Desert Island Duffel

Now in its ninth year, the Rain Taxi Review of Books remains a stalwart champion of “difficult” literature—stuff that challenges our assumptions about narrative, language, or even what makes a good story. It also celebrates the larger world of things bibliophilistic with the Twin Cities Book Festival, which it has sponsored since its inception in 2001. How did our bookish burg go sans book festival for so long? No matter—this free, all-day affair makes up for lost time with an impressive array of readings, exhibits, a literary magazine fair, used book sale, and even art activities for younger bookworms. This year’s readings include best-selling novelist Karen Jay Fowler (The Jane Austen Book Club), essayist and poet Wayne Koestenbaum, Eleni Sikelianos, whose The California Poem is a book-length work dedicated to the Golden State, and many more. Given Rain Taxi’s steadfast dedication, it only seemed fitting to limit its editor, Eric Lorberer, to naming which five titles he would cart along to his enchanted isle of literary solitude.

1. The fattest book I own that I haven’t read is The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake—so there.

2. The American Alpine Association puts out a yearly compendium of mountaineering accidents, so I’d take along the latest edition—I bet tales of high altitude and bad luck would make one feel better about being on a desert island!

3. A book of haiku, to keep me humble. Maybe, vis-à-vis the previous answer, Japanese Death Haiku, which collects poems by monks presumably composed just before they shuffle off this mortal coil. (Whoever has my copy, if you’re reading this, give it back!)

4. It’s a well-worn trick among book geeks when playing this game to name collected works as one item, such as the collected plays of Shakespeare, or the collected poems of Wallace Stevens—good choices, but I might prefer a complete run of The Legion of Super Heroes. The eponymous teens of this comic book series each have a unique ability. For example, “Matter-Eater Lad,” who can, um, eat anything. I think it might yield some good, Gilliganesque ideas.

5. Finally, I’d take along a copy of the dictionary—which, as comedian Steven Wright noted, is sort of a poem about everything. From this book one can invent virtually all others, given time.

The 2004 Twin Cities Book Festival takes place October 16, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., at the Minneapolis
Community & Technical College; 1415 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; www.raintaxi.com/bookfest


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