Erin's Book #13: Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

I confess. Every now and then, I love me some chick lit. A frivolous little book that I can read in a few days, where likable female characters overcome some obstacles to get the boy, find success, and live happily ever after.

My go-to chick lit author is Jennifer Weiner. Unlike some other chick lit (like Confessions of a Shopaholic, which I profoundly regret reading), Weiner's actually a talented writer, her characters face real issues, and there's usually a bit more at stake.

Certain Girls is the sequel to Good in Bed, a fact I didn't know until I started to read it. But fortunately I have read that one, so it's okay. Good in Bed follows an overweight woman (a Weiner staple) named Cannie Shapiro who breaks up with her stoner boyfriend, who then proceeds to write a monthly magazine column about her and her sizable weight. Cannie then finds out she's pregnant with the loser's baby. In the end, of course, all is well, lessons are learned, and life is grand.

Certain Girls picks up years later, where Cannie is married to her love interest from Good in Bed (not the loser ex, but the good guy she's clearly meant for), and "their" daughter, Joy, is now on the verge of adolescence. The chapters alternate between being written from Cannie's perspective and that of Joy. I enjoyed most of the book. Weiner has a gift at getting into the minds of young girls. Reading Joy's chapters reminded me of the inexplicable mood swings of teenagerdom, hating your mother and not quite knowing why. Joy acts out and says hurtful things, which she regrets even as the words are coming out of her mouth. She is desperate to fit in with the cool kids at her school, even if that means turning her back on her true friends. She is your typical 12-year-old girl, crushing on boys, being completely mortified by her parents, and generally wanting to slip into a crack in the sidewalk and die.

Cannie senses her daughter slipping away, but doesn't know how to prevent it. She's just not cool enough or laid back enough and her attempts to win back her daughter's love and admiration are generally ill-founded.

As the book moves on, I felt I knew where it was going. I anticipated great resolutions, where Cannie revamps her struggling career as a writer, she and husband Peter have a new baby, Joy realizes the importance of family and friends that love you unconditionally and stops being a brat, and everyone lived happily ever after. I got some of what I expected. But something happens toward the end of the book that was so shocking and horrible, I couldn't believe I was reading chick lit! In my view, the reason to read an author like Weiner is escapism. A little fantasy and romance and knowing that everything's going to work out in the end. It's the literary version of a romantic comedy. Certain Girls is not that.

Having read some of the Amazon reviews, I anticipated this, but it still was more awful than I expected. Certain Girls was a good read - compelling story, intriguing characters - but I wish I hadn't gone in with chick lit expectations.

Okay now that I've just used the term chick lit nine times, I think I'm done. :-)

V's Pick #30: Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this blog? If not, now is as good as time as any. I mean it, I LOVE doing this. Finishing a book is a wonderful feeling and unless I'm in an actual book club, I rarely have the opportunity to really share things about what I've read...I actually find myself looking forward to typing up my thoughts, random quotes, etc., about the books I've read because I know I have a place for all the post-reading stuff to go. Plus, I love reading about what all of you are reading. Also, when you read as much as all of us do, sometimes it's hard to remember in a few months, much less a year, what you've read - it's so nice to be able to look back on what we've accomplished as individuals and as a group so far.

Okay, so, on to this book. I picked it up from the library on a whim - a story about four women who met at Smith College and the connection of their lives as a result. In a sense, it was like reading 4 different stories and in another sense, it was like reading my own story - a tale of friendship that survives graduation, distance, marriages, careers and babies. As good as that may sound, Commencement left me wanting more - and not in that good way.

Thinking about life post-college as your freshman or sophomore years in the real world is a neat concept, but I really needed this book to move a little faster and to end a little more, well, end-like. If this were a movie, it would have a rather undramatic cliff-hanger that makes for frustration because you know there will not be a sequel...and it wasn't an interesting enough ending to make me feel okay with things not being closed up. It was sort of like Sullivan either reached her publishing deadline or just got tired of writing.

Bree, Celia, April and Sally met in the King House dorm their first year at Smith College. Sullivan, a Smith grad herself, paints what I believe to be a true picture of the feminist-centered Smith; young women at a women's college trying to figure out how to get men, trying on women, doing homework and having affairs with professors. However, even in what I'm sure is a pretty accurate portrayal of Smith, much of the writing is just kind of flat... Sullivan talks a lot about feminism, Steinem, rape, eating disorders, straight lesbians and the like, but she doesn't really SAY very much. Perhaps my expectations of this book were too high but the delivery of these characters' stories could have been handled more carefully - less cliche, more development, etc. For a book about college graduation and the entry into life, Commencement, I guess I just wanted something a little more...ceremonial.

I wouldn't recommend this book - I turned the pages pretty easy and wanted to finish it in part because I kept expecting something cool to happen...and while a lot did happen, even the big things felt small in the way they were told. Thumbs down, don't waste your time.

Pam's Book 20: October Sky/Rocket Boys

This is the story of Homer "Sonny" Hickam and his Rocket Boys. The book was actually originally entitled Rocket Boys but was renamed with the advent of the movie version, October Sky. A group of boys from West-by-God-Virginia sees the launch of Sputnik and decides to create their own rockets. This is the story of their journey from a simple bottle rocket that blows up Sonny's mom's fence to a sophisticated piece of machinery that travels several miles into the air. It is also the story of Sonny's maturation from awkward boy to confident young man, and the evolution of Sonny's relationship with his father.

Memoirs are pretty hit or miss with me. I tend to judge them more harshly than novels: what makes you so special that the world needs to know your story? If you don't have an exceptional story, your writing damn well better be exceptional. Homer Hickam's story is extraordinary. And interesting. And moving. Hickam is careful to show his flaws as well as his more shining traits. He gives the town credit, and his friends and family and mentors. He doesn't get too bogged down in the technical details. Overall it's a feel-good, inspirational story, although there are some dark undertones concerning the future of Coalwood.

Homer Hickam also has a website with a blog:http://www.homerhickam.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi It's interesting to read his thoughts on the contemporary space program, especially with disaster looming at KSC. In order for space exploration, and scientific progress in general, to continue, we need more people with dreams and the temerity to chase them regardless of obstacles and setbacks.

