Last week I stopped by my favorite used bookstore, Jackson Street Booksellers, to find a copy of Auster's, New York Trilogy. No one seems to have it, and I didn't find it at Jackson Street either. Is is just really popular or does no one stock it these days? My library where I work didn't have it, and the public library only had two of the three books (and one was checked out). I want to buy the trilogy in one volume, so I guess I will have to break down and order it. This is for the online book club over at Reading Matters. I am currently reading the other book choice for September, Out. It is good. It is a very dark, noir type thriller. Not for the faint of heart I would say from the little I have read. It is very gritty and not at all how I have ever pictured Japan. I guess every place has its dark underside. I did, however, manage to find a few other books that looked interesting. Rage for Fame falls under my strong, interesting women biography category. I had heard of her in reference to Life magazine, which her husband created, but I didn't realize she herself led such an interesting life. She was beautiful and ambitious. She understudied on Broadway for Mary Pickford, she was a playwright, editor, politician, wit, and social seductress. I guess she must be the female version of a self made man!!
Trail of the Serpent is a Modern Library reissue. This was originally published in serial form in 1860. She was Victorian England's bestselling woman writer. According to the book jacket she blends Dickensian humor with chilling suspense. Kirkus Reviews called this "exuberantly campy". Campy sounds fun. I saw this on the ML website, but couldn't decide, so I am glad I found a nice used copy. Finally I bought The Butterfly Plague. This was written in 1969, and it is now out of print. This is what caught my eye "a haunting chronicle of murder and the death of dreams, in the old days of Hollywood." It sounds pretty dark. It is set in 1940s Hollywood--against the backdrop of the annual migration of the monarch butterflies. "By the time the butterfly plague is over, only the killers remain." Hmm. I guess this comes from reading the noir, "Out"!! I guess I must be in a dark reading mood at the moment. Even the Clare Luce Booth bio isn't about a nice, sweet lady--she clawed her way to the top and sounded rather ruthless. I suppose I will have to read some happy chicklit after a round of these books!!