Shameless Stylistic Aesthetics
I've experienced a hunger of late to read, and am indulging.
I will admit, albeit somewhat hesitantly, to buying fresh books whose cover art and first paragraph capture my aesthetic and stylistic sensibilities. In a wide shelf of books for sale by authors I know nothing of, there is a precarious balance between the aesthetic weight of the cover and the stylistic weight of the first paragraph. This evening I purchased one such book, Heaven Lake, almost exclusively on the overwhelmingly attractive cover art (displayed right ->), and a tight opener.
This is apparently the author's first novel, which follows an American into Taiwan and China. I also purchased a few more TC Boyle books (World's End and The Tortilla Curtain) and am savoring the first ten pages of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Issue 12 (displayed right ->). There is also The Five People You Meet In Heaven, which promises to be enjoyable.
Perhaps most notably, I've also purchased McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Issue 8 (a back-issue), which is on its way from Wisconsin via untrackable USPS Priority Mail.
I've experienced a hunger of late to read, and am indulging.