Erin's Book #12: Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Blythe mentioned that her favorite books tend to be ones where she learns about something she didn't know. I've recently come to the same realization. Cane River is no exception.

Lalita Tademy was a VP at a Fortune 500 company when she began researching her family history. What she found was so engrossing, she quit her job to write a novel about it. Cane River is loosely based on fact. She draws from what she she has found and creates the narrative around it. You would never know that Tademy was not really a writer before this. It's beautifully and evocatively written.

Cane River spans 137 years and way too many generations for that amount of time. We begin with Elisabeth and her daughter Suzette, slaves on a plantation in Cane River, Louisiana. The book progresses on down the line, choosing a daughter to focus on and take over the narrative from her mother. I was shocked and horrified by their roles as slaves, how insignificant these women were considered to their masters, to not have last names or be able to legally marry. Obviously I already knew that slaves were merely property, but it's very different to actually read about people in that situation. Fourteen year old girls forced to repeatedly bear the children of older white men they didn't even like, over and over, generation by generation, until you have great-grandmothers that are in their mid-40s. Robbed of their dreams of marriage and family and freedom. Separated from their loved ones, sometimes forever, when times got tough for their masters.

The characters are rich, each generation shaped by its changing time. At times, particularly later in the book, I got a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters and had to rack my brain to remember the relationships, especially if I'd gone a few days without reading. I was fascinated by the way the characters changed as their freedoms increased. Their strength and resolve faded somewhat from their mother's consuming passion for change, to find something better. In Tademy's skilled hands, the character focus shifts happen at precisely the right time. Although I loved each character, I was always ready to move on to the next.

It's a beautiful book about the strength of family and a reminder that we're all the same, no matter what our situation or privilege or color. At one point, after reading about how one of the characters literally owned nothing, not even herself, I looked around my room at all the crap I called my own and was so grateful (and a little guilty) for the opportunities I have. I may not have a steady job or central air conditioning, but I'm lucky in so many ways and it's really good to be reminded of that sometimes.

Once again, Oprah proves she's got a knack for choosing books! I highly recommend it.

V's Pick #29: Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer

I really enjoyed Strohmeyer's last book Sweet Love so I was excited when I found this in the library yesterday. I got home with it around 4pm and read on and off until 1am when I finished it.

Like Sweet Love, this book is (on the surface) all about enjoyment - like watching that smart and funny chick flick that only makes you feel kind of guilty (vs. the total brain-dead one that makes you wish you could get those two hours of your life back). In fact, I think both this and Sweet Love would do very well as films...but that's not what I want to talk about here. Rather, I want to talk about money.

While some of the writing and general lack of challenge this book posed my intellect could leave some wanting, I found it greatly made up for any genre misgiving by being a brave account of what's probably closer to a problem in non-fiction married life...bank accounts, home loans, cars, college, shopping...

Kat and her husband Griff have been married for a long time, they have a daughter about to go to college and amazingly, they are still in love - as in, sex in the laundry room in love. To their friends, they're the "perfect" couple and it's not even that they try to put on airs...but the credit card companies know something about them that even their families don't...they're drowning in debt. Kat's shopping has put them in the poorhouse; while her thrifty husband teachers Economics to graduate students, Kat is flunking Good Wife 101 by blowing her small paycheck at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Getting paranoid that her dark fiscal secrets have lead Griff to consider leaving her, Kat looks for clues...and she finds them. The majority of the book is a balance between woman-preparing-to-be-left, exes, business, friendship, marriage and of course, money.

At advice of her housekeeper, Kat joins the local "Penny Pinchers Club" wherein she learns a lot more than how to manage her checkbook...

A smart and funny tale of an ugly aspect of life many of us are probably all too familiar with (but rarely discuss), I found this an easy but beneficial read. Written in the light of our nation's financial landscape, I imagine this tale will hit home for many. For me, it served as a reminder of how to balance need vs. want, something that isn't always easy in our world so determined on advertising, credit cards and having. If you need a good reminder about the benefits of a more simple life, or just want a lighthearted read that won't make you feel empty, rent (don't buy) this book.

V's Pick #28: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenburg

This book made my week. I bought it on a B & N therapy spree about three months ago and have been thinking about it ever since. Finally, after finishing my exam reading on Tuesday, I allowed myself to dive in.

It's a memoir of a woman about our collective age, from her babyhood to her divorce from academia to her marriage and the best part, it's told in food. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a major foodie - I love trying new things, cooking at home, picking out produce and eating more than I should when I travel. In that alone, I found myself among Molly's words. Furthermore, she writes sort of like me I think - somewhere between funny and serious, or poetic and thoughtful. She's relatable and honest, which is always a reward for me as a reader.

She's the author of Orangette, a foodblog that she started on a whim back in 2004 when she decided she hated her PhD program and didn't want to spend her life buried in boring books to get somewhere she didn't believe in. That hit me hard...because I've been tossing those things around a LOT lately. Also, unlike a lot of food writers, she's not a professional cook - rather, her and her hubby have a shared interest in eating and mostly, sharing recipes. I won't tell you how she met her husband, but it's an awesome tale that speaks volumes about how life falls into place when you're doing what you love.

Her blog is as delicious as this book and it's inspired me and John to create our own blog about Foxy (my (our?) cat). She's also inspired me to continue cooking passionately and to explore the homemade life I've always valued a little bit deeper. There's at least one recipe at the end of each chapter and while I've yet to try any, I cannot wait to slow-roast tomatoes, try the Italian Grotto Eggs she made for her dad while he was dying of cancer and make her wedding cake. In the mix, I hope to come up with my own way of sharing the foods I love dearly with those I love.

The only thing I will warn about this book is that is has created a conflict within me that no other book I've read has done...do I store it on the bookshelf among my literature...or do I keep it with my cookbooks? At once, it belongs in both places, which to me, is pretty much the perfect place for both life and a text.

V's Pick #27: Reconceiving Writing, Rethinking Writing Instruction (ed Joseph Petraglia)

I couldn't find a good picture of the cover so I decided to put the editors picture here instead. No comment on the 1980s glasses...I'm pretty sure this is a recent picture actually.

