Quote:
Originally posted by Sidd Finch
I spent some time book shopping this weekend and picked up one long-awaited item, the new novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, whose Pulitzer-winning "Interpreter of Maladies" was among the most magnificent short story collections I've ever read. Also the new novel by Chuck Pahlaniuk, which sort of fits in this poll and sort of doesn't.
Which leads me to this poll. What book do you most want to see published? Based on either topic, author, or whatever, but what is the book you look for whenever you browse in a store?
For me, I look for new novels by Helen DeWitt and by Arundhati Roy pretty much every time I'm in a bookstore. DeWitt wrote the brilliant "Last Samurai" several years ago, blending superb writing, a moving story, and a creative level of formal construction better than anything new I've read in quite awhile. Roy's first novel was the Booker-winning "God of Small Things." In the past few years, DeWitt seems to have fallen off the writing planet, while Roy seems to prefer writing political commentary that's occasionally engaging but more often annoying, if not downright offensive.
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I used to watch for another book from Dave Eggers, after reading A Staggering Work of... but after reading his attempt at a novel last year, that desire has been quelled. I did just buy a memoir from one of his fellow McSweeney's alums though, so I'll let you all know how that goes -- Dan Kennedy, Loser Goes First.
