Quickpicks

Quite Ugly One Morning proves (if proof were needed) that Christopher Brookmyre is the king of deranged Scots crime fiction. Think of a literary version of the film Shoot ‘Em Up and you ’ re almost there. Perhaps with a good dose of Trainspotting thrown in. He ’ s been compared to Carl Hiaasen, and indeed Brookmyre ’ s threshold of the grotesque hovers somewhere around mad killers and weed whackers, but with a side of haggis. If you like Hiaasen and Westlake, you will not be disappointed by anything Mr. Brookmyre pens. By Christopher Brookmyre (Abacus Books-Time Warner 1996, reprinted 2004) — Gregory Frost Drown by Junot Diaz. This debut collection of short stories by the recent Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Junot Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) is a sharp yet lush collection of loosely connected stories. Tracing the adolescent evolution of a young boy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to a young man in New Jersy, Diaz weaves his many stories into a single, multi-faceted narrative. Using occasional Spanglish to deepen his tales ’ texture, Diaz never leans on his cross-cultural references as a literary crutch. His portraits are funny, moving, and painfully human. (Riverhead Books, 1996) —Ryan Romine What is the What by Dave Eggers is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a

“Lost Boy ” of Sudan who trekked from his native village after it was attacked through desert to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. He was later granted political asylum in the US. Part adventure story, part heart- breaking saga, this novel will become an American epic. It was chosen as the One Book, One Philadelphia 2008 selection and recently educated the entire city regarding the conflicts in Southern and Northern Sudan. To read the stories of local Sudanese, written as part of a Drexel University collaboration with One Book, go to www.valentinoachakdeng.org. (Vintage; Reprint edition, 2007) — Harriet Levin Millan

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