Anyway, looks aside, this is an okay collection. Honestly, not one of my favorites. There's discussion of AT (Activity Theory) and of abolishing FYC, there's talk about conflict and learning. At the end, Charles Bazerman, who directed my scary-smart bosses PhD dissertation, makes a statement basically saying that the whole book takes us in the wrong direction, which I thought was an interesting choice for Mr. P to make as an editor.

There's always been conflict within FYC and English Departments, as expounded in many of these texts for the exam, however, this is at whole, a collection of scholars who really think it needs to be erased. I find myself disagreeing with a lot of that for reasons I have neither space nor patience to expand at this moment. I'm glad I read this, but mostly, it just made me kind of angry. It's the scholarly version of saying, well, my husband and I have had one thing we can't agree on for the entire time we've been together and thus, we're getting divorced based on that one thing (such as, who takes out the trash).

My opinion, save your time and focus instead, on books about working within that conflict instead of just walking away.

V's Pick #26: (Re)Articulating Writing Assessment for Teaching and Learning by Brian Huot

This book is a nice companion to White; this was actually the first thing I read for the exam because I was just starting to grade student papers and as I've admitted, felt I needed all the help I could get.

While I would say that White had a more practical approach and thus, was more helpful to me in the moment, Huot provides the theory behind such shifts in assessment practices.

A few things he brought up which have stayed with me:

When teachers ask other teachers to grade for them, they put students at a disadvantage because even though we don't like to admit it, part of our grading process is informed by our background knowledge of the student. We grade students based on progress (and he argues, we should) so if we don't have the context of their work throughout the semester, we loose that edge.

Also, for non-native speakers, we need to know them as writers, which only the instructor is capable of. They often make very specific types of "errors" and in order to best instruct them, we need to be able to measure their work. He argues that background knowledge of students can help to grade more reliably, which at first, confused me...shouldn't each assignment be based only on what's on the page? However, as I've tried a handful of different grading approaches this semester, I'm acutely aware that if I wasn't the one doing the grading, there would be a lot of important information left out of my actual grades.

I think this book poses some interesting theories for all teachers, but for anyone grading student writing, it's a safe bet you'll come away with a better understanding of why you make the choices you do with the pen...and maybe even some new things to try.

V's Pick #25: Everyone Can Write by Peter Elbow

I love me some Elbow. Of scholars, he's considered one of the more outside-the-box thinkers - creative and free, he proclaims freewriting and holistic grading, defends teachers who are writers first and instructors second and mostly, tells those who disagree with him to get off their thrones.

He's asking us in this book, the teach writing in a way that is meaningful for personal exploration. Not that he thinks that's ALL Comp should do, but he's asking us to not drown students in some much technicality that we forget to instill in them that writing is FUN. He also suggests that if we no longer believe that, we need to do some work.

He rejects binary thinking and urges us to join him on the other side of the desk; to see what we're doing and do it better - for us and for our students.

I was criticized (nicely) for doing "too much" freewriting with my students. So I asked them if they would like to do less. I want to say this was around week 5 or so of classes. Almost unanimously, the hands said NO! I was shocked. These were students whose first-day profiles were riddled with "I hate writing" "Writing makes me feel so stupid" "I will never like writing" statements...and now, given the option, they wanted to keep...writing? I felt pretty proud of myself, and while I did in the coming weeks have to cut back a little to make room for skill-based exercises, I've kept that with me. I also told them in the beginning of the semester that we'd go outside to write one day - not for a grade, just to have fun. I anticipated groans and rolling eyes. As luck would have it, on open days, the weather was always crap and on days where we HAD to get through things, beautiful. So, we've made it almost 16 weeks without going outside...and on Wednesday, a handful of students mentioned it. They remembered that promise all those weeks ago and have asked me if we can do it during our final. I will admit, I got a little gooey inside...that was more than I'd EVER thought would happen this semester. So, on finals day, when they're dressed in their business-casual finest to present with their conference panels, we will caravan outside (weather permitting, please Florida, let me do this) and we will write. About nature. About school. About wearing heels in the grass. About whatever it is they want...for 15 minutes. I'm comforting myself that even if they weather is crap again, the fact that they've reminded *me* of this exercise speaks volumes to what Elbow is saying we can do with just a little extra thought.

V's Pick #24: Composition in the University by Sharon Crowley

Crowley aims to uncover the deep and dark secrets of Compositions' history in the English Department, or as she calls it, "the toad in the garden." Being the oldest course in university history, there's a lot of secrets and this book reads like an academic detective novel.

Prior to reading this, I never thought about English Departments using Comp as a Cinderella course. I knew that there were (are) many issues with the abuse of labor, the lack of care taken in hiring and training and of course, the conflict with requiring the FYC course in the first place. However, I never thought of Comp as being "used" by the ED to further its aims.

Crowley suggests that Comp is the reason EDs started as well as why they remain. She argues that without the Gen Ed FYC course, EDs would lose the power-hold they have over the university and all those with Lit PhDs would be flipping burgers at McDonalds. Okay, so she doesn't say THAT exactly, but it's what she means. Scandalous!

If you're going into grad school for Lit or if you're planning on teaching in the University English Department, this book is a must-read.

V's Pick #23: Teaching & Assessing Writing by Edward White

This book spawned a very long email to my department about the exam a few months ago. I will admit, as a first time teacher, assessment has been my weak point, or rather, the place where I feel I need the most instruction and rationale.

White provided some of that for me and most starkly, he talked about all the reasons exams like the one I was studying for while reading him, are neither valid or reliable.

I was on fire with conflict. Wait, you mean to tell me you assigned me this book to study for this exam and in it, I am learning just how wrong these exams are in measuring writing skill?

The email made me nervous - I wasn't sure who would be grading me or if my objections would hurt my future, but I had to share them. If I've learned anything in this program it's to think more critically and part of that to me, means speaking up when things aren't right.
Lucky for me, the email was received in good favor and passed on to the people who needed to hear it. It was agreed that the exam is not the perfect measurement of aptitude, but unlike the Lit programs' Capstone course, we in the Rhet/Comp field just have to wait for a better approach to come along. I made me peace with it obviously but the fact remains that comprehensive tests - for placement, admission and measurement are rife with problems. For those of you who teach any course that involves the grading of writing, I would highly, highly recommend this book. It's lengthy but an pretty easy read and it taught me more about assessment than anything else I've read. Prior to White, I never thought about needed to "test our tests"...

