weekend linkdump!

[glass_icarus]

Pre-Montreal tab-clearing! Have a good weekend, lovelies; I'll see you on the other side. &hearts

+ This list of the 15 most overrated contemporary American writers makes me wonder just what Anis Shivani's definition of "contemporary" is. (My list would include Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer, just sayin'...) Still, the snark was enjoyable to read!

+ Mao's Last Dancer looks shiny.

+ Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather, Devil Wears Prada fic by woldy! UNF.

+ Troy Polamalu's hair is insured for a million bucks. Why do I suspect that this is less whimsical than it first appears?

+ MC Jin's rapping in Cantonese these days. (Interesting commentary on bilingualism!)

+ This Tina & Mike still via angry asian man is HOT, y'all. People who are still watching Glee, promise to let me know if I should poke my head in just to watch that scene? ;)

+ Rambutans in Puerto Rico! ... I have still never tasted a rambutan. ;____; Someday I can has??

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

You can get canned rambutans, buuuuuut I think better to wait until you can have a fresh one for your first!

[glass_icarus]

!!! Haha, I agree with this assessment, but... canned rambutans! *___*

[zahrawithaz.livejournal.com]

Can I just say that that list of the 15 most overrated US writers made my day? (Especially the part about Junot Diaz.)

I see your point about contemporary--Amy Tan?--but a lot of what he has to say, at least with the fiction writers, is dead-on accurate. Even when he goes too far (I like Michiko K, but he's right about her limitations and tics), he's picking up on real attributes of their writing. The only one I think he got utterly wrong was Michael Cunningham, who does know Woolf better than Shivani and has her same experimental bent--witness his foray into sci-fi.

I don't know the poets as well, but I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better summary of Billy Collins than the Seinfeld of poetry. Never were snark and schaenfreude so fun!

[lady_ganesh]

I loved that list too! (I really enjoyed The Joy Luck Club but I only wanted to read that book once.)

[glass_icarus]

Heh, I think my confusion was more over genre than anything else. (Amy Tan is apparently still writing, but since I was alienated by the Joy Luck Club, I didn't bother to read anything else of hers. ;P) But yes, I do think that his comments on their writing styles/habits are on point, even in the cases where I disagree.

[crossedwires]

Thanks for the heads up about Mao's Last Dancer! I looked for Joan Chen in the trailer, but didn't see her.

And Glee, I may have to watch that one scene. :D

[glass_icarus]

You're welcome! :)

[puckling]

This list of the 15 most overrated contemporary American writers makes me wonder just what Anis Shivani's definition of "contemporary" is.

I read that! I disagreed with her about Junot Diaz though. While I have yet to read an entire book of his, the snippets I have got have been very enjoyable and vivid.

[glass_icarus]

He's very opinionated! But as Zahra says above, he does zoom in very well on their writing attributes, even when he goes too far.

[jibrailis]

Mao's Last Dancer! Definitely want to see that! *has secret love for ballet and Chinese men in tights*

[glass_icarus]

Hee!

[gehayi]

I never heard of any of them except for Amy Tan. The sentence he quoted does make sense in context, by the way.

Of course, a lot of the ones he mentioned were poets. Who reads modern poetry by professional poets if they don't have to? It's confusing, it's pretentious, and it's always supposed to be Deeply Symbolic. (And yes, I do read poetry. Just not the pretentious shit.)

[glass_icarus]

*shrug* I like reading poetry, but of course it depends on who's writing it. (Mary Oliver is in fact on my list of "likes", but Shivani does have a point about her writing attributes.) YMMV, obviously!

[mercredigirl]

Rambutans are v.v. sweet and delish! :D I hope you get to try 'em soon! :)

[glass_icarus]

Me toooo! People keep telling me they are delicious and I cannot satisfy my curiosity, woe. *g*

[staraflur]

on that list i've only read amy tan, junot diaz and safran foer

i guess it's supposed to be "good" writers, not popular ones? idk i am a little confused by how everyone gets so OBSESSED with some of these people, but i think they're all good writers with really interesting stories to tell SO I WILL STICK WITH THEM TY

[glass_icarus]

I feel I should make an attempt at Junot Diaz one of these days! Maybe when I'm not supposed to be reading ten thousand other things...