Middlebrow's 2021 Reading Round-Up

Reading is fundamental!

Each year, the Middlebrow falls into the Goodreads trap by signing up for a “reading challenge” that rewards the quantity of books consumed, rather than their quality. This year, Middlebrow logged 45 titles, and a good mix of fiction, non-fiction and scripts. Here they are, with brief remarks:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fiztgerald

Middlebrow rereads this every few years. It always holds up.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

A retelling of the story of Theseus, from a woman’s point of view. Clever and important. It inevitably invites comparisons to Madeline Miller, but Saint stands on her own.

A People’s History of American Empire by Howard Zinn

A graphic novel based Zinn’s essential People’s History. Profound, given current events.

The Art of Asking Your Boss For A Raise by Georges Perec

A part of the longer novel Life, A User’s Manual and a treat for absurdists.

RUR by Karel Capek

A play and the first use of the term “robot,” which is relevant in this age of encroaching artificial intelligence and unbridled capitalism.

The Game by Alessandro Baricco

If anybody were to direct a contemporary production of RUR, they should read this first.

Millennium by Jacques Attali

Middlebrow was assigned this wonderful book in college and picked it up again to see how Attali’s predictions held up 25 years later. You’ll be amazed. This short volume was not only prophetic but still contains actionable advice. Attali, a well-known public intellectual in France, deserves more recognition in the US.

Valiant by Sally Hayton-Keeva and Lanna Joffrey

A moving story of women in war, told in monologue. A huge triumph for both writers. Lanna adapted this for stage and I wish I’d been able to see it.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

A re-read, for good reason. This is on the list of novels to revisit throughout life.

Four Films of Woody Allen

This volume contains scripts for Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan, and Stardust Memories. The Middlebrow loves Stardust Memories and views it as a companion piece to Deconstructing Harry, an under-appreciated masterpiece.

Toward the Splendid City by Pablo Neruda

Found in the Scholar Wife’s book collection, this is a revealing and moving tale of Neruda’s struggle, as told in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Wiki of Infinite Sorrows by Matthew Burnside

I read this to review for Heavy Feather and am glad I did. This book is a compact mental vacation that reminds the attentive reader why small press matters.

Titanic by Terry Jones

What do you do when you want a new book by an author seized from us prematurely? You read a book written by a member of Monty Python in his tribute. It’s not quite Douglas Adams but it’s mostly harmless.

Dread and Superficiality by Stuart A. Hemple

A collection of newspaper comics featuring Woody Allen. This is what made Bloom’s County and Doonesbury possible. Allen wrote some of these gags, and they’re hysterical. Also, there’s a great intro about Hemple’s collaboration with Allen.

Fierce Poise by Alexander Nemerov

A much-needed biography of artist Helen Frankenthaler that shows how the NYC art world of the 1950s resonates today. Middlebrow loved this book.

A Swim in The Pond in The Rain by George Saunders

Middlebrow loves Saunders. This book felt like being back in college, in the best classes. It also inspired Middlebrow to write some fiction, coming soon from New Pop Lit. Loved this book.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Middlebrow was never assigned this in school, so this was a catch-up read and vital to understanding current events

Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman

More of a super-hero tale than most of Gaiman’s work, but it now reads like eco-fiction.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

I miss the hardcore foodieverse of the 00s, when the Food Network stressed technique over idiotic competitions. Bourdain recalls a bygone era where passion reigned, and every work environment was not meant to be ruled by the HR division of Ernst & Young.

Grasses of A Thousand Colors and The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn

Two plays that I read and then heard through Gideon Productions, both written by a treasure of screen and stage. Both are reminders of what theater could do before Disney took over Broadway.

New York Diaries, Edited by Teresa Carpenter

A compilation of journal entries from throughout New York’s history – engrossing and inspiring.

Misery by Stephen King

My first Stephen King novel and an addiction, once you get started. I later had problems reading King, but this one convinced me about his “quill of thrill.” But, then I tried other works and couldn’t get through “The Mist.” Is King a masochist? I’m not squeamish (American Psycho is one of my faves) but I think King gets off on his character’s suffering in an off-putting way.