V's Pick #22: Genre and The Invention of the Writer by Anis Bawarshi

I took my exam yesterday - about four total hours of typing and 22 pages later, I felt (feel) pretty good about it. I'll know my results in about three weeks.

The thing that was most shocking about what was asked of me was that in whole, I read about 7500 pages of text to prepare and of the questions I needed to answer, probably only used about 30% of what I now know. Tricky, tricky. So, suffice to say, I've got a lot of stuff still floating around in my head and I would really like it to stay.

One thing I don't see leaving my filled brain is Bawarshi's attempt to reconcile invention in the first-year writing classroom by teaching about genres. It makes SO much sense to me - teach students the game about approaching each new writing assignment by teaching them how to recognize genres and then how to adhere to them. She gives an example in this book of some of the final projects students came up with and they're fantastic. One student looked at the genre of wedding invitations. Another, at sympathy cards. Another, grocery lists. We're surrounded by genres and we write accordingly to them, but never (at least in my undergrad experience) are we taught how to look at the world of writing through that lens. The next time I teach FYC (first-year composition) I'm going to use this approach - I think it makes room for new media as well as keeps the content writing-focused...and one hopes, will provide transferrable knowledge students can use in the university and the workplace.

Bawarshi is a great writer and this book was a gem to me. She's sensitive to creativity and willing to share her approaches in a real and helpful way from teacher-writer to teacher. She's also right, we don't talk about invention enough anymore - and while the classical rhetoricians are dead and gone, we can, as Bolter says, remediate them in order to use their knowledge in conjunction with our present world.

V's Pick #21: Rhetoric of Cool by Jeff Rice

I was so excited to see this book on my list and I finally got around to reading it two weeks ago (saving the best for the end). I'd heard Rice mentioned in various classes and have come across him here and there in scholarship, but I was not prepared for exactly how, well, COOL this book would be.

A graduate of UF, Rice talks about Florida a little, which is always kind of endearing. Also, as a Rhet/Comp major who admittedly had some problems with what was being asked of him, I identified. He was tired of the old and dry, the archaic and distant interaction of academic pursuits and the modern fast-moving information driven world. Trying to find a way to link his vast knowledge of the past with the speed of the future, Rice looked to one word to find the answer: "cool." Now, we know cool from the 90s - as in, you're cool or uncool. But Rice is talking about the kind of cool born in the jazz age, back when "cool" really meant you were chill, as in, relaxed. Rice uses music throughout his account of new media and composition studies, citing hip hop artists like Wu Tang and of course, the father of cool, Miles Davis. He talks about dancing and light-up shoes, about admittance to clubs and the difference between "hot" and "cold." But what he does mostly is talk about how we can teach Comp in order to prepare our students to write in the new media. For that and that alone, I am a forever fan of this man.

Rice does nearly everything in this book that I wish and hope more scholars pick up on - he's human, well researched, and not afraid to be relevant. I'm not sure how you can teach composition in the new media and not be just a little bit "cool" - but then again, I suffered through Brooke who wrote after Rice and is in my opinion, very "uncool." This book is the perfect marriage between substance and style, which makes me a believer of Rice even more...imagine that, he not only proposes it, he DOES it.

V's Pick #20: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt

Brandt was the first literacy scholar I read and despite how far I've come from that reading two semesters ago, I can still say, she's the bees knees. As an ethnographer, her accounts of the lives of literate and illiterate are some of the most in-depth and human. If one knows nothing more of literacy in general, Brandt's treatment of "sponsors" is arguably the most important concept to come to the field in the last 30 years. A sponsor is an "agent" - local or distant, who gets an advantage by helping someone become literate. Most people cite their parents, teachers or churches as sponsors, for example. Your parents teach you to read, they get joy, pride and bragging rights - you? You get to read. So far, Brandt is the only literacy scholar I've read whose work connects the economy as a driving force in the literacy practices of individuals, which is something I find hard to believe considering how much job acceptance has to do with ones' skills.

V's Pick #19: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Wait, what's this? A non-school book (ever since Cher called non-academic reading that in Clueless I've done the same)? Yes...I fit one in. However, I actually started reading this on Christmas break and it's taken me until two nights ago (in APRIL) to finish it. That's what a few pages a night right before bed gets you.
As a fan of Vonnegut, this book came highly regarded by any one who I ever spoke his name around so naturally, I had pretty high expectations. And naturally, as is with most things that start that way, I wasn't as excited about it as everyone else has been by the end. Don't get me wrong, it's essential Vonnegut - crazy and inappropriate, all over the place with the fourth-wall broken time and time again. There's Drano drinking suicide wives, gay sons named Bunny, big-breasted secretaries who fall in love with car salesmen, bitten off fingers, "bad chemicals," pictures of underpants and the waist or penis size (female, male respectively) listed for every new character...but it lacked something that other Vonnegut has carried for me. It wasn't until sitting down to write to all of you about it that I figured it out: I'm a sucker for a happy ending. While this book didn't end in a way I would describe "happy" or "sad" it didn't end in the way I'm used to Vonnegut ending - in some form of hope in a hopeless place, the pay off for all the treachery you travelled with him. I didn't think I really needed that from him as an author until this book rolled off my bed two nights ago finished and I didn't have that release that follows. BOC was a fun journey, a worthy read, a quasi-history of America and the home to some pretty fantastic drawings, but I guess I needed more. If this is the only Vonnegut people read (which from what I gather, it is), they're seriously missing out on some of the greatest elements of his authorial artistry.

V's Pick #18: Literacy - A Critical Sourcebook (Cushman, Rose, etc)

This is another doozy, 700 pages of critical literacy scholarship. I enjoyed everything I read from this, not that at this point, that's any measure of anything...but it's nice when it happens so I feel the need to mention it. Included in my selections were Ong, Graff, Heath, more Heath, Street, more Heath, Gee, Brandt and Freire.

