My wife and I really enjoyed your recent piece on New York City. I was wondering about your opinion of Heller and Turow, and more specifically your opinion of those two books. My wife and I gave our 16-year old son two books this Christmas, "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller and "Personal Injuries" by Scott Turow. I took like Habsburg decay-Shnitzler, Klimt, etc. Didn't see Eyes Wide Shut, nor have I read Musil (a serious lacuna). Also, Hotel Savoy, particularly admired by Mavis Gallant of the New Yorker. Michael Dirda: I've written at some length about Roth, in particular The Tale of the 1002nd Night and The Radetzky Waltz. What are some of your favorites? Also, did you see Kubrick's last film based on Schnitzler's fiction? My son and I loved it. I've always been interested in Hapsburg decay-have read Joseph Roth's The Radetzky Waltz but have not read any Musil. I got to one big book place called, I think, The Big Chicken Barn. I do have a half dozen of the man's books, and I like his elaborate, rococo style. My friend Steve Moore edited a posthumous volume of his essays a few years back and has been after me to read him at length. Michael Dirda: I've read some Dahlberg, but not enough. Somehow I feel that you have read his books, maybe especially "The Sorrows of Priapus", and I was wondering - since he seems to be mostly forgotten - what you thought of his work and if you believed he is worthy of a revival?Īlso, how far up into Maine did you get in the summer? From reading your columns, it seems as if you must have visited Wayward Books. Recently I was rummaging about in the basement - like Dirda in his cellar - and I uncovered a copy of Edward Dahlberg's "Bottom Dogs". But I did read the book on 18th century Enlightenment thought, the Borges, the Wilde etc. In the case of round-ups such as this past week's', I haven't always read every page of a compilation like those by Gardner or the aphorisms of Lichtenberg, but I do know their work in general pretty well. Michael Dirda: I do read all the books I write about at length. Did you really read all of those books that you recommended in Sunday's column? And while we're at it, do you ever not bother finishing, or skim parts of, books that you review? But it is a wonderful series, brilliantly written and imagined. Be warned, though, that you may need to discuss the highly critical portrait of the Church with your child. Now I am reading it again with my 10- and 11- year old children. I finally read The Golden Compass- of course it is super-entertaining, as promised. I'm technically on vacation this week, but returned to DC from Ohio a bit early so I could hang out for a day or so at the Modern Language Association convention being held here this year. Hope a few people managed to make their way here. Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books at its usual default time and place of Friday, 2 PM. Over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. I yearn for a bust of Dante to place on a bookcase."Įditor's Note: moderators retain editorial control
"Do not imagine that I regard my taste for literary artifacts as anything but shameless and vulgar," Dirda says, "I have sunk so low as to covet Edward Gorey coffee mugs. He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer working on his reviews and Readings columns.
Otherwise he just reads books and writes about them, with occasional visits to secondhand bookstores in search of treasures. These days, Dirda says he spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth and daydreaming ("my only real pastime"). Wodehouse, intellectual history, children's books and locked-room mysteries - just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished criticism. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda is still smart enough to be an unabashed fan of "The Simpsons," noting that "the show's genius derives from its details." He also loves P.G. If he's not reviewing a fat literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be writing a lighthearted essay about the joys and burdens of living in a house filled with way too many books. Washington Post Book World Senior Editor Michael Dirda takes your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.ĭirda's name appears weekly in The Post's Book World section.
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