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Speedboat
Speedboat | Renata Adler
Winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. When Speedboat burst on the scene in the late 70s it was like nothing readers had encountered before. It seemed to disregard the rules of the novel, but it wore its unconventionality with ease. Reading it was a pleasure of a new, unexpected kind. Above all, there was its voice, ambivalent, curious, wry, the voice of Jen Fain, a journalist negotiating the fraught landscape of contemporary urban America. Party guests, taxi drivers, brownstone dwellers, professors, journalists, presidents, and debutantes fill these dispatches from the world as Jen finds it. A touchstone over the years for writers as different as David Foster Wallace and Elizabeth Hardwick, Speedboat returns to enthrall a new generation of readers.
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Leftcoastzen
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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#SummerSpecial #boat This may have been the first NYRB book I read. I remember liking it, it frustrates some because it really doesn‘t have a plot.Very 1970s NYC , don‘t remember if there was a boat in it!😄

Eggs Great cover! 🛥️🩵🚤 1y
43 likes1 comment
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Blaire
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Pickpick

I think this book is probably really divisive. It has no traditional plot and is instead a series of observations and anecdotes about life in NYC as a young journalist in the 1970s. Some of the descriptions of her experiences are funny, others quite shocking, and most quite insightful. One of my favorites was her description of lawyers having found the strongest “or” in the English language in the phrase “well knew or should have known.”

Blaire I was uncertain about the book until near the end where she describes the limited number of plots that exist in the world and kind of pulls together a lot of the anecdotes. So a slow read and really different. 2y
Ruthiella Great review! I have a copy but had real trouble getting a handle on it. I need to try it again with the right mindset. 👍 2y
Blaire @Ruthiella thanks! It‘s slow for a short book but I tried to treat as little journal entries and glimpses into someone‘s life and not as a book per se and then I could appreciate it much more. 2y
46 likes3 comments
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GerardtheBookworm
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Pickpick

This is a classic, frenetic approach to writing so this is for those readers that enjoy quirky, non-linear storytelling with no clear direction. This is a series of commentaries, journals, essays jumping one thought to another like a stand-up comedy routine (and it does have plenty of humor) with adages and remarks woven in. Told through a fictional journalist named Jen Fain observing the world, this is a reflection of the real Renata Adler.

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plemmdog
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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“Lyda was an exuberant, even a dramatic gardener. She would spend hours in her straw hat and gloves, bending over the soil. When somebody walked past her and her work, she was always holding up a lettuce or a bunch of radishes, with an air of resolute courage, as though she had shot them herself.”

13 likes1 stack add
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quietjenn
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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catebutler My vote is for ‘More Was Lost‘. 🤗 4y
See All 38 Comments
merelybookish I will not be sad to read any of these books but my vote is for 4y
Suet624 They all sound great. I‘m voting for 4y
Leftcoastzen I have read Speedboat but would read again.I haven‘t read a Warner so my vote 4y
mklong Fun choices! But I have to vote for the one that has been on my TBR the longest... 4y
sisilia I‘m voting for 4y
CBee Wasn‘t Lolly Willowes the first Book of the Month? 4y
quietjenn @CBee oh right! I did hear that about it. Nice bit of trivia 🧐 4y
saresmoore Great selections! I‘m voting for 4y
CBee @quietjenn I‘ve got a head full of trivia 😁😂 4y
Billypar Great choices! I'll vote for Speedboat 4y
LeahBergen I‘ll vote for the one I already own (but they all sound fab!) 4y
Liz_M I'm voting for Lolly Willows (spinster lit!) 4y
vivastory Great choices! My vote is for Speedboat 4y
daena My vote is for 4y
batsy I loved Lolly Willowes! #spinsterlit for the win :) My vote is for 4y
sarahbarnes Great options! I‘ll vote for 4y
BarbaraBB My vote is for 4y
Tanisha_A I haven't read any, and they all sound interesting. I'd vote for 4y
GatheringBooks Awesome selection - I vote for 4y
emilyhaldi Tough choice! I‘ll vote for (edited) 4y
BarbaraBB Jenn, you probably copied the tags out of Skylark‘s discussion and therefore you forgot to tag @arubabookwoman (edited) 4y
arubabookwoman @BarbaraBB Thanks for the tag. I vote for Speedboat. 4y
quietjenn @BarbaraBB @arubabookwoman that is exactly what happened. Thank you for realizing and I'm so sorry! 4y
sprainedbrain Sorry I‘m late! I‘m going to vote for Speedboat, but I‘ve read Lolly Willowes and it‘s awesome. 4y
vivastory It's almost a tie! 4y
quietjenn @vivastory I know! I keep checking the votes. It makes me feel good about my nominations, but sort of hoping the remaining voices tip the scale so I don't have to be the tiebreaker! 4y
BarbaraBB Exciting! 4y
youneverarrived Oh I did see this earlier then must have got sidetracked 😂 my vote is for 4y
readordierachel I'm so sorry I'm late! If votes haven't been tallied yet, mine is for Lolly. But all look good! 4y
vivastory @readordierachel No worries! Your vote has been tallied with the rest! 4y
sisilia I just saw this post again after scrolling through our club‘s hashtag. I‘m glad we will be reading Lolly Willowes because I cannot take another Renata Adler 😅 I read Pitch Dark a few weeks back and it‘s going to be my first and last of Adler 3y
quietjenn @sisilia I‘ve never actually read her, although she definitely seems like a love or hate sort of author! Whom I‘ve yet to actually read. I may get to this one some day, but 🤷🏻‍♀️. And Lolly Willowes is the one I most wanted to read, so I‘m glad that‘s the way it worked out. 3y
sisilia @quietjenn Please let me know once you read Renata 😊 It has good ratings in Goodreads, so maybe it‘s just me 3y
67 likes38 comments
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Leftcoastzen
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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#NYRBBookClub @vivastory I really loved In A Lonely Place , SpeedBoat was kind of odd , New York in the seventies, liked it as well.I read The Unpossessed,by Tess Slesinger , a case could be made that it would be better known today if she hadn‘t teased and skewered intellectuals, politicos , performers and writers that may have praised it otherwise.It‘s on loan to a friend,so not in photo.Own more NYRBs still unread.

