As the stack of books to write up full reviews for grows, and the time to do so does not, a quick update on some fine books to look for:
Gascoyne by Stanley Crawford (Putnam, 1966)
While I've had another of Crawford's books on the shelf for a year plus, it was 
stumbling onto this one at John King Books in Detroit for six bucks that got me to finally start reading his words. This one starts off fast: "It all starts when I give the accelarator pedal a couple of pumps and turn the ignition key and the starter growls and finally the engine turns over and comes to life with noises that aren't as regular as they used to be." Then it speeds up as if barreling downhill in said car. Gascoyne is the protagonist and he's somewhere in between a businessman, mafioso, and detective. He pretty much lives in his car, spending a ton of time on his car phone (were these even around in 1966?) and looking for the killer of an associate of his, the murder of whom has sent Gascoyne's neatly set up world into near chaos. Very entertaining, seemingly understading of things to come decades later.
4 stars
Hitless Wonder by Joe Oestreich (Lyons Press, 2012)
A great book about a band--a band that almost was, actually it really was, just not for as long as they'd hoped it would be, a major league band. The subtitle, "A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll" says just about all you need to know. Watershed, the band Joe's been a part of for over 20 years now, built it's way up to being a local powerhouse in Columbus, Oh; a really solid draw regionally (Midwest); and for just over a year were an Epic act, as in Epic Records--the majors. Written very well, with enough embarassing material for you to believe Joe's telling you nearly everything--it's a great look at the price to pay for doing what you want/have to do as an artist that doesn't hit it big.
4.5 stars
Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich (Viking, 2012)
I will start off with an admission--if there's a television show about food/cooking/restaurants and the host is even remotely interesting, I'm probably hooked on it. If you've ever seen 
Gordon Ramsey's Masterchef show, Joe Bastianich is one of the three judges. Until I saw this book, with his recognizable semi-glare on the cover, I had no idea why he was deserving of such a position. The book is another where the author gives you enough material (completely ripping other restauranteurs and critics) to believe if he's holding anything back it's due to lawyers somewhere. While he seems to take credit for a fair amount of trends that have taken place, especially in NY, over the last decade or so, it's done in a way that isn't so arrogant that you dislike the writing. Where the music book mentioned before is one that I think you'd like even if you weren't a music addict, I think you need to be a foodie to get into this one.
3.5 stars
Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford (Dalkey Archive, 2008 --originally Knopf, 1972)
This is the book by Crawford I've had for over a year and after loving Gascoyne I jumped right in. Reading this one truly has me believing Crawford is a genius. He is again posing thoughts and ideas that I think were well ahead of his time (floating through different zones on a barge to increase the growth rate of plants for one. This book, in theory the log of the boat as written by Mrs. Unguentine, whose husband falls/jumps off the barge (the scope from the descriptions throughout have me refusing to call it a boat). Her memories of times with him, without him, are brilliantly described--it's a book you all but can't help visualizing as you read it. The language is beautiful and just continues pulling the reader from page to page. It's one I probably held off reading after obtaining it due to the hype I had seen. Hype is a poor choice of words--it implies some big publicity machine behind it--it was an online grass roots movement, but it raved so loudly I was worried there'd be a let down. There was not.
4.5 stars
Threats by Amelia Gray (FSG, 2012)
Readers here will recognize the name--I've been a big fan of Amelia's writing for the 
past few years and have routinely chosen stories of hers to write about each Short Story Month. Her debut novel just adds to my admiration of her work. The ideas are as quirky, and even when seemingly completely unbelievable in nature, she gives them enough credence for the reader to simply continue on, not questioning--really, a woman living in the protagonist's garage, working out of it, and he never knew, and she's routinely stung by wasps?--Gray simply makes it work. I think it's much harder to do than one might think--one might watch say a David Lynch movie and think, I could do that, just a bunch of weird shit...and maybe think the same about an offbeat novel or story. I believe the opposite is true however, to do something truly different, offbeat, quirky even, and have it work across the board is incredibly difficult. Too many times you'll see or read something that you can just tell--he/she added this to have something strange included, not because it was essential to the work. It never feels that way under Gray's hand. I realize I've said almost nothing about the book itself. It's a tough one to write a mini-review of but I'll simply say, it is strange, it caused a stronger emotional reaction than I thought it would, and once you get into the rhythm of it, it's a page-turner.
4.5 stars
No Regrets by Ace Frehley (VH1 Books, 2011)
Man, three non-fiction books in such close proximity--this rarely happens but some of it was during the reading of the many manuscripts we received for the Dzanc Short Story Collection contest and I was looking for something akin to a sorbet to cleanse my mind between meal courses. I was (and still can be) a huge fan of KISS in the late 70's and 80's and Frehley was probably always my favorite member. This is a pretty standard bio--he's pretty honest about his failings (drugs, and alcohol being the two main problems he's had over the years) and has an ego sufficiently sized when it comes to his musical career. The Bronx background never leaves his language through the book and there's a happy-go-lucky attitude that makes the book zip along. Probably need to be a fan of the band of Ace in particular to really dig this one.
3 stars
Two forthcoming titles that I've read and really enjoyed and you'll see full reviews of when they come out are Dan Josefson's That's Not a Feeling (Soho, October 2012) and Thomas Scott McKenie's Power Chord: One Man's Ear-Splitting quest to Find His Guitar Heroes (!t Books, August 2012). I'd pre-order both.
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