V's Pick #17: The Norton Book of Composition Studies (Ed Susan Miller)

If you've ever read a Norton Book of... you know that they're famous for their onion-skin thin paper, on which nearly every pen known to man (and even some pencils) bleed through, making annotation (and reading) a whole new ballgame. I have five other Norton books from undergrad - a set of poetry books and a set of literature books. They're fantastic. Arguably, the best readers out there...and this one is no exception. I wish, wish, wish I had time to read every single article because I know every word in this collections' 1700 pages is important in some way. However, I'll estimate I read about 500 of the 1700 pages, which cover all of the main scholars, as well as articles like: "Never Mind the Tagmemics, Where's the Sex Pistols" (Sirc) that I just couldn't pass up. If you want to know anything, and I dare say anything, and more importantly, everything about Comp theory, pick this up.

V's Pick #16: Cross-Talk in Comp Theory (Ed Victor Villanueva)

I read this for a class I took my second semester so this reading was more of a revisiting (it's about 1500 pages). I'm not going to go into detail but I will say it was my first foray into Comp Theory and the book responsible for my adoration of the subject. It's a well-chosen reader that holds the most seminal articles in the last 25 years by the big names: Perl, Flowers, Hayes, Sommers, Bizzell, etc.

Side note: you'll notice as I post about the theory books, I enjoy Comp scholarship a lot more than Rhetoric scholarship. Rhetoric informs Comp greatly, but I could read Comp theory any day over a lot of the writing on rhetoric. Go figure.

V's Pick #15: The Rhetorical Tradition (Bizzell and Herzberg)

Weighing in at 1650 pages, I read what I needed: Gorgias' "Encomium of Helen," "Dissoi Logoi," Isocrates' "Against The Sophists" and "Antidosis," Plato's "Gorgias" and "Phaedrus," Aristotle's Rhetoric (excerpts from Books 1, 2 and 3), Cicero's "De Oratore," Quintilian's "Institutes of Oratory," Campbell's "Philosophy of Rhetoric," Blair's "Belles Lettres," Whatley's "Elements of Rhetoric," and Sarah Grimke's "Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women."

V's Pick #14: Lingua Fracta by Collin Gifford Brooke

I feel like I do a lot of complaining about these books, and I don't want you guys to get the idea that I'm not thankful for my program or benefitting from what I'm learning but admittedly, this exam as solidified a few things for me:
1.) I would rather do an endless sink of dishes than read a lot of the writing scholars do...not because of ideas but because they are BORING writers. And it's hard to take ideas about writing (especially style) from people, despite their credentials, who write like the walking dead.
2.) I am a hyper-audience aware writer (and thus, reader) who feels marginalized by many of the authors I encounter in this sect of academia.
3.) I actually ache to read literature, something with even the slightest bit of personality, humanness, below a pithy and esoteric shell of larger-than-life language.
4.) I value scholarship, citation as a conversation, research, credibility and exploration of new spaces of thought...but I value above all, the ability to deliver and perform, while informing.

So, with all that off my chest, I said out loud to a colleague yesterday for the first time that "this is not my place" - I think she might have thought, based on the context of the conversation that I meant education, which I didn't (and I held myself back from sending an email to correct what was simply a casual conversation). What I really meant, was "this" as in, academia. In some alternative universe, if I'm ever feeling masochistic enough to undertake a PhD, it will not be in Rhet/Comp, nor will it be to sit in the ivory tower of scholarship among writers who, largely, in my opinion, don't practice what they preach. What I meant by "this" was that in the last four months of reading for this exam, I have had to go to war with my soul, my very essence of creativity and spark, to digest this stuff without losing my marbles. Now, I write to you in this free-ease and of course, will put on my "playing the game" hat to write for my exam, because I've learned how to become a shadow-voice, how to dance in genres like I belong and how to swallow myself long enough to get through the tasks. And, as I never expected, I am thankful for those lessons as well. What does this have to do with Lingua Fracta? I read this book in two grueling days. It was written last year. It's about new media (a subject I LOVE in my field). Blogging, WOW, desktops, visual rhetoric - the fun stuff, the front-line of the future, the current and present interests of scholars in just about every field...yet it's written in some of the most dry and pedantic, removed and downright miserable style I've yet to encounter.  "Lingua fracta" comes from the term "lingua franca" which was a trade language that incorporated Spanish, French and Italian - a sort of sub-language that was used in the exchange of money for goods. "Fracta" was chosen by Brooke because he feels new media is such a grounds for collaboration and intermingling, which I like.

As far as concepts, this post could be at least a few webpages long with ideas, but I've already handwritten my notes (part of my studying process) and honestly just cannot go through them all again. In short, Brooke suggests (wisely) that we bring the rhetorical canons back from the dead and use them to create new rhetorics in order to analyze new media. He breaks the five canons down (memory, style, delivery, arrangement, invention) and gives examples from new media (RSS, tagclouds, trackbacks, etc.) which we can use to understand them in contemporary context. Wholly, an amazing book that will be cited for years to come. My disturbance, why, when the subject is so relevant and revolutionary, must I literally have to DRAG my teeth through it as a reader? Sigh. But I digress. Good ideas, painful book. You'd think I'd be used to this by now, but I'm a fighter...

V's Pick #13: On Rhetoric by Aristotle (Trans by George Kennedy)

Why, why, why didn't someone give me this in my first semester? Better yet, as a Rhet/Comp major, why wasn't this required reading before even stepping foot into my first class?
I have a confession - beyond the three proofs (ethos, logos, pathos) and a skimming (advised by my teacher) of the excepts from Books 1, 2, and 3, I've made it through a year of rhetorical study with very little work with or on Aristotle. In defense of my program, I believe it's because teaching Aristotle wholesale is harmful to advancement in our studies - he's not contemporary, his thinking is conservative and with each passing year, Aristotude (I just made that up, pretty cool, right?) becomes less en vogue. So, they teach us the things that have stood the test of time, like, ethos, logos, pathos and ask us to explore new worlds, which is great.

