The Saga Begins

Well, it being summer and all, that means I need to get going on my 16 books in 16 weeks project. The problem is, I can't really get started on my list with unfinished business. Around spring break this last year I had purchased a couple of books "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood, (which is on my summer reading list) and "Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem. Well, I did a lot of flying during spring break and "Chronic City" was the book that accompanied me on all of those flights. However, when I got back, classes, grading and other things got in the way of me being able to finish the book. So, when summer reading time came around, I was trying to figure out what book to start with. There are a lot of amazing books on my list that I really want to get to. But the more I thought about where to start, I couldn't figure it out. And then I saw "Chronic City" sitting on my shelf, bookmark still in place, and I couldn't just leave it there. I needed to finish it, and that's what I did. So that may bring my book count up a bit, or make it a tighter squeeze to finish in the 16 weeks, but I'm very happy with my decision.

I'm a firm believer in the theory certain books find their way into our lives when we most need them. "Chronic City" is one of those books in my life. The basic story is of a child actor, Chase Insteadman, who is no longer acting but a fixture of New York City's collective identity. His fiance is the only American aboard the Russian space station, but is stuck up there because of a field of Chinese space mines. Now, as crazy and intriguing as that all sounds, it isn't the focus of this novel. The focus of the novel is Insteadman's new friend Perkus Tooth. While read this book, I had this great urge to live in Manhattan. I needed to be part of that world and community, to carve out my own little niche in the street names and restaurants. However, when I had finished the book, that urge had changed. Not because I now had a distaste for Manhattan, Lethem does a wonderful job of sharing his love of the city with the reader, but my new urge was to carve out a place in my own city.

Lethem has seasoned his book with clear and thinly veiled pop cultural references. It's not hard for the reader to know that Gnuppets are suppose to be Muppets or that Chthonic Youth is Sonic Youth, but that is part of the fun here. Not only is Lethem creating the world of Manhattan for his readers, he is showing how his characters have created their own worlds within Manhattan through pop culture and the people they associate with. In the end, I don't want Manhattan, I want Perkus Tooth's kitchen. This amazing world of books, music, and visiting friends. It is this wonderful little piece of a much larger picture. Escaped tigers, Chauldrons, Chinese space mines are all out there, but we've got our worlds to manage.


I will say this, finishing "Chronic City" has only made me more excited to get started on the rest of my books. Now I just need to decide what comes next. So, let's get this read-a-thon rolling.