vivastory Another Dorothy Hughes fan 🙌I almost posted my NYRB shelf, but the number of unread titles is a bit embarrassing. Although I have really lucked out & found quite a few of them for a couple of dollars a piece at half price books! 6y
LeahBergen @vivastory I hear you with the big, embarrassing NYRB TBR shelf. 😆😆 6y
MicheleinPhilly @LeahBergen @vivastory I own more unread than read. 😬 6y
LeahBergen Oh, waaaay more for me. 😆 6y
44 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Naj
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Panpan

The longest 192 pages I have ever read. There's no story at all. Just a series of disjointed anecdotes about life in New York. There would be a paragraph on some journalistic assignment, then the next would talk about a party, abruptly cutting to something about an uncle who said something that one time in a restaurant and on and on Adler would drone. Maybe I'm too dumb to get it, but this was completely meaningless to me. A bit too experimental.

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Naj
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Not book related but it's a glorious spring morning today and I spotted this beauty while walking. Google tells me it's called the common Hoopoe. We call it Satut in kashmiri.

Bertha_Mason Pretty! 6y
Simona 😍😍😍 Real beauty! 6y
Naj @Simona Yes, I'm quite enjoying my spring break before having to go back to hectic city life. 6y
Simona I wish you a nice and smooth transition 😘 6y
Naj @Simona 🤗😘 6y
22 likes5 comments
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Naj
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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This was published in 1976 and it shows. She also referred to a gay man as "the homosexual" in an earlier passage.

Bertha_Mason Ugh, the seventies 😧 6y
vumblereads I‘m Asian and I don‘t mind being called Asian. But I‘ve noticed some people have called me oriental. It makes me feel like someone is trying too hard to be polite 😅 I‘ve also heard one person correcting someone else for saying the word “Asian” and that the politically correct term is “oriental”. Oh geez. Asian is fine. 6y
Naj @vumblereads Oh, that's interesting. I thought Asian was actually the politically correct term. I've never heard of anyone thinking Asian was wrong. It's "oriental" people take issue with because it's outdated and used mainly for things, not people. I think it's better to just ask the person what they're comfortable with. But yeah, I think Asian is fine. 6y
vumblereads That‘s true! Like an oriental rug. 😂 I never thought of it that way. 6y
17 likes4 comments
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Mindyrecycles
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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I must have read a review of this somewhere because it‘s on my TBR. It has a cool cover and was an award winner in 1976. #everythingismovingsofast #timbittunes

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quietjenn
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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I don't know if I should thank or shake my empty piggy bank at everyone who posted about the NYRB sale ... although I'm already planning what I'd like to buy during the next one!

