95 Books In 2006, George W. Bush read 95 books. We will do better.

Trying to catch up on my posting. This is a weird & random grouping to read/review together if there ever was one….

48. Television by Jacques Lacan

Television was more instructive to me on the ways of Lacan than Seminar XVII, which (shhhh, don’t tell) I have tried and failed to read for at least the past calendar year.

Television was not, as I had hoped, a Lacanian analyses of television as a medium, rather, it is a transcript of a televised series of talks given by Lacan, followed by a collection of letters and treatises that depict the split and subsequent fallout of a psychoanalytic school in Paris around mid-century. 

49. The Prescription Errors by Charles Demers.

It pains me to say this, because I know and like the author, but I think The Prescription Errors needed more editing. Rather, it didn’t work for me…something tonally wasn’t right, and I found some of the transitions and sentence structuring awkward. But the reviews online are all largely laudatory, so perhaps it’s just me. I think Demers has some very good ideas and some of his sociopolitical descriptions of Vancouver are spot on, but the transitions didn’t always work in my opinion…I dunno. I blame myself.

50. Dupe! by Jonathon Wilcke

Dupe! by Jonathon Wilcke is as insane and clever as is the man himself. I especially like his formal inventiveness as he takes on industrial capitalism and Christianity. He’s an old school orator with new school problems. Don’t be a dupe, read this book!

51. Presocratic Blues by Joel Bettridge

Ancient Greek philosophers contend with modern concerns like crushing on the checkout girl and taxes. Wait a minute, perhaps these are ancient concerns. They also listen to Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. Epistemologically delicious. 

52. Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder

My dad lent this to me and I picked it up recently when I was unwell and needed a read that wouldn’t challenge my brain too much. This didn’t, but it did challenge my little heart just a bit, just enough for a book you can bliss out to and not have to think too much. This collection of short stories is about solitary humans grappling with relationships, people leaving or people being left. 

-Nikki