What's on Your Nightstand

Take a nice, deep breath. Now that winter is here, it's the perfect time to unwind and cozy up with a cup of tea and a good book. To get you started, we asked members of the Vassar community: "What's on your nightstand?"

Susan Donahue Kuretsky '63

Professor of Art

I'm now finishing John Crowley's The Translator. I like the university setting, the fine writing, and the idea, appealing if somewhat improbable, that a famous exiled Russian poet would collaborate over the translation of his poems into English with a young student poet just learning Russian. During the term there's little time, so I hope for believable characters in vividly evoked settings: temporary immersion in another world. If the weather isn't mentioned in some detail near the beginning, I may not continue. Also, I'm reading detective mysteries by the Swedish writer Henning Mankell. I happened upon The White Lion (airport book rack) on my way to Amsterdam last May and am now reading all his others one by one. Appealing characters on a local police force living modest but complicated lives in a small swedish town. The weather never quits!

Christopher Smart '83

Associate Professor of Chemistry

For pleasure I am currently reading a book called Summerland, by Michael Chabon. I found this book just browsing in a bookstore; I was attracted to it becuase it was in the children's section, but bore the name of an author I was familiar with. (Chabon also wrote The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys, which I had read recently.) I ended up buying it to read to my daughters (I am the luckiest father alive in that my daughters, who are now 13 and 14, still allow me to read aloud to them), and I decided to save it until the baseball postseason. The book, in some respects, is about baseball, and I always like to read a baseball book around World Series time. So far we are all enjoying the book, but really have not gotten much past first base, so to speak.

Faith Nichols

Director of Residential Life and Associate Dean of Students

I am an eclectic and prolific reader. On average I read five books a month. So I had to seriously reflect on the books that I have recently read. My two best friends are librarians, so I'm never without a stash of reading materials. I have read most of Amy Tan's books, but the best was The Bonsetter's Daughter. Tan develops her characters with such depth that you feel like you actually have met these people. Her books not only explore relationships but also give you an insight into Chinese culture. Other books that I have recently read were The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. Neither is considered light reading but they made me reflect on issues that we sometimes wish would go away. For lighter reading I pick up books by Carl Hiassen. His stories center around humorous encounters with a whole group of wacky, way-out-there Floridians. All are tongue-in-cheek mysteries, involving a cast of characters you will never forget. Presently I am reading Land's End by Michael Cunningham, author of the Hours. This little gem is about Provincetown and Cunningham's 20 years of living in and observing the daily life of this unconventional town.

Kiese Laymon

Visiting Assistant Professor of English

I'm reading this book called Everything but the Burden, an anthology edited by Greg Tate. Lately, it seems like every public intellectual and their mother has something to say about Eminem, hip hop, and mystic white entitlement. The sad thing is that usually what's written reads like it's been dipped in embalming fluid. You get coded language applied to textured art form and a nuanced artist, but something essential, something possibility-laden, gets lost in the translation. Unlike most of the essays I've read on hip hop, popular culture, and Eminem, the essays in this collection feel exploratory and fresh without completely disregarding theory. The theoretical approaches feel right at home beside the insiderish cultural markers, while both are used as shovels to dig deeper, not fancy shields to deflect real criticism.

Jennifer Gauthier '90

Visiting Assistant Professor of Film

I am reading The Bone People by Maori writer Keri Hulme. This summer I traveled through New Zealand doing research on cinema, and I became very interested in exploring other aspects of the nation's culture. The book is written from the perspective of a half-Maori, half-European artist who inhabits a tower in a coastal New Zealand village. The narrative is full of Maori words, and combined with the protagonist's unusual use of syntax and her many cultural allusions, the book is a difficult read. While it took some effort to get into it, I am finding it very engaging - it is as if the book teaches you how to read its distinct language as you make your way through it. As I read, I find myself remembering the stunning New Zealand landscapes and wishing I were back there.

M. Glen Johnson

Acting President and Professor Emeritus of Political Science

I am reading Jhumpa Lahiri's new novel, The Namesake. It's a wonderfully crafted meditation on names and naming, a poignantly insightful tale of a young man, the first of his Bengali family born and raised in America, and of the cultural challenges he and his family face and his own complicated search for identity. Indian and Indian-American writers are among my favorite reading. Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, generated special anticipation for this book, her first novel.