X Marks the Spot :: Read on Location < 2008 (Cumulative Recap)

I'm not big on 'best of' lists at the year's end for books. It's hard to quantify books and I rarely read books when they come out, nor do I feel a need to be current. I ususally wait for the right opportunity to arise. The context in which I read is important to me, the time and place. A river can't be forced to flow between two bodies of water. The topographical landscape has to coincide with the literary landscape. And usually, the only time I have time to read is when I'm travelling somewhere, moving between points, if not spatially then figuratively. In the spirit of Field-Tested Books, here's all the books I've read where location and time was significant to the reading of it, with links to the blog entry where I "review" it...

2007

Stars of the New Curfew by Ben Okri :: Nairobi, Kenya, Nov 2007

Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong'o :: Garissa, Kenya, Nov 2007

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa :: Uganda, Nov 2007

The Beautyful Ones are not Born Yet by Ayi Kwei Armah :: Ethiopia, Nov 2007

Feather Woman of the Jungle by Amos Tutuola :: en route NYC to Amsterdam, Nov 2007

Partial List of People to Bleach by Gary Lutz :: on the floor of our new apartment Upper West Side, Aug 2007

Attempts at a Life by Danielle Dutton :: in our leaky, cold and mouse-infested apartment in East Village, Feb 2007

2006

Points in Time by Paul Bowles :: on a plane from NYC to Morocco, Dec 2006

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalamai :: Fez, Morocco, Dec 2006, (though I lost the book before finishing it). I also read The Human Stain by Philip Roth on this trip, but wasn't into it.

The Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have by Dennis DiClaudio :: Southern Spain, Nov 2006. I worked with Dennis at Comedy Central, he sat within coughing distance of me actually, and I had just quit my job there so figured it was safe to read.

Dubliners by James Joyce :: Dublin, Ireland, March 2006. I read this before, but only thought it appropriate that I read it again.

Beneath the Shadow of Perpetual Defeat by Faruk Ulay :: Lower East Side, Jan 2006. This book was a permanent fixture of our coffee table in this apartment.

2005

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders ::on a train from Montreal to NYC, Dec 2005

Motorman by David Ohle :: Montreal, Dec 2005

Tabloid City by Thomas Wooten :: Deleware and Atlantic City, October 2005

Trilce by Cesar Vallejo:: en route from Oaxaca, Mexico to NYC, July 2005

Please Kill Me : The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain :: Mazunte, Mexico, July 2005

The Way the Family Got Away by Michael Kimball  :: Palenque, Mexico, July 2005

Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells :: Guatemala, July 2005

Beautiful Blemish by Kevin Sampsell :: Hell's Kitchen, NYC, April 2005

The Pink Institution by Selah Saterstrom :: Miami, March 2005

A History of the Imagination by Norman Lock :: West Village, Jan 2005

2004

My Date with Satan by Stacey Richter :: Tucson revisited, Nov 2004

I Looked Alive by Gary Lutz:: Costa Rica, Aug 2004

The Popol Vuh :: Puerto Rico, July 2004

Before I kept this blog, I kept a journal all the way back into the 80s. So I am able to go back to see what I read and where and when. In theory anyway—sometimes I listed the books out on the front flap, other times it's embedded within the text and it's too hard to read through to find all the bookish commentary. Some of these are off memory—which book sticks out in my mind from a certain time or place in my life. Or places that a book makes me think of. The significant standouts anyway. When I read books while traveling, I also had a tendency to write my name in them and when and where it was read, and then leave them behind. Kind of like a message in the bottle.

Before 2004

Blindness by Jose Saramago :: New Mexico, Dec 2003. I think I actually got this book to read in Portugal, but we never ended up going (that's another story). This is one of the most visceral books I've ever read as far as sense of place, it doesn't matter where you read it.

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon :: L.A., CA Jan 2003. I was living in NY but had to travel to L.A. once a month. So I read this in L.A. or on the plane there, which is a perfect place for it.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges :: Argentina, Dec 2002. I had read most of Borges stuff before this, but I got the selected Jorges and read them during this trip.

Dreams of a Robotic Dancing Bee by James Tate :: Jamaica, Dec 2002. A strange place to read this book, but it worked.