MicheleinPhilly Well done! 👍🏼 6y
LeahBergen Ooooh, wonderful! 😍😍 6y
TheWordJar Lovely stack! I have an assortment of #nyrb sale books headed my way too So jealous people are getting theirs already. I haven‘t even received shipping confirmation yet. 😰 6y
batsy Oh! I'm so jealous 😍😍 6y
emilyhaldi Wow you did good!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
66 likes1 stack add5 comments
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SaraBeagle
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Mehso-so

If you like unusual or experimental narratives, this is a book for you. It‘s like she wrote the novel and then cut it apart and randomly glued pages or paragraphs back in. The structure is erratic, which was her intent, but I didn‘t like it. However, it gets a so-so from me because the writing is amazing. So many sentences that make you stop appreciate the skill of what you just read.

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brendanmleonard
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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When you get a gift certificate at the end of a long week, having finished a months long project...you tend to go a little nutty. I've only read one of these (King), and I am excited to read the rest! Thinking of reading the Adler first...any thoughts? #readwomen

LeahBergen I have The Go-Between and I've been *this* close to picking it up so many times in the last couple of months! 8y
acc5446 Speedboat is forever showing up on must-read lists, so that's my vote​! 8y
53 likes1 stack add2 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Bailedbailed

Some quirkily brilliant paragraphs and set pieces here and there, amidst other bits that must have been written under the influence of some pretty strong substances. There's no novel here, though; not in any sense that has meaning or value to me. Ultimately, a third of the way in, I'd had enough.

34 likes1 stack add
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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(Pssst - don't tell anyone but Renata Adler is still alive. God willing, she turns 80 on October 19th...)

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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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LeahBergen 😂 8y
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Jeepers

Suet624 Yikes 8y
saresmoore This book is weird, hey? 8y
shawnmooney @saresmoore That's putting it mildly. 😳 8y
Zelma Heh, that selection made me want to read it right now. 🤔😳😁 8y
25 likes4 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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saresmoore Ha! 8y
LeahBergen 😂😂 8y
33 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Cinfhen 😱😳😱 8y
TrishB Well.....that might work! 8y
29 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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This book has a 0% rating on Litsy currently. Lol
I expect I'll like it better than that, but I can see where the hatred comes from. Composed so far of paragraph- or at most page-long stories and anecdotes that at first blush appear utterly unrelated, most of them are intriguing in and of themselves. And then some, like this one, just make my head hurt.

Lindy Your comment has made me curious, but the print in that quote is so small it would make my head hurt to read it. 🙁 8y
shawnmooney @Lindy Oh! I enlarged the font. Is that better? 8y
Lindy @shawnmooney Much better. And I see what you mean about the prose. I read it 3 times and I'm still puzzled. 8y
CherylDeFranceschi 🤔. I remember reading these so long ago, and not liking it one bit- but have always attributed that to being callow. Perhaps I wasn't though... 8y
26 likes4 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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38 likes1 stack add
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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saresmoore I think I like this book. 8y
LeahBergen 😂 8y
30 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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OMG, according to Google this was actually a thing!

Megabooks Definitely true! 8y
CherylDeFranceschi I totally remember these! 8y
jfalkens When I was a kid we stayed in a motel with one. It definitely wasn't a fancy hotel tho 😂 8y
See All 6 Comments
Dogearedcopy Oh! I remember Magic Fingers! There was one in a motel on the way down from DC to Florida. It was in the early 1970s; and my Mom actually tried it out. It was pretty funny because the whole bed vibrates (and yeah, it wasn't quiet!) 😂 8y
LeahBergen I've heard about these! 😂 8y
Hobbinol Oh I loved those things! Forgot all about them! 8y
41 likes6 comments
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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MayJasper 😁 8y
32 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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Let's give this a whirl, shall we?

TrishB Love the cover. 8y
28 likes1 comment
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Nathan1
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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GoneFishing
Speedboat | Renata Adler

That 'writers write' is meant to be self-evident. People like to say it. I find it is hardly ever true. Writers drink. Writers rant. Writers phone. Writers sleep. I have met very few writers who write at all.

20 likes2 stack adds
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dalkeyarchiveintern
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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really excellent so far!

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dalkeyarchiveintern
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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I have been waiting for such a long time to start this beauty

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ConstantReader
Speedboat | Renata Adler
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"It's not so bad," the professor said. "It only isn't wonderful. Nobody has an obligation to be wonderful."