Lint in Literature: The First Affair by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

I recently read The First Affair by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (of The Nanny Diaries fame). This novel was a fictional look at affairs women (young girls really) have with the President of the United States. I was pleasantly surprised; this book didn't just deal with the affair but largely with the aftermath of such a decision by both parties. 

It mostly was seen from the young intern's point of view and was handled very well. The character Jamie McAlister was idealistic and totally fooled, but I don't want to give too much away. Read it! I think anyone would love this smart look at the inner workings of politics today.

This little snippet about lint was in the book:

"Harrisburg? God, no." He considered for a second. "I thought there'd be more camaraderie. I thought join the government, join the campaign, share a common vision, a cause." He picked lint off his slim-cut cords. "But people suck everywhere, I guess."

Lint in Literature: The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I recently read The Signature of All Things, a novel by Elizabeth Gilbert (you know, Eat Pray Love?). Anyway, this novel was amazing! It can be called epic and a classic and smart and funny. So good!

I was delighted to find this lint reference somewhat early in the book (on page 147):

Retta ran over to her friend, and sat down beside her. "Look at you! You are overcome on my behalf! You care about me do!" Retta put her arm around Alma's waist, just as she had done on the day they met, and embraced her closely. "I must confess that I am still a bit overcome myself. What would such a clever man want with a silly bit of lint like me?..."

If you are looking for a book you can really settle into for a week or so (I'm a slow reader; maybe you'd read the nearly 500 pages much quicker), The Signature of All Things is highly recommended.

Lint in Literature: Started Early, Took My Dog

I recently read Kate Atkinson's novel Started Early, Took My Dog. Early in the book, I came across this line:

Tracey felt defeated. She glanced down and picked some lint off her jacket. Things could only get worse.

This book was wonderful, as are all of Atkinson's books, so if you're looking for a novel with a touch of mystery and great characters, Started Early, Took My Dog is a winner.

Lint in Literature: Line of Fire

I'm reading Line of Fire by Stephen White and have to return the book to the library (or keep accumulating fines). I'll return it today and see if they have another I can check out or maybe they'll re-shelve it before I leave and i can check it out again. Either way, it's fine. The book is intriguing though not the best book I've ever read. I do want to see what happens.

Last night as I was trying to read as much as I could, I read these lines:

When I am on my game clinically, I can be astute. I can take almost invisible threads from a patient's life, almost undetectable affective lint from a patient's story, and weave the wisps of psychological reality into a lifeline that can guide her back to the place and time where the fabric began to unravel.

I think that's a nice use of lint in literature! Paints a nice picture.

How are you doing? Have any lint stories to share?

Lint in Literature: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

I'm reading The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker, and I'm loving it! 
 

It's the story of Truly Plaice, a solid girl who grows up to be a solid woman. She's not exactly a giant, but she's taller and bigger than most men. And she's ugly (that's not my word; that's how the author describes her). Her sister, Serena Jane, on the other hand is small and beautiful.

The other night, while reading along, I was thrilled to come across this lint phrase:

"Really, Truly," Serena Jane said, flicking a piece of lint off her cardigan, bored with my fantasies, "you might at least acknowledge that you're female."

Have you read this book? I highly recommend it.

Lint in Literature: The Keep by Jennifer Egan

I recently read the novel The Keep by Jennifer Egan. If you want to read what I thought about it, visit my book blog where I sort of reviewed it / sort of moaned about how confusing it was!

While reading it, I came across this passage:

It's about the size of a shoebox--in fact it is a shoebox, I can see the Adidas logo right through the paint. He lifts off the top and I look inside the box and see dust. Lint, hair, fur. Dust of every color and thickness. A lot of dust balls all clumped into one big clump. Davis holds the box right under my face.

Again, it's a weird book (in my opinion) but it does include lint, so it wasn't all bad!

LINT in Texas

Sorry fellow lint lovers for the long time, no lint posts. I haven't had much exciting lint news to report, so today I decided to do a little online search for lint. Here's what I found.