Here's the problem, and my reason for wanting this book much sooner: outside of the physical classroom, like for example, reading for this test, EVERYONE cites Aristotle. In the 60s - late 90s (still today for some) he was a voice to be reckoned with, a rhetorical father used to further aims of conservative scholars (or at the least, liberal scholars used him as an example). In whole, without a good understanding of Aristotle, Rhet/Comp, for me, has been kind of like watching the Family Guy except only getting half the jokes. Now, yes, I could have/should have taken it upon myself to scour out this text and read it on a break...no excuses being made, but I say all this to urge any of you who may teach elements of rhetoric or believe it to be something that could inform your students, this is the book you want to take excerpts from. Kennedy does an AMAZING job translating, organizing and overall, making Aristotle wholly readable (and I would argue relevant) in the 21st century.

V's Pick #12: Rhetoric Retold by Cheryl Glenn

This was the last book I read for my exam (taking it Friday) and I'm not sure why it ended up that this one sealed me off (I stopped reading in order a month ago) but I'm glad it did. 


Glenn called me out before the first chapter - she called every Rhet/Comp student and/or scholar out. Why? Because we've forgotten women. I'm guilty as charged, but it's partly not my fault. How many classes have been offered in my program that focused, no, even *mentioned* women in regard to rhetoric? Zero. Well, one, if you consider a half of a class period learning about Susan Anthony and the Grimke sisters in Rhetorical Traditions before moving on the more important men... Reading Jarratt was the first connection I'd seen anyone make, even slightly, between feminism and rhetoric. 


Not only is this book seminal and beautifully crafted, but it's a huge and risky task, something reading for this exam has helped me appreciate in regard to scholarship. With Rhetoric Retold, Glenn is not only challenging the "Heritage Turnpike" (the current 'map' of rhetorical history) but she's rewriting it. What started as a graduate interest in Aspasia (wife of Pericles, teacher, mother and respected orator said to have influenced Socrates and lead the Sophistic movement) lead to a five year project to literally re-write history. 


Now, with regard to history and rewriting, Glenn is careful to remind us, as Berlin and Schippa respectfully mirror, that history is a fiction - what you read is a mix between reality and opinion. Thus, Glenn focuses her efforts on contributing a histiography (basically a history of discourse), making fewer claims about what inspired whom, rather, discussing the textual evidence of women's existence in rhetoric since the Trojan War. 


I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in feminist literature - Glenn's definition of "rhetoric" is purposefully loose for the sake of inclusion; her examples of female voices are richly researched, thoughtfully explored and nicely set among plenty of contextual history. As a Lit major in undergrad, I'm shamed to say that only through Glenn did I learn the origin of the word "lesbian," the beauty of Sappho's writing and the importance of "silence."

V's Pick #11: Rereading the Sophists by Susan C. Jarratt

Jarratt sets out on a lofty and admirable attempt - to reread the sophists in order to open up rhetorical scholarship to allow other marginalized voices (like those of women) into the arena. However, she makes a few careless moves (oh, academia) and the result has been a backlash on this book from multiple other scholars (see reviews to come). The sophists are a wholly undocumented and largely ignored categorization of orators that span pre-Aristotle. Most famously, Gorgias and Protogoras, but depending on who you read (and believe) Socrates is arguably the most famous sophists. I read Jarratt before reading her opposition and found myself nodding in feminist agreement with a lot of what she had to say. Hey, here's the group of talented thinkers ("sophists" translates from Greek to mean "person of wisdom") who taught and spoke with grace, who pushed the flowery expressive style of writing I, in 2010, still adore and often write - how dare scholarship ignore them! Admittedly, I've had a soft spot for these guys (yes, only guys, we'll get to that in a later review) since my introductory rhetoric course. However, while Jarratt makes a compelling argument for the removal of binary thinking (we don't need to choose either Plato OR Aristotle), that Aristotle was kind of a stick-in-mud and that celebrating the sophists will bring us closer to a democratic view of rhetoric, she fails to make mention of the fact that group the sophists is in itself, a near impossible task. Her categorization seems to rely on the weak basis of wise thinkers within a certain time period who valued the rhetorical canon of style and who taught people how to be good citizens. Sounds good, right? Too bad it's wrong. 

While Jarratt wants us to believe that the sophists main exigence for speaking and writing was to promote democracy, the problem remains that while they did this, they did it for money (something other orators didn't request from students) and they ONLY taught those who could pay (i.e. the elite). Now, that's not too different from college professors in American pre-1960, but the main difference is that to say that a group of thinkers can bring in voices that have been silenced when they themselves only taught a specific group is a movement rife with problems. Furthermore, as Jarratt herself discusses in Rereading the students were all men, all white, and all from families whose elders paid for their tuition. Again, not so different from some colleges even today...but the main issue I take up with Jarratt's request for sophist-as-hero is that those elders told the sophists what to teach - they wanted their sons and grandsons, their lineage, to learn nomos (politics) and that is what the sophists taught. Good lessons, but hardly the freedom for a democratic voice. Essentially, the sophists were sort of like privately hired teachers for future rulers, responsible for teaching them how to persuade and behave in order to rule. 

In short, there are a lot of problems with this book and I discovered even more as a I read the extended scholarship. I think Jarratt's aim was solid, but her performance in this text was full of gaps. I agree with her mission but have read a handful of other books now that do what she wanted to do without leaving so much out. Poor sophists, foiled again. 

Pam's Book 19: Bloodsucking Fiends

Everywhere you look, there are vampires. At least, the fictional kind of vampires. (As far as I know, anyway.) My introduction to vampire fiction was in the mid-nineties with the Anne Rice books (I'm pretty sure it was Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise who inspired me to read them). The pop world embraced vampires then, and they do so even more now. Bloodsucking Fiends was written at the height of the Anne Rice craze, a hilarious, rollicking satire of a vampire story.

I've come to realize through this blog that what makes a book for me isn't nearly so much the storyline as the characters. If the story's great, but the characters aren't lifelike and lovable, I probably won't have enjoyed the book very much; on the other hand, great characters can cover a multitude of plot sins. The first character we meet in this book is the Emperor of San Francisco and his "men," dogs Bummer and Lazarus. The Emperor may in actuality be a homeless near-lunatic, but he is beloved and accepted by those he reigns over. He realizes something funny's going on from the get-go, while it takes the police most of the book to figure it out. The next person we meet is Jody, who has just become a vampire. My favorite part of her reaction to becoming a vampire is when she realizes that now she can never lose that last five pounds. This, to her, is far more tragic than anything else about her transformation. I get that.

