tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-325395932024-02-07T16:23:50.621-05:00Reed Next's Next ReadReed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08214606532931696039noreply@blogger.comBlogger283125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-46536423491721822912017-11-04T10:02:00.000-04:002017-11-04T10:02:42.412-04:00Blankets by Craig Thompson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIMLtkfa8cPJ-vXKbN2E37fbCWaBJ3266Ln3lQgpcyuvzpxqPhkYh4c53ae9HuBYZ_kb6pvFnYjF6j3f2xWnUexAztncSbKRumUiiHYs0jrQcmtH-hXoZzyoWBGRd3pEvzQyvIw/s1600/blankets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="368" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIMLtkfa8cPJ-vXKbN2E37fbCWaBJ3266Ln3lQgpcyuvzpxqPhkYh4c53ae9HuBYZ_kb6pvFnYjF6j3f2xWnUexAztncSbKRumUiiHYs0jrQcmtH-hXoZzyoWBGRd3pEvzQyvIw/s400/blankets.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There isn't much more to be said about <i>Blankets, </i>Craig Thompson's award-winning autobiography of his adolescence. It is visually stunning and the story strikes a deep chord in the heart and the memory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remember those long winters and how long those winter breaks from school seemed back then. I remember we had four seasons back then, too. I recall how falling in love was so utterly foreign and absolutely all I wanted simultaneously, this deep desire to love and be loved. However, it was my unfortunate custom to go from zero to sixty, from an evening holding hands to proclaiming my deepest feelings </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">in a few short days</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> usually via a copied song lyric that completely overstated what I was trying to get across. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I'll cross the sky for your love" from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">U2's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Drowning Man comes to mind. Oh t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hose poor girls I must have overwhelmed with my adolescent ardor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now let's be clear, that wasn't Thompson's way at all. In fact, he sort of falls backwards into love with his heart's desire, Raina (I fell in love with her a bit myself while reading the story. Doesn't everybody?). In fact, he's almost as confused by her as he is attracted to her but they are of a pair. Certainly, an unlikely pair, she the lovely and popular to his introverted artiness. What initially binds them is their evangelicalism but it becomes clear when Craig visits Raina that they approach and hold their faith very differently. They sparkle and burn brightly but that is tough to maintain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't read many or any graphic novels, I encourage you to try this. It is as good a story as you'll find in any print novel and the art is truly gorgeous. I also admire the courage it took to lay himself so bare and reveal those ugly parts of our youth that we want no one else to know even after all these years. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-19503419912066546222017-10-29T10:10:00.001-04:002017-10-29T14:19:11.302-04:00You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftf3rcC71UL3GAPDjBvoacX8fyzVSi3n3mPxm98d5mAQt8-9gRkOZQG7sd50aC0UCwA-0s0stwgHIZupuePUQEbWc-jyj2eW1VxV_uonx_RORfg5Ui_F0GmCGqhXOOjk3YHWN1w/s1600/9780316270755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftf3rcC71UL3GAPDjBvoacX8fyzVSi3n3mPxm98d5mAQt8-9gRkOZQG7sd50aC0UCwA-0s0stwgHIZupuePUQEbWc-jyj2eW1VxV_uonx_RORfg5Ui_F0GmCGqhXOOjk3YHWN1w/s400/9780316270755.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The latest from Alexie, a memoir, may be the author at, to coin a phrase, his Alexie-est. It is infuriating, repetitive, w</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hiny, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">overbearing and we've heard much of it before. It is self-serving, self-centered, self-indulgent, and self-absorbed. It is Alexie at his worst.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, and seemingly as ever, it is beautifully written and painfully raw. It is unnervingly ten</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">der,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> bravely confessional, absurdly funny, and utterly heart-breaking. It is Alexie at his best. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Having followed his career since first reading him in the second incarnation of <i>Story </i>magazine, regular Reed-ers know how much I love his work. This latest is an exploration of the difficult relationship between himself and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">his mother, Lillian. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments along with the plaintive wail of "Mommy didn't love me!". Often, it appears she didn't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One passage describes their relationship this way:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"...as her son and perhaps her most regular opponent, I only remember a little bit of my mother's kindness and almost everything about her coldness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Did she love me? Did my mother love me? When I gather up all the available evidence, I have to say, "Yes, Lillian Alexie loved Sherman Alexie, Jr." But I can only render that verdict with reasonable doubts. " </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are statements like this throughout the book. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To me, this was Alexie actively grieving before my eyes and in my hands. He hurts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is also a physical component to all the mental anguish as he delves deeply into his own health issues (born with hydrocephalus, he suffered a host of maladies the reservation was ill-equipped to help with) and the very painful stories of repeated sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of people he knew well throughout his childhood. Nor does he let us forget the culture of racism, poverty, alcoholism, and violence that was ever-present. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Telling these stories repeatedly in public led the author to curtail his book tour this summer. Rehashing all this pain became too much for him to bear mentally and physically. When I read of this, my heart ached for him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>You Don't Have to Say You Love Me</i> is no easy read nor is it a how-to in healthy suffering. To some, it might even be perceived as the author</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> dropping the mic and walking away like all the kids do these days. However, those familiar with him know he could NEVER live without an audience or cease telling stories. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All I can wish is that Alexie finds solace or a measure of peace sooner than later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And if you can, call your Mom. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-58559208448298841802017-10-21T12:46:00.001-04:002017-10-21T12:46:50.138-04:00The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYbmMAjHQIcfwADgcHMkBbTrPAIJAKRZRX4Wrn0SxN9SiupbRdI1zNMnuT7CmJGIxyfC5tzPN1WaUG7otF5A9nQL0cZc8ZklwSLmpfbw6c4APIW_ImLHSMYe_dfFf4gnWeL5c6g/s1600/psychopath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1056" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYbmMAjHQIcfwADgcHMkBbTrPAIJAKRZRX4Wrn0SxN9SiupbRdI1zNMnuT7CmJGIxyfC5tzPN1WaUG7otF5A9nQL0cZc8ZklwSLmpfbw6c4APIW_ImLHSMYe_dfFf4gnWeL5c6g/s400/psychopath.jpg" width="263" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Author Jon Ronson has been popping up on podcasts I've listened to for years and I'm generally enthralled by the stories he tells. Too, his </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">soft-spoken, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">sing-song English accent never fails to grab me so at last, I'm reading his work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To be honest, I read this particular title in order to help determine if a person in my life is actually a psychopath. While I have my suspicions, I wanted to learn more about psychopathy in order to make my own unqualified assessment and then be all judge-y and shit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, this same idea is among the reasons Ronson wrote the book: he became aware of a man who faked his way into a mental hospital to avoid prison and who then couldn't get out. From there, Ronson learns of Dr. Robert Hare and his psychopath test: 20 questions that have become a standard in diagnosing psychopathy (I'm skipping over how the book</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> starts with an odd story about random academics who receive copies of a custom, cryptic book since you pretty much can ignore that)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ronson </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> applies </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">his newfound knowledge</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">, he starts seeing psychopaths everywhere and this is a fellow who certainly knows how to find people who are, shall we say, a bit off. In fact, he </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">feels so empowered by this wee bit of knowledge that, as the book goes on, he recognizes the Hale test might be too broad to be consistently correct. