The next Genre Reading Group meeting is Tue, Nov 26th at
6:30pm. That will be the week of
Thanksgiving, so we'll miss you if you aren't there AND bonus points if you attend and drag visiting family to the meeting 😀
Last night GRG met to discuss humor writing!
The Vine that Ate the South by J.D. Wilkes
(amazon) With the energy, wit, and singularity of vision
that have earned him a reputation as a celebrated and charismatic
musician, The Vine That Ate the South announces J.D. Wilkes as an
accomplished storyteller on a surreal, Homeric voyage that strikes at the very
heart of American mythology.
In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted
forest referred to locally as "The Deadening," where vampire cults
roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice―the one
and only, Carver Canute―set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the
legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed
whole by a hungry vine. Their quest leads them face to face with albino
panthers, Great Dane-riding girls, protective property owners, and just about
every American folk-demon ever, while forcing the protagonist to finally take
stock of his relationship with his father and the man's mysterious
disappearance.
The Vine That Ate the South is a mesmerizing fantasia
where Wilkes ambitiously grapples with the contradictions of the contemporary
American South while subversively considering how well we know our own family
and friends.
"It's a relentlessly fun novel, the literary equivalent
of a country-punk album that grabs you and refuses to let go. Wilkes has a
perfect ear for the dialect of Kentucky, and his writing is so bright, you can
almost see every abandoned shack, every kudzu-covered tree. Sure, it's bizarre,
and at points almost gleefully obscene, but it's undeniably one of the
smartest, most original Southern Gothic novels to come along in years."
―NPR
Look Alive Out There: Essays by Sloane Crosley
(amazon) From the New York Times-bestselling author
Sloane Crosley comes Look Alive Out There―a brand-new collection of essays
filled with her trademark hilarity, wit, and charm. The characteristic heart
and punch-packing observations are back, but with a newfound coat of
maturity. A thin coat. More of a blazer, really.
Fans of I Was Told There'd Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number know Sloane Crosley's life as a series of relatable but madcap misadventures. In Look Alive Out There, whether it's playing herself on Gossip Girl,scaling active volcanoes, crashing shivas, befriending swingers, or staring down the barrel of the fertility gun, Crosley continues to rise to the occasion with unmatchable nerve and electric one-liners. And as her subjects become more serious, her essays deliver not just laughs but lasting emotional heft and insight. Crosley has taken up the gauntlets thrown by her predecessors--Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, David Sedaris--and crafted something rare, affecting, and true.
Look Alive Out There arrives on the tenth anniversary of I Was Told There'd be Cake, and Crosley's essays have managed to grow simultaneously more sophisticated and even funnier. And yet she's still very much herself, and it's great to have her back--and not a moment too soon (or late, for that matter).
How to Think Like a Cat by Stephane Garnier
(amazon) Do cats worry about retirement? Nope. Do cats do
things they don’t want to do? Definitely not. Do cats rush around at all hours
of the day when they’d rather be licking their paws and looking out a window?
Please. Calm, free, charismatic, wise, elegant, self-assured—our
beloved feline pets strut those traits that we humans spend a lifetime aspiring
to. No wonder everybody wants to be more like a cat.
After observing his own cat, Ziggy, for years, bestselling
French author Stéphane Garnier decided that he would be much happier if he
could just live more like Ziggy. Closer study only confirmed his suspicion that
cats have that je ne sais quoi, and he set out to share Ziggy’s
innate wisdom with the world.
Whether at work, at home, or in your social life, your cat
can teach you how to manage stress, cultivate independence, and live life on
your terms. Peppered with humorous yet inspiring tips for living a day in the
life of a cat, cat secrets from Ziggy, and a quiz to assess your “cat
quotient,” How to Think Like a Cat is an inspiring, humorous, and
remarkably insightful guide to the subtle art of living like a feline.
Memes to Movements: How the World’s Most Viral Media is Changing Social Protest and Power by An Xiao Mina
(amazon) A global exploration of internet memes as agents of
pop culture, politics, protest, and propaganda on- and offline, and how they
will save or destroy us all.
