At the bookstore the other day, I picked up Esquire's Big Book of Fiction for five dollars. Five dollars! This thing is an 800-page monster just waiting for the right reader. But where to start? I think a lot of people would scan the author names. For me, though, it's all about the titles. I love titles. I think my favorite title of all time is from Joyce Carol Oates: Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart.
Regardless of who the author might be, would you rather turn to a story called, "Behold the Husband in His Perfect Agony" or "Cutting Losses"? Come on! No contest.
How about "Monhegan Light" or "Incarnations of Burned Children"? Tell the truth, ya big liar.
Now choose between "Marry the One Who Gets There First: Outtakes from the Sheidegger-Krupnik Wedding Album" and "Downstream." Duh.
Here's a trickier one. Are you more intrigued by: "A Jewish Patient Begins His Analysis" or "The Widow Ching—Pirate"?
I'm not saying that the titles indicate which story I will enjoy more, mind you, just which ones I will read first. In case you were wondering. And now I'm wondering about you. If you have a favorite or two or three (any genre welcome), I would like to know what it/they is/are. Enjoy/your week/end.
7 comments:
I like the titles in this particular series of fantasy/alternate history novels by Kim Harrison: 1) Dead Witch Walking, 2) The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, and 3) Every which Way but Dead. They sound like Clint Eastwood movies, don't they? I also like Jennifer Crusie's Fast Women and Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed. (They're lovely books to read, too.) I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them right now. Have fun reading that 800-page tome...! Cheers!
Isn't Jennifer Weiner the one with the really popular blog? Off to google...
I just heard about Weiner's blog the other day, so I don't know how popular it is, but she does seem to update often. However, I didn't really like her other books (just Good in Bed) so it doesn't seem worth it to me to follow her blog (at least for now).
I am really enjoying your blog so far. You have a wonderful sense of humor and style of writing. I like the simple title of "IT" a Stephen King novel. Yeah, I know it's a pretty lame choice.
Thanks for stopping by, beatloaf. Beatloaf?! Beatloaf, beatloaf, beatloaf. I'm gonna have to get used to that one...
I grabbed "Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Withc of the West" just because of the title. Sometimes creative titles indicate creative writing. The hope is that the title writer isn't languishing in the marketing department...
Mea culpa! I browse the bookstores looking for cool/witty/powerful/intriguing titles too.
Beatloaf? There's a story there...
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