October is National Pizza Month

Although I'm not a big fan of the food, I do like these books about pizza:

Barbour, Karen. Little Nino's Pizzeria. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.

I love Karen Barbour's artwork. She also illustrated the covers of Armistead Maupin's series, Tales of the City.

Khalsa, Dayal K. How Pizza Came to Queens. New York: C.N. Potter Publishers, 1989

How Pizza Came to Queens was a big hit at the Queens Public Library where I had my very first job as a children's librarian. The book has its flaws, but the title is simply irresistible.

Steig, William. Pete's a Pizza. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.

Pete's in a bad mood. Just when he's about to go out and play ball with his friends, it decides to rain. Pete's dad thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza. This silly story of filial cannibalism was written and illustrated by Shrek! creator William Steig. The Weston Woods short film version is a hoot, too. Chevy Chase is the narrator.

Friends

"If a fight breaks out and you're the cause of it

In some redneck bar where you've been talkin' s*^t

I would not forsake you later in that parking lot
'Cause that's the kind of friend that you've got"

-Johnny Hickman

Here are some great books about friendship:

Patchett, Ann. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2004.

Ann Pratchett (author of Bel Canto) writes about her difficult relationship with Lucy Grealy (author of Autobiography of a Face).

McMillan, Terry. Waiting to Exhale. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking, 1992.

This wonderful chick lit novel is much better than the movie.

Paterson, Katherine, and Donna Diamond. Bridge to Terabithia. New York: Crowell, 1977.
Be prepared to cry. The first time I read this book I was riding the subway and I felt like such an idiot sobbing in public.

Tyler, Anne. Digging to America: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

Two families meet each other at the airport as they await the arrival of their adopted daughters. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, and Ladder of Years.

ps. Here are a few great books about friendship that I've already blogged about in the past:

Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel. New York: Morrow, 1989.

Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. The Little Prince. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1965.



Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Modern library, 1937.


Maupin, Armistead. Further Tales of the City. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.

Hornby, Nick. About a Boy. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.

pps. Friends debuted on Johnny Hickman's solo album, Palmhenge. Click here for a preview.

Hickman, Johnny. Palmhenge. [Redlands, CA]: Campstove Records, 2005.

David Lowery and Patterson Hood perform a duet of the song on the latest Cracker album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey. Have you bought your copy yet?

Cracker (Musical group), David Lowery, Johhny Hickman, Frank Funaro, and Sal Maida. Sunrise In The Land of Milk & Honey. Santa Monica, CA: 429 Records, 2009.

Have a great weekend!

Your friend,
Rebecca

Yes, I still watch The Real World.

McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1996.

Yes, I'm 42 years old and I still watch MTV's The Real World. This documentary/sociology experiment started back in 1992 when 7 strangers were chosen to live together in an amazing Manhattan apartment for a few months and have their every move taped.

Johnson, Hillary, and Nancy Rommelmann. The Real Real World. New York, NY: MTV Books/Pocket Books/Melcher Media, 1995.

Each year the show takes place in a different city with different cast members. The Real World is often credited as being the first influential reality show on national television. In fact, it is even featured in the Paley Center for Media.

Maupin, Armistead. Michael Tolliver Lives. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2007.

The San Francisco season was especially ground-breaking because one of the cast members, Pedro Zamora, had the AIDS virus. He passed away only a few months after the last episode was aired and his death made national news. As President Bill Clinton said, Pedro had become a part of all our families and that now none of us could say that we didn't know someone living with AIDS.

Winick, Judd. Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. New York: Henry Holt, 2000.

To learn more about Pedro, I highly recommend Judd Winick's book Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. One of my favorite authors, Armistead Maupin writes:

"Pedro and Me is as lovely and resonant a tribute as one friend could possibly pay another. Judd Winick takes us beyond all those tilty camera angles into the realest world of all: the hearts and minds of the people who actually lived this wrenching but triumphant story. I was utterly captivated."

I met Judd Winick a few years ago at an ALA conference, but I was too shy to say much. I did get him to sign my copy of his book, though.

ps. In my opinion, Honolulu, Las Vegas, and Denver were the worst seasons because the kids acted like drunken springbreakers throwing off their clothes and getting into bar room brawls. It was kind of like watching the Jerry Springer Show, only with better looking people.

pps. I think this year's Real World: Brooklyn is the best season since San Francisco. I actually cried when I watched last week's episode. To learn more about Real World: Brooklyn, visit MTV.com.

B is for Bette Midler

"'Sometimes it's not that easy to pull out of an S & M relationship.'

'Wait a minute. Since when were you guys . . . ?'

'S & M.' Michael repeated. 'Streisand and Midler. He was into Streisand. I was into Midler. It was pure, unadulterated hell'(Maupin, 1994, p.32)."

Maupin, A. (1994). Further tales of the city. New York: HarperPerennial.

I absolutely ADORE Armistead Maupin, and I've read each of his Tales of the City books at least twice. The series has a very interesting history--the stories were first published as an ongoing series in the San Francisco Chronicle. (Dickens, Trollope, and Nomeland first published their books in installments, too.) If you like John Irving,

you will love Armistead Maupin. His stories feature eccentric characters caught up in bizarre, soap opera-esque plots.

My friend Meagan loves Armistead Maupin, too!

To learn more about the wonderful Mr. Maupin, please visit his official website, armisteadmaupin.com.

And speaking of Midler and Streisand . . .

Midler, B. (1993). Experience the divine Greatest hits. New York: Atlantic.

I prefer Midler. Streisand obviously has loads of talent, but The Divine Miss M is all about fun. Check out her duet with Mick Jagger:

Beast of Burden first appeared on the album, Some Girls. You can listen to the Rolling Stones version here, and Bette's version here.

ps. Here's a story about the time my grandmother tried to buy me the Stones album, Some Girls: Queen vs. The Rolling Stones. (As you can see from this photo, I finally got the album.)

circa 1979