books and assorted distractions

1) Caramba!: a tale told in turns of the card by Nina Marie Martínez
2) First Indian on the Moon by Sherman Alexie
3) The Virgin of Flames by Chris Abani
4) GraceLand by Chris Abani
5) Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón
6) Nick's Trip by George Pelecanos
7) Sins of the Seventh Sister by Curtiss Huston
8) The Informant: a true story by Kurt Eichenwald
9) There are Jews in my House by Laura Vapnyar


peter pan peanut butter salmonella scare in Atlanta.

keep it short, keep it clean. and no mention of sex, either. in canberra there's a new 5 minute rule concerning eulogies.

can you guess what the president was doing while a white house diaster drill was going on? if you said riding his bike, you'd be right. perfect.

so it looks as though june is when i'll move to florida. i've started going through my books - god, there's SO damn many of them! i'm being relentless about the ones i'll keep and the ones i'll donate. i've looked at houses online - the sarasota paper is really good - and there's no shortage of places. or jobs for that matter. i found a few with fenced yards, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths all for $850 or so a month. THAT doesn't suck at least. and i can donate a lot of winter clothes as well.

the last mri that my father had found not just the one lesion in his brain, but 2, so they're going to suspend his chemo and try radiation on the larger of the two. he's not in any pain, still has a sense of humor and a positive attitude. i try and keep that going on the phone, but i'm always a little relieved when we hang up. and yeah, i feel pretty guilty about that.

gonna hop in the shower.

a collection or mixture of unrelated things

lack of sleep makes you stupid. literally. no wonder i sometimes feel like my brain has atrophied.

don't miss the total lunar eclipse on march 3rd.

4 giant lakes found under Antarctic ice.

F1 countdown. i LOVE this page!


next time i'll post a book list. i've been feeling off my game as of late - that's why the (few) posts have been kinda lame... that's a funny picture, though, right?

a little vent

first of all, did you know that there's a mexico, new york?
it's on the eastern edge of lake ontario. just fyi is all...

ok. 2 things that have been driving me a little crazy.
and they're both TV commercials.
the first one is that visa check card one in the cafeteria. everything is flowing along quite smoothly with everyone paying with their visa card. that is until this joker comes along and tries to pay with - you guessed it - CASH! that bastard!
all of a sudden there's this huge cluster-fuck because the line stops moving. i can't tell you how much this annoys the crap out of me. i guess it's because i'm the one always paying in cash.
the second one is the KFC one where a boy calls home to ask for permission to eat dinner at his friends house. he tells his mom that yes, the parents are home, they're all sitting down to a meal together, but the mom doesn't believe him. so he puts his friend's mom on the phone and she confirms what the boy said. what the mom can't believe is that they're all sitting down to a home cooked meal on a week night. since when is KFC home cooked? this one really pisses me off.

jon spencer blues explosion!

'Bellbottoms'



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catching up

for real or is it satire? music that'll make ya gay. yes, gay. be careful.

our fearless leader on a tractor, running down the press. literally.

more on (hey, moron, get it!!?) our fearless leader.

this is the saddest story about a soldier's cry that went unheard.


here are some books i've read:

1) Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly
2) Crumbtown by Joe Connelly
3) Three Men in a Room: The Inside Story of Power and Betrayal in an American Statehouse by Seymour P. Lachman and Robert Polner
4) Means Of Escape: A War Correspondent's Memoir of Life and Death in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Vietnam by Philip Caputo
5)Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed off the Coast of Vietnam by Frank Pope
6) The House of Forgetting by Benjamin Alire Saenz
7) We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
8) General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier by Jeffry D. Wert

the visit to florida to see my dad went ok. he's pretty frail and ill. the chemo is taking its toll on him. if he weighs 120 pounds, i'd be surprised. he's always cold, so he keeps the heat on - it was at least a thousand degrees in the living room. i drove him around - his camaro is still the coolest car...
he is a sports freak, so he got me watching basketball AND football. i enjoyed the college ball a lot - i'd forgotten how pretty the game can be to watch. i also got to see king james lose to the suns. i like shawn marion and steve nash. my dad's the only one who ever got me to watch anything other than auto racing. and yes, dammit, i still believe it's a sport. anyhow, it sure looks as if i'll be moving down there around june so i can take care of him.
florida, jesus. at least it's not full of old folks where he is. and the driver (doug) who picked me up from the airport told me to move down so he could take me hiking. and he wasn't old OR hard to look at.