The Pharmacist’s Mate by Amy Fusselman

A slim book from McSweeney’s that I have been carrying for two decades, this one called to me from my shelves and has been neglected. A triumph of memoir and creativity.

One For The Road by Harold Pinter

A short play, offered for free digitally by The New York Review of Books. It’s a tale of dictatorship and cruelty, told as only Pinter can.

The Captain’s Daughter by Alexander Pushkin

Middlebrow’s first Pushkin – this story of a young man sent into war recalls Candide.

The History of Sexuality, Volume One by Michel Foucault

A timely book about how government and social control over sexuality is the ultimate form of authoritarianism. Just look what the Supreme Court is up to!

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

A libertarian science fiction writer imports a hero from Mars to bring free love to hippies. Middlebrow enjoyed it!

20th Century Interpretations of Hamlet Edited by David Bevington

Middlebrow lugs Bevington’s “Complete Works of Shakespeare” everywhere he moves and couldn’t resist this slender volume, found in the basement of Scholar Wife’s childhood home. A wonderful way to revisit Hamlet without rereading it.

Oil on Water by Helon Habila

Assigned to Scholar Wife as part of her graduate studies, Middlebrow picked this one up and loved the very true tale of activism and terrorism in the Niger Delta, the oil producing region of Nigeria that Middlebrow visited on a reporting trip 22 years ago. A fantastic book that deserves more recognition.

The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh

Another book plucked from The Scholar Wife’s reading list. A journalist and novelist, Ghosh questions the inability or unwillingness of contemporary fiction to deal with the climate crisis. Middlebrow is now reading some of Ghosh’s fiction.

Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare

Because the fantastic film adaptation was available on HBO Max, Middlebrow picked up the script again. This is a fantastic play, full of insight and cutting humor.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

A play that reads like a novel. Seriously.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

Middlebrow had forgotten how a great a gem this book is but was reminded via a David Foster Wallace listserv that resurfaced an audio version that brought new life to it.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

What, is Middlebrow back in middle school? What’s next, A Separate Peace? More seriously, in the age of cancel culture, Bradbury’s afterword to this novel is essential reading.

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown

A charming and affectionate graphic novel biography of the biggest name in entertainment.

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

Middlebrow’s first Hammett! An enjoyable story but do adults really resort so readily to fisticuffs?

The Gospel in Brief by Leo Tolstoy

Middlebrow is a sucker for retellings of the gospels. This includes Jesus Christ, Superstar and Norman Mailer’s The Gospel According to the Son. Tolstoy takes a “just the facts” approach in this loving recount by a devout believer.

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn

Saw his at Theater Wit in Chicago and was blown away by the production. Washburn’s script explores how and why we tell stories and imagines an apocalyptic future where memories of bygone episodes of The Simpsons form a mythology to help people cope with danger and scarcity.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

A hilarious “Disc World” novel about a con man forced to take over a post office haunted by dead letters. Middlebrow plans to make more time for more Pratchett.

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

A triumph of metafiction, this volume contains “The Library of Babel” and has a description of an unwritten Hungarian play that The Middlebrow would like to write.

Drawing the Line: What to do with the work of immoral artists from museums to movies by Erich Hatala Matthes

A philosopher and aesthete tries to think beyond cancel culture to find a path where ethical consumers can appreciate art without handwaving the ethical lapses of creators. Matthes gets beyond the easy answers and finds solutions more satisfying than either separating the art from the artist or to boycott. The only flaw here, I think, is that his argument assumes that every artist accused of immorality has been accused fairly.

Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury by Evan Osnos

A correspondent for The New Yorker, Osnos writes here about the communities where he’s lived and how each of their stories has added up to our divisive politics and economics. A fine book, too neatly compared to Tocqueville.

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One Click America by Alec MacGillis

A veteran journalist shows how Amazon manipulated local and federal politics to become the country’s largest retailer, as well as how its ability to serve Americans during the pandemic have cemented its positive legacy in the minds of many lockdown consumers.

Next up: A look at books that Middlebrow started reading but has not finished or has abandoned.