BOOK: Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri is already a favorite here at ZONINO! so its ashame that it has taken this long for a recommendation of her third book and second collection of short stories. Unaccustomed Earth is similar in subject and style to Lahiri's previous works in that it centers around characters of Indian origins, either in India or immigrants elsewhere in the world; write what you know seems to be her mantra.

Unaccustomed Earth is written in the same simplistic and yet beautifully detailed prose that has put Lahiri on the map. Divided in two parts, the first is similar to her first published book, Interpreter of Maladies, and consists of several independant stories. My favorite involves a Bengali-American man who is attending a wedding at his old boarding school with his American wife and the events that transpire in light of a stressed marriage and mixed feelings toward the bride and his alma mater.

The second part of the book contains one longer tale divided into three sections, each potentially independant in and of themselves. Each is written in a different voice and have their own free-standing sense of beginning and ending that is unique from chapters in a book. The last of the three sections has a double ending in which the second caught me completely, and tragically, off guard. It is not often you can be hit in the face, figuratively, while reading a book.

I like to imagine that Lahiri writes short stories as a way to meet potential characters that may become intriguing enough to keep around for an entire book, as she did with her novel, The Namesake. I thoroughly enjoy her short story wirting and I hope that one of these years she meets another character that can carry her next book.

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Middle School is a painful time for most kids. Usually when I meet someone who exclaims that they "loved" this awkward time of adolescence I figure they were one of the ones who made my life miserable. For Greg Heffley, however, as much as he tries to navigate the halls of popularity and ridicule, he finds himself slipping further and further down the social ladder.

Based on the illustrated novel of the same name by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid infuses both Kinney's sketches with live action to create an endearing film that will cause cringes and laughs. Whether being separated into shirts and skins in P.E., being surrounded by girls who have all had their growth spurts, or putting up with a good friend from elementary school who hasn't begun to recognize the new social norms - "How many times do have to tell you? Middle School kids say 'hang out' not 'do you want to play'!" - Greg, played amazingly by Zachary Gordon, is the perfect guide.

While its not great nostalgia, but it reminds us that, although we may not want to repeat this time of our lives, we can be oddly proud to have survived it.

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: What The Dog Saw

The author of a couple non-fiction books that I'm sure you have at least seen sitting on end tables and book shelves at various friends' houses, including Tipping Point and Blink, Malcolm Gladwell has released a new book. Different than his previous two, this one is a collection of essays, all of which appeared in The New Yorker at one point or another.

What The Dog Saw is a hodge-podge, theme-wise, but not a mess. Never losing the insight that made his aforementioned books best-sellers, Gladwell investigates odd facets of life, most of have spent only a passing minute pondering. His chapter on why there are not multiple varieties of ketchup, as opposed to mustard brings about some very creative journalism and interviews, while looking into the social problem of homelessness is just plain inspiring. Combining elements of another essay-based best-seller, Freakonomics, Gladwell's analysis of how people make hiring decisions when they don't know who to hire is fascinating.

The short and mostly unrelated pieces in this book make for an easy and fragmented read. This book and the topics within are great for lively conversation and debate as well as simply a new way to consider the world.

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: Faithful Place

The concept of "home" means different things to different people. Whether one wants to acknowledge it or not, "home" is where you come from, it forms who you are, and can never be taken away from you. For most people visiting home is a rewarding if not nostalgic experience. For Frank Mackey, the main character in Tana French's page-turning new novel, Faithful Place, it is neither of those things.

When Frank was nineteen, he and his girlfriend, Rosie, made plans to leave their poverty-stricken neighborhood in Dublin and run away together in hopes of starting a new, more prosperous life together. The night they were supposed to meet and leave Rosie does not show so Frank leaves without her, thinking she either got cold feet or was breaking up with him in an extremely cold way. The thing Frank does know is that Rosie's family thinks she did leave.

Years later when Frank is in his 40's, he gets word that Rosie's suitcase was discovered in an abandoned house in his parent's old neighborhood, on Faithful Place. This was a mystery story like I have never read before. The way French crafts the novel is inventive and interesting; I couldn't put it down. This is definitely not a "beach-book" but it is one you should stuff into your beach bag and not come back until you are sunburned to a crisp!

Buzzy

BOOK: 'Wich Craft

Tired of that boring old bologna sandwich or PB & J for lunch? It will be well worth it for your taste buds to check out Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio's book, 'Wich Craft, devoted solely to the art of sandwich-making.

While it would take months to sample all the delicious recipes included within this inventive book, two have already become favorites of mine. The smoked ham sandwich with avocado and butter is just as smooth and satisfying as it sounds. Also, the meatloaf sandwich with cheddar, bacon and tomato relish is a meat-lovers new best friend. Although I can't speak from personal experience, I am excited to explore the dessert sandwich section as soon as possible!