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He also learns those with psychopathic tendencies are less often the homicidal maniacs that we've come to associate with the term but quite often leaders in government and business. It seems psychopathy lends itself to this personality type. Are they all nuts or just misunderstood? Tough call. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ultimately, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">what I believe Ronson learned</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> by writing <i>The Psychopath Test</i> is that</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> while someone may indeed be a psychopath, it isn't for him to decide. Same goes for me. As Alexander Pope said, "A little learning is a dangerous thing". </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-3399856792843603692017-09-16T12:05:00.001-04:002017-10-01T10:37:24.297-04:00Extraordinary Adventures by Daniel Wallace <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIer8UwK8JjwT9VlLGzWllOzbjjZorKaEqeb11qxinZcLjRoM_enZoOMBnRh5BkblAgMtaq3SBpgsaY0XXCbWC47cGlGxpnKaBAkGO4utooEBbze4zzTBmjE0gA5XLk4jYlP_lQ/s1600/9781250118455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIer8UwK8JjwT9VlLGzWllOzbjjZorKaEqeb11qxinZcLjRoM_enZoOMBnRh5BkblAgMtaq3SBpgsaY0XXCbWC47cGlGxpnKaBAkGO4utooEBbze4zzTBmjE0gA5XLk4jYlP_lQ/s400/9781250118455.jpg" width="263" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let us now meet Edsel Bronfman. He's not Ed or Eddie to anyone. He's Edsel. In fact, as Charlie Brown is always called Charlie Brown, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">he's really more Edsel Bronfman. Two words</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a first name, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Edsel is unusual, outdated, and reminiscent of the automobile that was such a spectacular failure. Bronfman sounds like a muffled tubercular sneeze. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The shoe fits. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Edsel Bronfman is ordinary. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Extra ordinary--two words, not one. He lives in Birmingham in a shabby apartment in a shabbier complex where his only semblance of a friend is a drug dealer Edsel distrusts. He has held the same position, a junior executive shipping manager, for ages,where he has perfect attendance and you imagine he will likely retire in, oh, 30 more years. In his free time, he looks after his free-spirited mother though she gets along just fine, thank you. His world is tiny and he keeps it that way. Edsel Bronfman doesn't </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">live</span></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> his life. He is just passin' through. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adventure or the potential for one arrives with a phone call. A Carla D'Angelo (how exotic-sounding!) is calling from Extraordinary Adventures to tell him he's won a free trip to Destin. The only cost is the time-share pitch meeting he must attend in order to collect. The catch is that this prize is for couples and he has 79 days to work it out or he forfeits. As you might imagine, Edsel has </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">never been chosen for anything</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. He's never been anywhere. He's certainly never won anything. He's the equivalent of human wallpaper so this prize offer is a big to-do and sets in motion his adventures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now you might want to write this off as a frothy beach read or trite rom com material but fortunately for us, we are in the capable hands of Daniel Wallace. Sure, it ain't <i>War and Peace </i>but it's not supposed to be. What we get is a funny, and very touching portrait of an extraordinarily lonely man who attempts to break out. It's as if he only now sees there is a world out there and he can actually live in it; that he deserves to do so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What follows is a great shambling attempt at romance and second-guessing with the impetuous Sheila McNabb. On the way, he attracts the attentions of a lovely lady cop and the drug dealers' girlfriend. Edsel is working without a net and we can't help but root for him. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-83793656809352753252017-08-27T09:30:00.000-04:002017-08-27T10:35:33.437-04:00When the English Fall by David Williams<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm3aPq9mmXhP7BiXe44e-Im8BykBaSQmzDdrun7BlP_OUrIf8trH3f_pkgQOFs-Wx-sAL2faSSI6MfdMKcHchjNUl3I3HpXS0hCNl1QG3G3OLr9AWlpl7jWC1ImI17KCHR4Eh2g/s1600/englishfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1061" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm3aPq9mmXhP7BiXe44e-Im8BykBaSQmzDdrun7BlP_OUrIf8trH3f_pkgQOFs-Wx-sAL2faSSI6MfdMKcHchjNUl3I3HpXS0hCNl1QG3G3OLr9AWlpl7jWC1ImI17KCHR4Eh2g/s400/englishfall.jpg" width="265" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dystopian fiction is all the rage and has been for some time now, especially in the YA market. D</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">one well, it can make for great storytelling (see work by Orwell, Atwood, Huxley, Bradbury, Burgess, etc).</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I keep reading how, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">with that orange maniac and his cronies hastening the decline of the republic,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">this outpouring of dystopian fiction is a metaphor, as well as a manifestation, of our current fears. Perhaps so. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was especially intrigued by his new spin on it and was rewarded with a fast, tense novel that practically made me yearn to be Amish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jacob is an old order Amish farmer in rural eastern Pennsylvania and the story is told from his journal entries. At first, they are normal, even mundane, as he discusses work on the farm, the families in his community, and his hopes and fears for his own family. His daughter has an ability to see the future which causes him grave concern but, of late, she has been on an even keel. Still, he worries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One evening, the skies dance with strange light, both beautiful and terrifying. However, n</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">o light shines from the nearby town </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">and the family sees a plane plummet from the sky. The next day, Jacob learns a solar storm has destroyed all electric and electronic power. The English world (the non-Amish world) is crippled. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So begins the end of the world scenario--communication is all but impossible </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">and as desperation leads to lawlessness, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">the Army's grasp on order slips. Jacob clings to his family, his community, and his deep faith as the English begin to encroach on his way of life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What most endeared Jacob to me was his </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">sense of honor, fairness, and grace amidst the</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> struggle over which he has no control. Were it not for the dire situation for the English, he could live his life as he always has but he must serve his fellow man and so he does. While his family and community come first, he also helps those outside, even taking in an English family. Williams evokes great humanity in Jacob and his wife, Hannah, and the religious aspects of the book never seems cloying. In fact, they seem quite genuine which makes sense since the author is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When The English Fall </i>is a rewarding story of kindness and decency set in a time of desperation and ruin. Let's hope it's not too prescient. If so, I want Jacob as my neighbor. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-25383629332209557342017-08-05T11:30:00.000-04:002017-08-06T12:49:17.035-04:00Almost Missed You by Jessica Strawser<div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The author is a friend, former colleague, and a homegirl and I was thrilled when she landed a book deal with a big house and more excited to be at her book signing debut. However, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">here was a lot of anxiety about this first novel mostly because she and I are old pals and what if I didn't like her book? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now when asked to be an early reader <i>prior</i> to publication, I am always straightforward with notes and opinions even if they might sting a little. If I'm not honest at this point, it serves no one well and it's a waste of everyone's time to tell a friend their work is better than I really think it is. Certainly they may not agree with my suggestions but at least I've been square with them and fulfilled my duty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, post-pub is a little dicier, especially since I write about what I read on occasion. I will confess, there was a time or two that I chickened out </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">completely </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">and that was just an awful feeling. The faint praise I was able to muster coupled with not writing about it here was, well, it was miserable. Miserable and obvious. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happily that was not the case with <i>Almost Missed You</i>,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">a gripping tale of betrayal, grief, and kidnapping. It is a taut, tangled tale of deep friendships and dark secrets (my, how alliterative I am this morning!). Strawser offers up a worst-case scenario that somehow manages to worsen and which threatens everyone involved. When I felt certain I knew where this was going, it didn't and I found that quite skillful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will say that had it not been written by a friend, I'm not sure I would have found this book but I'm so glad I did. She'll have another book coming out in 2018. Jump on the bandwagon now. </span></div>
Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-11056746358702694752017-07-29T10:36:00.001-04:002017-07-29T10:39:21.363-04:00The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuax0M0-amviTQBVHC8NtjMAYQU6c1LOETnBa9IqdqoLMphAP9zY9hpvf4VaVb9hc-YfbfzLQR_XqLZKcoAHLFmAoyYHD3KDfcXrGWHaQFTSQlfZcNyz7YQ_W3TYfguH7bIiQyA/s1600/12lives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuax0M0-amviTQBVHC8NtjMAYQU6c1LOETnBa9IqdqoLMphAP9zY9hpvf4VaVb9hc-YfbfzLQR_XqLZKcoAHLFmAoyYHD3KDfcXrGWHaQFTSQlfZcNyz7YQ_W3TYfguH7bIiQyA/s400/12lives.jpg" width="262" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tinti's <i>The Good Thief</i> was among my favorites of 2008 (we was kids back then, weren't we?) so I have </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">waited years for another novel. I have been patient because she has been busy at the helm of the fantastic <i>One Story,</i> a subscription service celebrating the short story. As a fan and proponent of the short story form, I have been an ardent supporter and subscriber for many years (It makes a swell gift, too! And such a deal! </span><a href="https://goo.gl/S7gPPn" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">One Story website</span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her latest is a worthy successor.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The twelve lives in the title are actually the specific details surrounding the twelve times Sam Hawley was shot over his lifetime. In short, Hawley is an accomplished crook for hire despite the number of bullets in his hide. His young life is spent pulling jobs and living quietly and nomadically off his fees. This life is changed dramatically when he meets Lily at the funeral of her father, himself a career criminal. It is with her that he can lose himself and with whom he has Loo, his beloved daughter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sam lives a life laced with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">longing and loneliness. That longing manifests itself in a shrine to Lily in every bathroom where they live. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lonely in that he must always keep a low profile since reprisal could happen at almost any time. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because they often need to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">pull up stakes at a moments notice, there are many bathrooms. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a result, Loo's life is heavy with these feelings without knowing why. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The books' first sentence, "When Loo was twelve years old, her father taught her how to shoot a gun" certainly sets up the rest of the story. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As ever, Tinti manages to capture the very essence of her characters. As we came to adore Ren and Dolly in <i>The Good Thief</i>, we love Lily and how she makes it possible for Sam to love. As a result, we can only begin to understand his endless grief. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As for Loo, she is one of those <i>very</i> rare birds that literature allows us to glimpse in the wild. Tinti writes gorgeously of her young life and how her normal adolescent struggles are even more trying living under the lingering cloud that is her mother's memory and the many crimes of her father. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Though very different from her first novel, it has been well worth the wait to read Tinti again. She is a brilliant storyteller who deserves a much bigger audience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you'd like another take on this book, see what this smart fellow has to say: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzNU8bcw9UA" target="_blank">Ron Charles review</a></span><br />
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Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-80330502136802036032017-06-04T15:45:00.000-04:002017-06-04T15:45:07.989-04:00Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRfxbfvp0kkZB7hBiJxm76O7S_Po0HP9wB7oH9ShwmxAGfFVd_YtKp2UeopqwvVyiUFSta1QZauHICS9RodQ2l43EFyAja3K8JnSdQ__l_NGgav2Z8yWArhZuMC2mRTiSnvztQQ/s1600/evicted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRfxbfvp0kkZB7hBiJxm76O7S_Po0HP9wB7oH9ShwmxAGfFVd_YtKp2UeopqwvVyiUFSta1QZauHICS9RodQ2l43EFyAja3K8JnSdQ__l_NGgav2Z8yWArhZuMC2mRTiSnvztQQ/s400/evicted.jpg" width="252" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evicted, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond, has created a story that is moving </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> maddening. It provides first-hand insight into how our broken housing, public assistance, and mental health systems are largely irreparable in their current states. It is about how we are detached from our communities, our loved ones, and how our public institutions fail so many. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having never given much thought to the topic, I assumed eviction was a finite experience in that when you were in arrears to your landlord, you received an eviction notice, moved out (or your possessions were seized in more extreme cases), and then you went and found another place to live. Done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evicted, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">taught me the act of eviction is, in these times, an ongoing event with sprawling consequences and octopus arms that keep hold of you in tattered housing and justice systems. The act itself often leads those affected to shelters and unsafe housing, to court appearances, joblessness, and an eviction record that trails them for years, making it harder to rent the next time. It also leads to sickness, depression, and exacerbates existing mental health issues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As described in the book, it appears all too many of those affected have the ability to manage their lives in a way that would allow them to break the cycle. When more than half of a meager paycheck or government assistance check goes to rent, leaving little for other essentials, it's easy to see how quickly already questionable situations deteriorate into homelessness. Throw in mental illness, little education or real-world skills like knowing how to balance a checkbook, along with bad choices and the ensuing undoing of a segment of an already marginalized society is complete. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To his vast credit, the author allows us to see the situation for its many sides. You can feel terribly for Arleen and her boys almost as often as you slap your forehead as a result of her bad judgement. You may applaud landlord Sherrena when she shows renters small kindnesses like buying them a bag of groceries but disgust sets in quickly when Desmond describes how despicably mercenary she can be. While she can still locate her own humanity, as she says "the 'hood is good. There's a lot of money in there." Reportedly, she's worth more than two million dollars</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the story of an America that exists today. Safe and affordable public housing is going the way of the dodo, especially for those living at or below the poverty line. Desmond offers several solutions including housing vouchers that would be helpful but since government and much of the public confuses helping the poor and working poor with entitling them, I have little hope the cycle of eviction and poverty will end anytime soon, especially under the regime of Il Douche'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book has won many awards including the National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction and the Pulitzer in literature. This may be among the most important book to read these days. </span></div>
