The Michigan Daily - Wt 4 t e. - Thursday, January 18, 1996 - 5B
OOKS
ontinued from Page 18
(Houghton Mifflin) a tale of a won-
erfully outrageous ex-puppeteer,
vhich won the National Book Award
ction. The poetry Award went to
tanley Kunitz for "Passing Through"
Norton). Meanwhile, the Pulitzer
cople actually made a good choice this
ear, honoring Carol Shield for her su-
>erb character study in "The Stone Dia-
ies" (Penguin).
Not all novelists received such high
wards this year, but plenty of excellent
ovels were released in 1995. Jane
miley, who somehow won the Pulitzer
'r' for her Oprahesque saga "A Thou-
aA cres," did a much better job with
his year's "Moo" (Knopf), an
xcuberant satire on academia. Kazuo
higuro, the British-Japanese master
f restraint, went hog-wild this year
vith "Unconsoled" (Knopf), a slightly
irreal journey of a world-renowned
:oncert pianist. Kaye Gibbons contin-
ied her ascent to the forefront of con-
emporary women novelists with
Sits Unseen" (Putnam). Madison
eto) Bell's "All Souls' Rising" (Pan-
heon), Ann Beattie's "Another You"
Knopf),andGabriel Garcia Marquez's
Of Love and Other Demons" (Knopf)
were other substantial contributions to
~he fiction world.
A different type of brash, pop cultur-
illy aware fiction continued to come
:ut of Vancouver's Douglas Coupland,
ho followed up his wonderful "Life
~fter God" %with "Microserfs,"
I perCollins) a hilariously and some-
times sadly true tale of cybergeeks.
Fiction master Norman Mailer dipped
into the world of non-fiction and sur-
faced with the highly-touted biography
"Picasso" (Atlantic Monthly).
Despite all the quality fiction that
arose in 1995, there were still other
efforts that came out in 1995 that were
hugely succesful, but, well, the only
way to describe them is "crappy." Rob-
e@ames Waller ("Border Music" and
"Puerto Vallarta," both from Warner
Books) continues to assault the literary
world with his barage of I'm-a-love-
guru-soft-porn drivel and Pat Conroy
("Prince of Tides") offered the nauseat-
ingly trite"Beach Music" (Doubleday).
Grishan mania continued with "The
Rainmaker" (Doubleday), and
Grisham's egomaniasoared as his book
"The Client" became a weekly televi-
sion series.
But back to bright side. In 1995, Ann
Arbor hosted some of the top authors as
they toured across the country, includ-
ing the aforementioned Ishiguro and
Gibbons. Excellent readings and ap-
pearances also came from T.
Coraghessan Boyle ("Tortilla Curtain"),
Tobias Wolff ("In Pharoah's Army")
and Tim O'Brien ("In the Lake of the
Woods"), who delighted his audience
at Borders with an emotional break-
down. At least two local writers and
University professors offered
highlyacclaimed works in 1995:
OyamO's "I am a Man" (Applause) and
Nicholas Delbanco's "In the Name of
Mercy" (Warner) made waves in the
national literary pool.
Now, with 1996 only three weeks
old, you are probably already behind in
your reading. Me too.
Staff Picks: Top 10 Books of
1995
Elizabeth Lucas
G. "Snow Falling on Cedars," David
Guterson (Vintage)
2. "Ancestral Passions," Virginia
Morrell (Simon & Schuster)
3. "Moo," Jane Smiley (Knopf)
4. "Memoir from Antproof Case,"
Mark Helprin (Harcourt Brace)
5. "Ladder of Years," Anne Tyler
(Knopf)
Dean Bakopoulos
1. "Of Love and Other Demons,"
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Knopf)
2. "The Stories of Vladimir
Nabakov," edited by Dmitri Nabakov
(Knopf)
3. "Microserfs," by Douglas
Coupland (HarperCollins)
4. "The Unconsoled," by Kazuo
Ishiguro (Knopf)
5. "Moo," by Jane Smiley (Knopf)
Top 10 Things that Happened
in the Book World in 1995:
1. Ann Arbor continues to attract
top writers from across the world like,
Kazuo Ishiguro, Kaye Gibbons, and
Tobias Wolff.
2. Arthur Miller, Michigan Daily
alumnus, celebrates his 80th birthday
- and he's still writing.
3. Seamus Heaney gets the Nobel
Prize he so deserves.
4. Knopf publishes Albert Camus'
unfinished would-be masterpiece
"The First Man."
5. No books from Rush Limbaugh.
6. The National Endowment for the
Arts survives GOP attacks - at least
for now.
7. Everyman's Library publishes
all of Updike's "Rabbit" novels in
one edition.
8. Penguin celebrates its 60th birth-
day and issues all kinds of excellent
little books for a buck.
9. Douglas Coupland's "Micro-
serfs" lampoons cyberculture.
10. "Bridges of Madison County"
falls off the New York Times' Top 10
sellers list.
Worst 10 Things that Hap-
pened to Books in 1995:
1. Newt Gingrich gets a book deal
from HarperCollins.
2. Robert James Waller survives.
3. More "Life's Little Instruction
Books" cone out and underscore
American desire for trite, feel-good
fixes.
4. New Age market, despite being
full of hooey, explodes.
5. The O.J. Simpson trial allows
everyone who should never have writ-
ten a book to write one, and what's
worse is that people actually read
them.
6. He just turned 88, and still no
word from J.D. Salinger.
7. Bill Waterson, creator of the
"Calvin and Hobbes"comic strip se-
ries, retires.
8. John Grisham doesn't retire, de-
spite using same recycled plot 10
tirnes.
9. John F. Kennedy Jr. decides to try
his hand as a magazine publisher, bom-
bards American public with "George."
10. Market for books-on-tape
doubles. American illiteracy contin-
ues upward trend.
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The Department of
Communication Studies
invites you to attend an informational meeting introducing...
The New Concentration in Communication Studies
Thursday, January 18
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Lecture Room #1, MLB
or
Tuesday, January 23
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
2114 MLB
Tobias Wolff, author of "In Pharaoh's Army," was one of many fine writers who
brought their literary genius to Ann Arbor in 1995.
I
1 0 o youknowwhere yourstudent ID ?
How about your k eiS?
Professor Vincent Price, Chair of the Department of Communication Studies
will be on hand to discuss the new concentration and answer questions con-
cerning new courses, transfer of old courses to the new concentration, and
options available to concentrators. There will be handouts available. Informa-
tion is also available in the department office at 2020 Frieze Building.
Your computer disk with the t erm paper °n that's due today?
Your ATM card?
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Where ail you have to bring iswt
need tc
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McKINSEY & COMPANY'S TOKYO OFFICE INVITES
PhD AND MS CANDIDATES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
TO ATTEND A DISCUSSION ON FEBRUARY 2/3, 199
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