Sergio del Limónar

WEBSITE: 1000 Awesome Things

As many ZONINO! worthy things as there are in the world, 1000 Awesome Things gives us a run for our money! Who doesn't remember riding on their dad's shoulders as a kid, picking the fastest line at the grocery store, or the feeling of discovering the shower in your new apartment is great?

The site's author, Neil Pasricha, does a phenomenal job of pointing out the little things in life that can make a big difference. My favorites are the ones we all enjoyed and took for granted as children; perhaps we just need to start acknowledging them again! The best part about the site is that there is a book to go with it so cosnsider this as the perfect gift for the person you have no idea what to give!

MOVIE: Easy A (trailer)

When I was in elementary school, my mother the high school English teacher, would have my brother and I help her grade her students' exams. (Don't panic, ex-students; it was just the multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, type answers.) By the time I had actually reached high school we were pretty well versed in the world of American and British literature. Or, at least the answers.

That being said, we also got to screen movie versions of these classic works as they came out. The trailer for Easy A excites me for a couple reasons. First, is that it has been awhile since anyone has remade Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous The Scarlet Letter into a film (the last major production was 1995's film staring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman). Secondly, I have never known of an updated, modern-day telling of the story.

Countless other classic novels have been redone to fit the present language and/or trends - Clueless (Emma), 10 Things I Hate About
You (Taming of the Shrew), and Bridget Jones's Diary (Pride & Prejudice) to name a few - so why not The Scarlet Letter? Emma Stone stars in Easy A as Olive Penderghast, a high schooler who sees her life as resembling Hawthorne's heroine, Hester Prynne. Stone has personality to boot, as evidenced by this trailer and her performance in the previously ZONINO!ed film Zombieland. The film also stars Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, and the hilarious Amanda Bynes.

The only thing that could make this movie have more promise is if "potential" were also spelled with an "A." Can't wait to check it out when it debuts in September of this year!

Sergio del Limonar

RAIN WEEK: Hard Rain Project

Part 4 of 5
Following the old children's rhyme, about April showers bringing May flowers, ZONINO! presents seven of our favorite "rain-themed" things.

The Hard Rain Project is a commendable organization, based out of London, with a goal to raise awareness about environmental issues, specifically climate change and its human relations, through images. Touring the globe with various exhibits aimed at making people stop and think about the interconnectivity of humanity and the planet, the charity raises money to continue the educational effort; an appropriately self-sustaining and non-hypocritical way to run such an organization if there ever was one!


The above picture, credited to UNEP and photographer Werachai Wansamngan, shows the juxtaposition of the human need for survival with the need to use and share one of the most precious and limited natural resources: water. In this image two Thai citizens search for pond snails to eat in the cracked and dried earth of what was presumably once a water-filled body of water.

Check out the book, containing powerful photographs centered around the lyrics of Bob Dylan's classic "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Also available is the similarly themed DVD film and a list of upcoming tour cities the exhibit and lecture series will visit such as Helsingør, Denmark (now - April 11), Minneapolis, MN (April 19 - 24), and Santa Fe, NM (May 1 - 28), among others worldwide.

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: The Fruit Palace

When most people think of Colombia, they connect the South American nation with drugs, specifically cocaine, and coffee. The travel memoir, The Fruit Palace, by British author, Charles Nicholl, does not refute this stereotype. More accurately, he exploits it to its core.

The title references the hostel slash refreshment tienda in the coastal town of Santa Marta where Nicholl spent an eventful few months as a journalist in the 1970's. During this time he met and accidentally stumbled upon the shady world of the cocaine business. A few years later he returns to the country with the explicit task of writing a book on the subject.

While Nicholl finds his book-smarts of the language, politics, and culture are up to par, most of the drug trade is still and ever-shifting mystery to him and he learns on his feet. While the information surround the illegal operations of producing and transporting "coca" is fascinating, I found Nicholl's descriptions of places he ends up in the most captivating. One of my favorite passages finds him in a bar waiting for an elusive contact in a sketchy part of Bogota, the capital city.

"The Paso Doble was a small, murky cafe-bar off the Caracas Avenue. If was one of a rwo of tumbledown, single-storey houses under a tangle of overhead cables. A bus lurched up the dirt street, listing like an overladen boat. This was a bad part of town...The cafe was quiet. Three dusty workmen sharing a half of aguardiente, an old woman in black nursing a bowl of milky coffee, a pair of corner boys lounging at the doorway, and the inevitable children running in and out, the dark-eyed grubby children that play round the edge of every scene."