</span></span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-4415799300292945012017-04-15T15:41:00.000-04:002017-04-15T15:44:32.809-04:00Gene and Dean<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two showbiz books. One a memoir, the other a bio.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJtYYd7eFoAcPMBG0I_dHHOuJ6QvdUf2FJgLz4v2hKSt5_p8bT5z9Q84wnEmvrsFhUK-8UHIFCd1hE4AM1U8oi0vnBV4Q_oPcYQlA3yIyUYdU-JxDf_sQPufS8DoCS6LWY8OFTA/s1600/wildermemoir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJtYYd7eFoAcPMBG0I_dHHOuJ6QvdUf2FJgLz4v2hKSt5_p8bT5z9Q84wnEmvrsFhUK-8UHIFCd1hE4AM1U8oi0vnBV4Q_oPcYQlA3yIyUYdU-JxDf_sQPufS8DoCS6LWY8OFTA/s400/wildermemoir.jpg" width="259" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Kiss Me Like a Stranger</i> by Gene Wilder</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You usually don't start your list of your favorite actors with Gene Wilder but I think you should, just for the three Mel Brooks films alone. Then you get the Richard Pryor pictures, Willy Wonka, the bit with the sheep in Woody Allen's <i>Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex</i>. He even did great work on two episodes of <i>Will & Grace</i> as Will's crazy boss late in his career. For me, his performances were memorable and often quite affecting and he could hold his own with actors with much larger personalities. Then he marries Gilda Radner who also could make me cry with laughter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The memoir is a fast read, filled with some very touching stories as well as some very painful tales, often in the same story. As a young man at college, he became obsessed with praying, often for hours, and couldn't stop. The good that came of it was that he started to learn and understand mental illness and much of the memoir has him talking to his longtime shrink. His mother, to whom he was close, was a sickly woman and deep down, Wilder believed that he had no right to happiness or enjoyment when the woman who gave him life had neither. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was surprised to learn of his classic training as an actor and how many of his movies he wrote or helped write.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He also gets into his sex life which didn't begin until later than you might expect. He's very honest and, at times, it was even a bit uncomfortable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When he talks of his marriage to Gilda and her untimely demise, it is with great love but there was also a fair amount of anger. It seems as though Gilda lacked self-worth while at the same time was overwhelmingly self-absorbed and it made the hard times even harder. Still, to get a peak at their domestic life was intriguing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We lost Gene Wilder last year and I will miss him. Reading the book made me miss him a little less. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dino </i>by Nick Tosches</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Years ago, when I got into Sinatra's music, it naturally led me to Sam and Dean. Sinatra was a great singer and Sam was the ultimate performer but there was something about Dean I had never noticed: he was cool. As I came to appreciate his vocal style and then his acting, I learned Dean just did his thing. He never strained, he never seemed to swing for the fences but he delivered. As I learned in <i>Dino, </i>that's essentially how he lived his life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Growing up young and poor in Steubenville, Ohio, Dino Crocetti dealt blackjack and boxed before becoming a singer, mostly in mob joints. His first ticket out was a move to mob joints in Cleveland and then he meets Jerry Lewis in Atlantic City and BOOM, more success than he could ever have imagined.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's odd is that we don't </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">really</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> remember them for that. We know Jerry from movies, many of them just plain silly, and the telethon and we know Dean for some songs, his movies, and the roasts on TV. We are even familiar with their feud that was 'resolved' on the MDA telethon in 1976 but at one point they were the highest grossing club act in showbiz, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">like The Beatles before The Beatles</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. It never translated that well outside the night clubs but by all accounts, it was magic </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">before Dean left the act in 1956, ending </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">a seven year ride like few others before or after.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Tosches tells it, that cool, the ease was the very crux of Dean Martin b</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ut that menefreghista, a Sicilian term for not giving a fuck, ended up becoming complacency. If the critics didn't like him in a serious role in a movie, fuck 'em, he'll turn out dumbass comedies for the same money and get points on the back end. The roasts are proclaimed too racy for television at the time? Let's just see how vulgar we can get. Doesn't mean a thing to ol' Dino. He's got a tee time. For him, t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">here would always be another pay day, another broad, another round. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why sweat it?</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Singing in front of an audience, performing on film or TV was a cinch. As Dean said, "This stuff ain't hard. You want hard? Try being on your feet</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">all day</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> dealing blackjack". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, he was the most charming man on the planet and a great talent whose work lives on to be discovered by guys like me long after he stopped caring. The best part? The work holds up and Dean still delivers. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-22387663332107191482017-03-05T17:01:00.000-05:002017-03-05T17:01:01.468-05:00Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTDvCgeJyAiR5G7TeUc7OzUFu7nZi1BydyOqYKQdqTHttmX8sh6l8JmjisJZJqYzac5bv5hSx-y1P2by04zKwANfvfDZcRS1zSp4AVBA-iZrx7NEjetdHU-QGnHVyvaGjAUj4qg/s1600/somewriter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTDvCgeJyAiR5G7TeUc7OzUFu7nZi1BydyOqYKQdqTHttmX8sh6l8JmjisJZJqYzac5bv5hSx-y1P2by04zKwANfvfDZcRS1zSp4AVBA-iZrx7NEjetdHU-QGnHVyvaGjAUj4qg/s400/somewriter.jpg" width="312" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To most readers, White is best remembered as a beloved children's author and millions have read </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little,</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Trumpet of the Swan. </i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In grade school, a teacher read <i>Charlotte's Web</i> to our class and I never liked it. In fact, I thought it was a "girl book" and felt the same way after seeing the movie so I never read the other two. Shame on me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My appreciation of his work came by way of James Thurber and <i>The New Yorker. </i>I know him from casuals in the mag, his fantastic though nameless contributions to Talk of the Town pieces. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I even refer to him as "Andy", as Thurber and most of magazine's crew did</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> (I know. I'm kind of a dork that way). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As well, I know him from the classic reference, </span></span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Elements of Style, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">which I still turn to on occasion mostly to be reminded how mistaken I am and how I should have paid closer attention in school. Regular Reed-ers likely think I should commit the small volume to memory and THEN sit down at the keyboard. A fine suggestion, no doubt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I received this beautiful biography, I was delighted but reading it was an absolute treat. Author Melissa Sweet is a Caldecott honor winner and knows her way around kids books but this goes a step further. The mixed-media artwork is not only stunning but the remarkable visuals add to the the storytelling like few books I've read (</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Think <i>Griffin and Sabine </i>without all those tedious envelopes and mushy stuff). </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sweet makes </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">White's life come to life before your eyes. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hYuNo21NKeNTFF_dIql6SjzkNY3ppJuT1KxzVcYUaq7-ZZuemVfwj1LqnjsTCFs6OKlmB7wlxOEbnGbmxV4-vYgnaZhA6-_3_hUYefM6XKFlCSyDnULJcGgeU2FHwRuI7b0lSA/s1600/stuart-little_custom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hYuNo21NKeNTFF_dIql6SjzkNY3ppJuT1KxzVcYUaq7-ZZuemVfwj1LqnjsTCFs6OKlmB7wlxOEbnGbmxV4-vYgnaZhA6-_3_hUYefM6XKFlCSyDnULJcGgeU2FHwRuI7b0lSA/s400/stuart-little_custom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As well as striking pages like this, there are original sketches by White, family photos, and handwritten drafts of some of his most famous works. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best of all, it was obvious to me how much Sweet admires her subject as a person and a writer. You come away from the book wishing Andy was your friend and that is no small task for a writer to pull off. White had a way of making his subjects so approachable and there was an ease to his style that must have made other writers jealous. Sweet manages to attain a similar feeling. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book informs, entertains, and enchants the eye. If you are a fan of White's work, of great children's books, or expert visual storytelling, you can't miss with this. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-11221256303183614692017-02-26T17:17:00.000-05:002017-02-26T17:41:07.841-05:00Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwPedCGtXYyL9xRFqlkpuVkPkCRUYqjkfcSIWouLft_DZU7My3w21E9kfDFugSdsJUNqOtT77rZKGxLtehu4KUIlje79W8LrIOCaFUF0hze34ujAie2Z-dTTTrA61h2oMiDdKAg/s1600/sedaris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwPedCGtXYyL9xRFqlkpuVkPkCRUYqjkfcSIWouLft_DZU7My3w21E9kfDFugSdsJUNqOtT77rZKGxLtehu4KUIlje79W8LrIOCaFUF0hze34ujAie2Z-dTTTrA61h2oMiDdKAg/s400/sedaris.jpg" width="257" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a long while, I was off Sedaris. Something about him had started to rub me the wrong way. It didn't matter of course. He became wildly popular and can live in France. In fact, it wasn't until his pieces about his life in France started to appear in <i>The New Yorker </i>that I began reading him again. While they could still be bizarre and bitchy, there was a maturity to his writing that grabbed me. He seemed to be writing from the heart more and shooting from the lip less. Now he makes me cry almost as much as he makes me shake with laughter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To that end, I have some catching up to do on his backlist. I picked up this one at one of my fave used books joints and dove in. I'd like to think the maturity I find in his work is shared. I was in my late 20's when I first came upon an advance copy of <i>Barrel Fever. </i>Now I'm just the other side of 50. Sedaris is less shrieky but no less biting and there is such grace in so many of the pieces, especially those about his family, both currently and looking back. It makes me envious that I'm not closer to my own sibs. C'est la.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Ship Shape</i>, about his family potentially purchasing a vacation beach house, was among my favorites. However, since I've read him out of order, it hearkened back to one of his most moving pieces from nine years later. In 2013, he wrote <i>Now We Are Five, </i>a piece mostly about the aftermath of the suicide of his sister, Tiffany. His family gathers at a beach house and Sedaris decides he will purchase them the beach house his parents almost bought but didn't all those years ago in <i>Ship Shape</i>. It evokes memories of their youth and vacation and how little they knew about Tiffany by the end. How she had grown away. There is sadness and loss and longing and, of course, sly laughs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The rest of the collection can be described similarly though the laughs are a bit broader. Over the years, we've come to know his family a bit. It even feels like we have watched them grow up. His brother, Paul, referred to as The Rooster, hasn't changed an iota but has grown as a man, looking after their aging father like I never expected. His sisters like a chorus and David, well, he's David, only more so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm glad I'm back to reading him again. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-40041066470353931192017-01-15T10:59:00.000-05:002017-01-15T11:00:55.347-05:00Fiction picks of 2016<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuj5pXkNJF3zTbfxX7j1IxVdPWsvUDt7BV1ghdEBZpmfuTrqCTLVC_ZVw0LZSHkW1pPRqlJkRUxiLKTw0HscjcqAT8_beDMOU8xPJTyCE55P0enFSO3ePPs5GRqosWdYLw_MKjEw/s1600/nobodysfool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuj5pXkNJF3zTbfxX7j1IxVdPWsvUDt7BV1ghdEBZpmfuTrqCTLVC_ZVw0LZSHkW1pPRqlJkRUxiLKTw0HscjcqAT8_beDMOU8xPJTyCE55P0enFSO3ePPs5GRqosWdYLw_MKjEw/s400/nobodysfool.jpg" width="258" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Richard Russo</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />This was a project I was eager to undertake: read straight through <i>Nobody’s Fool</i> from 1996 and<i> Everybody's Fool</i>, the sequel published this year. Separately, <i>Nobody’s Fool</i> stands beautifully on its own. It is during that pitch-perfect run that began with <i>Risk Pool</i> and culminated with <i>Empire Falls</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is a sparkling, hilarious tale centered around Donald Sullivan better known as Sully. Unashamedly, I will use the same quote about the character damned near every reviewer has used: "Throughout his life a case study underachiever, Sully -- people still remarked -- was nobody's fool, a phrase that Sully no doubt appreciated without ever sensing its literal application -- that at 60, he was divorced from his own wife, carrying on halfheartedly with another man's, estranged from his son, devoid of self-knowledge, badly crippled and virtually unemployable -- all of which he stubbornly confused with independence." Brilliant. Picture him as Paul Newman like I do and you’ve got a fantastic novel (and a pretty decent film starring Paul Newman).<br /><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZZvd2t51CWUIURXkZ1Q0PYdeFB2_3QFDopYjjgwyZ1vD8HYUMIMk0d1BZ5q0dnSDdKSNvCkfFLSZ8Wmw-skRpUr9Vxlt8zvcnLqLFEMPyyL1zPiPxIZTmXg2EjGKgcXyXNzoHQ/s1600/everybodysfool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZZvd2t51CWUIURXkZ1Q0PYdeFB2_3QFDopYjjgwyZ1vD8HYUMIMk0d1BZ5q0dnSDdKSNvCkfFLSZ8Wmw-skRpUr9Vxlt8zvcnLqLFEMPyyL1zPiPxIZTmXg2EjGKgcXyXNzoHQ/s400/everybodysfool.jpg" width="268" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Everybody’s Fool</i> takes us back to North Bath, NY and most of the same characters still populate the town. However, and most importantly, Sully is not our hero though he is still present. That job is filled by Douglas Raymer, a minor character from the first book, who has risen through the ranks to become police chief. Rife with intriguing characters and plentiful sub-plots, it is a Russo tale for certain but the pace is neither as breathless nor as break-neck as the first and that should be expected because it is a slightly different Russo who has written this one. We’re all a little older--Sully, Raymer, Russo and me.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafInLHYyDMRcgYYQMvTOoNfdfwDnc-rWJZklcdn_0UqJoO0xAoHMEoMY9WA6jqIT51U25UICkjgHaD_m9EwpbJub6xzE8r9jQRyfJvJiWVFKdxbzN6_wEUGGikNFUiehmYd3IEA/s1600/moonglow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafInLHYyDMRcgYYQMvTOoNfdfwDnc-rWJZklcdn_0UqJoO0xAoHMEoMY9WA6jqIT51U25UICkjgHaD_m9EwpbJub6xzE8r9jQRyfJvJiWVFKdxbzN6_wEUGGikNFUiehmYd3IEA/s400/moonglow.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgafInLHYyDMRcgYYQMvTOoNfdfwDnc-rWJZklcdn_0UqJoO0xAoHMEoMY9WA6jqIT51U25UICkjgHaD_m9EwpbJub6xzE8r9jQRyfJvJiWVFKdxbzN6_wEUGGikNFUiehmYd3IEA/s1600/moonglow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><i>Moonglow</i> by Michael Chabon<br /><br />Much anticipated, <i>Moonglow </i>pays off. It has all the hallmarks that make Chabon one of the great American authors of the last 25 years but this time he walks a fine line by making Michael Chabon one of the main characters in the book. It is his grandfather though who owns the spotlight. Like most men of his generation, he kept mum for years about himself but in the last two weeks of his life, Chabon’s grandfather reveals more about himself to young Mike than he had ever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Grandpa was a shtarker, a tough guy, but with a bent for science. As part of Operation Paperclip, his job was to hunt Nazis after the war and his goal was to capture Wernher Von Braun. Once he returns to the States, he marries a beautiful but troubled French Holocaust survivor with a daughter (Michael’s mom) whom he raises as his own. Typically, Chabon covers a lot of ground that would take too long to summarize and, as always, he teaches us a great deal about any number of subjects that so fascinate him but that often slow the pace. Still, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moonglow</span></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> is a worthy and customarily uncommon addition to the Chabon canon.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWIwXuKaeBaCNfMVdbsDR97GtLRx6Iz4XAiDdHDuCOO3QqwoCOnsPNrNlmypMk0sPhG6R_HeR-1Nuon2bbcIQOh6ThcfyZ5xAtnCZVEcDoHu9EDsMCOrI1Qw2yjgdIyyOjBN-Hnw/s1600/moscow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWIwXuKaeBaCNfMVdbsDR97GtLRx6Iz4XAiDdHDuCOO3QqwoCOnsPNrNlmypMk0sPhG6R_HeR-1Nuon2bbcIQOh6ThcfyZ5xAtnCZVEcDoHu9EDsMCOrI1Qw2yjgdIyyOjBN-Hnw/s400/moscow.jpg" width="265" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Gentleman in Moscow</i> by Amor Towles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />While a very different book than his outstanding debut, <i>The Rules of Civility</i>, Towles gives us another fantastic novel with sparkling prose and characters you wish you knew. Count Alexander Rostov returned to his homeland as the Revolution began, and after getting his mother to safety, took up residence in Moscow’s Hotel Metropol, one of the great Old World hotels. He is a man of generous spirit and bonhomie, well-traveled and educated, and his life at the hotel is a fine one. In 1922, he is stripped of his status for a poem he wrote as a young man that is now deemed subversive. He is sentenced to house arrest at the Metropol for the rest of his life. If he steps outside, he will be shot. He can travel nowhere and within the hotel, he can no longer enjoy the privilege he has known his whole life. This kicks off the next few decades of his life and the “family” he acquires while there. Some may find it twee but I thought it was absolutely charming and a worthy sophomore effort from the author.