yesterday was melissa's 29th birthday. i cooked dinner for her - all her favorites - kielbasa marinated in beer, honey-dripped potatoes, broccoli, gnocchi, and a chocolate mousse tort for dessert. it was a pleasant evening. tomorrow is mike's 30th birthday and he's freaking out about it. poor guy. AND he's moving all this weekend. i hate moving. man, i have a lot to do before june.

well, that's about it for now

news and stuff

cool comics school in Vermont. christina, this might be your future...

glimpsed by a blimp? big brother IS everywhere...

how many nukes do YOU need? this article tells how many we have and how many the former soviet union has.

US attorney’s fired by bush ends investigations into republican corruption. shocking!

it seems like everyone and their mother is running for president.

using cold medicine could possibly induce a stroke.

(formula 1 great) Bruce McLaren film planned reportedly being produced by Barrie Osborne who co-produced The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

i just finished reading a great book by Fareed Zakaria (he writes for Newsweek) called The Future of Freedom. he talks about the inherent difference between 'democracy' and 'constitutional liberalism'.
interesting. read it.
i'm also reading Andrea Mitchell's book 'Talking Back: ...to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels' and Helen Thomas's Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public.

for anyone out there who likes off road racing - watch Dust to Glory. (it's on DVD) it's all about the Baja 1000. it's by the same guys that did Step into Liquid, that fantastic surf movie.

book list and various bits of stuff

1) The Tent by Margaret Atwood
2) The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
3) Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali
4) Riley's Fire by Lee Merrill Byrd
5) Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
6) Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes
7) War by Candlelight by Daniel Alarcon
8) The Girl with the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert and the making of the modern art market by Lindsay Pollack
9) Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus (with Alan Jolis)


Wal-Mart's new software 'will make advance scheduling and reliable paychecks a thing of the past.' they have this new scheduling software that lets them gauge the surges (that word AGAIN!) and lulls so they can send employees home and call them back depending on the day's traffic. which means no reliable work scedule to hire childcare, and less hours altogether.

"Let us remember that we were not attacked by a nation on 9/11; we were attacked by extremists who acted in the name of the Islamic religion," Goode wrote. "I believe that if we do not stop illegal immigration totally, reduce legal immigration and end diversity visas, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to infiltration by those who want to mold the United States into the image of their religion, rather than working within the Judeo-Christian principles that have made us a beacon for freedom-loving persons around the world." – virgil goode, virginia’s republican (duh!) representative - my jaw hit the floor when i read that.

keith olbermann is my new hero.

i've got my tickets to sarasota for the end of january and i'm looking forward to seeing my dad, but i'm a tad apprensive as well. he doesn't want to come to the airport to pick me up because he's afraid i wouldn't recognize him without his hair. i told him i'd do whatever made him the most comfortable. after the weekend i'll be doing a lot of thinking about his condition, prognosis and overall state of mind and then i'll decide if i should pick up stakes and move south. my brain hurts already.
steven has decided that he wants to move to philly with ray so that leaves me with no reason to hesitate. it will be awfully weird when he moves, but he's 21 and wants a change of scene, so good for him. (but he's my baby and i'll be sad!)
enough for now...

post christmas sum-up

since i have the week off, i've got some free time to catch up on the blogging.
first, i'll post my book list. get that out of the way.