Published in 1985, the situation has obviously changed much since then - production methods, politics, anti-drug enforcement, etc. - but the spirit of Nicholl's adventure, no doubt remains. While dated, this memoir is both interesting and educational. From this tiny part of the world, stems problems as far away as the U.S., Canada, and much of Europe. The game may have changed in the last twenty years, but there is no doubt it remains in play.

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: The Road

Every once and a while a decent film slips through the cracks, going unknown to most of the movie-watching public. Earning positive reviews at several film festivals in 2008 and 2009, The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen as a father trying to survive with his son after something has turned Earth into a lifeless landscape, is worth checking out. Set in some near-future world filled with skeptical wanderers, scavengers, thieves, cannibals, and murderers, the father and son (we never know their names) traverse the cold dead and dying world looking for something, anything, to keep them alive.

Incredible computer graphic images of ruined cityscapes and roadways coupled with an almost constant sepia-toned coloration creates a feeling of unsettled fear and worry for the viewer. Appropriate, as the characters - good guys and bad - are constantly looking over their own shoulders, as no one can trust anyone. The film does a great job of contrasting the son's earnest innocence and unjaded kindness with the father's world-weary knowledge, protectiveness, and growing pessimism.

My favorite line happens when the traveling duo encounter an old man on the road to the coast. After much convincing from the son, the father offers him some of their food. While eating the old man confesses that when he saw the boy, he thought he had died and the boy was an angel. He then confides that, at times, he wondered if he was the last man on Earth. The father asks him how you would really know that. The old man responds, "I guess you wouldn't know it, you'd just be it."

Based on the 2006 novel, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, the film is both beautifully told and thought-provokingly tragic. A study in human nature and dealing with consequences, this is definitely not a "feel-good" film, but is a good one.

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: Awkward Family Photos

ZONINO! has done it again! Remember way back in May of 2009 when we made you want to revisit your parent's attic and burn and strange family moments captured on film?

Well, Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, the creators of the ZONINO!ed Awkward Family Photos website, have compiled many of their collection into a book! Order it now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and other booksellers or click on this link.

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: Franny and Zooey

With the recent passing of novelist J.D. Salinger, most obituaries and tributes dwell on his most famous work, The Catcher In The Rye. While I agree that this is an important book for many and definitely a piece of classic American literature, I thought I should pay tribute to Salinger with a ZONINO! of my favorite of his novels, Franny and Zooey.

The book, divided in two parts, one for each of the characters, tells the tale many of us can relate to - self-identity in our formational years as 20-somethings. Franny, who the first part is dedicated to, is in college and frustrated with the life around her. Her older brother, Zooey, namesake of the second part, tries to console and counsel his younger sister in his slightly more experienced worldview. The whole story takes place over the course of a couple days and, with a lot of wit, and an uncany ability to capture genuine sibling love, Salinger shows the concerns of the era - late 1950's - and the attitudes of it's young adults.

The book rang true for me on many levels when I first read it in college and I think it has a lot of themes that people can relate to today in our current social and politcal situation. This is not a slow read so I encourge you to take a chance on this (should be) classic by a fantastic author. R.I.P.

Buzzy

YOUTUBE: Twilight (What Have You Done To My Wife?)

As Twilight-mania seems to be currently overcome by blue space aliens, real world shaping events like the Haitian earthquake, or just general boredom, I'm sure it will only be short-lived. Another book or subsequent movie is right around the corner and at the very least, someone else will attempt to knock-off the genre and get a few bucks out of it.

In the mean time, the band Shallow Day has made a video for a song capturing their frustrations. "Twilight (What Have You Done To My Wife)" begs the question of how a "pale skinned Cullin who's ass-shaped" can steal the hearts of some many normally-levelheaded women?

The video is low-budget but has evidence of a Dracula-sized castle full of creativity. I love the werewolf posse the band acquires as they walk down the street. Ironic, as the lyrics hint, that a book and movie franchise about vampires and werewolves can turn people to zombies!

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

I've read Michael Chabon's work before in various short essay pieces in magazines and periodicals and, although they've been recommended to me before, I've never read one of his novels. I always found is expository writing witty and entertaining so I figured when a friend basically shoved one of his books in my face, I would like it.

If you read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, do it for no other reason than to see how a simple conversation between two characters can become a work of art. Chabon (pronounced "shay - bon") has the uncanny ability to capture tiny nuances and motivating details in a character's actions, looks, and past, and infuse them into the text during a dialog, with interrupting the flow.

The story centers around two cousins, Sammy and Joe, who join forces and talents - Sammy's in creating stories, Joe's with illustrating - to produce one of the 1940's greatest comic books. The Escapist, their bread-and-butter character is just the beginning. Before long the young men have a multitude of characters and titles at their disposal, not to mention a growing bank account.