<br /><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrXCp780ewbFFD12_dwBQRTeFkcHB4KdRoJCMGIown5l9qseVQcBEJplBkqBOSk0X0VA00i1nWuRlzri7tt57yK6qF_XGTJwQtDNWEKrI4_fIE7XIBX2G4FOdP1-yxLAmzVEzCQ/s1600/welcome-thieves-260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrXCp780ewbFFD12_dwBQRTeFkcHB4KdRoJCMGIown5l9qseVQcBEJplBkqBOSk0X0VA00i1nWuRlzri7tt57yK6qF_XGTJwQtDNWEKrI4_fIE7XIBX2G4FOdP1-yxLAmzVEzCQ/s400/welcome-thieves-260.jpg" width="263" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Welcome Thieves</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Sean Beaudoin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A relative newcomer, Beaudoin’s inventive short stories had me laughing out loud, grimacing at all the right moments, and rooting for his protagonists despite their inability to save themselves. I enjoyed <i>All Dreams Are Night Dreams</i>, a story of a fledgling water spectacle a la Cirque du Soleil and a troupe of Welsh travelers. The show is a slog and a dog and never quite reaches the Vegas heights it hopes for but the characters are most memorable. The long-titled Y<i>ou Too Can Graduate in Three Years with a Degree in Contextual Semiotics </i>might make readers think it’s too clever by half but I thought it novel and affecting. <i>Tiffany Marzano’s Got a Record, Hey Monkey Chow</i>, and the title story were other faves in this very strong collection from an author that stood out this year.<br /><i> </i></span><br />
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We Are Still Tornadoes</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen<br /><br />Set in the 80’s, <i>Tornadoes </i>chronicles the relationship between childhood friends Cath, who goes off to college, and Scott, who stays behind. It is a touching take on growing up, friendship, and the impermanence of youth while managing to be kind, funny, and thoughtful and that is no small task.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regular Reed-ers might be sick of me endlessly plugging this marvelous epistolary novel but I loved it and don’t care who knows!</span></div>
Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-11890655762570469172016-12-09T14:44:00.000-05:002016-12-09T14:54:01.038-05:00And then we came to the end...<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">...of another year and not a moment too soon. It has been a rotten year in many respects. We lost an unusual amount of talented people whose work I admired. There was a personal loss that hit hard and has left many close to me crawling from the wreckage. Finally, there was the election which still feels like a boot to the stomach and which has left me with a sense of fear and foreboding like I've never before experienced. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fortunately, there is always art, especially books, to mend my heart and sooth my furrowed brow. Old friends in the book biz still look out for me and I buy books, of course. I use my library more than I have in years and it gives me a certain feeling, a familiarity about which I had forgotten but which I'm happy to feel again. The nearest branch ain't exactly Disneyland but you make do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tallying it all up, I finished 30 books this year and picked up and put down another dozen, I suppose. Since I remain consistently terrible at writing about all the books I read despite having this here blog which is allegedly about all the books I read, there may be a few I've even forgotten. Looking over the list, I'm still reading more fiction than non-fiction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Uncharacteristically, I read a book of poetry this year, Jeff Sirkin's <i>Travelers Aid Society </i>(full disclosure, Jeff is an old pal o' mine from an unaccredited Hebrew school we attended in Kuala Lumpur). I must say I enjoyed it but I'm still unsure if I "get" poetry and so there is always a feeling as though I'm doing it wrong. When I laugh at what I think is a funny line, I then look around, guiltily, wondering if that's where I was supposed to laugh or if I completely missed the point of it all and only uneducated cretins laugh at that line and I've actually no business laughing at that line and the poet would be crushed to learn I laughed at their pain. Maybe I can just come to terms with the idea that poetry makes me nervous and uncertain and, perhaps, I'm undoubtedly overthinking this. And why do I look around, guiltily, when it's only Mrs. Next asleep next to me and the dog awaiting the "you-can-get-on-the-bed-now" signal? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All neurotic, incomprehensible blather aside, here are my top 5 non-fiction reads for 2016:</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-29d4020e-e4f8-b7d5-9297-60ab3fed58d9"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oybuM6lGTf-w0WYwh6FllMZfGMKaXULh_oy3u5wz5D4ygYVmVHNxQU7jN9YZD00eqr6RF3ocl8aqoukwZnn0pkWs66fYHJEeR29p3AZ_6WGtloijekb9C9R-jOMp1N2abOExKA/s1600/sunnysnights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oybuM6lGTf-w0WYwh6FllMZfGMKaXULh_oy3u5wz5D4ygYVmVHNxQU7jN9YZD00eqr6RF3ocl8aqoukwZnn0pkWs66fYHJEeR29p3AZ_6WGtloijekb9C9R-jOMp1N2abOExKA/s400/sunnysnights.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunny’s Nights: Lost and Found at a Bar on the Edge of the World </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Tim Sultan</span></span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-29d4020e-e4f8-b7d5-9297-60ab3fed58d9"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ever hear of this book? Or the author? I hadn’t either but you should because I think it’s terrific. </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunny’s Nights</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a thing of beauty. A writer, both physically and professionally lost, happens on this tiny, non-descript, only-open-on-Fridays bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The owner, Sunny, is an estimable raconteur who holds court and can code-switch from Shakespeare and the Bhagwan Rajneesh to the poetry and patois of Red Hook in an eye blink (in one instance, he suggests Sultan drink a “berlermaker”). He is a gorgeous soul, all too aware of his limitations as a human, but full of a passion and a spirit to be admired. The stories he tells, the life he lives, all chronicled with loving detail by Sultan, make you wonder if he’s putting us on but Sunny’s the real, though unlikely, deal. Fans of J. R. Moehringer’s </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tender Bar</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> will love Sunny.</span></span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-29d4020e-e4f8-b7d5-9297-60ab3fed58d9"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Preston Lauterbach’s </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Chitlin Circuit and The Road to Rock 'n' Roll</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was an eye-opener for me. It made clear the link between the big band era and rock ‘n’ roll, how the bands pared down in size, how black entrepreneurs made their own successful world despite being confined by Jim Crow, and how huge a debt is owed to the Roy Browns, Big Joe Turners, and Louis Jordans. They led the way for Little Richard and James Brown and all those subsequent musicians who felt their influence. Hot stuff.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dC2XBDqmkxJnET1Yop70pS826PV0ifdJK0RWAEDgzKLnRxvl7fvoVrVcPLxu-GpD3tYFrcl62HDIDmRYdN0M7eA17vLPrVipRckGnyJbRZYeNgnjplgx7litJbOUnEHyV8E5tw/s1600/etgar-keret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dC2XBDqmkxJnET1Yop70pS826PV0ifdJK0RWAEDgzKLnRxvl7fvoVrVcPLxu-GpD3tYFrcl62HDIDmRYdN0M7eA17vLPrVipRckGnyJbRZYeNgnjplgx7litJbOUnEHyV8E5tw/s400/etgar-keret.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Seven Good Years</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Etgar Keret</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These pieces were all written in the seven years between the birth of Keret’s first son and the death of his father. Though non-fiction, they have all the elements that make Keret’s writing so outstanding: black humor, empathy, a deep humanity as well as witty self-effacement. Where there is immense sadness, there is also great hope. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">97 Orchard</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Jane Ziegelman</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A remarkable work that traces the history of one Lower East Side address and the five immigrant families that all made their way through the doors from the 1870’s through the 1930’s. Only after reading the book did I learn that this is the address of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum which I then visited in late March (the day we went was the anniversary of the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire). To read this marvelous book and then see the actual rooms themselves was unlike most of my reading experiences. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQZuNF_d9SZhnGZ-m2o3QRk29j4VXt064Ye42PSs3DbfRaEnqf2M3Q2cx5vWkbgRQ53lXOMTj7etPepqP1Jrqb_uCu3dyK-irolNi6vkfH2FrAvgA_wxqCHp9kyia80tQP1_V8g/s1600/doe.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQZuNF_d9SZhnGZ-m2o3QRk29j4VXt064Ye42PSs3DbfRaEnqf2M3Q2cx5vWkbgRQ53lXOMTj7etPepqP1Jrqb_uCu3dyK-irolNi6vkfH2FrAvgA_wxqCHp9kyia80tQP1_V8g/s400/doe.jpeg" width="300" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L. A. Punk </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by John Doe and Tom Desavia</span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Told by the musicians and artists who peopled the scene, these are recollections of an era that would influence music in ways that are all too often overlooked. X, the Blasters, and The Flesh Eaters may not be as well-known or remembered as their east coast punk rock counterparts but their influence along with others in the book cannot be overlooked. There was power and passion and lots of weirdos. Bless ‘em for it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stay tuned. Working on my top 5 fiction picks now. At my current rate, I should be done by early February.</span></span></div>