Memes are the street art of the social web. Using social media–driven movements as her guide, technologist and digital media scholar An Xiao Mina unpacks the mechanics of memes and how they operate to reinforce, amplify, and shape today’s politics. She finds that the “silly” stuff of meme culture—the photo remixes, the selfies, the YouTube songs, and the pun-tastic hashtags—are fundamentally intertwined with how we find and affirm one another, direct attention to human rights and social justice issues, build narratives, and make culture.
Memes are the street art of the social web. Using social media–driven movements as her guide, technologist and digital media scholar An Xiao Mina unpacks the mechanics of memes and how they operate to reinforce, amplify, and shape today’s politics. She finds that the “silly” stuff of meme culture—the photo remixes, the selfies, the YouTube songs, and the pun-tastic hashtags—are fundamentally intertwined with how we find and affirm one another, direct attention to human rights and social justice issues, build narratives, and make culture.
Mina finds parallels, for example, between a photo of Black Lives
Matter protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, raising their hands in a gesture of
resistance and one from eight thousand miles away, in Hong Kong, of Umbrella Movement
activists raising yellow umbrellas as they fight for voting rights. She shows
how a viral video of then presidential nominee Donald Trump laid the groundwork
for pink pussyhats, a meme come to life as the widely recognized symbol for the
international Women’s March.
Crucially, Mina reveals how, in parts of the world where public dissent is downright dangerous, memes can belie contentious political opinions that would incur drastic consequences if expressed outright. Activists in China evade censorship by critiquing their government with grass mud horse pictures online. Meanwhile, governments and hate groups are also beginning to utilize memes to spread propaganda, xenophobia, and misinformation. Botnets and state-sponsored agents spread them to confuse and distract internet communities. On the long, winding road from innocuous cat photos, internet memes have become a central practice for political contention and civic engagement.
Memes to Movements unveils the transformative power of memes, for better and for worse. At a time when our movements are growing more complex and open-ended—when governments are learning to wield the internet as effectively as protestors—Mina brings a fresh and sharply innovative take to the media discourse.
Crucially, Mina reveals how, in parts of the world where public dissent is downright dangerous, memes can belie contentious political opinions that would incur drastic consequences if expressed outright. Activists in China evade censorship by critiquing their government with grass mud horse pictures online. Meanwhile, governments and hate groups are also beginning to utilize memes to spread propaganda, xenophobia, and misinformation. Botnets and state-sponsored agents spread them to confuse and distract internet communities. On the long, winding road from innocuous cat photos, internet memes have become a central practice for political contention and civic engagement.
Memes to Movements unveils the transformative power of memes, for better and for worse. At a time when our movements are growing more complex and open-ended—when governments are learning to wield the internet as effectively as protestors—Mina brings a fresh and sharply innovative take to the media discourse.
Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t
by Messie Condo
(amazon) Tidy the F*ck Up is a funny, down-to-earth
parody of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, where
you’ll be handed the most useful tools for keeping your crap clean and
organized without all the pressure.
In this book, you’ll discover useful ways to figure out what to do with your sh*tpiles in an approachable, care-free way, and you’ll say farewell to the hair-pulling stress of marathon cleaning. Tossing all your junk in a closet doesn’t make it any less of a clusterf*ck, but approaching it little by little and making use of some helpful hints can do a world of wonders for all your sh*t, the comfort of your space, and your general sanity. With this hilarious guide, you’ll learn how to:
In this book, you’ll discover useful ways to figure out what to do with your sh*tpiles in an approachable, care-free way, and you’ll say farewell to the hair-pulling stress of marathon cleaning. Tossing all your junk in a closet doesn’t make it any less of a clusterf*ck, but approaching it little by little and making use of some helpful hints can do a world of wonders for all your sh*t, the comfort of your space, and your general sanity. With this hilarious guide, you’ll learn how to:
- Become a decision-making bad*ss
- Get rid of the sh*t you don’t need and keep the sh*t you do
- Live life after a clusterf*ck!
- And more!
