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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

TownieDeac said:
I don't think we should let teenagers read On the Road. It made me want to be a burnout writer bum sooooo badly.
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I had the same experience when I blew through all of the Bukowski novels in a month when I was like 18. Fortunately, I got my head out of my ass pretty quick.

"And yeah I know he's a pretty good read, but, God, who'd want to be? God, who'd want to be such an asshole?" Thanks, Isaac Brock.
 
In the middle of the Fifth Season. Started kind of slow, but is really picking up. Very unique world-building from the author.
 
TownieDeac said:
I don't think we should let teenagers read On the Road. It made me want to be a burnout writer bum sooooo badly.
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On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with this, imo, and we should try to facilitate/encourage more burnout writer bums, but maybe with slightly more modern attitudes towards the ladies. You don't have to be on booze or benzos or uppers to be a writer bum, though it is probably less fun.
 
OldGouldandBlack said:
On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with this, imo, and we should try to facilitate/encourage more burnout writer bums, but maybe with slightly more modern attitudes towards the ladies. You don't have to be on booze or benzos or uppers to be a writer bum, though it is probably less fun.
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think i've posted about this before, but i was seriously considering trying to make it as a fiction writer around my jr year in college, had taken every course wake offered, and the writing teacher basically sat me down and was like "don't do it, kid. not that you don't have what it takes, but it's a miserable existence. you'll live in a trailer and become an alcoholic and get divorced and move to nebraska, it's awful." which i think was just his experience, but i appreciated the advice.
 
TownieDeac said:
think i've posted about this before, but i was seriously considering trying to make it as a fiction writer around my jr year in college, had taken every course wake offered, and the writing teacher basically sat me down and was like "don't do it, kid. not that you don't have what it takes, but it's a miserable existence. you'll live in a trailer and become an alcoholic and get divorced and move to nebraska, it's awful." which i think was just his experience, but i appreciated the advice.
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Yeah my whole plan was just teach to afford to write and then I looked down and holy shit I’m 41.
 
@TownieDeac and any other King heads I'm currently reading McCammon's Swan Song which would be a pretty amazing book about the apocalypse if I hadn't already read The Stand.
 
My dad got me “The Mosquito Bowl” by Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights author) for Christmas and I’m about halfway through. It follows members of the 4th and 29th Marine regiments during WWII which included dozens of college football players including a number of All Americans and pro draft picks. Interesting blend of sports and history. Definitely enjoying it.

One minor fact that I enjoyed, one of the individuals mentioned was John Perry of Wake Forest University. He’s described as an All-Southern Conference tailback and one of the most promising sophomores in the country. It also said “later of Duke University” — early transfer portal entrant? :)
 
I gave this book (again) for Christmas this year.

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While it's going on 20 years old, as book lovers, we all know good writing is timeless.

If you're not familiar with Tony Earley, this is a good place to start.

Earley is quoted as saying upon re-reading his 'The Prophet from Jupiter': "I wish I could write like that."
 
cookoutdeac said:
hyperion cantos is so good, i think about it all the time, years after reading it.. will probably do a re-read soon just to confirm i still feel that way about it

i'd also rec the imperial radch series by ann leckie, ancillary justice, ancillay sword, ancillary mercy.. those were really good too IMO, think she's the only person to ever win all 3 of the hugo/nebula/clarke awards for the same novel
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Hyperion really made me feel some feelings. Agreed that I still think about it even though I read it years ago. I need to revisit. The Sol/Rachel story line...my word.
 
My daughter wanted everyone in the family to rank our top 10 books of the year. I read mostly nonfiction so I did my top 10 nonfiction. I might as well go through them here. Or at least start.

10. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America. By Jill Leovy.

The main narrative follows one LAPD detective’s investigation into the murder of an 18 year old who is the son of another LAPD detective.

Some points were not new to me. Too many people in the country are incarcerated. Gang and other violence fills a void left by the lack of a functioning justice system in parts of many cities. What I did gain was a more nuanced view of police departments and the people who live in high crime neighborhoods. Plus it was entertaining with compelling real life characters.
 
