Welcome to Litsy!

Wow, my favorite author is having quite a moment. First a New Yorker profile and now one in The Atlantic, plus a newly released Collected Works from Library of America:

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2023/06/charles-portis-collected-works...

Tonight we're discussing Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis, a comedic romp full of memorable scenes and hilarious dialogue. Portis is most known for True Grit but we discuss why you shouldn't neglect reading his comedic novels. Matt discusses his favorite scenes and Peter enjoys the serious points Portis makes. Finally, we make the connection between Portis and the Coen brothers. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YH73ujNacjT1zrMIYmn1O

Our new June book of the month selection episode is out. We discuss the merits of Pride and Prejudice (the movie) and Major League (the movie) and dig ourselves a hole TBR wise.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2wp6W1NEZJLsJZN7IYhxSq?si=WSp9W2kmR1yaKtjkqVyiW...

This is the official May reading list

This evening‘s reading thanks to @The_Penniless_Author and my library‘s ebook collection.

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

1. Seeing my second book be published and having my third (and probably last) be accepted for publication. Greatest challenge was making simple small talk with people again after so much time in isolation.
2. I read more great books this year than ever before. Picking a best book would be impossible, but my favorite might be the tagged one. Absolutely hilarious.
3. My parents' health improves.

This book first came to my attention in an article that talked about how it's something of a cult classic in the stand-up comedy world, and how many comics pass it around amongst their friends. Now that I've read it it's easy to see why. A gullible American GI bumming around post-WWI France buys a book purported to contain the ancient wisdom of Atlantis from a drifter and goes on to form a secret society, the Gnomons, upon his return to the States

I don't think you realize what's happened. The Telluric Currents have shifted away from Burnette and nothing can prosper here. Look at Bulmer Avenue. Do you remember how it used to be? Now it's a street of bums and juvenile bullies. On every block you can see a twelve-year-old boy holding a six-year-old boy in a headlock.

🤣

He said his name was Nick and that he was an Albanian refugee from Turkey. After supper he revealed that his real name was Mike and that he was actually a Greek from Alexandria, in Egypt.

Bit by bit the truth came out. Mike confessed that his real name was Jack and that he was an Armenian from Damascus.

Jack said that he was at last free to divulge his true Gnomon identity; he was Robert, a French Gypsy, and he must now hasten back to Malta...

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Young Lamar Jimmerson went to France in 1917 with the American Expeditionary Forces, serving first with the Balloon Section, stumbling about in open fields holding one end of a long rope, and then later as a telephone operator at AEF headquarters in Chaumont.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. Masters of Atlantis, by Charles Portis
2. The Night Manager, by John le Carre
3. Manual for Cleaning Women, by Lucia Berlin

1. Ugh, I don't even remember what plans are anymore. Work, I guess? Walk up and down the steps between my basement office and the kitchen?
2. Bedroom. It's the only place where the TV is drowned out enough to concentrate.
3. Charlie Brown 😑

@Cupcake12

Picked this up based on my love of the writing in True Grit. A naive young soldier acquires a copy of a book claiming to initiate the readers into the mystery of Atlantis and uses it to form a mystical society whose members range from the deluded, the believers to con men. Story covers the trials and tribulations of the society over the next fifty years. Perhaps not to everyone‘s taste, but I found it to be whimsical and beautifully written.

I found True Grit to be delightful, so I tried this book after reading an essay about Charles Portis by Donna Tartt. Master of Atlantis is a comedy about con men and fringe belief systems. The writing is sharp and the characters are reprehensible. The pacing is quick, and I was entertained. I can see that the tone of the book might not be for everyone, but I am looking forward to my next Portis novel.