1) Frontera Street by Tanya Maria Barrientos
2) Snowball Earth: The Story of the Great Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life as We Know It (whew!) by Gabrielle Walker
3) Paradiso by Jose Lezama Lima
4) Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier
5) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
6) Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog
7) Comrade Rockstar: The Life and Mystery of Dean Reed, the All-American Boy Who Brought Rock 'N' Roll to the Soviet Union by Reggie Nadelson
8) In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen
9) Lisey's Story by Stephen King
10) Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
11) Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

so christmas was nice - except i got talked into playing (sort of) trivial pursuit - the 90's edition. why people play this game is a mystery to me. either the questions are ridiculously easy or impossible. the food was all good, (i made all of it!) roast pork with an apricot/soy sause glaze, broccoli souffle, roasted potates with honey, gnocchi, and pannetone bread pudding (with rum) for dessert. i only burned myself once. a triumph. good people, a lot of laughter, and a crazy dog. perfect.
melissa enrolled the both of us in a yoga class - she even got me a super terrific new mat to go with it. that's tonight. i hope all goes well there - i'm kind of nervous. not one to exercise amongst the masses, i guess. we gave steven a new chair for his room and haven't seen him since...! even the puppy made out - with bones and toys and a brand new bed. i got the nicest ornaments from christina!

i'm going to florida at the end of the month to see my father.
steven told me that he wants to move to Philly with ray in june, so i'm thinking maybe it's the perfect time for me to go to florida and be with my dad so he won't be alone. there's a lot to do before that.

more later.
have a happy and safe new year, people.

my family has never been close.

my mother died 4 years ago. i took care of her at the end, but
we hadn't talked in nearly 15 years before that. i got to say the things
i needed to, and she did as well. i have no regrets where she's concerned.

my sister i haven't talked to since my mother died and before that,
it had been many years. she is not a good person. we shall leave it at that.

my father and i re-established a (good, it turns out) relationship a few
years ago - maybe 3 now - and it's been a good thing. i even went to visit
him last year. come to find out a few weeks ago that he has cancer. 4 tumors
in 3 different parts of his body. they can't figure out which part is producing
the death cells, so they've started him on chemo (the super killer treatment) in
the hope that the drugs will hunt down & kill the offending cell-maker.
i spoke with him (he lives in florida) last monday after the first session and he sounded OK. hungry even. and the second time i called, he still sounded alright after the 2nd session. well, i called last night and he sounded awful. his voice is different - i can hear the pain behind his assurances. he says his bones hurt and he's freezing all the time. has no energy and is feeling pretty surly all the way around. i tell him i want to come down there. he says no. not now. let's wait until the first round is done he says, and then we'll see where we're at. i try and argue, but that gets me nowhere fast. he's made up his mind. the thing is, i'm afraid (since he's 73 and lives alone) he'll fall or some other thing will happen and no one will be there to help him. he won't budge on it, so i tell him that i'll be calling more frequently and not to try and argue.
i feel so shitty and teary and i can't really talk about it out loud - which is why you poor people get to read all this - if you didn't stop at MY FAMILY. ha.
mostly i'm worried that the chemo won't work and, well, that it won't work.
i feel like i just got him back, know what i mean?

SHIT.

thanksgiving and miscellaneous news and or books

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. mostly because of the food. i love to cook everything that has anything to do with turkey day. this was the 5th annual misfits thanksgiving - hard to believe 5 years have passed - and friends who have no family, no family close by, or can't stand their family all attended. we had turkey and stuffing and sweet potato pie (i had to make 3 this year!) and honey carrots and garlic smashed potatoes and homemade (thanks michele) cookies and my pumpkin pie. the dog was much better this year. my poor little living room was bursting at the seams - especially with the prancing puppy about. it was a nice evening. i'm glad i have today off as well. i need some time to re-group and also to eat some leftovers!
i hope those of you that do the thanksgiving thing enjoyed yourselves as much as i did.

Los Amigos Invisibiles are playing at S.O.B.'s on Friday Dec 1 - go see them!


here's some news:
there was a hurricane on Saturn's south pole that measures 5000 miles in diameter.

the most visible leader of the leftist movement Oaxaca People's Assembly, Flavio Sosa, faces arrest warrants on riot and conspiracy charges in Oaxaca. the movement had been trying to oust state Gov. Ulises Ruiz. the assembly accuses Ruiz of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending gangs of gun-toting thugs against his opponents.


