Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Emily Henry’s Beach Read which I’ve not read but I gather it’s about two blocked writers, polar opposites who meet at a summer writing camp and fall for each other.
Which put me in mind of literary couples leading me to Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt whose What I Love is a favourite of mine.
Hustvedt’s novel is set in New York so it seems only fair to include Auster’s slice of noir metafiction, The New York Trilogy.
Auster wrote the story on which the film ‘Smoke’ is based plus the script for its sequel ‘Blue in the Face’ in which Lou Reed made an appearance. Reed is an unlikely father figure to a sixteen-year-old lost boy in Michael Imperioli’s The Perfume Burnt His Eyes.
Rock stars in fiction takes me to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s hugely enjoyable Daisy Jones and the Six about a ‘70s band who split at the height of their fame.
Leading me to Daniel Kehlmann’s Fame which takes some entertaining swipes at being famous.
Kehlmann’s book is subtitled ‘A Novel in Nine Episodes’ reminding me of Julian Barnes’ entertaining, episodic A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, the only Barnes I remember enjoying.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from a romance about two very different writers to an idiosyncratic fictional history of the world. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
Paul Auster is one of those authors whom I often mean to read, and then … don’t, so thanks for the jog, The Siri Hustvedt looks interesting too. As ever, a great chain.
Thanks! I used to be a bigger fan of Auster than Hustvedt then she published What I Loved which eclipsed him for me.
I’m just going to have to find out then.
I hadn’t realised Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt were an item. I’ve tried both of them but gave up on each attempt.
Auster’s an acquired taste and Husvedt can be a bit tricky. I’m more a fan of her than him these days!
For some reason I resisted the hype around Daisy Jones and the Six but reading your praise for it makes me think I should give it a go.
I know what you mean about hype, Cathy, but it’s a throughly entertaining read.
I had no idea Michael Imperioli had written a book, think I’ll have to check this out
When I spotted he’d written a novel, I looked him up and found that he’d also written five episodes of the Sopranos, amongst other screenplays, and is also a muscian. No end to his talants!
Excellent chain here. Barnes has been hit or miss with me. This one sounds good. I also really liked his Noise of Time.
Thank you, Davida. I might give Elizabeth Finch a try but it’s quite some time since I’ve read a Barnes.
Happy New Year!
The thing I really love most about Six Degrees, is how much I learn every month (if I get to take part). Your chain once again provides information on authors I never knew! I know about The New York Trilogy, but I’ve never read it. Might just look into it now!
Elza Reads
That’s a great way to look at Six Degrees. Hope you enjoy the Auster if you get to it, and a very happy 2023 to you, too!
I really enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six! I didn’t think it would be my sort of book at all, but was so glad I gave it a try.
It was wonderfully entertaining, wasn’t it? I have another of hers in my pile to read.
Micheal Imperiolo, never knew that. Currently enjoying him in ‘the white lotus.’ Loved ‘New York stories’ and read quite a few by Auster, I must check him out again. Just reading a review of ‘blodbath nation’ by him, about violence in the US, so will maybe start with that. Nice list.
Thank you. It was a revelation about Imperiolo to me, too. Hope you enjoy rediscovering Auster.
That was a clever first link. I’m still struggling to find something, as I haven’t read that book either.
Thank you. A bit like Wordle, I find it easier to let Six Degrees simmer away in the back of my brain!
You know how I love Auster! I’ve only read Hustvedt’s first, which I enjoyed, I really need to take the plunge with her and read more.
I do, indeed! What I Loved is my all-time favourite Hustvedt but I’ve banged on about it so much on here, you might know that already.
I’ve read 4 of your picks! How fun that you and Kate both ended with a Barnes novel.
I know! I may even read Elizabeth Finch.
Good work! Sadly, I failed with What I Loved (I own it & may try again) but loved Daisy Jones. Good, creative linkage!
Thank you! Daisy was such an easy, entertaining read. I think I need to sample more of her novels.
What a fun chain, I love your link to literary couples! Interesting what you say about Barnes. I’ve only read his critically acclaimed The Sense of an Ending, which I didn’t love.
Thank you! There are quite a few of them around. I’m tempted by the latest Barnes but on the whole not at all keen.
I’m glad you reminded me of Daisy Jones; I enjoyed (though not as much as many others) Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and meant to read more by her but haven’t yet got down to either Daisy Jones or Carrie Soto.
Daisy is the only one I’ve read but I might try another to cheer up winter!
Excellent twisty chain that’s full of interesting connections. Thanks for the visit.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
Thank you – I enjoyed yours, too.