The Situationist Guide to Parenting and other Books of the Year

December 4, 2017 5:03 PM

It's that time of year of top-10 lists, and if you're behind on reading, you might want to catch up with this list by Darran Anderson writing for literary website 3:AM Magazine, which includes such titles as Reclaimed Territory: A post-Brexit Britain Household Companion, The Situationist Guide to Parenting, and The Russian Bot’s Wife, and other books you will never have to worry about not having time to read because they don't actually exist.
posted by larrybob (11 comments total)

Ah, what I wouldn’t give for a copy of The Situationist Guide to Parenting. My 3-year-old has made crayon and paint splattered détournements of everything I own.
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 5:16 PM on December 4, 2017 [8 favorites]

Next, an imaginary Top-10 list experienced only through MetaFilter comments disagreeing with it in the most strident terms!
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:27 PM on December 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

> My 3-year-old has made crayon and paint splattered détournements of everything I own.

Ah! I believe you should be looking for The Disumbrationist Guide to Parenting.
posted by ardgedee at 5:38 PM on December 4, 2017

next year's nanowrimo should be dedicated to making every one of these titles flesh.
posted by phooky at 6:44 PM on December 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

The internet is making me want a lot of things that don't actually exist.
posted by srboisvert at 7:27 PM on December 4, 2017

Makes me want to reread Lem's reviews of imaginary books.
posted by doctornemo at 7:28 PM on December 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is good.

I so want to read The Hattifattener's Daughter ...

Love 3AM.
posted by latkes at 8:00 PM on December 4, 2017

I would totally read The Russian Bot's Wife.
posted by praemunire at 8:31 PM on December 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

So good, so savage.

The Ultimate Aphoristic Style Guide for Writers of the Social Media Age is the perfect book for anyone wanting to write just like everyone else.

George Glaciate-Furbisher, Flenge’s Dictum (Silly Bugger Press)

A literature professor is entranced with a mysterious young exchange student, but can he complete his magnum opus before the ethics committee intervene? And is she even real? And is the real even real? Daring writing from the septuagenarian enfant terrible of English letters.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 1:45 AM on December 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

I’ve been too busy melting-down on social media to properly engage with what we used to call ‘the novel’ this year. I’ve had to limit my reading to one piece of fiction a day (or two if the books are less than 500-pages long). As this annus horribilis has ground on I’ve also found it increasingly rewarding — and apt — to read books written in languages that aren’t yet invented.

Dammit, got to up my game.
posted by languagehat at 7:08 AM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Looking at the article again, I am realizing that not all the reviews are by Darran Anderson - just the first section, and that there are a number of contributors.
posted by larrybob at 12:25 PM on December 5, 2017