What is my favorite online literary event of the year? The Tournament of Books! Now March Madness is my favorite time of the year! They always pick 16 interesting well-written books, which sometimes align with the books that have been hyped during the year and sometimes, not so much. The decisions and commentary are intelligent and irreverent. While many of us may think that picking one book over another because it included a chart is insulting (Wolf Hall won a round for that reason last year), I have no doubt that books have won awards for similar reasons, the only difference here is that the decision-making is transparent. The tournament describes itself as “the only book award that admits to its own ridiculousness.” The award? An actual live rooster, what author wouldn’t metaphorically fight to win?
Today’s Tournament of Books Pre-Game Primer contains a search for this year’s theme plus a pat on the back for the gender parity among the authors, and troubled musings about the fact that all the writers are white. Sexual preferences are unknown. All posts allow for comments, so chime in, should they do something different next year to provide for more diversity? That’s the beauty of this award, you can talk back. But remember, this audience is sharp, keep the silly comments for your Facebook page.
So fill in your brackets and play along. The Morning News provided an elaborately decorated bracket that I can’t read because the print is so small when it’s reduced to fit letter-sized paper. For those of us with ‘weaker’ eyes, Hungry Like the Woolf developed an easy to read version. Want to play along for prizes? Enter Hungry Like the Woolf’s contest before 9PM PST today.
First up tomorrow is the battle between Freedom and Kapitoil, I’m picking Freedom for no other reason than I saw Franzen interviewed, badly, and felt embarrassed that he and the audience had to endure it. I love the Freedom to be just as ridiculous as the next guy.
Reply
Recent Articles
-
Wonderful Video of What Happens in a Bookstore at Night
I’ve been in a bit of a posting slump, but I’m working my way out and what better way to start the new year than with this lovely stop action video, “The Joy of Books,” about what happens in Type bookstore at night. I can’t wait to visit Toronto just to stop by Type Books to [...]
-
Scrambling For A Last Minute Gift? Head To Your Local Bookstore!
Farhad Manjoo ignited the latest round of ‘will the local bookstore survive’ with his “Don’t Support Your Local Bookstore” tirade on Slate. (I couldn’t fail to notice that while Salon promotes a campaign to support local bookstores, Slate is bashing them.) Numerous responses Manjoo were published, twitter feeds with special hashtags popped up, and even [...]
-
57th Street Books – Chicago, IL
57th Street, the actual street, is perfect for the meandering bookworm. We started with lunch at the graffiti clad Medici Restaurant. Famous for its burgers and scribbled upon walls and furnishings, we filled the time waiting for our food by adding our own “tags” to the table top. More importantly, within blocks there are three [...]
-
Essay Challenge Recap
I coming in just under the wire this year, this challenge must be completed today!! The Essay Challenge over at Books and Movies is the only one I joined this year, even so, I didn’t keep up with it the way I have the past two years. Not that I haven’t read essays all year [...]
-
Salon says “Support Your Local Bookstore!”
In the latest pitch to keep bookstores alive and well, or at least breathing, Salon.com gave credit to indies for finding and promoting the latest excellent book most of us don’t know: An independent bookstore brings a lot to a city or a town: a showroom for the latest literary releases, an auditorium where authors [...]
-
Small Business Saturday – Shop at Local Businesses on November 26th!
Actually shop at them as much as possible, they are the engine that drives your local economy. But, let’s give the little guys a leg up in the middle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Drop by a local business, chat with a real person, and contribute to your neighborhood economy by purchasing a Christmas [...]
-
Which authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?
Taking a riff from NPR’s story last week about which deceased composers Miles Hoffman would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, I pondered the same question for authors and asked quite a few friends. Here are the guidelines: which dead authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Which author would you invite to give a reading Thanksgiving [...]
-
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Opens Today
One of the pleasures of having a teenage daughter is the opportunity to share silly, girlly experiences. While I understand all of the criticism about the Twilght series, and agree with some, as I’ve written before, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Even more, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the sheer reading fun with my daughter. [...]
-
Abbey Books & Gifts – Valyermo, CA
I spent just over 24 hours last week at St. Andrews Abbey. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoy joining the monks in the Daily Office. For those of you new to that term (and that would’ve been me a couple of years ago), it’s the practice of pausing at several set times through out the [...]
-
Alexander Book Co. – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Book Co. is a traditional independent bookstore tucked around a corner in downtown San Francisco. Wedged between office towers and the Academy of Arts complex, it’s a cozy respite from steel, glass, and marble. The store even smells like good books waiting to be discovered. The first time I tried to visit the store, [...]
No comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2011/03/cock-a-doodle-do-the-tournament-of-books-begins/trackback/