Literary issybird's Pick Confirmation March 2012 • The MR Literary Club

[sun surfer]

Congratulations to issybird, our third lottery winner, who has been randomly selected from the nominees to choose this month's work.

First, the winner will need to select a work and post it.

To help avoid confusion, the winner's first post in this thread should be of the chosen work, the winner should only post one selection and, once posted, should not change it. Any questions or discussion the winner may have about choosing a work should be posted in the nominations thread or PMed to me.

Then, the work will need TEN confirmation votes to declare it our monthly selection.

The winner may choose any work that he or she considers literature, except any monthly selections of either book club in the last two years. Anyone else may vote to confirm that the selected work is considered or seems to be literature, whether or not one finds it appealing.

This process will be open for THREE days.

If the winner doesn't post a selection, or if the selection does not receive enough confirmation votes, then we will revert to a second-chance month. The five non-winning selections with the most votes from previous months will be put to a short vote.


What is literature for the purposes of this club? A superior work of lasting merit that enriches the mind. Often it is important, challenging, critically acclaimed. It may be from ancient times to today; it may be from anywhere in the world; it may be obscure or famous, short or long; it may be a story, a novel, a play, a poem, an essay or another written form. If you are unsure if a work would be considered literature, just ask!


issybird, the floor is yours!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Congratulations to issybird, our third lottery winner, who has been randomly selected from the nominees to choose this month's work.

Randomly! But I'll take it however I can get it.

Choosing has been a fun and nerve-wracking process. I rejected at least 15 possibilites, some of them, I must admit, near and dear to my heart. But in the end, I went with a dark-horse candidate:

Turn, Magic Wheel, by Dawn Powell, originally published in 1936, a send-up of the New York literary world.

Powell's work has been described thusly:

Powell's wicked sense of humor, keen ear for dialogue and human sense of pathos pervade her barbed, shrewd fiction about mid-century Americans in Manhattan and Ohio. "Always sharp, never cranky, and with a pagan's delight in the pleasures of this world, Powell's work elaborates the human comedy with a vigor matched only by its unpretentious wisdom," wrote one of her critics.

Most of her work was out of print at her death in 1965, but she has since undergone more than one renaissance. From the New York Times: "Few American novelists have been so lavishly praised by so many high-powered critics to so little effect."

Also from the Times: "[S]he is wittier than Dorothy Parker, dissects the rich better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, is more plaintive than Willa Cather in her evocation of the heartland and has a more supple control of satirical voice than Evelyn Waugh, the writer to whom she's most often compared."

Turn, Magic Wheel is available at Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Sony and presumably other venues. The inkmesh search only shows Diesel.

[fantasyfan]

I confirm Turn, Magic Wheel as a literary selection for the month.

[Hamlet53]

I wanted to check to see if this was available from my local library. It is, actually as a collection of her work from 1930 to 1942. I provide the second endorsement.

[paola]

thirding as literature - as for availability, it is available as ebook in the US, see also here (not available in the UK, but print copy in my library!)

[issybird]

Oh, no. I realized after I posted that I had only verified ebook availability in the USA. I know that has no effect on whether or not it's literature, but I hope it's not too difficult to find a pbook option if necessary.

[orlok]

Can't find it in ebook or in our local library at the moment. Will keep looking.

[paola]

Originally Posted by issybird

Oh, no. I realized after I posted that I had only verified ebook availability in the USA. I know that has no effect on whether or not it's literature, but I hope it's not too difficult to find a pbook option if necessary.

I don't think pbook is a problem, there is plenty of them, either as a stand alone novel, or as part of a collection. The ebook version has geographical restriction, but I've long gievn up on understanding the logic

EDIT: orlok, if you are in the UK, you can get it for £7.70 here (free delivery):
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Turn.../9781883642723

which looks like the cheapest option, save for a library

[Bookworm_Girl]

I will fourth issybird's choice as literature.

[hpulley]

Fifth'd.

Kobo Canada has it and promo codes work.

[sun surfer]

I'll confirm it. Sounds interesting!

We're at six now, need four more.

[orlok]

I'll seventh it

[fantasyfan]

Originally Posted by paola

I don't think pbook is a problem, there is plenty of them, either as a stand alone novel, or as part of a collection. The ebook version has geographical restriction, but I've long gievn up on understanding the logic

EDIT: orlok, if you are in the UK, you can get it for £7.70 here (free delivery):
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Turn.../9781883642723

which looks like the cheapest option, save for a library

I've sent for The Book Depository volume, which is quite a good buy. I could get a used copy via ABE but BD offers free shipping which makes it quite competitive. I read a sample and it looks very interesting! I really look forward to reading this book.

[sun surfer]

About a half a day left and we need three more confirms.

Just a reminder, anyone can confirm that it's literary, even if you don't plan on reading it, and even if you don't consider yourself a regular member or even a member at all of the literary club but happen to be reading this thread. So help us out.

[Synamon]

Nom nom. I eighth it.