From the hyperbolic praise on the back cover comparing Joshua Ferris's debut effort to that of Donna Tartt's and Joseph Heller's, I had pretty high expectations. Not that I quite expected it to live up to such comparisons (as you may or may not know, I adore The Secret History and it's one of the few books that I've actually re-read), but I did envision a sort of literary melding of the Office TV series and Office Space: a light, clever novel that would have me chuckling at its witty office etiquette observations. What I read was much more tragic.

Set during the dot bomb, the threat of being laid off (the characters refer to it “walking Spanish down the hall”) looms heavily over the collective “we” (the book is told in second person) at a Chicago advertising firm. This cloud of possible doom exposes the extreme frailty of the company men and women –?hich really is extreme at times, the office is surreally stacked with particularly unhinged, depressed, and weary men who are just one awkward step away from going completely over the edge. The women fair questionably better as they weather tragedies rooted not in their weaknesses of character, but outside forces like heart breaking loss and illness.

What begins as an almost abstract and expansive reflection on working life, a reflection that anyone who spends their days in a modern office (particularly right now, as massive lay offs are announced daily) can at least partially identify with, switches gears about halfway through to become more compassionate, more focused and, in my mind, less successful. Much of the first half of the book is spent analyzing the nature of the feeble connections we build with the people we work with every day, people we would never choose to spend any time with – ever – if we didn't work with them. So it seemed odd to me when Ferris suddenly tried to wring so much sympathy from these characters he'd spent so long depersonalizing.

The characters are pretty well drawn and I'd be surprised if they weren't inspired by actual (exaggerated) anecdotes, but often times they're taken only as far their predictable conclusions can go. Still, for all my minor qualms with the latter half of the book, it is entertaining and wonderfully insightful when it comes to the strange group mentality of office environments, the storm of paranoia, rumors, and boredom that can manifest in buildings full of strangers with nothing more important to do than speculate and worry about what's happening in the next cubicle and the beautiful irony of how so many loathe they're jobs until those jobs are threatened – which is when they'll suddenly do anything to keep them.

Ferris is a promising writer and I'm looking forward to reading his next book.

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Posted on February 2, 2009

Even though Otho's has been a catering company in my home town of Colorado Springs since the year I was born, they've only recently come to my attention when they opened their cookies and brownies shop.

My mom informed me instantly that there were some new sweets in town – and thank goodness with the sad closing of the German pastry heaven, Old Heidelberg that kept me in birthday cakes with marzipan shells all through my youth.

On my recent visit, Otho's, then topped my list of things to do and I have to say my mom and her ladies know a good cookie and brownie when they meet one. In particular, the peanut butter cookie, so soft, so perfect is worth pooling your money and ordering a box to enjoy. Jim most loved the raspberry brownie and we both agreed that the snicker doodle wasn't far behind.

The guy behind the counter is a pleasure, he even took me behind the scenes as he prepared catered sweet trays for some lucky conference goers and slipped me a free and excellent lemon bar.

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Posted on February 2, 2009

John Updike's most popular creation, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, is an enduring figure in American literature, the series of books built around his various mundane tragedies (beginning with Brix Pick Rabbit, Run) are intensely emotionally draining which is probably why it's taken me a few years to complete the?five book saga – but soul crushing aside, Updike was an amazing writer who deserved all the accolades and praise he garnered throughout his long and prolific career.

Described rather well in this article as “A gentle satirist, poking fun at American life and customs, without any mean-spirited nihilism. He observed the ordinary life he saw around him, and frequently asked the reader to recognize and reconsider preconceptions.” Updike, who astutely noted that sex, art, and religion are “the three great secret things” in human experience, grew up in Pennsylvania, then attended college at Harvard. He made Ipswich his home for several years, drawing plenty of inspiration from the quaint New England surroundings; I fondly remember watching this movie's particular examination of three Massachusetts women (though the book took place in Rhode Island) when I was a kid.

Nerdily handsome with a beautiful hawk-like nose and the kind of smile that betrayed his compassion for the defects of every day men, he dressed in v-necks and tweed – very much the way you'd expect the “last great man of American letters” (as he was described in this Salon interview) to dress.

Updike sadly died of lung cancer last week. He was 76 years old.

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Posted on February 2, 2009

Why in the world would anybody put chains on me?

Sing it, Commodores! Just like I used to right along with you when I was six or so. While I've been praising the band's out-of-this world, knockout style, I figured it was an apt time to recommend one of my favorites growing up, “Easy”, easy like Sunday morning. I'm having a really hard time fathoming how I haven't made it a Brix Picks already.

Lionel Richie (who wrote the song) never sounded better: so smooth, so soulful. It's that smoothness that eluded Mike “What is it?!” Patton when he covered the ballad back 1992. Even if Patton's rendition isn't quite as good as the original, you still have to credit him for his good taste (good taste absent from the styling choices in this video).

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Posted on February 2, 2009

Embroidery Artist

I really love Megan Whitmarsh‘s bright, quirky embroidery art but now, after taking a class in embroidery (at the Make workshop – more on that next week), I have even more respect for her craft because –?et me tell you – embroidery takes a whole lot of time and patience.

Her creations are spastic?and bright – a mixture of pop culture iconography like Big Foot and Elvis, plus those traditional Mexican embroideries that remind me of worry people. I’ve imagined that her crafty wares are tiny and intimate from the hours I’ve spent poring over them on her awesomely designed website, but I’d love to see them in person, though she mostly shows in LA at the esteemed New Image Art.

She also works in paint and (lately) felt that she forms into three dimensional plushy piles that resemble a mountain made of the things found under a teenage girl’s bed in 1988. Her work is super fun, she had this to say in a Fecal Face interview: “I am inspired by a desire to be optimistic about the future of humanity.”

She’s at the forefront of the very feminine, very playful craft movement that has inspired legions of girls (and probably some boys too) to pick up a sewing needle and get to work.

See more: Style Icons: Female Artists

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Posted on February 2, 2009