Many books, little time

Too many books just slip by us unread, like Jennifer Egan's "Visit from the Goon Squad," published in 2011.  I just finished it and in case you wondered, the Goon is Time.

We change, we get old, we die, nothing stays the same as right now. That's the book spoiler.  "Goon Squad" is a collection of interlinked stories, and it won a Pulitzer Prize despite (or maybe because of) its unique weirdness.

I just picked up an old copy of "Terms of Endearment," another book I never got around to reading.  I love Larry McMurtry's writing, especially the westerns like "Lonesome Dove," full of witty down-home characters and funny dialog. "Terms of Endearment" was published in 1975 and takes place in Houston, so it's practically historical fiction now. Everyone has probably seen the 1983 Robert Redford movie starring Shirley McLaine and Debra Winger.

The Aurora character in "Terms of Endearment" is my favorite:  a vain, plump, spunky, sharp-tongued widow lady with a string of "suitors" falling at her feet. A role custom-made for Shirley McLaine.    

We have a pleasantly jumbled used book store at the West Seattle Junction called Pegasus Book Exchange. I've been going there for years; they give credit on your old used books toward new old used books. Not a big money-making business, and I hope the prime storefront they rent doesn't get converted into yet another trendy restaurant.

According to the Seattle Times, the Junction area (about 6 blocks south of us) has added over 2,100 apartment units in the past 4 years!  We don't call them "yuppies" anymore, but you know the type. The streets are teeming with stylish people and young, well-heeled families headed to restaurants and bars.  Add to that a sprinkling of panhandlers and unsavory types.  The streets are packed with cars, and pay parking is probably around the corner.  Our little old relaxed neighborhood has morphed into a big city.

Anyway, I'm getting off track here.  Pegasus has shelves of paperback romance novels, mysteries and thrillers, but they're also a good place to browse for literary fiction hardcovers. They always have a $3 bargain cart outside on the sidewalk, stacked with quality novels a little past the pull date.

Wonder of wonders, last week I spotted a T.C. Boyle novel I hadn't read. Or at least I don't remember it.  I read everything by "T" (as his friends, fans and toadies call him.) To be honest, his older novels like "Drop City" were consistently good, but his newer stuff is hit-or-miss and often quite depressing. So I'm looking forward to "Riven Rock," published way back in 1998, when he might have still been a fairly nice person. They say mathematicians do their most brilliant work before the age of 30 (Einstein) and that's sometimes true with writers.  John Irving and John Updike also come to mind.

The mention of "T" always makes my friend Julie cringe. She refuses to read his books because of his obnoxious personality, on full display a few years ago at a Seattle Arts and Lectures presentation, when he managed to offend an entire auditorium of women with his offensive remarks. I don't blame her, and if I'd been there, I'd probably join the boycott.  Although it's another kind of revenge to pluck one of his formerly expensive hardcovers off the $3 remainder cart.