The entry begins:Just finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Not to minimize the wonderful use of language (including a few words I had to look up), the story is, basically, Harry Potter goes to college, gets drunk, gets laid and meets a gay person. The MC is Quentin Coldwater, a geeky smart boy in perpetual longing for something he can't quite name. Hogwarts is reimagined as Brakebills, a super selective college in upstate New York with classes on practical magic and theory. During his undergrad years, Quentin undergoes the personal discovery process and learns as much about himself as he does in the classroom. He drinks and sleeps around as a...[read on]About It's Hard Not to Hate You, from the publisher:
From the author of THIN IS THE NEW HAPPY comes a hilarious new memoir about embracing your Inner Hater. In the midst of a health and career crisis, Valerie uncorks years of pent up rage, and discovers you don't have to be happy to be happy. You don’t have to love everyone else to like yourself. And that your Bitchy Twin might just be your funniest, most valuable and honest ally.Learn more about the book and author at Valerie Frankel's website and Facebook page.
“The hate in you has got to come out.” After being advised to reduce stress by her doctor, humorist Valerie Frankel realized the biggest source of pressure in her life was maintaining an unflappable easing-going persona. After years of glossing over thenegative, Frankel goes on a mission of emotional honesty, vowing to let herself feel and express all the toxic emotions she’d long suppressed or denied: jealousy, rage, greed, envy, impatience, regret. Frankel reveals her personal History of Hate, from mean girls in junior high, selfish boyfriends in her twenties and old professional rivals. Hate stomps through her current life, too, with snobby neighbors, rude cell phone talkers, scary doctors and helicopter moms. Regarding her husband, she asks, “How Do I Hate You? Let Me Count the Ways.” (FYI: There are three.) By the end of her authentic emotional experience, Frankel concludes that toxic emotions are actually good for you. The positive thinkers, aka, The Secret crowd, have it backwards. Trying to ward off negativity was what’d been causing Frankel’s career stagnation, as well as her health and personal problems. With the guidance of celebrity friends like Joan Rivers and psychic Mary T. Browne, Frankel now uses anger, jealousy and impatience as tools to be a better, balanced and deeper person. IT'S HARD NOT TO HATE YOU sends the message that there are no wrong emotions, only wrong ways of dealing with them.
My Book, The Movie: It's Hard Not to Hate You.
Writers Read: Valerie Frankel.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
