Shaken & Stirred: Happy Birthday!

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December 25, 2006

Happy Birthday!

To Mister Christopher Rowe! Who is not your lord and savior, but is currently playing me Schoolhouse Rock videos on YouTube (pronouns!).*

Wish him a merry birthday, y'all.

*Except this was pre-posted at 11:18, so we're probably asleep right now.

Posted at 12:00 AM in Real Life | Permalink

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Happy birthday! (Not pre-posted, which means I probably should go to sleep now.)

And happy holidays!

Posted by:Fred | December 25, 2006 at 12:44 AM

Happy you-got-born day, Colonel. Not pre-posted, but I'm still sleeping while I type this.

Posted by:Richard | December 25, 2006 at 01:28 AM

Happy Birthday! Happy Holidays, G!

Posted by:"valeriana" | December 25, 2006 at 01:57 AM

Happy Birthday Christopher! I am fully awake and eating many christmas cookies in your honor.

Posted by:Midori | December 25, 2006 at 09:26 AM

Happy birthday to him!

(Pronouns were made to take the place of a noun, 'cause saying all those nouns over and over can really get you down.)

Posted by:Greg van Eekhout | December 25, 2006 at 10:00 AM

Because I have pronouns, I can say:

I wish him a merry birthday!

Posted by:Karen M | December 25, 2006 at 10:28 AM

I dedicate my traditional Christmas morning Bellini to celebration of Rowemas!

Posted by:Chris McLaren | December 25, 2006 at 12:10 PM

Happy birthday Christopher!

(And to Rufus Xavier Sasparilla, wherever he is. The pronouns video might be my favorite of the Schoolhouse Rock series.)

Posted by:Ted | December 25, 2006 at 04:14 PM

Happy Birthday.

Posted by:max | December 26, 2006 at 05:55 AM

Happy B-lated B-day!

Posted by:Christopher Barzak | December 26, 2006 at 12:30 PM

About

Appendices

Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.