Monday, November 21, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: A Literary Feast

Who's on my fantasy Thanksgiving guest list this year?  Take this top ten, and join me in gratitude!

Appetizers:  Poetry 180.  OK: Not a single author, but a collection of immediately consumable yet surprisingly satisfying and layered poems.  Trust me: It'll go on your list of must-serves for next year...  And then I could let all the poets stay or go, whatever their whim.  Genius, no?


Cocktails:  T.C. Boyle. Verbally limber and controversial enough to tweak everyone into letting their hair down.  And I can't wait to see him when he's gone through a few glasses of Pinot too!

Salad/palate cleanser:  Jane Austen.  A little astringent, a bit sharp to the tooth, light, somewhat satisfying, but always leaves me wanting more depth.   And I'd love to see what T.C. Boyle does with her...

Soup course:  Maile Meloy. Satisfying but not heavy, deliciously contemporary-American, and in my super-brief correspondence, an unpretentious yet sophisticated person.  The sort you'd want at Thanksgiving.

The big bird:  Faulkner.  Yes.  A stroke of genius.  Rich, succulent, crispy about the edges.  Would he not just knock everything sidewise, in the true family spirit of the holidays?


Sides:  Reynolds Price as the stuffing.  That's by far my favorite part of the meal.  His honeyed voice, elegant Southern charm, and generous brilliance as a raconteur cannot be matched.  I miss him, and would welcome him back home with gratitude.  Let's pair him with the reclusive Harper Lee as the sweet potato.  For the piquant cranberry, let's summon up the saucy Tina Fey.  One more brilliant wit won't harm the holiday vibe.
 
Dessert:  Rich and comforting and sweet, with a touch of sugar-high.  I'm thinking Alice Hoffman and Kaye Gibbons

The fine wine:  Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood.  Layered and fresh, with long finishes both.

Now that looks like a party.

And OK, so it's twelve.  But what's Thanksgiving for if not over-abundance?

Who did you pick?  Go check out the faithful bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish for more exceptional holiday ideas...

MFB,
L

FYI:  I tried to pick British and American authors this time, for the Thanksgiving theme...

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really love the way you structured this! I also had Margaret Atwood on my list.

Sidne said...

Concur with 1girl2manybooks. love it!!

Anonymous said...

We share Austen, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of Harper Lee - I'd love to ask her why she never wrote another novel...
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday post. :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun gathering! I wanna be there!
Happy Tuesday!
http://butterybooks.com/?p=44634

Anne said...

You invited Tina Fey? Am I allowed to come? ;)

Anne (from Living in a Fairy World)

Anne said...

Love how you did your list, very original! I have Alice Hoffman on my list too.

Andra Lyn said...

lol I love that you have them all planned out by course! Great list!

As the Crowe Flies and Reads said...

great list! I've been thinking about mine today since I read the topic this morning. I'm at work so it'll have to wait until I'm at home to post. I've mostly just been mulling over the authors I'd most like to visit with and not thinking about how they'd work together. Except for the power trio of Jane Austen, Eudora Welty, and Jim HArrison.

Laurie said...

Glad y'all enjoyed the way I organized my thinking here; this list was pure fun to create, don't you think?
I'm off to visit all of your lists too - I'm sure that I'll kick myself for not including many of your invitees!

Anonymous said...

Haha. Tina Fey is an excellent choice! Lots of laughs there!

Here's my Top Ten: http://palmtreesbarefeet.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/top-ten-tuesday-authors-i-want-at-my-thanksgiving-dinner/

:)

Yvette said...

I'd add Tina Fey to my list in a minute. Well, I would have...If I'd remembered.

Great list.

Laurie said...

P - Such a unique list you posted, and I went right out and reserved a book by one of your authors immediately!
Y - Yours too: Only wish I had a bigger house so I could feast them all.
(More comments on everybody's blogs too.)

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