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February 2012
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From the Director,
Making Our Lists...Checking Them Twice...with Bittman, Franzen & Patchett!
What would the holidays be without lists? In my world, Christmas for my friends and family wouldn't happen without my totally retro Filofax "to do" list, which expands daily with many more "do's" than "done's." I'm sure it's generational – I still can't text into my phone nearly as fast I can grab my pen and scribble the latest "best book" list from the NPR book reviewer du jour.We've gotten some fun and quirky lists from our speakers this fall. Many of you have called to ask for them so here they are for your holiday pleasure.
Mark Bittman's Recommended New York City Eateries:
1. Minar, Indian take-out (138 W. 46th St., NYC)
2. Peasant, Nice Dinner Out (194 Elizabeth St., #A, NYC)
3. Totto Ramen, Noodle Bowls (366 W. 52nd St., NYC)
4. Mark's House, Best Place to eat in NYC
Where Mark Bittman Ate in Pittsburgh:
1. Root 174, Regent Square, Sunday Dinner
2. Ali Baba, Oakland, Monday Lunch
3. Legume, Oakland, Monday Dinner
Jon Franzen's 27 Recommended Authors Since 1940 or so...
Jon only mentioned a few of them at the podium on October 22nd, but he provided this complete list by email at my request.
Russell Banks: Continental Drift
Saul Bellow: Seize the Day
Paul Bowles: The Sheltering Sky
David Bradley: The Chaneysville Incident
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum: Ms. Hempel Chronicles
Evan S. Connell: Mr. Bridge; Mrs. Bridge
Don DeLillo: White Noise
Tom Drury: The End of Vandalism: A Novel
William Faulkner: The Hamlet
Paula Fox: Desperate Characters: A Novel
Joseph Heller: Something Happened
Denis Johnson: Angels: A Novel; Jesus' Son: Stories
Halldor Laxness: Independent People
Bernard Malamud: The Assistant: A Novel
Toni Morrison: Song of Solomon
Alice Munro: The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose; Runaway; Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories
Haruki Murakami: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel
Flannery O'Connor: Collected Stories
Kenzaburo Oë: A Personal Matter
Philip Roth: Sabbath's Theater
Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children: A Novel
George Saunders: In Persuasion Nation
Isaac Bashevis Singer: Enemies, A Love Story; The Family Moskat: A Novel
Jane Smiley: The Greenlanders; The Age of Grief; Ordinary Love and Good Will
Scott Spencer: Endless Love: A Novel
Christina Stead: The Man Who Loved Children: A Novel
David Foster Wallace: Infinite Jest; Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Ann Patchett's Recommended Best Reads, from her recent lecture:
Jeannette Haien: The All of It: A Novel
Edith Pearlman: Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories
Denis Johnson: Train Dreams: A Novella
Moss Hart: Act One: An Autobiography
Kevin Wilson: The Family Fang: A Novel
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Marriage Plot: A Novel
I can't think of better ideas for holiday gifts or for ways to spend some time during the next few weeks, if you're lucky enough to get the gift of a few leisurely hours during the holiday rush. The best thing about these lists is how personal they are and how much they reflect the tastes and styles of three writers who feel now like good friends since they spent a Monday night at the Lectures in our company.
If you didn't get a chance to hear Mark Bittman, Jonathan Franzen, or Ann Patchett, you still have a chance to hear Michele Norris, Isabel Wilkerson, Sebastian Junger, Abraham Verghese, and Lisa See. Scroll down, and you'll get the details of our special "Four Lectures For $40" promotion, a great way to sample our LITERARY EVENINGS and to hear five outstanding contemporary authors. I promise you that they will have their own lists, too.
Happy Holidays!
Jayne Adair
Executive Director, Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures
December 7, 2011