After 54 years making door-to-door deliveries of bread and pastries to people in southeast Los Angeles County, Herman Langley is retiring.

Scientists in Geelong have created something talent-lean wannabe rock gods everywhere need: an air-guitar shirt that allows its wearer to
actually play!

and some books:

1) Carry Me Like Water by Benjamin Alire Saenz
2) We Are All Fine Here by Mary Guterson
3) The Areas of my Expertise: an almanac of complete world knowledge compiled with instructive annotation and arranged in useful order by John Hodgman
4) 109 East Palace : Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos by Jennet Conant
5) Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures : a true story from Hell on Earth by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson
6) How the Universe got its Spots: diary of a finite time in a finite space by Janna Levin

let me just say that i enjoyed Carry Me Like Water so much that i've ordered a copy from amazon (used, of course!) the characters, their interaction, and the dialogue just flowed together so beautifully that by the time i finished the book i felt as if i knew them all personally and i was sad beyond belief to say goodbye to them.
and in Mary Guterson's We are all Fine Here, i didn't like the main character until the very end - though the story was good enough to keep me reading it.

that's it for now. i'm gonna go have some leftovers...

tom waits on his new album Orphans:

"When I was small I always thought that songwriters sat alone at upright pianos in cramped smoky little rooms with a bottle and an ashtray and everything came in the window blew through them and came out of the piano as a song…and in a weird way that is exactly what happens.
What’s "Orphans"? I don’t know. "Orphans" is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear.
At the center of this record is my voice. I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice, I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer…I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument.
Kathleen and I wanted the record to be like emptying our pockets on the table after an evening of gambling, burglary, and cow tipping. We enjoy strange couplings, that’s how we got together. We wanted Orphans to be like a shortwave radio show where the past is sequenced with the future, consisting of things you find on the ground, in this world and no world, or maybe the next world. Whatever you imagine that to be..."

man, i wish i could write like that!

feeling crummy today, but here i am

your Life-Gem memorial will offer comfort and support when and where you need it, and provide a lasting memory that endures just as a diamond does. forever. totally creepy.

Violent dowry harassment is an increasingly visible phenomenon in India. just crazy.

spoon-face schumacher's new island (literally) get-a-way.

fantasy congress game - online. i wonder who'll have more fun playing now...

F1 theme park. enough said. i think.

President Vilsack? has a certain...ring to it, no? NO. no one will vote for a Vilsack for president. wrong? perhaps. so what.

*************************************************************************************

BOOK LIST:

1) A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Janna Levin
2) An Iliad by Alessandro Baricco
3) Last Evening's on Earth by Roberto Bolaño
4) The City is a Rising Tide by Rebecca Lee
5) State of Denial by Bob Woodward
6) Iñes of my Soul by Isabel Allende
7) They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967
8) The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky

mostly a good bunch of books this time around. the new Isabel Allende was worth the library waiting list. whenever she writes about her native Chile, i know it's going to be excellent. last evening's on earth was very good as well. i got so worked up reading bob woodward's book that i (nearly) threw it across the room. and the thing is, i agreed with almost everything in it. it just irks me that he can be such a fair weather friend. you know, when bush was popular (still don't know why) he wrote a flattering book or 2 and now that the tides have turned, well...
the Baricco book about the Iliad was GREAT. i wanted so much to like Rebecca Lee's book, but i was not quite able to. it's a small book that promised - at least on the cover flaps - a big story. it even used the word suspense, i think. none of that. it was however, written beautifully. sounds contradictory, right? well, not in my head.
and i want to say something about Jed Rubenfeld's book (from the last list) called The Interpretation of Murder. GET IT! i forgot to mention it last time. it's got suspense, murder (duh!, hence the title) and Freud and Jung coming to America in 1909. much was based on actual fact with a grand story woven throughout.

