Eoin Butler: writer, journalist and Mayoman of the Year
Tripping Along The Ledge
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IRISH TIMES’ WRITERS RACY RECOMMENDATIONS…
The newspaper is collecting suggested reading lists from writers for an upcoming Christmas feature. The categories didn’t sound remarkable when they were called out to me over the phone:* to give
* to lust after
* on the coffee table
* in the bathroom
* in stockings and
* to recommend to a friend
But when others came across the list, scribbled on a piece of paper next to my laptop, all sorts of wild conclusions were in no time arrived at. That I was up to something nefarious on the internet seemed the general consensus. Phh… I wish.
For the record, the list I submitted was:
* J.M. Coetzee – Summertime
* Anthony Beevor – D-Day: The Battle for Normandy
* Steven Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner – SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (I know the environmentalism chapter has already been debunked, but I wanna read it anyway…)
* Jon Ronson – The Men Who Stare At Goats (easy going, pretty much anyone would like it)
* Ted Kennedy – True Compass
* Lawrence Wright – The Looming Tower: Al Qada’s Road to 911
and/or
* David Pearce – The Damned United (read it years ago, but I was in a rush, needed one more and this was the first thing that came to mind…)
November 17th, 2009 at 2:59 am
They missed out two –
on the kitchen table &
barking like a dog
November 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Nothing fictional? All these are based on ‘true stories’/politics/economics right?
and they send you to review the Watchmen 😉
November 17th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Kennedy book for the toilet right- that’s where it belongs.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Bertie’s book is a tenner on Amazon. I’ll wait until it drops below a five and then pounce.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
@ DD – LOL
@ Conal – I think the term is ‘non-fiction’, not ‘based on a true story.’
@ Steve Thomas – am… yeah.
@ Massey – How’s your presidential campaign going? Set up an exploratory committee or anything?
November 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
so why no ‘based on a made-up story’ book butsy?
November 17th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Hey, I’m an enigma. Also, I came up with the list in about 30 seconds.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
All of this has me picturing you in a new role, Eoin.
TV Camera pans over to you, Butler. You’re seated in a stool wearing a Rudolph the Reindeer jumper with a flashing red nose light. You look up
from your book, stare straight down the lens, you smile and..
“Every year people give each other random crap as presents, this year give them the gift of reading, the greatest gift, an experience that will stay with them for a lifetime. Books, they’re not just for the literate. Here are a few suggestions.”
The Late Late Toy Show special needs a new lick of paint. Could you be that man?