Thursday, November 25, 2010

Spotted: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Where: Red-line
Who was reading: A stylish African American woman dressed in all-khaki save for a pair of red patent leather heels and a shiny red alligator handbag.
Can shiny red alligators be found in the wild? Only in Communist countries.
If this book were a tour de force, what would it be equal in scope to? "the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon." (via the publisher)
Amazon-user Jenny calls this: "The Defining book of my 30th year." (read full review)

3 comments:

  1. I am a herpetologist and I'll have you know that shiny red alligators can be found in many countries, generally in cities with well developed sewer systems. Shiny red alligators were originally thought to be much less common than their gray-green cousins, but in fact many alligators that appear gray are actually just very muddy red-shinies. If you took 100 Florida gators and scrubbed them clean, on average about 30 would be red and shiny.

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  2. Dear Alexis: Thank you for the correction. Clearly your background in sarcastic herpetology is far superior to my own. I'd be curious to learn more about the relationship between these two strains of red shiny alligator. Could it be that some of your Florida gators came over from Cuba after the revolution and chose to recolor themselves upon arrival? Or does that stretch the joke beyond the scope of scientific possibility (and/or humor)?

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  3. Hi Bookspy,

    Just wanted to say thanks for an interesting and very funny read. The blog is a great idea and a perfect combination of the two things I like best; reading and people watching.

    Keep 'em coming

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