The Age of Wire and String by Ben Marcus :: Omaha, NE Oct 2002. I used to have to go to Omaha often to visit the Customer Care call center where I was working. I read this book on one of those trips.

The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose :: Keystone, CO, Jan 2002. I'd had this book for quite a while and read parts of it, but never read it in it's entirety until this trip.

Excitability by Diane Williams :: on a plane to Italy, Nov 2001

A Humument by Tom Phillips :: on a plane to Barcelona, Spain, April 2001. Not that you'd ever "read" A Humument, but I brought it with me on this trip and associate this book with Gaudi, even though there's probably not a lot of correlation outside of my mind.

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles :: Upper East Side, NYC, Sept 2001. I read this right after 911, so it seemed extra dark to me. I read it again more recently while in Morocco because I had run out of books and Jess was done with it. It was a different experience altogether.

Garden State by Rick Moody :: California, June 2001. I read this while traveling in California even though we had just moved to New York, driving through the Garden State to get there. It felt appropriate because the bands he talks about, namely The Feelies, I was really into when I lived in California in the 80s.

Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie : Woodstock, NY, Sept 2000. Evidently I read this on a bus to Woodstock, though I don't remember this book as vividly or fondly as The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster :: Upper East Side, NY, June 2000. One of the first things I read when we moved to New York. It meant more living near the places he was talking about, and my first memories of NYC are intertwined with this book. Same goes for Smoke and Blue in the Face (in regards to Brooklyn), both of which I read (the screenplays) or saw around this time.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway:: Santa Fe, NM, Dec 1999. I have in my journal I read this at this time, but I only remember being transported to mountains of Spain and that his rabbit reminded me of my rabbit, who is still my rabbit.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien :: Patzcuaro, Mexico, summer of 1999. Great book to read traveling anywhere.

The Tetherballs of Bougainville by Mark Leyner :: Tucson, AZ, 1998. Not sure which I read first, but I read pretty much all of Mark Leyner's books around this time and remember this one most. I was jealous that it was written partly in screenplay format and I had written a book while I was in Georgia that was half in screenplay format (soon to be published ten years later as Our Mother for the Time Being).

The Shipping News by Annie E. Proulx :: Portsmouth, NH, October of 1997. Not that I'm particularly proud to admit I read and liked this book, but I loved the title because at the time we were living on the top floor of an old apartment looking out over the Piscataqua river where the tugboats and ships came and went.

Midnight in the Garden of Evil by John Berendt :: Savannah, Georgia, summer of 1997. I read this because we were living in Savannah and Clint Eastwood was shooting the movie in our neighborhood. So I had to see what all the hype was about. Not sure how interesting it would've been reading it anywhere else.

Canto General by Pablo Neruda :: doing survey jobs in Mexico near the border, April 1997

Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes :: while dong survey jobs in Arizona and Nevada, summer of 1996.

Scott's Last Expedition: the journal of Sir Robert Falcon Scott :: Arctic Circle, May1996. I was on the opposite pole from where the book took place, but same idea.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky :: Arctic Circle, April 1996. I read this while living in a tent on a frozen lake that was fueled by diesel fuel. I was doing a geolophysical survey job looking for diamonds.

Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You by Frank Stanford :: I read this doing a surveying job on the shores of the Salton Sea, CA, May 1995. The only interruptions I had were having to switch the frequency of a transmitter every half hour or so.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner :: Ajijic, Mexico, Feb 1995. I was living for a few months in my mom's house working off a debt to her. "My mother is a fish" rang true. I also remember a lot of Elizabeth Bishop around this time.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner:: Nice, France, Dec 1994. I read this between a movie set and a dingy hotel room. When I finished it, I read it again.

Ulysses by James Joyce :: Hill City, South Dakota, Summer of 1994. I forced myself to read this book over this summer and hated every minute of it.

Black Elk Speaks :: in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Summer of 1994. I also remember Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee during this time.

Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver :: driving through Oregon, circa 1992. I had read most everything by Carver at this point, but was rereading this on a roadtrip I took with my brother back to the house where we grew up.

The Heights of Machu Picchu by Pablo Neruda :: Peru, June 1991. Can't think of a better and more appropriate book to read on the way to Machu Picchu.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway :: Cuzco, Peru, June 1991. I remember reading this and projecting the characters in the book onto the 3 or 4 travel companions and I had met along the way. Not that they fight bulls in Peru or anything.