¡Ya Basta!
go read - actually, go read outdoors. it's beautiful out.
even though i feel crummy, that's where i'm headed.

he still gets the big gas face

P.W. Botha dead at 90

books and bush

Hold on, that didn't sound right...!

wait, Bush DIDN'T say stay the course over and over and over? I guess the whole WORLD must have mis-heard.
Check out Crooks and Liars it's a great site.

Here's a partial book list for you.

1) Murder in the Heartland by M. William Phelps
2) Fraud by David Rakoff
3) Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
4) Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
5) The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
6) Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande (thanks to the good people over at La Bloga
7) Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon by Michael E. Veal
8) L.A. Rex by Will Beall
9) Echo Park by Michael Connelly
10) Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez

I liked everything I read - mostly. The Rakoff book I could have lived without. At times it was funny and sarcastic (which I like) but mostly it annoyed me.
Everyone needs some brain candy to read and you could do A LOT worse than the Koontz book. This particular character is compelling, honest and real. AND he sees dead people. The Fela Kuti book was really good even if you don't know who he was.
LA Rex was hard to read in all its gore and violence, but it had its moments of sheer genius. I loved the newest Harry Bosch book by Michael Connelly. That guy sure can write. I especially liked the Reyna Grande novel. I can't remember the last time I got as emotional over a story. Oh yeah, I remember. 3 words - no 6 words. Luis Alberto Urrea. The Hummingbird's Daughter.
Read, people.

Happy 73rd Birthday (tomorrow) to my dad.

Alessandro Zanardi is testing for F1 in a BMW. Amazing, since he had both legs amputated after a horrific crash in Germany when he was racing Indy cars. Now that's courage and fortitude. He was always one of the approachable ones at all the races. Nice man. Good deal.

no snappy headline comes to mind

wait, after the 4th time??! incredible. father finally catches on about his wife, their son, and those pesky ransom demands.

california (teen) girl questioned by secret service about a myspace picture she had posted of president bush.

questions for Mr T, the consummate eighties pop icon (not MY words...)

i don’t know what to make of this one... “with numerous subtle (and not so subtle) satirical swipes at the bush administration and the republican party” this childrens book will appeal to democrats of ALL ages.

you were right, christina

sunday! sunday! sunday!

all i can say is YAY!
retiring NOT as world champion. sounds mean, but ask me if i care!

i cut my hair. it's short. and dark. winter is coming.

haven't felt poetically inclined as of late, but tony brown is at Bar 13 this monday, which means i'm going.

Ozomatli is at the Nokia Theater on Tuesday, November 14th. i WILL be there. the thing is they're OPENING for Los Lonely Boys - sheesh, what a turn of events.don't get me wrong LLB are alright, but they're flash in the pan compared to Ozomatli. whatever, i'm just glad to be seeing them again.

this, that, the other

sometimes The Onion CAN make me laugh out loud.

The Selena stamp and the David Mann (famous motorcycle artist from Easyrider magazine) stamp. not available from your local post office though.

Bruce Potts,a professor of public speaking at the University of New Mexico, and his full face tribal tattoo.

The Hubble detects as many as 16 new planets.

Deliver Us From Evil, Amy Berg's unflinching documentary about a defrocked california priest convicted (and later deported back to his native Ireland) of several counts of child molestation won Best Documentary Film at the L.A. film festival.

Last week, a majority of Democrats in the U.S. Senate, including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, joined forces with Republicans to vote 80 to 19 to begin construction of an expensive set of Berlin Wall-like barriers across this nation's southern border.

These are the good guys? Police in Russia have conducted raids against Georgian-owned markets, shops and restaurants and cracked down on illegal immigrants. Officials said at least 140 Georgians were deported by plane Friday. A spokesman for the Moscow city education department said police were asking schools for lists of students with Georgian names, whose parents might be in Russia illegally.

Archaeologists working in Mexico City have discovered an Aztec monolith - the most important ruins of the ancient civilization to be found in decades.

The military on MySpace - a link filled article definitely worth reading.

