I Come From Foreign

“But what trouble is this?” (BWTIT) can be loosely translated into “Dude. WTF?” except it goes both ways (good and bad).

And I am sooo all dude wtf right now. In the worst way. Grrr.

So.

One of the things I really like about Santa Monica is that there’s a pretty nifty (or so I thought, HMMMPH) public library a few blocks from my apartment.

When I first moved out here I spent most of my days at the library, gleefully borrowing books (I’d never borrowed books before!) and using their internet and searching for jobs.

And I’ve been coming back ever since. You can even borrow books online and they’re all there waiting for you to pick up the next day!

Fantastic concept.

Anyway.

I’m contemplating whether to boycott the Santa Monica Public Library because I went there today to pick up a copy of the The Lonely Londoners to write my review as promised and…

WHAT? NO SELVON?

But what trouble is this? Seriously, dude. WTF?

Not a single book by Samuel Selvon, renowned Trinidadian author, in the whole place.

No Lonely Londoners.

No A Brighter Sun. Dude, I studied that book for two years for CXC. Me and Tiger and Urmilla were like this.

Beyond wrong.

This has nothing to with my being egocentric. I’m really not. The dude is famous.

So, I’ve kind of gotten used to the whole read but don’t buy thing so I’m not sure I’m about to relinquish my library card but I will write a “scathing note” to the librarian demanding me some Selvon pronto.

I suggest you do the same.

P.S. Don’t fear. I promised to write a review and I will. It’ll just be a little longer in coming now that I actually have to go out and buy the book. what trouble indeed…

Just saw this!

An enlightening interview in my favourite online magazine, Slate.com, with Junot Diaz about writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning book,The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Read it here.

I was kind of predispositioned to like this book–Caribbean family living in foreign, writer protagonist, teenage/ college tales of angst and longing–and I did. See my post on Oscar Wao and stereotypes here.

Update: I just realized this interview was actually from November 2007 and they just reposted since he won the Pulitzer last week. Just FYI.