Olaf on West Coast Live!

Last Saturday, Olaf and I (and Olaf's fan/my husband Dave) headed out to the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley to be part of Sedge Thomson's two-hour live radio show, West Coast Live. Other guests included John Adams, Mike Marshall,Caterina Lichtenberg, The Coverlettes, and Nancy Raff. The show is streamed via web as well as broadcast on dozens of stations across the US. And it's a lot of fun to see live--if you have a chance to attend a live broadcast, I highly recommend it!

Olaf joins Chicago Time Out's Top 10 for '08 and Seed magazine's picks for '08!

Today's self-indulgent search for Doctor Olaf revealed that the good doctor has been included in Time Out Chicago's Top Ten for 2008 list, as well as Seed magazine's Picks for 2008. The Doctor is very honored to be listed with the likes of Mary Roach, Carl Zimmer, Tobias Wolff, and the other fine writers included in the lists.

Doctor Olaf, making the rounds

Today, I noticed that Doctor Olaf is now available as a Kindle edition on Amazon. Although I've resolved to buy books at local bookstores, I think the digital edition is pretty cool! I have yet to use (or even see) a Kindle. I know I'd miss the feeling of holding a book, but the convenience of having books beamed to my reading device is alluring. I wish the library had a system like that...

Speaking of libraries, I also swung by the San Francisco Public Library and took a quick break from research to look up Olaf in the card catalogue. All copies are out! And it appears that several people are waiting to read returned copies (and that more copies are under consideration). I was very happy to see that. I also stumbled on a nice review by the Roger's Memorial Library:

Menger-Anderson is an incredible writer who creates a collection of interconnected stories that are fascinating, hilarious and beautiful.

To read the entire review, see Roger's Memorial Library website.

Doctor Olaf in the Boston Globe

Eric Grunwald reviews Doctor Olaf for the Boston Globe:

Darkly funny, often sad, frequently frightening, and sometimes hopeful...the product of a gifted literary writer.

To read the entire review, see Odd, intriguing stories of quacks and cures.

Doctor Olaf reviewed in the Vancouver Voice

Jack Booch reviews Doctor Olaf for the Vancouver Voice:

At the heart of the stories is a deep sympathy for the fallibility of the human condition. However damaging some of the characters prove to be (both to themselves and others), they are all comprehensible... a deliciously good read.

To read the entire review, see Gadzooks! The human brain!.

Reviewed in Romanian?!

Doctor Olaf was reviewed by Andrei Bacalu in Jurnalul National. Entitled "O familie imaginară", the review resembles the one that appeared in the NYT in structure and content, with a few new twists (perhaps introduced by google translator?). According to the google translation, the review opens:

Trust given to doctors, after an amazing story full of errors, the dominant note of the volume of "brain Dr Olaf van Schuler. It is the story, divided into several short prose, independent only at first sight, in which doctors play, often without drift, the main role.

Other enjoyable translation moments include:

Beliefs on when the doctors seem to be the fruit of sick minds--how else could we explain with certainty that it says that a drinker can light up in blue and millstone burnt by fire.

and

Reaching the van Schuler family history in the twentieth century, meet a doctor elated by the mammary implants with silicone.

To read the complete translation, see An imaginary family.

Doctor O is Shelf Life's pick of the week!

Doctor Olaf is "Pick of the week" in this week's Shelf Life column for the Boston Globe:

Christopher Castellani, author of "The Saint of Lost Things" and director of Grub Street, recommends "Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain," by Kirsten Menger-Anderson (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill): "Tracing 12 generations of doctors as they seek a cure for pain and madness, these linked stories masterfully combine the fascinating and utterly strange history of medicine with a colorful history of New York City. The characters are vivid and unforgettable; Menger-Anderson's sensibility is wholly original."

To read Jan Gardner's entire column, see Shelf Life.

Tag

I have just been called upon (i.e., tagged) to

(RULE ONE) grab one of the books closest to me, go to page 56, type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

The book closest to me is Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer. Page 56 has a picture on it. The next closest book is Moth Catcher by Michael M. Collins. Page 56:

"Sycamore, alder, and willow are also found in these palm canyons, displaced fifty or sixty miles from their nearest stands in the surrounding mountains. Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains of Arizona supports relict specimens of wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) hundreds of miles from the edge of the species' range in the central and eastern states. Stands of California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) grow in canyons above the town of Independence on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada, widely disjunct from the species' main distribution on the western slopes."


RULE TWO, I have to pick five people who love books. I'm going to modify this rule to include anyone reading this post who feels like playing. What lines are banging around on page 56 of the book next to you?

Olaf takes the Page 69 Test

Doctor Olaf took the page 69 test on Marshal Zeringue's blog. Did he pass? You decide.

Olaf is a staff pick at Inkwell Bookstore!

If you're anywhere near Falmouth, MA, swing by Inkwell Bookstore, where Olaf is a staff pick! From the blurb on the homepage:

This fantastic debut by Kirsten Menger-Anderson is the best book I’ve read in the past few months...It astonishes how the author is able to illuminate a person’s life, in all its pain and glory, in a mere twenty page chapter.

To book is also noted in the Inkwell Bookstore Blog.