Jody soon finds herself a minion, C. Thomas Flood, Tommy for short. Tommy has recently moved to San Francisco from Indiana to pursue his career as a writer. He gets a job as night manager at a local Safeway where he soon floors the Animals (the night crew) with his superior turkey bowling abilities. Bloodsucking Fiends is their love story, as well as a sort of murder mystery, as well as a tale of survival and adventure as Jody, Tommy, the Emperor, the Animals, and some cops fight to overcome the ancient vampire who turned Jody.

The story is fantastic escapism. If you like vampires, it's a great read with tons of allusions to most pre-1997 stories of the undead. If you don't like vampires, it's a great read that totally makes fun of vampire stories. Jody and Tommy could not be more unlike Bella and Edward. I enjoyed it so much I read the sequel the next day (not going to blog about it because it's more of the same, with the addition of some more zany characters). Christopher Moore is funny, really funny. And although this book is definitely tongue in cheek, I have a feeling that the character's reactions are far more realistic than those in the books whose authors take the subject far more seriously.

Blythe's Book 18: The Liar's Club

I finished reading Mary Karr's memoir, The Liar's Club, this weekend. Even though it is the chosen selection this month for the book club I'm a part of, I almost didn't read it just out of sheer laziness. However, when I watched two of my favorite readers, Trish and Pam, almost get in a knock-down-drag-out last week over whether or not it was a good read (Pam: no way, Trish: hell yes), I ran over to the library to check it out just as fast as my Mazda would carry me. (When I said ran you didn't actually think I meant on foot, did you?) I was kind of relishing the thought of coming to my own conclusions and then being part of a teachers' lounge book brawl. Much to my disappointment, I'm not ready to take off my earrings and start throwing punches on either side.

I can totally understand why Pam didn't like the writing. Karr is a poet first, and at times I discovered her inventing verbs, and leaving out words that I expected to see (like an article preceding a noun). At first, I found this infuriating because I kept having to reread sentences. However, by memoir's end, I kinda liked this aspect of her writing. Oh, and in the beginning, Karr totally overuses this metaphor about seeing life like a movie reel, with the pictures fading in and out. Happily, she drops this midway through.

On the other hand, I thought, much like Trish, that the storyline itself was compelling. Don't get me wrong-- if someone asks me to recommend a memoir about childhood in an F'd up family, I'm still endorsing The Glass Castle (if you haven't read it, go get it NOW!!). But, I still really liked Karr's story and found myself connected to the characters. This girl lived through some sh*t, which may be reason enough to get a book deal, but is not necessarily enough to entertain me; for me, the winning combination was learning about the connection between Karr and her sister, and about her father, and the town they lived in. This family lived with such fury, chaos, and grit! Mary is constantly telling neighborhoos children off, using colorful phrases that she doesn't even fully understand-- and on the one hand I'm busy admiring the heck out of her for being so ballsy, and on the other I'm thinking, "My God... where does a child learn that?" Mary lived a rough life, but if nothing else, her parents prepared her to handle herself. There's no doubt at memoir's end that, no matter how psychologically battered Mary and Leisa may be, they will come through in one piece-- they've been forged in the fire and will endure.

Pam's Book 18: The Hearts of Horses

I've never been horse crazy. I would never have picked up this book on my own. But I was in a cozy independent bookstore in Solvang, CA, Ivanhoe nearly finished, facing the prospect of a day of flying without a book (my definition of hell). I couldn't think of anything in particular I wanted, so I asked one of the employees. We talked books for about half an hour and I ended up with this and another book I'm still reading (to be blogged about later).

The Hearts of Horses takes place in Oregon during WWI. Martha is a broncobuster, traveling around the state in search of the Wild West of her books, offering to break horses for local ranches. Most of the young men who would ordinarily be performing this service are off in the trenches of France. Martha is more of a horse whisperer, breaking horses gently, without undue force, or really much force at all. There is also, of course, a bit of romance. Through Martha we meet a number of people in a rural Oregon county. Similarly to Olive Kitteridge, Martha is the glue that holds these stories together (although this is clearly written as a novel, not short stories).

The story was interesting enough, but what really intrigued me were the details of WWI. Men who were too old to fight signed on as "four minute men," selling liberty bonds at movies. Women planted liberty gardens. Sacrifice was assumed. We are currently in the middle of a war, have been for years, and sacrifice is anything but assumed. Is it because our enemy is less than visible? I wonder sometimes if there even is an enemy beyond our own foolish pride. Another thing that struck me was the similarities in how the perceived enemy at home is treated. German-Americans were shunned in both world wars, Japanese interred in WWII. Even though much of the public doesn't support the war, they certainly seem to support the anti-Muslim sentiment. I guess it's necessary to put a face to blame.

Blythe's Book 17: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

I think that in recent years the books I've loved the most are often the ones that have taught me about something I previously knew nothing about-- for instance, learning about circus life in Like Water for Elephants, or about the practice of footbinding in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Even though the storyline of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress was relatively simplistic, its appeal, for me, was in the fact that it was about China's Cultural Revolution. Did you know that in the 1970's (you read that correctly-- thirty something years ago) educated young men from the cities were sent to live in the countryside where they were reeducated by peasants? I surely didn't. Even teenagers who were relatively uneducated were often sent, if their parents were considered elitist. So all of a sudden the sons of doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers, etc. were sent away from their families and forced to live with peasants who taught them about labor, self-sufficiency, and communism. Books were outlawed; returning home before the appointed time (chosen when the village elders thought one was sufficiently educated) was forbidden. I should be fair and say that the writing in this book is lyrical (a cheesy but appropriate word); that the story is heartwarming, funny, and entertaining throughout; that the ending made me smile. All of this is true, but it didn't hold a candle to the emotions I felt as I envisioned the narrator and his friend and companion, Luo, as they experienced life in the rural mountain village they had been exiled to. Their position dismayed me, and this new information about Chinese history amazed me, but it was their love of books and their appreciation for beauty in life that kept me reading.

