Yeah, I do the "Buy my book!" when things get weirdly silent. Also, "We are the bears that sing for Duke…"

Ditto dude! I use this one all the time. Except I continue saying it indefinitely, similar to Ned Ryerson himself. Am I right or am i right? Amiright? Right? Rah?

And I would suggest Lucky Jim, although I agree on both Good Omens and Confederacy of Dunces. Good Omens sits waiting to be read, and Confederacy sits, waiting to be re-read.

I just received Good Omens. Second!

I read Heartbreaking Work several years ago. It would be fun to discuss. It was an easy read for most of it, and then the final 1/4 really slowed down. But that was during the real heavy emotional lifting.

Ditto. It'd be fun to read a Hornby after the heavy lifting that is these first two books.

Catch 22 if fucking awesome. I've read it 4 times. It's hilarious, sad, moving…I can't say enough about it. It's everying Scrubs wishes it were, except in World War II.

My aunt got me Devil in the White City 4 times. It was a great read, but still….

I think its a bird…but well done Zonker Harris. I peed a little.

Hey! Way back up there a ways! Second to Lucky Jim!!! Lucky Jim! Do it!

Books in the pile by my bed:

Ditto clueless! I read Geek Love during my spring break, and I don't know how I'm going to start/finish Blood Meridian what with all of the f'ing grading I've got to do.

Isn't Devil in the White City a fact/fiction hybrid?

Assuming we take what Lick says at face value, we can assume that the only thing she finds valuable is the mind. The inner self. So all of the exterior can be sacrificed (whether that's beauty or freakishness) so that the "inner" qualities can be pushed to the front. Whereas the Binewskis valued one type of the…

Tasha, at first I wanted to see more struggle with Oly's feelings towards Artie as well. But then it dawned on me that they might not have grown up in a world where incest was awkward. They barely viewed themselves as children, let alone siblings. They seemed to view themselves first as employees, or entertainers. …

I don't think Arty intended on simply making the norms physically disabled. I believe that wa a by product of his need to feel mentally and intellectually superior. He wanted to be in charge, in control.

Back to School
I'd like restate my thanks to the AVClub for running this thing. It's been several years since college, and although my lit analysis skills are rusty from lack of use, it feels nice to try and get back into the swing of things.

I believe it had something to do with enabling him to get better maggots. And I'd agree with everything you said, I think he was very well-liked. I think the point was simply that what he was doing was quite grotesque, but the world of the book made it seem like it was quite commonplace to argue over human body…

Darth Weevil, I agree with your assesment of Miss Lick's surgeries being a dark reflection of Arturism. Artie makes it very clear, time and time again, that he always wanted the amputations to be a choice. He wanted them to go slowly so they could be sure it's what they wanted. Miss Lick does not give any of her…

It wouldn't work. To do this movie orrectly, you'd need a decent sized chunk of money just to get actors, possible CGI, not to mention sets, etc. The amount of money a movie with virtually no redeemable characters would bring it would make this just a sinkhole of money. Particularly if they let Gilliam take a crack…