At least five apparently bogus voter registration forms were submitted to the Metro Nashville election commission by a worker with ties to the Republican National Committee, and up to 150 other registrations have been called into question, The Tennessean has learned.

Fuma los puros, toma ese cafecito riquito y ten mucho sexo, pero cuidado con el alcohol! Some Cuban centenarians say cigars, coffee and sex is the secret to living past 100. Cuba, with a population of 11.2 million, has about 3,000 people who have lived for more than a century.

for once there are

too many shows i'd like to see.

Los Lobos on 9/28 at Irving (too bad about the sucky sound)
PJ Harvey at The Supper Club on 10/7
DJ Shadow at Webster Hall on 10/17
Beck at MSG on 10/18 (i don't really want to see him there, but, whatever)
Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars on 10/20 - also MSG
Mojave 3 on 10/20 & 21 at The Bowery
DJ Spooky at The Apollo on 10/27 & 28
Medeski, Martin & Wood at the Hammerstein on Halloween!
Cut Chemist & Lyrics Born at Webster Hall on 11/10
The Reverend Horton Heat (yay!) at Southpaw on 11/11
WHEW!

also,this is the only link for you today, but you NEED to click it and watch the video on how easy - i said EASY it is to hack into the Diebold voting machine to steal votes.

my vacation was only a week ago, but it feels like a lightyear away already.
i'm planning a 4 day getaway to New Mexico in March though. is march like...soon?

books first, then news

books first:

1) A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes : stories from Latin America – edited by Thomas Colchie
2) The Bird Artist - Howard Norman
3) Smoke and Mirrors: the war on drugs & the politics of failure – Dan Baum
4) Dark Alliance: the CIA, the contras, and the crack cocaine explosion – Gary Webb
5) Desperados: Latin drug lords, U.S. lawmen, and the war america can’t win – Elaine Shannon
6) Drug Lord: the life and death of a mexican kingpin: a true story – Terrence Poppa
7) The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless – Ahmet Zappa

all by John Harvey:
8) Flesh & Blood
9) Lonely Hearts
10)In a True Light
11)Rough Treatment


prostitution made legal in russia? - the mayor thinks it will deter men from committing acts of extremist racial violence. so spend more time screwing, less time punching? interesting theory. the best part (by far) is that the mayor - Igor Shpektor – promises the women state protection and a full pension. yay!

remember Afghanistan? - things are more intense than is being reported at home. look at the link – NOT a national source.

wyclef jean thinks a little weed would do the president some good. as if that's all it would take! i never liked the man. still don’t.

researchers are thinking that Neanderthals may have lived longer than previously thought. hmm, i’d swear there are still some out there dragging their knuckles on the ground...

In a devastating one-two-three punch, the Uribe government in Colombia announced that it intends to partially-privatize the state-
owned oil company Ecopetrol and then declared its intentions to slash corporate income taxes while simultaneously increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on food basics such as rice, potatoes and chicken.

Greg Palast and television producer Matt Pascarella were charged, by Homeland Security, with the ’...unauthorized filming of a “critical national security structure” in Louisiana.’ they videotaped the thousands of Katrina evacuees still held behind a barbed wire in a trailer park encampment a hundred miles from New Orleans. okaaaay.

books and weather

my vacation has begun and just LOOK at the weather forecast... rain, rain and MORE rain. great.

here are some books – i know i haven’t been as diligent as i ought to be, but if the sun doesn’t come out between now and the 15th, the list will be extensive, people...

1) Death of a Nationalist – Rebecca Pawel
2) the curious incident of the dog in the night-time – Mark Haddon
3) If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things – Jon McGregor
4) Will@epicquest.com: (a medicated memoir) – Tom Grimes
5) The Skin of the Sky - Elena Poniatowska
6) Harvest of Empire - Juan Gonzalez
7) A Fan’s Notes: A Fictional Memoir - Frederick Exley
8) Flesh and Blood – John Harvey
9) The Night Gardener – George Pelecanos
10) The Ties that Bind – Kent Haruf