Pam's Book 17: Ivanhoe

I'm not quite sure what exactly drove me to read Ivanhoe. I read Scott's Heart of Midlothian in college and enjoyed it. My freshmen are currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and Ivanhoe is what Jem is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. I felt it was time to read another classic. The last several books I've read had been easy reads, and I felt like it was time to read a book I had to work for. Somehow, among all these things, Ivanhoe is what I picked up for my spring break reading material. I fully expected it to take many weeks to read, and that I would have to cajole myself into enjoying it. Actually, it was quite easy to get through, thoroughly enjoyable, and even funny in parts.

When the book begins, we meet the swineherd Gurth and jester Wamba. They're just chilling in the woods with Gurth's dog Fangs. They meet some knights/priors wanting directions to their master's house. On the way there we meet the title character, Ivanhoe, although we don't yet know it's him (don't worry, I'm not giving anything away; it's obvious right off the bat who he is). The Normans have recently conquered Saxon England and have brought with them the ideals of chivalry. Cedric, the master of the house and die-hard Saxon, has disowned his son for aspiring to the court of the (now-exiled) Richard Plantagenet, aka Richard the Lionheart. Ivanhoe and later King Richard return to England incognito, Richard to reclaim his throne from his brother John, Ivanhoe to reclaim the heart of the beautiful Rowena.

Ivanhoe has anything you could ever want in a romance. Describing it is kind of how the grandfather in The Princess Bride describes his story. There are battles and intrigue and mystery and swooning maidens and honor and true love. Robin Hood and Friar Tuck even make appearances. The good guys win in the end and the bad guys get what's coming to them. Sort of. Scott makes sure to remind the readers that Richard's rule is short and that many of the ideals of chivalry die with him.

If you're looking for a good medieval romance full of knights and chivalry, this is the book for you. The characters are well-drawn and believable (except, strangely enough, Ivanhoe and Rowena, whom we actually see very little of). The story is exciting and interesting. The book does not seem 520 pages long. It's not full of deep meaning (which is why this post is rather sparse); it is pure escapism at its finest.

Erin's Book #11: Lift by Kelly Corrigan

Apparently it's Kelly Corrigan day. After I read (and fell in love with) The Middle Place, I immediately added Lift to my library queue. I picked it up yesterday and read it in about an hour (it's a tiny little book).

Lift is written as a letter to Corrigan's daughters, Georgia and Claire, for them to read when they are older. It is a beautiful testament to motherhood. I had to try not to get too emotional while reading this on the subway. The same characters from The Middle Place pop up here and there, but the focus is really on the small things that make Corrigan love her daughters completely and unconditionally. It's not all the great stuff. There are stories of the girls acting up and their mother feeling guilty over the way she behaved. There's a tragic story of loss. What really struck me was Corrigan writing about how the girls won't remember most of what they're living now. They won't remember their mother as she is now. So I've decided to steal her idea and write to my (eventual) kids so they'll remember the small things too.

It's a beautiful little book that is a great reminder of the importance of our families and our mothers and our kids, real or unconceived, and the bond between them that can't be broken, not by age or even death. I may have to buy it for a few mothers.

Blythe's Book 16: The Middle Place

I got lucky with this memoir. Nate can tell you that I am easily influenced by pretty much any book I read; if I'm acting different than usual (edgier, more worrisome, more flippant, whatever), I'll often hear him ask, "WHAT are you reading right now?" And the minute I start rambling about the plotline, the emotions, a young woman searching for her identity, blah blah blah, he can say, "Okay. Got it. No, we aren't selling our house and moving to Panama. Read a different book." SO when I started reading Kelly Corrigan's memoir The Middle Place, a book about a woman navigating the gray area between being a child and starting her own family, I was already on the lookout to make sure I didn't start examining (or perhaps more accurately, inventing) issues I have that parallel Kelly Corrigan's. I definitely think there is a tenuous balance we all strike as we leave our immediate blood family to go begin our own; combine that with staying in the same area code, as I chose to do, and there's even a bit more juggling involved. I could empathize with Kelly as she tried to assert herself as a wife and mother (more at her husband's urging than out of an actual desire to), but also tried to maintain that special position of adored and adoring daughter.

I've thus far completely ignored a major focus of this book, which was Kelly dealing with breast cancer as her father simultaneously battled bladder cancer. However, I think the issue was less the cancer (although it certainly made her appreciate her kids and husband more) and more coming to terms with the fact that her dad-- her essential, most important person-- was eventually going to be gone. She absolutely loves her husband, Edward, but as even he points out, "I'm not your dad; no one is." While Edward is obviously Kelly's rock, and in ways has replaced her father, she is also terrified by the idea of a world without her dad. After a fight betweent Kelly and Edward early into their relationship, Kelly reflects, "This was our first 'discussion' of this type, the type where I talk a lot and he's blindsided and apologizes an hour later, after the defensiveness fades. I'm never sure if he really gets it or just prefers harmony over retraining a girl who was raised by a man who crowed about her ordinary achievements as if she learned to live underwater" (174). For me, as a reader, the portions about her family, and the lessons she learned as a child, were the most poignant and relatable (is that a word?). We all have to make adjustments as we go from being the center of our parents' universe to half of a partnership. I loved when she said, "One day you're cheering your daughter through a swimming lesson or giving her a pat for crossing the monkey bars... and the next, you're bragging to your parents about your newest trick-- a sweet potato recipe, a raise at work...It's a giant Venn diagram where you are the only member of both sets" (29). Kelly is fiercely loyal to her family, both the one she is creating and the one she was born into, and this is what I will hold on to long after returning this book to the library. Rather than worrying Nate all week with paranoid reflections about juggling being a daughter and wife, or about losing my parents-- fears reading this memoir could have definitely encouraged-- I instead chose to rejoice in the fact that I am a daughter, sister, and wife-- and lucky to be all three.

One of my favorite passages-- I SO could identify:
"'We really recommend no more than one to two alcoholic drinks per week.'
Tell that to my parents. My husband. My entire immediate neighborhood... in addition to doctors and medicine, I believe parties can be curative.
I am a party girl, a 'one more drink!' girl. I got this from my people, as sure as I got my brown eyes, my loud voice, and my tendency to touch people I'm talking to."