With a lighthearted tone that the finest sailors would admire, Tidy the
F*ck Up will help you make your house a f*cking home.
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem by Jeff Foxworthy
(amazon) From the best-selling comedian and author of You Might Be a Redneck If comes this new collection of humor touching on such
universal subjects as marriage, growing up, parenthood, and politics.
Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters by Mallory Ortberg
(amazon) Hilariously imagined text conversations―the passive
aggressive, the clever, and the strange―from classic and modern literary
figures, from Scarlett O'Hara to Jessica Wakefield
Mallory Ortberg, the co-creator of the cult-favorite website The Toast, presents this whimsical collection of hysterical text conversations from your favorite literary characters. Everyone knows that if Scarlett O'Hara had an unlimited text-and-data plan, she'd constantly try to tempt Ashley away from Melanie with suggestive messages. If Mr. Rochester could text Jane Eyre, his ardent missives would obviously be in all-caps. And Daisy Buchanan would not only text while driving, she'd text you to pick her up after she totaled her car. Based on the popular web-feature, Texts from Jane Eyre is a witty, irreverent mashup that brings the characters from your favorite books into the twenty-first century.
Mallory Ortberg, the co-creator of the cult-favorite website The Toast, presents this whimsical collection of hysterical text conversations from your favorite literary characters. Everyone knows that if Scarlett O'Hara had an unlimited text-and-data plan, she'd constantly try to tempt Ashley away from Melanie with suggestive messages. If Mr. Rochester could text Jane Eyre, his ardent missives would obviously be in all-caps. And Daisy Buchanan would not only text while driving, she'd text you to pick her up after she totaled her car. Based on the popular web-feature, Texts from Jane Eyre is a witty, irreverent mashup that brings the characters from your favorite books into the twenty-first century.
(amazon) You may know W. Kamau Bell from his new,
Emmy-nominated hit show on CNN, United Shades of America. Or maybe you’ve
read about him in the New York Times, which called him “the most promising
new talent in political comedy in many years.” Or maybe from The New
Yorker, fawning over his brand of humor writing: "Bell’s gimmick is
intersectional progressivism: he treats racial, gay, and women’s issues as
inseparable."
After all this love and praise, it’s time for the next step: a book. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; left-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; white men; his up-bringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.
After all this love and praise, it’s time for the next step: a book. The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today, tackling a wide range of issues, such as race relations; fatherhood; the state of law enforcement today; comedians and superheroes; right-wing politics; left-wing politics; failure; his interracial marriage; white men; his up-bringing by very strong-willed, race-conscious, yet ideologically opposite parents; his early days struggling to find his comedic voice, then his later days struggling to find his comedic voice; why he never seemed to fit in with the Black comedy scene . . . or the white comedy scene; how he was a Black nerd way before that became a thing; how it took his wife and an East Bay lesbian to teach him that racism and sexism often walk hand in hand; and much, much more.
TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by
Chris Anderson
(amazon) For anyone who has ever been inspired by a TED
talk…
...this is an insider’s guide to creating talks that are unforgettable.
Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form.
...this is an insider’s guide to creating talks that are unforgettable.
Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form.
This book explains how the miracle of powerful public speaking is achieved, and equips you to give it your best shot. There is no set formula; no two talks should be the same. The goal is for you to give the talk that only you can give. But don’t be intimidated. You may find it more natural than you think.
Chris Anderson has worked behind the
scenes with all the TED speakers who have inspired us the most, and here he
shares insights from such favorites as Sir Ken Robinson, Amy Cuddy, Bill Gates,
Elizabeth Gilbert, Salman Khan, Dan Gilbert, Mary Roach, Matt Ridley, and
dozens more — everything from how to craft your talk’s content to how you can
be most effective on stage. This is the 21st-century’s new manual for truly
effective communication and it is a must-read for anyone who is ready to create
impact with their ideas.
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown
(amazon) “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who
points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have
done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . .
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at
worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”—Theodore
Roosevelt
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, LMSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, LMSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Stand up comedian Dave Chappelle recently won the Mark Twain
Prize
Amazon Original show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
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