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What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

Posted by Vish Khanna on Oct 23, 2009

Yarrrr mateys. I am not a pirate. Welcome one and all to another meeting of the What'cha Readin' Book Club. Our book of the month has been and, as long as there's October coursing through our veins, will continue to be The Death of Bunny Munro by respected musician and writer Nick Cave. We'll hear from Mr. Cave a little later on in the show and I'll tell you why in a moment.

First though, I'm pleased to let you know that our book of the month for November isssss: Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records by label founders/Superchunk bandmates Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, and journalist John Cook! I first encountered Superchunk and Merge in high school and they both continue to mean a lot to me. Celebrating 20 years as a label, Merge gets the oral history treatment here with members of some its best known artists (i.e. Arcade Fire, Spoon, Magnetic Fields, Lambchop, Neutral Milk Hotel, Superchunk, etc.) discussing the label from varying perspectives. Much like This Book is Broken, it's a stirring and fascinating account of a vital community of artists, musicians, and just plain old organized people! I hope you enjoy it!

I have four free copies of Our Noise to offer to the 16th, 20th, 23rd, and 27th people to e-mail feedback@cbcradio3.com with their shipping address and "Merge Book Contest" in the subject line! Will you be one of these lucky winners? Knowing you, probably not. But the rest of you should totally enter this contest!  

WINNERS:

Heather Mariash (Jyväskylä, Finland)

Michael Vasiliauskas (Fredericton, NB)

Milena Kocay (Halifax, NS)

Sharmeen Khan (Toronto, ON)

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts (and those two prayers, which I received and will need to get back to you about; sorry) about The Death of Bunny Munro in recent weeks; it's clearly a divisive and provocative work and I'm glad you're all engaging with it. One of the weirder offshoots of Cave's first novel in 20 years is its accompanying iPhone app. I'd heard a bunch about how revolutionary it was for e-books and it sounds kinda neat, so I asked Cave about it. Please tune in to hear this excerpt from our conversation!

Nick Cave Discussing the Bunny Munro iPhone app

Do you know much about Merge Records? What's your opinion of iPhones and their apps? Whether it's on your phone or whatever, would/do you interact with books electronically? Do you deserve to walk the plank matey? Yarrr...  

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  1. suckamc
    01

    morning book club!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by suckamc

    You gotta give me a bit, had one too many beers at Baba's last night for The Acorn/Ohbijou!  Coffee and bagel are in order, even though this isn't the breakfast club!

  2. daa1982
    02

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by daa1982

    The Iphone app looks really really cool.  I have yet to get any apple product though, but if I had an Iphone this would be the first app I would get.

     

  3. daa1982
    03

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by daa1982

    p.s. Vish, I quite enjoy the Partridge Family reference. 

  4. daa1982
    04

    Grant Lawrence

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by daa1982

    Ha ha ha ha.  Spot on Vish, spot on.

  5. suckamc
    05

    Teegz & Sazzy

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by suckamc

    Yeah, I think that would be fun to have their book coming up on the club. 

    It wasn't a baaaaad impression Vish... I've heard worse!

  6. mynameismoe
    06

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by mynameismoe

    i definitely can't wait for the iphone to come to telus. oh boy. there is an army of darkness app that i believe will be the first one i get. it's fairly amazing. it's also free! i mean. really, how can you go wrong?

  7. mynameismoe
    07

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by mynameismoe

    one of these days i will learn to get my thoughts out all at once. let's blame it on the beginnings of a hangover from one too many corona at the acorn/ohbijou show last night. *high fives martin* also on a lack of coffee.

    anyway

    i haven't really jumped on this electronic book bandwagon thing. i guess the old fashioned part of me still needs that "book" smell. to physically turn the pages, taking care to not crease the spine...

    aah.. i love books...

  8. suckamc
    08

    ebooks

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by suckamc

    I actually don't mind them.  I started reading Cory Doctorow (great choice still for a future book club) because he releases all his books under the creative commons license, and I read them on my computer.  Tor (sci fi book publisher) also releases a number of books off and on in digital format, I started reading John Scalzi that way, as well as Robert Charles Wilson, and a number of others. 

    Reading on the computer isn't ideal however, and like mynameismoe, I still prefer a solid book in my hands.  They are way more versatile than any ebook reader yet, but I think someday they will at least be on par.

    Oh, I finished The Death of Bunny Munro last night.  Overall impressions:  It was a good challenging read. 

  9. tb3
    09

    I am catching up.

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    Remember how I lamented last week about being behind on the book? Well I am catching up. I found my quite place to read it/ In bed for about an hour every night before dozing off.

    And while I do find the content heavy and provocative in ways similar to run-ins with real life people that I find morally bankrupt, I really loved that the chapters, are never overly long. It's easy to read just one more chapter before putting the book down and nodding off. I have found that troublesome on other books — I don't like closing the book without reaching a physical break in the action. So this book is making it easier for me.

    And I am over half way through, and flying.

    As for Bunny. I find nothing redeeming in his character. In fact I find myself reading to find out how much more shitty he can be. And he keeps one upping himself. Like a bad movie, or craning at an accident as I drive by, I can't take my eyes off this one.

    I don't consider it a work of art in the format of word, but I do find it has an attraction and resonance with me in the same way that Trainspotting did — a snapshot of a world I never could understand, much less participate in.