There is an organization in Texas called LINT. That's right. They actually have nothing to do with lint like I like, the fluffy bits leftover from drying clothes, but that's okay.

The Texas LINT organization--yes, their www ends in .org--stands for Luthiers Interactive of North Texas (LINT).  

Their group is "an association of North Texas Luthiers and stringed instrument repair people who meet six times a year. We meet on a weekend of every EVEN month to discuss and learn new techniques and information regarding the construction and repair of stringed instruments.  Various members of LINT have expertise in hand crafting and repairing all sorts of stringed musical instruments including guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, cellos, lutes, mandolins, and violins."

I had no clue! It sounds like a great group to join if you are handy and crafty and musical. Two outta three ain't bad, I guess.* I even found a book on Amazon called The Luthier's Handbook:  A Guide to Building Great Tone in Acoustic Stringed Instruments (shown above).

Do you know of any other groups that use the acronym LINT? I'd love to feature them here.

*Can't carry a tune in a sack.

Lint in Literature: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

I've read lots of books since my last post but none mentioned lint. And I haven't been actively seeking out lint news. You could say I've been in a lint lull.

Well, I'm happy to say the lull has been broken!

Last night while reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, I came across this perfect passage with lint:

"Katie was the type who'd bustle around all day, clean the kitchen tile with a toothbrush, pull the lint from the floorboards with a toothpick before she spoke much about anything uncomfortable."

This book is dark and wonderful like the other books Flynn's written. If you're not familiar with Gillian Flynn, she also wrote that little book Gone Girl. Yeah, her. Sharp Objects was her first novel and it's good, but I did like Gone Girl better and Dark Places best.

Lint in Literature: Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson

I've had the novel Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson on my nightstand for years. I've been meaning to read it and when I found myself with no books to read, I pulled it out and started it.

The story is about a teenage girl whose run away from an abusive home life living in a tent in Washington state. One day she sees the Virgin Mary in the forest, who speaks to her. It's pretty interesting.

Last night I read this passage and smiled because there was lint:

Saturday night you can always attend. As well as twice on Sunday. The priest absentmindedly picked lint from his overcoat. So you went to the woods, he observed.

Quotes aren't used in this book, making the conversations just a tiny bid confusing occasionally, but I've gotten used to it.

Lint in Literature: The Watchmaker's Daughter by Sonia Taitz

I'm still reading The Watchmaker's Daughter by Sonia Taitz, and this memoir of a daughter of two Holocaust survivors is very good. 

 
Last night I read this passage and smiled because I'd get to share this bit of lint with you:

Will he greet my damp-faced, round-cheeked mother in her housedress, wearing pink kid shlurkes on her feet as she spreads the dust around with a lint cloth or boils up some exhausted white chicken?

This author candidly exposes her feelings growing up as the only daughter (she has an older brother) of a watchmaker. Her father was a craftsman who was allowed to live by repairing Nazi's watches in the Dachau concentration camp during the war. 

This book really has nothing to do with lint but has a lot to offer on the history of a family and what it means to be a the child of World War II Jewish parents. 

Lint in Literature: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns

I recently read The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway, and I loved it! The writing was rich as were the characters and story.

I was also so thrilled to see a nice little reference to lint toward the end. The main character, Gal Garner, has to go to the hospital every other night for dialysis treatment. 

Here is the lint line where Gal talks about her ongoing dialysis:

I will do this the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow after that, and so forth forever, through vacations and work, picking up infections the way black sweaters catch lint.

Lint in Literature: Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter by Sara Mansfield Taber

I just finished reading Born Under an Assumed Name:  The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter by Sara Mansfield Taber. This was a very good book and it contains lint, to boot!

Near the end of the book, she describes the teachers at the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan where she attended high school:

"My French teacher was a fastidious man with impeccable clothing from which he brushed off invisible bits of lint with his manicured fingernails."