Brother, sister, author, musician

Since I'm always on the lookout for a book-related post to put up here (what can I say, working at the library, books are always part of my hidden agenda), I was delighted to discover a new book and music connection: did you know that Colin Meloy of The Decemberists has a sister, Maile Meloy (pronounced like Miley Cyrus's name), who writes literary fiction? (For that matter, as you can see if you search our catalog for his name, he's written some books of his own.)

Well, The Decemberists have always been a lit-rock band. As an English major, I enjoyed spotting their subtle (and less-subtle) references in their lyrics. They even covered one of my all-time favorite literary songs, Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights. Colin Meloy's voice is a bit of an acquired taste, but their music definitely has a lot of layers and stands up well to repeated listening. A lot of their songs are quite catchy and poppy, lyrics aside!

For an example, here are some lyrics from their song Oceanside -- can you spot the famous poem they're referring to?

Sweet Annabelle,
As seen reclining on an ocean swell
As the waves do lather up to lay her down 'til she's fast and sleeping.
Oh well, I guess I'm something of a ne'er-do-well- who fell asleep at the pealing of the steeple bell.

Maile Meloy, on the other hand, takes a more subtle approach. When I recommended her collection of short stories recently, I wrote about her collection of short stories, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It: "I love her strong sense of place and spare language (spare, yet able to deliver devastating blows). It reminds me a lot of Annie Proulx’s work." And here's a quote, if you're not sold:

"Diabetes is passed that way -- over and down, like a knight in chess."

Happy listening (and reading!),
Jenny