Comments on: Sisterly Read: ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’

By: monika

monika — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:52:58 +0000

I am so pumped — I think my tapas spread (or maybe it was the sangria?) persuaded my book club to pick Petina’s book for September — yay!!

(We also picked Madame de Stael, the First Modern Woman (she lived just down the road!), Out Stealing Horses, A Short History of Women, and The Book of Ebenezer LePage)

I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Petina here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/jan/26/pettina-gappah-dancing-champion

And here is her notorious Dan Brown chapter:
http://petinagappah.blogspot.com/2009/03/in-which-i-write-opening-chapter-of-dan.html

And one last thing: Salman Rushdie friended HER on Facebook!! How cool is that?!?

By: paige

paige — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:17:41 +0000

Sari–Welcome! I will have to check those out, as I’ve read neither one. Come back to give us your reviews of them both, if you can.

Monika–so, so happy to see you visiting here (especially as my personal blog has been so neglected of late!) I haven’t read the Potato Peel Pie book; it strikes me as exactly the sort of book I wouldn’t like. “Hedgehog” didn’t quite live up to its hype for me, mostly because I found the philosophizing and intellectual namedropping a bit forced, but I enjoyed the read nonetheless, thanks to the two main characters. I guess I’d call this one literary fiction, if not great literature. My current read is Elaine Showalter’s survey of American women writers (new; and I’m forgetting the name) but I am off to read about your friend’s book…

By: Monika

Monika — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:28:27 +0000

Hmm. The leader of our bookclub is angling for this book to be our September pick, but I am dubious after suffering through all the ones she has suggested thus far this year (Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, A Fraction of the Whole & Edgar Sawtelle).

Please tell me you weren’t impressed by the Potato Peel Pie book, and then I will feel reassured…

The book I want our group to read was written by a friend of mine, Petina Gappah (actually, her son Kush is one of my daughter Tallulah’s fiancés, so she is almost an in-law in our family!), Elegy for Easterly. It has gotten good reviews in places like the Guardian, and for the past 2 months she has been jetting off on book tours and panel discussions with the likes of Michael Ondaatje (my favourite writer, living or dead), Salman Rushdie, Colm Toibin… Even did an interview for Oprah’s magazine.

The other book I’m suggesting is The Book of Ebenezer LePage (supposedly a masterpiece, and to correct the misimpressions created by the Potato Peel Pie book).

Currently reading: Bonfire of the Vanities (bookclub), Green Grass, Running Water and Surfacing.

By: Sari

Sari — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:03:24 +0000

I’m loving Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter by Peter Manseau right now – highly recommend it. And Jane Hamilton’s Laura Rider’s Masterpiece. Another excellent read.

By: paige

paige — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:45:19 +0000

Books with recipes ALWAYS win, Danielle. Thanks for the suggestions. And, btw, no one is more behind on reading than me. I feel like I basically didn’t read for the last eight years, and am just getting my groove back on. So keep the suggestions coming, please!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:36:19 +0000

I'm a little behind the game in this, but I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife right now and I'm enjoying it, though sometimes the relationship makes me squirm. I also just finished reading Molly's A Homemade Life, which has the added bonus of delicious recipes!