Tournament of Books 2013: The quick and dirty rundown

The Morning News recently announced the final list for their annual Tournament of Books, the only award where the judging is transparent and competition is nearly literal. This year, eighteen books will be entered into a playoff-style bracket, and each matchup will be judged by a celebrity reviewer whose only mission is to determine which book should advance to the next round. In the most general sense, that means which book is better, but in the Tournament of Books, as in most competitions, better does not necessarily mean advancement.

You can check out the entire list with summaries and links on my Goodreads page here. I'll be reposting reviews of books I've read here in the days approaching the tournament, and as soon as the brackets are announced I will make my semi-annual Uninformed Predictions. Although this year I've read a remarkable five books in the field, more than double last year's total.

Okay, let's take a thumbnail look at the shortlist: Books with stars (*) are ones I've read.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn *
A brilliant thriller, well written but a bit shaggy, with an end I found to be a bit tidy and disappointing.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green *
Two precocious cancer teens team up to fight the injustice and horror show that is Cancer.

Arcadia by Lauren Groff *
A minor disappointment. Hippies who grow up and try to stay hippies during the end of the civilized world.

HHhH by Laurent Binet 
Something to do with Nazis, World War II, and an assassination attempt.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich 
None of my attempts to read Erdrich have ended well.

How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti 
"... is a novel of many identities: an autobiography of the mind, a postmodern self-help book, and a fictionalized portrait of the..." zzzzzzz ... zzzzzz .... zzzz 

May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes 
A.M. Homes is creepy and disturbing, but not in a way that makes me want to read her books.

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson 
This novel is set in Korea, where I've lived for two years, and I've only just now heard of it. My shame can only be excused by my illogical disdain for titles that use the template of "The X's [family member]." I will promptly shortlist this novel.

Ivyland by Miles Klee
Dark satiric sci-fi in a near-future dystopia? Sign me up!

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel 
Part 2 of an epic medieval saga. On my longer list of "Books I should want to read."

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Iliad fan-fic from Patroclus's point of view. He and Achilles were lovers. Tragedy ensues. *Sigh*

Dear Life by Alice Munro 
Like seeing your elementary school teacher in the grocery store, it's always a surprise to find out Alice Munro exists outside The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories. Like, for instance, she has her own books! Amazing.

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Family Road Trip goes to Antarctica. Why not?

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter *
My pre-tournament favorite. Perhaps the best book I read last year.

Building Stories by Chris Ware
Graphic Novel by a media darling. I'm nodding knowingly.

The sixteenth spot will be filled by the surviovor of a Pre-Tournament Playoff Round. All of these books are about America's citizen soldiers fighting the Afghan/Iraq adventure. A shame they have to come home and face more bloodshed in the Tournament of Books, but as they say, the Rooster demands blood. They are:

Fobbit by David Abrams
War as seen from the command center well behind the fighting.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain *
War as seen from soldiers home on leave, as heroes, at Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Thanksgiving Day. A frickin' riot. I loved this book.

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
War as seen on the ground, by soldiers living and dying in combat.

Well, stay tuned for more! The tournament itself starts in March, but happy reading to those of you who enjoy it as much as I do.

Book Review: The Fault in our Stars, by John Green

The Fault in our Stars, by John Green: 

Moody, precocious Cancer Teens team up to fight hypocrisy, search out the meaning of the universe, converse with an utterly fallible God stand-in, and fall in love. Tragedy inevitably strikes. 

Much of this novel's success lies in its adherence to an emerging sub-cliche of cancer struggle, which is that the uber-cliche of cancer victims as stoic hero-fighters is itself an unrealistic bullshit tripe intended to solace those who don't have cancer. The feedback loop of heroic anti-heroes works pretty well, however, mainly due to the earnestness of Green's overall plot and prose, and only if your bullshit meter is properly calibrated for "Teen Fiction." 

Sure, The Fault in Our Stars is often overly clever. Sure, it's cloyingly romantic, and it's often manipulative in a way that its own heroes would cynically disdain. But none of that kept a certain middle-aged curmudgeon from tearing up a couple of times. You've been warned.

The new Man of Steel Trailer breakdown

A close reading of the new Man of Steel (Or, as I call it, Superman) Trailer.

Intro: Serious, somber music. Those of you hoping for a fun superhero movie, keep waiting.

:18 seconds
Some guy is floating kind of like Jesus, or Tom Hanks in Castaway.

:22
Whiny kid with agorophobia cries to mom for help. Mom enables his fear.

:25
Pencil bouquet. A blackboard. I'm getting flashbacks to college calculus. Will this movie assign me homework?

:40
Waves on rocks. Nothing says Superman more than waves on rocks.

:45
Guy looks guilty for saving a school bus from a lake. Wait, what?

More ominous black-screen transitions.

:50
Dad gives Clark a hard time for saving a school bus full of kids. Dad is not an enabler.

:59
Bearded guy with a faraway look in his eyes. Sort of a macho Bon Iver.

1:12
S stamp available at fine stamp stores everywhere.

1:19
A cape sighting on an ice flow. Music continues to be somber and joyless. I remember when superhero movies used to be fun. Like last summer.

Superman punches a mountain, flies really fast.

Dad is still preachy. Mom's advice to "Make things small" apparently meant nothing, as Superman is now in space.

1:50
Montage! Generic flames, a villain-like person. Maybe it's dad, come to teach Clark a lesson for saving that school bus full of kids. People running from explosions like every movie ever made.

Superman in handcuffs. Stop me before I save more lives!

Macho Bon Iver lifts something heavy.

2:00
Christopher Nolan's name solemnly invoked. So that's where the fun went...

2:30
Overstylized S, as if it were simple people would wonder where all the money went.

Fade to black.

No, seriously, this could be a good movie. Really, it could. It just looks a little serious. If I want serious, I'll go see Lincoln. So, I'm waiting with fingers crossed.