I'm apparently going to have to give 2666 a shot. After today's TOB judgment by Maud, and the resulting commentary, I'm too intrigued by the polarized opinions to avoid it any longer.

I'm thinking library rather than purchase, though, at least until I see whether Kevin Guilfoile's hilarious assessment is apt: "The question you have to ask yourself is whether the experience of being numbed by this book is worth the price of being bored by it."

Also: Frankie Landau Banks still potentially alive for the zombie round. Woo! (This year they're releasing the top four vote-getters in the zombie pool at the end of the commentary up until the actual announcement — as books are still being eliminated, titles can migrate out of that top four. And, of course, only the top two will get another chance in the ring. I feel slightly guilty I missed zombie round voting, and so just have to keep my fingers crossed for  E. Lockhart's wonderful book.)

Also also: Have a cold and am buried under deadlines of number. So probably around scarcely for the next several days.

Also to the third power: This is hilarious.

I suggest skipping today's judging in the Tourney of Books, in which the fantastic The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks gets the inevitable bad reading, from someone who's about as far from the target audience as possible. T'was inevitable.

On the other hand, the commentary from Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner is well worth reading. They actually got it.