Identify this book. Literary novel, probably a first novel, published between 1994 and 1997, written by a guy who had taught writing at Harvard. The only thing I remember in it is an obsessive character in the desert who has welded multiple trailers or mobile homes in a circle so he can obsessively walk in circles inside them.
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posted by Unified Theory
on May 13, 2013 -
7 answers
This one has been driving me nuts for years, and I'm going to turn to the hive mind. When I was a kid, around 10 or 11 (making it around 1992-1993), I got a book that was something akin to the Babysitters' Club books: targeted at young girls, about a group of young girls all doing something together. The first of a potential series, although I don't know if I read any more. I remember very few details of this book other than the fact that it was mentioned that the main character/narrator's mother had had A LOBOTOMY. She had been depressed or had some other mental problem before, so she had a voluntary lobotomy and was now fun and freewheeling and wore cowboy hats in the kitchen. This wasn't an important plot point, just a throwaway character detail. If anyone has any memory or clue to what this book or book series could have been, I'd be thrilled. I'd just like to know that I'm not just making it up, for one thing.
posted by whitneyarner
on May 11, 2013 -
8 answers
You are in a book club. You have an independent bookstore in your town. What can the bookstore do for your club?
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posted by wintersonata9
on May 8, 2013 -
17 answers
If I were to set up my own online book store, is there a provider that I can subscribe that will provide me with images of sample pages of books?
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posted by applesurf
on May 7, 2013 -
5 answers
I want to trade my car in and buy a new one. The Kelly Blue Book value of my trade-in is $7500, but the dealer's "Black Book" value is $3000-4000.
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posted by Right On Red
on Apr 20, 2013 -
18 answers
I need help remembering this book that I read probably between 1988 and 1994. It was a horse story, probably very young adult age. There were horses and a girl named Nat (short for Natasha, I believe).
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posted by Sassyfras
on Apr 19, 2013 -
4 answers
I read a novel when I was in high school that was written I think back in the seventies or maybe the sixties. I have been trying for awhile now to remember the title and the author. I've done some searches, but I can't narrow down my search terms to where I can get search results that would be helpful. Please help me remember!
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posted by Fukiyama
on Apr 18, 2013 -
2 answers
For her bat mitzvah, I would like to give my niece a book that is age appropriate but will also have lasting value. Suggestions?
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posted by janey47
on Apr 8, 2013 -
30 answers
Somewhere between '80 and '82, I read this book that featured spiders... [arachnophobes: do not click!]
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posted by batmonkey
on Mar 28, 2013 -
7 answers
I read an American graphic novel five years ago about a girl in middle school (but not by Lynda Barry) and I wish I could find it again.
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posted by stinker
on Mar 20, 2013 -
3 answers
I'm trying to remember a book I read a long time ago in which a bitter supporting character complained about the fact that he was an ex-astronaut and he had a chip in his head and every moment of every day he received encouraging commentary from NASA engineers about whatever he happens to be doing. From memory the character might be homeless, or unemployed etc, and as the story progresses I think you just assume he's a little mad and the voices are imaginary.
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posted by planetthoughtful
on Mar 16, 2013 -
7 answers
ArtHistoryFilter: I saw a documentary on conceptualist art, featuring the likes of Bruce Nauman, Lawrence Weiner and Sol LeWitt. Now I'd like to know more. What's a good introductory book to the thinking behind conceptualism?
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posted by ar0n
on Mar 10, 2013 -
7 answers
I was linked a book some time ago via twitter, but that account is now gone and with it went the link.
Things I remember:
Pretty sure it was called "Daylight" (maybe not that, but definitely a time word. daytime? morning?)
Content: the text was just the entirety of a single day's New York Times transcribed
The link went to the publisher, I recall seeing it on Amazon also.
I believe published in the early 90s. 93ish? But still purchasable
Currently going crazy trying to find it with such not-so-limiting search terms. My browser history doesn't go back far enough to find it there. Hoping someone familiar with it happens upon this, I guess.
posted by arsey
on Mar 8, 2013 -
1 answer
Is there a book (or a way to have one made) that would list all available Linux commands with options and what they mean for any shell I'm interested in learning? (Currently bash)
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posted by InsertNiftyNameHere
on Mar 6, 2013 -
14 answers
Can you recommend a good chess book with as much history, context, stories, and culture as strategy?
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posted by suprenant
on Feb 27, 2013 -
10 answers
I have to travel very light. It's going to be a boring trip. I have an iPhone. I'm looking to read on the cheap. What are the best free books to download to my iPhone?
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posted by BlueHorse
on Feb 13, 2013 -
21 answers
Another fantastic round of "AskMe, Name That Book!" Although I cannot remember the title, author/editor, or what the cover looked like at all, I do remember a great deal of detail about what is contained therein. The book I am looking for gave brief, factual descriptions and synopses of the lives of people who were commonly referred to/treated as 'sideshow freaks' in the late 19th/early 20th century, many of whom were also circus performers with P.T. Barnum.
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posted by divined by radio
on Feb 13, 2013 -
7 answers
Back in the late 70s, I found a how-to book (ca.1967) at the local library about starting a rock and roll band. What was that book???
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posted by 2N2222
on Jan 24, 2013 -
4 answers
I'm considering writing a technical book, mostly a labour of love. I want to do the writing process online, like Bruce Eckel did for his excellent
Thinking in Java years ago. In order to facilitate user feedback, Eckel had a very fine-grained commenting system, which he developed himself and called TalkBack. At the end of each paragraph there was a "comment" link that let users comment on that particular paragraph. Are there any other CMS that offers fine-grained feedback like that? I'm aware of an older (2003-2004?) Zope TalkBack implementation, but would like something more current. And if you think I'm looking for the wrong thing and should go about writing a book on the web differently, please chime in!
posted by Harald74
on Jan 22, 2013 -
8 answers
I am looking for a copy of a 1938 pamphlet called "Gratitude" written by Dr. Harry L. James of Chicago. There was a copy
on Ebay, but it's sold now. Any chance I could find another copy (or PDF) of this thing?