     

    As for the iPhone App… I saw it around the time you announced I had won the book. I was actually thinking about buying the app, because it had an intriguing amount of "extras" to it. But, you know I won the book, and that $24.99 for the app could be better spent on a record.

     

    Merge Records… LOVE them!! And Superchunk was my inauguration with them too. In fact when iTunes first became available in Canada Superchunk was one of the very first albums I bought. So I am brimming with excitement that you've chosen this book. If I don't win, I will cry. Can't wait to read this one, Vish!!

  10. Vish Khanna
    10

    Merge

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by Vish Khanna

    Has anyone entered the contest yet this morning?

  11. TheRadioHead
    11

    Audio Books

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by TheRadioHead

    This is the first time I have used an audio book, as I could not get my hands on a hard copy of Bunny Munro.  It is the only way one of my sons  who is a non-reader, "reads".  He does it while he is running each day.

     

    I highly recommend it, who doesn't enjoy being read to?  It is good to hear the story in the author's voice, with the inflections read as they were meant to be when written by the author.

     

    It is harder to pick up on the narrative structure, though, as it is more conversational.

  12. Vish Khanna
    12

    @tb3

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by Vish Khanna

    Excellent all round tb3! I'm glad you're feeling engaged with Bunny Munro and that you're excited about the Merge book. It's an amazing read!

  13. suckamc
    13

    contest

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by suckamc

    I'm going to keep emailing off and on until you tell me to stop Vish... :)

  14. tb3
    14

    I am excited for dawn.h too

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    I know she will be very excited for this next book as it is the same time we all cut our musical teeth. Oh those 90's were wonderful,

    While I wasn't in high school like you or dawn.h, I remember the precise moment my friend Chris handed me the Superchunk cd and he played me Hyper Enough.

    Any of you kids on here not familiar with this era of music would do themselves a HUGE favour to pick up the album Foolish.

  15. mynameismoe
    15

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by mynameismoe

    i am hoping i win a book. this is the first time to be involved in any sort of book club, and i am getting excited!

     

    @TheRadioHead

    i have a very hard time with audio books. i am an extremely visual person. if you tell me something, i am likely to forget by the time you are finished speaking. if i read it, i'll likely remember for quite some time (or at least have a better grasp). if my eyes aren't engaged in something (like reading), my mind wanders and i get lost in thought & daydream.

    also, to touch on martin's comment about reading a book on the computer. i definitely don't have the attention span. i am so easily distracted, it's sort of embarrassing. i think i could get behind those kindle things, though. digital books are very much the future, not dissing them. i guess i just need to get used to it.

  16. TheRadioHead
    16

    @mynameismoe

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by TheRadioHead

    Oh, I totally get that!  It was a great advancement in the process of teaching to realize people learn and remember in different ways.  If I want to learn something, I have to write it down.

     

    But it worked for me for recreational reading.  Plus Nick Cave has such a charming accent, took the edge off Bunny's appalling behaviour.

  17. tb3
    17

    Audio Books

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    If it's like podcasts, really there are two places I can ONLY listen to them: Working out (which I don't do enough of these days) and Driving (my commute is 14 minutes on bad days). So I find it very hard to utilize audio books or podcasts like I could.

    I also find that they're very much like books in that I need a place where I can have little to no distractions. The decision to read a book is far more of engaged process so I have much better luck when picking up the book to read, and not having my attention diverted.

    When I remove the picking up the book and turn over the reading to someone else, and basically just having to listen, I find it way too easy to have my mind wander.

    But I have a new-to-me eliptical cross trainer coming to my house so I think I may get caught back up with podcasts, and give audio books a second whirl.

     

    Cave is talking about typing on the iPhone. And since I have over a year's experience with it I can tell you it is the coolest /slash/ most frustrating thing often at the same time.

  18. mynameismoe
    18

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by mynameismoe

    did you get enough e-mails, vish? do you need some more?

  19. tb3
    19

    p.s.

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    Since I am back to my Friday morning 7-8am hockey, I'd appreciate if you guys, you too Vish, would hold anything interesting until I get into work around 8:35am.

    Okay?

  20. TheRadioHead
    20

    @tb3

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by TheRadioHead

    Yeah, for sure.  Most times the biggest obstacle for reading or listeneing is finding uninterupted time. 

     

    I am fortunate to have blocks of quiet times to listen at work, while getting paid for it, no less!

  21. tb3
    21

    @TheRadioHead

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    Audio books and podcasts cut into my Radio3 listening time now that the CBC Radio App is out and I can listen anywhere my cell phone goes.

  22. Vish Khanna
    22

    @mynameismoe

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by Vish Khanna

    There are actually no e-mails from today in the general account for some reason. The last one is from last night. Uh oh...

  23. tb3
    23

    emails

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by tb3

    Oh snap!

    There should be. Lots actually. Just sayin'. I may have sent more than one.

  24. mynameismoe
    24

    re: What'cha Readin'? C'mon, Get Appy - The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave + Our Next Book!

    Posted on Oct 23, 2009 by mynameismoe

    yes, i sent one earlier, and martin mentioned he sent a couple in, as well! uhoh!

  25. tb3
    25

    Yo'

    Posted on Oct 25, 2009 by tb3

    Who won, Vishal?

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