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Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-41100283333547014782016-11-13T14:16:00.002-05:002016-11-13T14:17:33.090-05:00We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regular Reed-ers will remember that I wrote about this book before it was a book. Michael Kun generously asked me to be an early reader of this novel he co-wrote with Susan Mullen when it was still in manuscript form. I loved it and was so happy to spread the early word. To help with that, I plugged it and posted an interview with them (</span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://goo.gl/g3yn6h">goo.gl/g3yn6h</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">). Not long afterward, the book was shopped and I was delighted when it </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">was snatched up by St. Martin's/Griffin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Early this month, it was published and the reviews have been excellent as has the media attention it has received including an extensive blog tour and public appearances on both coasts. I can only guess sales are strong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I just want to say I enjoyed it even more than when I first read it almost two years ago. It's a marvelous story that rings true, the characters are people you know and grow to love, the '80's references are plentiful and germane to the book, and it deserves to be read and re-read. It made me laugh out loud throughout and it made me cry. As I start to assemble my picks for the year, <i>We Are Still Tornadoes</i> has already found a place on my list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now go get yourself a copy. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-18273520704476509042016-10-30T14:30:00.000-04:002016-10-30T14:30:28.693-04:00Running Into An Old Friend at Halloween<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14ju5thvgW1Pslhcor-FkH9xjnBu3weTQq65ZeQThzqh_AVtWVjrc5-WCWXuhBgcP5ti8aTd1usJ1iTGzneFvHGNTqsEcvwyCADZUDJt5l8YNQDRJIZXIypHf-GeCCJW8foDvLw/s1600/moundshroud.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14ju5thvgW1Pslhcor-FkH9xjnBu3weTQq65ZeQThzqh_AVtWVjrc5-WCWXuhBgcP5ti8aTd1usJ1iTGzneFvHGNTqsEcvwyCADZUDJt5l8YNQDRJIZXIypHf-GeCCJW8foDvLw/s320/moundshroud.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like so many, reading gripped me at a young age and I was also lucky enough to have a few champions who encouraged me and turned me on to books and authors. In a small town with only one bookstore, my family took great advantage of the public library. I would visit on Saturday mornings after breakfast out with my Father. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I knew most of the librarians and took a shine to a few, in particular Rosemary D., on whom I had a tremendous boyhood crush, and Pat M. who was among the most generous people I've ever known. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pat was probably the first polyglot I ever met and his knowledge astounded me. Most of all, he was a sci-fi nut and turned me on to Heinlein, Asimov, and Bradbury. I remember being especially taken with Bradbury and I read a lot of his work. What's strange is how little I seem to remember. My memory hasn't failed me completely and I still know far more than my fair share of trivial nonsense (the problem, of course, is that I'll share it with you) but with only a few exceptions, I can't remember much about <i>The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man,</i> <i>Fahrenheit 451 </i>and many others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So it was with great pleasure that I re-read some Bradbury just recently. In truth, it was my turn to make a selection for my short story club and I thought it would be great since, in the dozen years we've been doing this, we've never read anything by him. Utilizing my public library, I ordered up <i>A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories. </i>I also ordered up <i>The Halloween Tree</i>, a favorite of mine. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What I found was how great Bradbury's work remains. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Halloween Tree</i> was written for what we would now call YA lit. One of things I liked about his writing for the younger reader was that he NEVER condescended. In fact, it was like he was letting you in on something, like he knew you belonged there and he took your hand with a welcoming wink and a squeeze of your shoulder. The story, a group of boys must travel the world one Halloween night with the mysterious (and perfectly-named) Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud to save the life of their friend, Joe Pipkin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pipkin is the heart and soul of these boys. He's their leader, their biggest supporter, and their best friend. Without Pipkin, it's not Halloween. Without Pipkin, it wouldn't be Christmas or any other special occasion. Without Pipkin? Unthinkable! He is the what holds them together and enables them to fly. In one of my favorite lines ever, Bradbury describes him this way: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Joe Pipkin was the greatest boy who ever lived...The day Joe Pipkin was born all the Orange Crush and Nehi soda bottles in the world fizzed over". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Would that anyone were to describe me that way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Needless to say, <i>The Halloween Tree</i> was as I remembered it--Jack O' Lanterns in the trees, candy skulls, the perfect accompanying illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini, still a little slow in the middle, and a moving conclusion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In searching for short stories, of which Bradbury produced hundreds, I wanted something that was less science fiction-y and went back early in his career. <i>A Sound of Thunder & Other Stories</i> is better known as <i>Golden Apples of the Sun</i> (In reprinting it, Harper Perrenial decided to change the name. I've no idea why.) and contains works spanning a decade beginning in 1947. It was remarkable to me how prescient Bradbury was and none moreso than <i>The Murderer</i> from 1953. So as not to give it away or take away the power of the story, I encourage you to read it yourself: </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.sediment.uni-goettingen.de/staff/dunkl/zips/The-Murderer.pdf"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.sediment.uni-goettingen.de/staff/dunkl/zips/The-Murde</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">rer.pdf</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Needless to say, I'm so happy to have read Bradbury again and will continue to reacquaint myself with his work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-89648955564229302322016-09-04T11:29:00.002-04:002016-09-06T19:57:10.553-04:00Labor day weekend lazy<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have been duly chastised by a few of the more faithful Reed-ers this weekend and while I don't have anything original to contribute, I did want to pass on this list from the <i>Wall Street Journal. </i>It's going to be a big fall for books and there are many I'm looking forward to reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://graphics.wsj.com/image-grid/fall-books-preview-2016/">http://graphics.wsj.com/image-grid/fall-books-preview-2016/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-79688254229189189402016-06-26T17:12:00.001-04:002016-06-26T17:12:32.032-04:00Fever At Dawn and Spill Simmer Falter Wither<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lot and lots of reading of late. Publishing pals are keeping me well-stocked with a wide array of books and I'm trying hard just to keep up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peter Gardos is a Hungarian filmmaker who has done things in reverse. He has already made a movie, <i>Fever At Dawn</i>, and <i>then</i> went back and wrote the novel of the same name. I haven't seen the film but I finished the novel </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">recently</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book starts with Miklos, a Hungarian Jew, hospitalized </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">in 1945 Sweden</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> as the Holocaust winds down. B</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">ecause of fluid in his lungs, h</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">e has been given six months to live. In his boredom and defiance of his imminent death, he manages to secure the names and addresses of 117 girls from his hometown, also hospitalized in Sweden. He writes each the same letter in the fervent belief a correspondence will develop and through that correspondence, he will find a wife. In this manner, he meets Lili.