Ezra Brooks

@ezbrooks

I love music, movies, mystery stories, and food from around the world.

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Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· 23d

I really should have pursued that degree in film studies.

A text thread.

My friend: What's the odyssey about. No spoilers

Me: Have you seen "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"? It's that, but set a really long time ago.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· 25d

Next up: "Dance Dance Dance", which marks a return to full on magical realism, and is a sequel to "A Wild Sheep Chase".

A paperback book. It's the English translation of Haruki Murakami's sixth novel, "Dance Dance Dance" from 1988. The cover image shows a large residential building at night. Above this is the closeup of a face, cropped so the person's eyes seem to be staring over the building. The title is written in red letters between the building and the face.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Jul 3

"Clinically proven to function."

A can of sparkling water. The text on the can says "Naturally flavored with other natural flavors." What does that even mean?

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Jul 2

Next up, the (newer) Jay Rubin translation of Norwegian Wood.

A paperback book. It's the English translation of Haruki Murakami's fifth novel, "Norwegian Wood" from 1987. The cover is an abstract scene with an orange sky, yellow sun, green hills, and black lake.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Jun 13

Next up, the new Jay Rubin translation of Hard-Boiled Wonderland. The earlier English edition was the first Murakami novel I ever read. I'm eager to read this and see how it differs.

A hardcover book. It's the new English translation of Haruki Murakami's fourth novel, "End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland" from 1985. The cover depicts a face split in half, in hazy shades of green, blue, and red. The title is written in white text.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Jun 3

The first time I saw Stalker it was on VHS (2 tapes!) and when my mom saw the cover image she asked if it was a horror movie.

The old VHS cover of Andrei Tarkovsky's "Stalker". The picture shows a bizarre, disturbing image of a man's head. It's quite creepy, to be honest.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Jun 1

Next up: A Wild Sheep Chase. Here's where things will really start to get interesting.

A paperback book. It's the English translation of Haruki Murakami's third novel, "A Wild Sheep Chase" from 1982. The cover image is a collage of abstract shapes in various colors. The title and author's name are printed in thin white letters.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 25

"Pisces and a Gemini / But I think we might go really nice together"

Lou Reed (born March 2) and Laurie Anderson (born June 5)

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 23

The journey continues with part 2 of the so-called "Trilogy of the Rat". I discovered "Pinball, 1973" in my college library at a time when Murakami's early work was largely out of print. I read it over & over again during those years. He has grown as a writer, but this one is still dear to my heart.

A paperback book. It's the English translation of Haruki Murakami's second novel, "Pinball, 1973" from 1980. The cover is black with an abstract illustration depicting overlapping blue, red, and purple circles, and a curving white dotted line. The title and author are written in white letters.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 23

*claps hands* Hey cornmeal, you're so fine! You're so fine you blow my mind!

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 19

Haruki Murakami is my favorite living author, and he has been for nearly three decades. Every few years I get the urge to re-read his entire body of work. With the recent publication of "The Tale of Kaho" (& an English translation surely on its way) I feel it is time to start the cycle anew.

A paperback book. It's the English translation of Haruki Murakami's first novel, "Hear the Wind Sing" from 1979. The cover is black with an abstract illustration depicting a white rhombus, a curving white dotted line, and vertical bars that gradually change color along their length.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 19

Cathy Andrews Hillman was here. #AckAckAck

A Zaxby's Chicken sign that says:

BANANA PUDDING MILKSHAKE IS ACK

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 16

My humble nomination for the next James Bond

A screenshot of Richard Kind from Only Murders in the Building. He is wearing an eyepatch on his right eye, and a very sensible sweater over a button shirt. He is holding a pencil in his hand and is pointing with his index finger. He is grinning.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· May 15

This book is fantastic. It's well researched, with a huge bibliography, and it is told with a very engaging narrative style. I wish more popular history books were written like this.

A book sitting on a table. The top third of the book's cover is white with black text: Encounters with Euclid: How an Ancient Greek Geometry Text Shaped the World by Benjamin Wardhaugh. The bottom two thirds of the cover is made up of red, orange, and blues squares and rectangles intersected by black lines. It suggests the style of ancient geometric proofs and the paintings of Piet Mondrian.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Apr 26

My journey with Helen DeWitt continues. I've read most of her books now, so I'm going to need to find a new contemporary author to explore soon.

A thin hardcover book lying on a table. The top of the cover has a pink bar with text that says "The English Understand Wool" in blue and "Helen DeWitt" in black. Below this is an impressionist painting depicting slices of cake on plates. The painting is "Boston Cremes, 1962" by Wayne Thiebaud.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Mar 26

David Bowie doing an ad spot for Indian produce: I'm a mess without a little

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Mar 14

Continuing my Helen DeWitt journey. These stories are outstanding!

A book sits on a sofa. The cover depicts a hare (it is a closeup of "The Satisfied Hare", a painting by Kevin Sloan). On top of the images are red circles with white text. They read: "Helen DeWitt", "Some Trick", and "Thirteen Stories".

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Mar 11

I just finished "Your Name Here" by Helen DeWitt & Ilya Gridneff. It's a beguiling work of metafiction, one of the most creative books I've read in a long time, by turns uproariously funny and deeply introspective.

A book rests on a couch. Its cover is a white background covered in black and red text. It's Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff's new book, "Your Name Here".

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Feb 21

Now here's an Olympic event I could get behind.

The self-titled first album by the band Bowling for Soup. The cover is a black and white image of a bowl of soup. To the left pf the bowl are some crackers. To the right, a hand holds a soup spoon. The album title is printed directly in front of the bowl.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Dec 23

Hylomorphism in the wild.

A bag of dried plums. The package depicts some fresh plums, some dried plums, and the label says "The Taste is in The Shape".

Hylomorphism refers to Aristotle's theory that physical objects are composed of substance and form.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Dec 10

It's about to get motorik in here.

Two white books are resting on a black background. The smaller book, to the left, is titled "Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany" and it has a picture of a synthesizer. The larger book, to the right, is titled "Classic German Baking" and it has a picture of a cake.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Dec 3

This book takes a really fun and creative approach to art history. The author presents works ranging from classic paintings to contemporary pop art, and isolates the color palettes. The accompanying text provides context and analysis that is interesting without detracting from the images themselves.

A book. The cover background is white. There are squares of different colors arranged in a grid, like color swatches. Beneath each square is a small label in black text. The title of the book, "Color Scheme", is written in colored letters. Below that in black letters it says "An irreverent history of art and pop culture in color palettes". Below this is the author's name, Edith Young.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Dec 3

Bea Wolf is even more delightful than I could have imagined. It successfully captures the plot (and rhythm!) of the source material, but also completely transforms it into something strange and magical.

A copy of "Bea Wolf" by Zach Weinersmith. The cover shows a young child, arms crossed, dressed in a bearskin, surrounded by toys and mountains of gold. The title is written above the child in large gold letters.

Ezra Brooks@ezbrooks· Nov 23

Another recommendation for mystery lovers: Seicho Matsumoto's 1958 novel "Tokyo Express" (also published as "Points and Lines"). This police procedural is a tightly plotted tale of murder and corruption. You can read it in less time than it takes Inspector Mihara to travel from Fukuoka to Sapporo.