Based in historical and chronological fact, this Pulitzer Prize-winning work of fiction is enjoyable for anyone who had a superhero fetish as a kid - Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Captain America, it doesn't matter! The history is interesting, the writing dynamic, and the plot changes are unpredictable. Much like I imagine the real Escapist's adventures would have been!

Sergio del Limonar

MOVIE: Alice In Wonderland

A couple facts to kick this most obvious of ZONINO! posts off. First off, Tim Burton is a genius. His style of directing is unique and unreproducable without being called out on it. Secondly, Johnny Depp is one of the best and most iconic actors of this century. He completely becomes his characters to the point of so disappearing into them that the viewer begins to forget the celebrity status of the performer (as it should be). Lastly, any project the two of them have embarked on together has been one of kind, inventive, and one that makes you know they enjoyed every second of making it.

The newest remake of Lewis Carroll´s Alice In Wonderland again is a monumental success between these two visionaries. Also staring an ensemble cast of Anne Hathaway (the White Queen), Alan Rickman (the Caterpillar), Crispin Glover (the Knave of Hearts), and frequent Burton/Depp collaborator Helena Bonham Carter (the Red Queen). Of course Depp's Mad Hatter is a deserved scene-stealer, but the real gem in the film is Australian newcomer Mia Wasikowska who plays the titular Alice with grace and an endearing quality, especially with such grandiose co-stars.

I hoep this isn't the last we see of Wasikowska or Burton/Depp. There are plenty of other trippy worlds yet to be uncovered by these two!

Sergio del Limónar

YEAR IN REVIEW: BOOKS

This is the seventh in the YEAR IN REVIEW series. Each day we will profile a different topic and choose out top 5 recommendations for the year. The ZONINO-iest, if you will.

1 You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
2 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
3 Tales From the Town of Widows by James Cañon
4 Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
5 The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey

BOOK: The Gashlycrumb Tinies

I randomly stumbled upon the book The Gashlycrumb Tinies in the lobby of a hotel I was recently staying at. A children's book that can easily be enjoyed my adults of all ages for its dark humor and bizarrely creative illustrations, this alphabet book goes through 26 pages of children and their tragic life-ending events.

For example, author and artist Edward Gorey, tells us that "K is for Kate who was struck with an ax." And in rhyming fashion, we later discover that "L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks."
This book, while not for all children, would be a perfect stocking stuffer, white elephant gift, or conversation piece for your coffee table.

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: Go Ask Alice

The diary-book, Go Ask Alice, is by no means a literary masterpiece. It is really no more than the rambling thought of an average teenage girl in the late 1960's. The only difference is this girl got messed up in the drugs of the era and wrote about it in detail.

The extraordinary thing about this piece of work, published in 1971, is not only the candor and emotion the anonymous author exhibits, but the remorse she feels toward her family, friends, and herself. It's difficult to read at times, especially as she relapses. Sometimes this seems to occur suddenly as we are only privy to her diary entries which are often times sporadic and even lacking dates at times.

Although the authenticity of the book - whether it was an actual diary or really a work of fiction - is still up for debate. Regardless, the ideas in the various entries and the roller coaster of emotions the girl goes through are enough to influence another generation to stay off drugs.

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: Cake Wrecks

Hooray! or should I say...ZONINO! We put website Cake Wrecks on our blog back in July and now it's a best selling book!

Congrats to author and creator Jen Yates!

Sergio del Limonar

BOOK: Mary Roach

I would love to hang out with author Mary Roach. Reason numero uno? She is the queen of inside jokes. I feel that, if she is in conversation, anything like her writing style, we would be the obnoxious people at a dinner party who keep laughing and, when someone inquires as to the joke and we tell them, they don't get it because they weren't there twenty minutes ago. Or last week. Or the last dinner gathering.

That's the way I feel when I reading a Mary Roach book. Sly, insanely clever, and perfectly timed, as a reader you often feel you are right along side Roach, as she investigates various bizarre and seldom researched topics, when she leans over and whispers something inappropriate in your ear.

I recently finished Roach's second book, Spook, about scientific investigations into the supernatural. I was introduced to her through her spectacular first piece, Stiff, about what happens to human cadavers after family members bid their farewells, and Bonk, about the science of sex.

Each of these books takes Roach on a tour of studies near and far, to fully funded by legitimate organizations and not-so-much experiments, meeting all types of investigators - scientific to just curious, all in the goal of getting to the bottom of often ignored or misunderstood corners of science. Writing intelligently, but also for the layman, Roach does a phenomenal job of making the method of science accessible and interesting to everyone. Have a I mentioned she's funny?

Sergio del Limonar