I’ve been ruminating over Time Magazine’s list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923-present (of which I’ve read about 15%). It’s a curious list. I was surprised to see two thematically similar SF novels (Neuromancer and Snow Crash), along with two fantasy classics (you can probably guess which ones). It’s nice to see the genres getting some love, but I might have picked someone like Bradbury over Stephenson. A lot of the selections are relatively recent, as well. Never Let Me Go was released just this year, while White Teeth and The Blind Assassin were published in the last five. And to not include anything by John Irving seems negligent almost to the point of criminality.
Lists like this are silly, anyway. It’s impossible to pick 100 books and declare them artistically superior to all of their peers; such declarations being inherently subjective and more than a little arbitrary. But I’m curious to know what other works you think should have been included in the list. It might give me some ideas for my next book run.

Yesterday, I attended a symposium on the Supreme Court and one of the presenters was the Chief Inquisitor of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Ken Starr. Much to my astonishment, he does not have horns growing out of his forehead and his eyes do not glow with a sinister red light. These last few years at Pepperdine must have mellowed him out some. In fact, he has a very polished speaking manner similar to those narrators of books on tape. I, for one, would pay good money to hear Ken Starr do an uncensored reading of Valley of the Dolls.

If I do ever find myself in a senior management role in a government agency, please, someone, do not let my assistant write embarrassing (and badly spelled) e-mails about me. The career staff at FEMA must be reading these disclosures about former director Mike Brown’s aloof incompetence with a mixture of relief and shame. At least these revelations are being publicly aired, but the agency’s image and reputation has already been badly damaged. Jesus, couldn’t have someone at least told the guy that it might be a better idea to grab a bite at McDonald’s? What exactly does this Administration have against anything resembling meritocracy? It’s fine to appoint people who supported you back in the day, but shouldn’t those people have some demonstrated skill, some evidence of expertise in managing complex, changing situations? Maybe it’s the fact that Bush himself is the personification of mediocrity, and so he feels most comfortable around other people of mediocre skills. Maybe it’s the fact that he still has a knee-jerk disdain for bright, insightful people that probably goes back to his frat-boy days. Sure, he has a few genuinely brilliant people in his inner circle (like Rice and Rove), but in general he seems to value loyalty over capability. And that’s okay if you’re mayor of a confederacy of dunces. But it’s not okay when you’re the President of the United States.

A day or two after last year’s election, I told a conservative friend that Republicans now have enough rope to hang themselves. I’m astonished that it took them less than a year to oblige. The progressive media are as jittery as a bunch of kids on the night before Christmas because of the indictments that are almost certainly forthcoming from special prosecutor Fitzgerald in the Plame leak. After living on page 10 in newspapers for more than a year, it looks like this story is about to get the front-page treatment. Of course, conservatives (who love to decry our culture of victimization but who also cry alligator tears as they bemoan their never-ending persecution) are spinning this any which way they can. For them, this “criminalization of politics” is the Left’s desperate ploy to thwart the conservative agenda. In other words, conservatives are so good at playing politics that the Left has to resort to quaint concepts like “rule of law” to derail the conservative Utopia that was this close to being realized.
Let the schadenfreude commence.

Dudes, I’m a little high on paint fumes right now, so I’m going to keep this short lest I start proclaiming myself King of the World or something equally embarrassing. I haven’t done a music-related post in a while, so here are a few albums that have been making me happy in recent days:
Plans – Death Cab for Cutie–I’m almost embarrassed to admit that this is my first purchase of a full-length Death Cab album and I feel like I’m coming late to the party. Ben Gibbard lets loose with his inner Heathcliff, but makes his melancholy sound upbeat. Kind of like a soundtrack for a rainy Monday that ends with a spectacular sunset.
Twin Cinema – The New Pornographers–More Canadian power pop with hooks that embed themselves deep in your brain. Neko Case, as always, is the highlight for me on this album, but new singer Kathryn Calder adds some fresh texture.
Thunder, Lightning, Strike – The Go! Team–Genre-defying, hyper-caffeinated ear candy. If you don’t smile when you’re listening to this album, you’re either dead or overmedicated. Call it cinematic hip-hop. Call it electroclash. Call it what you will. It will command you to move. I’m listening to it right now and my head is bobbing so much that I’m having difficulty typing.