Guard Dog

Caw! Caw!

Late Bloomer

Taupe Topiary

Patty Smith

jpg">

Patti Smith gave a "Bookworm" interview to Michael Silverblatt (my favorite big brain) on her book, "Just Kids." Every time I think Ms. Smith is going to be pretentious and silly she astonishes me with her raw presence. She's not false in any way. She just is. That state of being monks have been trying to get into for as long as there have been monks comes naturally to Patti.

Give the interview a listen. Michael can't help but be pretentious because he really is smarter and more knowledgeable about books than anyone. So his interview with Ms. Smith is funny and disarming.

She described herself and her art friends as "patrons of the spirit."

Stieg Larsson

I know this guy is supposed to be a feminist, but when his heroine, Lisbeth Salander, feels better about her self image when she gets a boob job, I have to question Larsson's self-proclaimed "feminist" ideals. Plus, what's with all the women who throw themselves at Mikael Blomkvist? His former baby sitter, Lisbeth--a girl that could be his daughter--and of course, the ultimate fantasy, a woman whose story he is protecting against his own ethical code can't resist him either. The very woman that babysat (is that even a word?) him as a child! Of course, she must come onto him like every other woman he meets. Practically every woman who gets to know Blomkvist feels compelled to have sex with him. They become uncontrollably attracted to this 50ish journalist. Let's not question that the babysitter also was horribly abused and that Blomkvist is keeping her secret. That wouldn't be any reason for a woman to compromise herself now would it? Where's his ethical code now?

Then there's the married co-worker that Blomkvist's been lovers with for 20 years. Her husband understands their arrangement and is fine with it. Who could get in the way of such a healthy expression of sexual desire between your wife and the irresistable Mikael Blomkvist? Everyone's ok with that. The wife, the husband, and Blomkvist. But, oh, Mikael is turned off by an intern at the journal where he works. I guess she's coming on too strong for the guy who sleeps with every female he encounters. And another thing... Everyone in Sweden is having sex constantly. Even those who are damaged so severely that they can't have normal relationship with other people. Lisbeth is an anti-social braniac who is emotionally damaged from sexual abuse. But, hey, she's up for all kinds of sex as long as she's doing the soliciting and she does a fair amount of that.

The Swedes in Larsson's world are into prodigious amounts of sex with multiple partners, partners of either sex and some at the same time, apparently. Larsson throws in complicated mathematics and economic shenanigans for the appearance of sophistication, but it's a simple book: All of the bad people die (or will in the next book) and all the good people live to have sex again and again and again.

The real question is: why am I still reading these books? They repulse and attract me at the same time. Genius.