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard Feynmann :: Bolivia, June 1991. I had got my degree in math and read this and it inspired me to go back and get my master's in physics.

House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende :: traveling through Chile, June 1991.

Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell :: Argentina, May 1991. This book is applicable anywhere, anytime.

Generation X by Douglas Coupland :: Pasadena, 1991. I read this visiting my brother and traveling east of LA out into the desert where a lot of the book takes place.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkins :: Malaysia, Jan 1991. I was on a train from Kualu Lumpur to Singapore and the train broke down in the middle of nowhere for about ten hours. Fortunately I had this book with me.

The History of Luminous Motion by Scott Bradfield :: Penang, Malaysia, Jan 1991. I also remember reading Bonfire of the Vanities in one sitting here. I had been traveling for a while and had just stopped for a few days to read books and eat good food.

Homer's Odyssey :: Indonesia, Dec 1990. I read this over a 2 or 3-day boat ride from Java to Jakarta.

The Island of Bali by Miguel Covarrubias :: Bali, Indonesia, Dec 1990. I was really into Balinese music and culture (this was the main purpose/destination of this trip), and this is the definitive book, written by a Mexican no less.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain :: Flores, Indonesia, Dec 1990. I was never made to read this in school so it was a pleasure reading this on my own time. Not sure why I read this here, most likely I picked it up from somebody.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville :: Australia, Nov 1990. I probably should have read this when I was out in the South Pacific a few months before, but actually hitch-hiking through Australia seemed like an appropriate enough place to read this. The whale for me was Uluru.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac :: New Zealand, Nov 1990. Read this riding a bike through the north island and working on farmstays.

Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas :: New Zealand, Oct 1990.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller :: Moorea, Tahiti, Aug 1990.

Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung :: Tahiti, July 1990. After graduating I took off on a trip and this was my first stop and this was the first book I read.

On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Thompson, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins and Flatland by Edwin Abbott :: Santa Cruz, CA 1989. These three books that I read around this time made me want to be a scientist.

Still Life with a Woodpecker by Tom Robbins :: Santa Cruz, CA 1989. I read pretty much all of Tom Robbins books around this time.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley :: Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Sept 14, 1988. I distinctly remember borrowing and reading this while riding out Hurricane Gilbert.

Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan :: San Francisco, CA 1988. Not sure what I was doing there, but I specifically remember reading this book in the park right outside of City Hall in San Francisco, and walking around to some of the sites he was talking about in the book.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola :: L.A., CA, 1987. I was in LA at some nightclub that was showing this cool video footage to the music of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by David Byrne and Brian Eno. I liked the album so much that the next day I had to see what the book that inspired the music was like.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand:: Palo Alto, 1987. We had a pool that never had water in it. Mostly I skateboarded in it. I remember reading the fountainhead laying fully clothed in the California winter in a lawn chair by this empty pool.

Silence by John Cage :: Palo Alto, CA 1986. I read or referred to this when I was into making experimental music.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez :: I read this in one sitting on a greyhound bus from S.F. to L.A., 1985.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole :: Mountain View, CA 1985. When I was reading this in public, I couldn't help myself from laughing out loud.

The Stranger by Albert Camus :: Mountain View, CA, 1984. I read this because of The Cure song of the same name and I was obsessed with The Cure at the time.

The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck :: Monterrey, CA, 1983. Of course I read most everything Steinbeck wrote while living in Monterrey for this year, but this was the most memorable.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger :: I remember reading this for the first time in Ajijic, Mexico around 1982. When I finished I flipped to the beginning and read it again. And I think I read it a third time later when I was in high school in the states.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams :: Ajijic, Mexico, circa 1981.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig :: Ajijic, Mexico circa 1980. I'm also embarrassed to admit that I read a few Carlos Castenada books that my mom had laying around her house during this time living in Mexico, as well as the Tao of Physics.

Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss :: Portland, OR circa 1974. I remember reading all the Dr. Seuss books over and over, but this was my favorite one.

Grimm's Fairy Tales :: Mt. Hood, OR, circa 1973. One of the first books I remember reading.