I am not surprised that DaVinci inspired good conversation, or that people are fascinated by its ideas. I choose not to read it because it’s not well written, and its ideas are not enticing enough for me to slog through bad prose.

I’ve heard excellent things about Biff, and have been meaning to get to it. My latest MO for books/music/etc. is not to write down things that sound interesting, but rather to let recommendations build until I can remember without a note. Biff now definitely exists in that category.

I was annoyed by Pi because I thought it was a reasonable idea (not the author’s own, interestingly) that was not executed particularly well. I did not think that the character of Pi had either a distinct voice or emotional depth, two things I value highly in fiction.

[For other readers: I had recommended Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie and The Tale of Desperaux in an email exchange.] I’m so glad that the Misses enjoyed Winn Dixie, but sorry for you about the subsequent request for a dog. I’m sure my day will come for that. One of the many things I like about Winn Dixie is that it is about a GIRL and her dog. My youngest sister, an animal lover, appreciated this a lot.

You make an excellent point about darkness for children working better in myths, fairy tales and legends. I think these types of story provide a distance that makes the darkness more manageable than a true-to-life tale. I read an article on Holocaust literature in grad school (the name, author, most all of it lost from memory); it theorized that the actual experiences were so dramatic and extreme that if they were transcribed literally they would be disbelieved and dismissed as metaphorical cliche.

Perhaps one reason Desperaux didn’t work for the Misses was that there wasn’t enough metaphorical cushion for the darkness. But Desperaux is both an iconoclast and an auto-didact, and I would think he would get props from the Family M-Mv for these!

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal (Christopher Moore)
Written well. Funny. Memorable. Among the most provocative recommendations I’ve ever made (’cause this is a book that will either make you laugh aloud on the el train or grow terribly angry with the author and the gal who recommended it — heh, heh, heh).

And, oh, how I loathed Secret Lives of Bees. (*shudder*)

Pi, on the other hand — Mr., Master, and I liked it well enough, enjoying a decent family book club meeting/discussion about it.

By the way, we finished Winn-Dixie, and the Misses gave it two thumbs up; they want a dog now. (*sigh*) I must couch this review in the following disclaimer: When we arrived at the passages concerning Opal’s mom, they wanted me to condense and move on. It was the dog they wanted to hear about. And Gertrude. Yes, as you’ve written, it is certainly all right to include the darker elements in children’s lit, but it’s been my experience (in the classroom and in the family-centered learning project) that those elements work best in myths (the Misses request repeat “performances” of the Odyssey, the Iliad, Gilgamesh, Beowulf (editions for young people, at this point), for example), fairy tales (yes, the Brothers Grimm, and the Red Fairy Book, the Green, the Blue), and the tales of Shakespeare.

Why The Tales of Desperaux didn’t receive an enthusiastic thumbs up (beyond the criticism of Miss M-mv(i) I already shared with you)… I have some ideas. Something about “the uses of enchantment.”

Let me work it out.