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posted by mattbucher
on Jan 7, 2013 -
4 answers
Identify-a-book-filter: I'm trying to remember a children's/young adult book that I likely read 15-20 years ago in Australia. It was about a ~13 year old girl who went to a Greek island with her archaelogist parents (for a year/the summer?) and something magicky happened.
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posted by jacalata
on Jan 4, 2013 -
12 answers
I just re-discovered my copy of
this edition of
Heart of Darkness, which I bought a couple years ago. Help me find more tiny books.
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posted by vogon_poet
on Dec 30, 2012 -
15 answers
What is this children's book (and its sequel, if I recall correctly?) A girl takes an elevator in an old house/building to a floor that opens up several generations ago. She meets children from the past there. There is a scene where the narrator finds an old photograph and sees the girl in it. In this book, or possibly its sequel, there is some going back and forth in time to find buried treasure at the house in modern times. I don't remember the reading level but it may be considered a children's book or YA book. It was probably written sometime between 1960 and 1980, and I think I read it in the early 1990s.
posted by michaelh
on Dec 24, 2012 -
3 answers
I am a reader of fiction. I read a lot, and I read all sorts of fiction genres. I do not, however, read non-fiction because the couple of times I tried to I found them desperately dull. I am sure that can’t be the reality for all non-fiction books… right? Teach me something interesting and make me learn to like non-fiction please. Specific requests inside...
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posted by PuppetMcSockerson
on Dec 18, 2012 -
83 answers
Recommendations for fiction about the rich and all their trappings, imposters within that world, or stories where the mighty fell and then rose again?
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posted by dean winchester
on Dec 12, 2012 -
27 answers
Please help me find the title of this book for a friend. It's about a woman and her husband who are involved in a plane crash. Everyone aboard was killed, except for the couple. The wife is an art dealer.
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posted by erasorhed
on Oct 25, 2012 -
5 answers
Book Filter: I'd like to reread a book that I read sometime in the 80s. I was sure that it was called 'Corner Store' and was in a Reader's Digest Condensed volume, but Wikipedia, Google, and Amazon seem to disagree.
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posted by CdnMathTeacher
on Oct 20, 2012 -
4 answers
A friend would like me to save her some posts and comments from FB in a less ephemeral way. I'd like to copy them and make them into some sort of book or pamphlet for her. Have you done this sort of thing before and if so, how? I've seen Fonicle, which I think is a bit of overkill for this situation.
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posted by jvilter
on Oct 17, 2012 -
6 answers
Help me remember the title of this genre novel about a military nurse named Honor?
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posted by phoenixy
on Oct 7, 2012 -
1 answer
What is "the German" (dance? Game?) referred to in several Louisa May Alcott books?
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posted by xaire
on Sep 17, 2012 -
14 answers
Trying to find the title/author of a book called, I think, "The Kids' Thesaurus". It was not a thesaurus.
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posted by dirtdirt
on Aug 22, 2012 -
2 answers
Stupid question: Should I read Hunger Games 1? I've already seen the movie. This is normally a no-brainer because usually book >> movie: in this case, I have seen the movie first and have the book on-hand already, plus tonight I have a book swap and dibs on many other books that I don't know yet! Bonus: your opinion on reading parts 2&3.
posted by whatzit
on Aug 22, 2012 -
32 answers
Help me remember this book that I checked out of the library... ghost story set in New England (I think Maine, but I'm not positive), begins in more or less present day, with an old woman telling the story of the summer she was a teenager and fell in love for the first time. Most of the story takes place in that summer, but also a lot of scenes from the mid-to-late 1800s.
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posted by Kriesa
on Aug 21, 2012 -
3 answers
Looking for a book. It's based in a nearish future where something (I think the destruction of the moon) has given the Earth a ring. The protagonist was a young Inuit (I think) girl. I think the cover was blue.
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posted by sparklemotion
on Aug 13, 2012 -
6 answers
Students of art, lovers of philosophy, can you recommend a book I can buy as a gift for a friend?
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posted by Chichibio
on Jul 25, 2012 -
17 answers
I've got another "what was that thing from my childhood?" sort of question, and I've combed through Google and Amazon and Abebooks to no avail. A book of short quirky poems for children, probably illustrated. Mid 1970s. Very likely published by Scribners, we had tons of their hardcover books from an uncle who worked there (now deceased, so I can't ask him.) I
thought the title was "It May Be So, It May Be Not", which was also the title of a poem in the book that went, either partially or entirely...
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posted by tomboko
on Jul 14, 2012 -
3 answers
Can you recommend something to read from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library? I have trawled through there for ages this month and last month and I'm having trouble finding something good that I haven't read before.
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posted by dragonplayer
on Jul 5, 2012 -
18 answers
Really vague teenage book memory involving a gold room, a candle, and meditation power? Did I hallucinate this book?
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posted by kanata
on Jun 22, 2012 -
8 answers
Father's Day Help Request: Name the book that meets the following, slightly circumspect, critera: Russian author (potentially female), very popular in the 1950s and 1960s (may also have been first published then), acted as a good example/expose/lesson in conservatism and liberalism?
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posted by RolandOfEld
on Jun 17, 2012 -
5 answers
