United States of Books

[issybird]

The print version of the September 4 edition of Entertainment Weekly has a feature entitled, "The United States of Books" which purports to pick the most representative book for each of the states. As ever for this type of thing, the list is a combination of no-brainers and head-scratchers. I'll limit myself to saying that I think Peyton Place would have been a better choice for my current state of New Hampshire and the selection for my native state of New York is nuts. The article doesn't seem to be online, but this blog post lists the books.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Thanks for the heads up. I've been meaning to a journey through Canada'a provinces and this will give me some food for thought on what to look for in books.

[HomeInMyShoes]

They do know that W.P. Kinsella is a Canadian author.

[BenG]

The picks for my home state of Georgia and the surrounding states seem reasonable.

I've only read 17 of the 50.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

They do know that W.P. Kinsella is a Canadian author.

Oh, c'mon. Next you'll be claiming that Mary Pickford and John Kenneth Galbraith are Canadian.

Originally Posted by BenG

The picks for my home state of Georgia and the surrounding states seem reasonable.

I've only read 17 of the 50.

The Georgia choice seemed liked one of those no-brainers to me. It's hard to see how they could not have slotted the biggest novel of the 20th century into its allotted state.

I've only read 22.

[Catlady]

For New York, the first book that comes to mind is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. Followed by The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe.

For Kentucky, The Dollmaker, by Harriette Simpson Arnow.

For Hawaii, Hawaii, by James Michener.

D.C. isn't represented, but I'd choose Advise and Consent, by Allen Drury.

[Fbone]

My state was chosen Independence Day by Richard Ford about a man taking his son on a road trip throughout the Northeast. Apparently, only divorced middle aged men live in NJ.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

For New York, the first book that comes to mind is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. Followed by The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe.

For Kentucky, The Dollmaker, by Harriette Simpson Arnow.

For Hawaii, Hawaii, by James Michener.

D.C. isn't represented, but I'd choose Advise and Consent, by Allen Drury.

I think the difficulty with New York is deciding between the city and upstate as most representative. Other city choices might include something by Doctorow, Wouk, or John O'Hara. For upstate, maybe William Kennedy or even Dreiser's An American Tragedy. I think for states with a wealth of choices, they decided to go for the less obvious. Didion is a stretch for California.

Other state choices that occurred to me are Revolutionary Road for Connecticut and All the King's Men for Louisiana.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

Oh, c'mon. Next you'll be claiming that Mary Pickford and John Kenneth Galbraith are Canadian.



The Georgia choice seemed liked one of those no-brainers to me. It's hard to see how they could not have slotted the biggest novel of the 20th century into its allotted state.

I've only read 22.

I agree with your point. You know how I am about origin when it comes to authors. All of those people are halfs on both sides, although Galbraith is the most American given his lifetime work. Movies were always American and there are few born-in-Canada talents that end up dying in Canada. All that said, anyone who writes a book like Dance Me Outside gets a Canadian vote from me.

Perhaps it is election year (on both sides of the border) that makes me feisty these days.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the difficulty with New York is deciding between the city and upstate as most representative. Other city choices might include something by Doctorow, Wouk, or John O'Hara. For upstate, maybe William Kennedy or even Dreiser's An American Tragedy. I think for states with a wealth of choices, they decided to go for the less obvious. Didion is a stretch for California.

Other state choices that occurred to me are Revolutionary Road for Connecticut and All the King's Men for Louisiana.

East of Eden or Cannery Row would have been possible choices for California, but I suppose that the list makers didn't want to repeat Steinbeck.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I agree with your point. You know how I am about origin when it comes to authors. All of those people are halfs on both sides, although Galbraith is the most American given his lifetime work. Movies were always American and there are few born-in-Canada talents that end up dying in Canada. All that said, anyone who writes a book like Dance Me Outside gets a Canadian vote from me.

Perhaps it is election year (on both sides of the border) that makes me feisty these days.

Weeelll, even though it seems like an election year east and west of the border (Canada's due west of me, too), in lamentable point of fact ours isn't until next year, late next year, despite the evidence to the contrary. Lucky Canadians! Six weeks from today, it'll all be over but the post mortems.

I really was j/k about Kinsella; I couldn't resist.

My first thought was Entertainment Weekly However, looking at the list I'd say on the whole reasonable selections.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I knew you were probably kidding. I looked at another of these lists from 2013 and was interested to see William H. Gass on it. The Tunnel has been on my radar to attempt to read.

Here we are complaining about our longer than usual campaign period. :haha: Of course we'll end up with the three leading parties all winning 112 seats with 31.4% of the popular vote.

For those scoring at home, I've only read five of the books.

[Dr. Drib]

Donald Harington for the state of Arkansas.

Ribald humor and beautiful writing.

http://www.amazon.com/With-Stay-More.../dp/1592640508

It's not on the list, but he's an incredible writer.

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Charles Portis came to my apartment back in the late 70s and we talked for a while. He's a big fan of Sax Rohmer, whom he characterizes as a very bad writer but nevertheless someone he enjoys reading.

[Apache]

For humorous Georgia author I would choose Lewis Grizzard.
Apache