

Trying something different, very good but for me, not great.  My pop, who was an aeronautical engineer, would have loved it:

For several years now, I've taken to sticking 3x5 yellow lined post-its and sticking them in the back of books I read as a place to jot down pages numbers and brief notes for things that appeal to me or that I want to refer back to.  I just finished reading James Bishop Jr's Epitaph For a Desert Anarchist: The Life and Legacy of Edward Abbey.  I guess you could say I was rather engaged in this most excellent book, lol!

Despite having worked in bookstores (mostly with my wife at hers) for over twenty years, there are always writers- sometimes prolific writers- I come across for whom I had known little or even nothing.  Charles Bowden is such a writer.  I had known about Bowden from a documentary in which he spoke about his friend, Edward Abbey, but I did not know he had written some 28 books.  So when his The Red Caddy came to my attention, I knew it was time to become acquainted with his work, and this book is an excellent introduction to that work!

Last night, I wrote this on a post-it in the back of the book about Bowden's writing:
"I generally like good, straight ahead story-telling prose-- only, that which shows rather than tells.  I also generally do not like clever or convoluted or showy prose that seeks to be different, hip, cool, or overly fancy.  However, Charles Bowden does often write outside the lines, but never for too long.  He always draws you back in, and soon you begin to see that he is painting a bigger or more expansive and always more interesting picture."

That sounds interesting.  The Goodreads book summation states: "New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers"    That is odd because Answered Prayers has, indeed, been published (it's not hard to find).

If you haven't read it, you might enjoys Capote's Music For Chameleons.  In contains some great and varied stories- everything from a beautiful and loving portrait of Marylin Monroe to the chilling "Hand Carved Coffins." 

I was so fortunate to be turned on to Capote my freshman year of high school.  My English teacher passed around a reading list and I told her I had read most of the books on the list and wasn't interested in the others.  She handed me a copy of Other Voices, Other Rooms and said, "I think you will like this."  Indeed!  I loved it, and eventually read everything by Capote I could get my hands on.

I will watch for this one, thanks for posting it!