Reflection: best book you read this year?

Top Five Fiction (no particular orde):
Project Hail Mary
Concrete Rose
Raybearer/Redemptor
Cloud Cuckoo Land
The Five Wounds

Non-Fiction:
God of the Oppressed
How the Word Was Passed
The Persuaders
Self-Therapy (a Book on Internal Family System therapy)
Killing the Black Body (really important look at reproductive justice)
 
9. A Moonless, Starless Sky. Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa. By Alexis Okeowo.

Four individual narratives are woven into this book. Each takes place in a different country and follows a person in Nigeria, Somalia, Mauritania, and Uganda.

I knew much less about Mauritania than the other three countries and the anti-slavery activist is what sticks with me most, followed by the bravery of the teenage girl in Somalia to continue to play basketball despite death threats and abduction attempts. In Uganda what do you do with “soldiers” who were abducted as kids and given the choice of being killed or killing their own neighbors?

I ranked these quickly and am thinking I have this one too low.
 
For those of you who wanted to write, but had life geet in the way, it can be done in small chunks of time around everything else. Go for it.

Start with a barebones, short outline of part of a plot and one paragraph bios of your main characters. In essence, most good stories are biographies. They tell the story of what happened to one or more main characters, but usually for just a part of that character's life. Stories are interesting because of how, when, where and why the main character interacts with other characters.

Get writing!
 
8. Play Their Hearts Out. By George Dohrmann.

A sports book. This explores high stakes youth basketball and the exploitation of teen (and younger) boys. The prime example is Demetrius Walker who was named the best 8th grade player in the country. SI said he was 14 going on LeBron. He ended up being D1 player, but not a prized recruit. (Unsurprisingly, Tim Floyd comes off as an asshole). It was heartbreaking to see how he was treated as his ranking fell year after year in high school.

I hope there are some adults involved in this industry who look out for the best interests of the kids. Or are there no virgins in big time youth basketball?

Robert O’Kelley makes an appearance in the book too!
 
As long as Townie keeps liking I’ll keep writing.

7. King Leopold’s Ghost. By Adam Hochschild.

I knew the Belgian Congo was a bad place. I may have read Heart of Darkness in high school. I did read it when I finished this book. I also remember Bourdain’s DRC episode. Still, I was ignorant of most of the details and could not have told you King Leopold II was behind the horrific cruelty. Now I can confidently say that he should be remembered as one of the worst people of the 19th century.

An estimated 10 million people died due to his exploitation. He made an untold fortune off of it. Of course it was not enough as he also stole from Belgium by taking loans he never intended to repay. He disowned his daughter. He marriage was a sham.

He was able to fool a lot of people for a while about his true character. He certainly had great public relations skills. There were some brave individuals who fought to expose the truth, often to their great peril. Having characters in the book worthy of admiration was nice balance of sorts. Of course I am sure there were many other acts of bravery and defiance lost to history.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
As long as Townie keeps liking I’ll keep writing.

7. King Leopold’s Ghost. By Adam Hochschild.

I knew the Belgian Congo was a bad place. I may have read Heart of Darkness in high school. I did read it when I finished this book. I also remember Bourdain’s DRC episode. Still, I was ignorant of most of the details and could not have told you King Leopold II was behind the horrific cruelty. Now I can confidently say that he should be remembered as one of the worst people of the 19th century.

An estimated 10 million people died due to his exploitation. He made an untold fortune off of it. Of course it was not enough as he also stole from Belgium by taking loans he never intended to repay. He disowned his daughter. He marriage was a sham.

He was able to fool a lot of people for a while about his true character. He certainly had great public relations skills. There were some brave individuals who fought to expose the truth, often to their great peril. Having characters in the book worthy of admiration was nice balance of sorts. Of course I am sure there were many other acts of bravery and defiance lost to history.
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He also bought Africans and put them in the zoo in Antwerp for the World's Fair.
 
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