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a hell of a set-up, don't you think? Better still, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Fever At Dawn</i> is based on the true story of Gardos' parents. He only learned of this tale after his father passed and his mother showed him the correspondence and revealed their story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Fever At Dawn</i> is fast-paced and entertaining especially in light of the truth behind it but I wonder if it worked better as a film. To me, most of the characters were uneven and underdeveloped, especially Lili, whose illness is never made known and whose constant fainting becomes laughable (Like Lou Reed said, "...women never really faint..."). There is also a "frenemy" </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">sub-plot that seems unnecessary. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did love Harry, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Miklos' </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">randy</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">boon companion, and his never-ending quest to test his potency.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite what I find deficient, the book was a bestseller in Europe, the book rights went to auction here in the States, and it will be published in thirty countries. Please decide for yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">More to my liking was <i>Spill Simmer Falter Wither, </i>the debut novel by Sara Baume. Some might shy away from the man-and-his-dog saga but this is done so well, you'd be foolish to do so. Be warned however, this is no warm and fuzzy read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ray is a puzzle and the solution doesn't come until well into the book. What we do learn is that Ray lives in "his father's house" in a small, seaside, Irish village. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">The village has been Ray's only home but has always been regarded as an oddball and at 57, that won't change. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">His father has passed and one day, in a move that is out of character, Ray adopts a troubled shelter dog after seeing a flyer taped to the window of the local jumble shop. The dog has been injured which leads Ray to name him One Eye and they become utterly devoted to each other. The story is told to One Eye but you will often think he is addressing you, the reader. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">At first, I thought the unconditional love going both ways would allow Ray to develop into his own man but One Eye has a mean streak which creates trouble for them both. There is a hovering danger author Baume creates that is unnerving. At one point, Ray is so afraid, he packs up his car, gets his savings, and they spend months driving nowhere and anywhere to avoid consequences that may or may not actually exist should they return to the village. It is a impetuous, paranoid, but poignant trip that leaves Ray broke and afraid but with nowhere else to go but "home". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Throughout, Baume had me by the cojones and the heart strings. She imbues Ray with surprising insight while avoiding sentimentality. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her prose can sparkle as when Ray remarks about how One Eye's senses overtake him during their walks: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"...I call you but you don't seem to hear, you're hypnotised by smell. Now you zig-zag the concrete, hop on the wall and shout at the gulls, bust into a frenzied run...How can you be so unremittingly interested? How can every stone be worth of tenderly sniffing, every clump of grass a source of fascination?...I wish I'd been born with your capacity for wonder. I wouldn't mind living a shorter life if my short life could be as vivid as yours." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you've ever owned a dog, you know how well she captures the rapture but it is counterbalanced by Ray's own wonder, his deep love, and his history of heartbreak. </span></div>
Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-55147410105460460172016-05-15T11:15:00.001-04:002016-05-15T11:15:47.468-04:00Trouble Boys: the True Story of The Replacements<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Like books, music is a thing I try never to deny myself. There was always music in my house growing up. I started plunking a guitar at 12, got my first bass and amp as a bar mitzvah gift from my family, and I still play today. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQubAnA9W5DKdg4EJeNCVqwNOIGMCrrE0U8pDIbF9rHe6_N-YRFjrDC8c8QfioYCXOrrqCcvmLppmgKWMs9eSn8onDx-9UljJuXw2tkFClAr23QROKeaqMqE-7qvvnhd62YFf4w/s1600/1035x1563-TROUBLE-COVER12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQubAnA9W5DKdg4EJeNCVqwNOIGMCrrE0U8pDIbF9rHe6_N-YRFjrDC8c8QfioYCXOrrqCcvmLppmgKWMs9eSn8onDx-9UljJuXw2tkFClAr23QROKeaqMqE-7qvvnhd62YFf4w/s400/1035x1563-TROUBLE-COVER12.jpg" width="264" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the 80's, I began to absolutely devour music. The punk explosion and the post-punk and new wave that came after truly spoke to me. The difference today is you can hear practically anything, anytime. Scarcity is a thing of the past but back then, I couldn't afford all the music I wanted and so we all borrowed cassettes from friends and "dubbed" them on the ubiquitous dual tape decks of the decade. That was a time when the major labels lamented that "home taping is killing the music industry". Actually, those dinosaurs went extinct more recently. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Replacements were a band I had heard of but never heard much. My freshman year, a kid down the dorm hall lent me his cassette with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on one side and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let It Be</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the other. While there were elements I liked, their music just didn't reach me and I moved on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few years later, The 'Mats played a sizable venue on a Saturday night and then stumbled across the street to the much smaller joint where my band was playing. As we took a break between sets, I walked up and told them they were welcome to take the stage if they wanted. Wasting no time, they immediately got shirty with me, telling me they'd blow us off the stage. In the parlance of times I could only think, "Well duh"! We were a bar band playing for small change and sandwiches. They were pros with records and tours and a legendary reputation for being drunk and pugnacious. I was merely extending my hand to a fellow, albeit much bigger, band and in their customary fashion, they bit it. I wrote them off for good. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years later, for reasons unknown, it clicked and The Replacements finally spoke to me. I had never known much about them, just their music and that infamous reputation. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Bob Mehr gives it to us straight and exhaustively, clocking in at 435 pages and a tiny font size that vexes a man my age. Mehr, a veteran music journalist, writes nimbly and with authority. He was able to secure the surviving 'Mats, including the famously aloof Paul Westerberg, along with friends, family, fellow scenesters, and those behind the scenes, to tell all the stories that make up this much larger tale. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The trouble with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trouble Boys</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is that I don't think I can finish it. Not because of the length nor am I squeamish or prudish but because it's so </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">achingly</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sad and I'm only as far as the band recording their breakthrough album. We already know how it ends--they never really "make it", they grow resentful of each other which leads to a terribly acrimonious break-up (is there any other kind?), Bob dies, and none of them rebound. While they re-grouped a few years back for a few festivals, it's not the same nor can fans expect it to be but to read another 200+ pages about their prolonged downward spiral is just too much for me. The tales of staggering drug abuse and boozing, the self-sabotage and self-destruction, the bitterness and pain they cause themselves and each other will only get worse and I just can't stomach it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please don't read this as a book I didn't like. I did indeed. ‘Mat’s fans will love it. Mehr is a writer good enough to make me put </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">down</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> his book because the story he writes so well causes me to flinch and cringe at the seemingly endless pain that shrouded The Replacements and their inevitable demise. </span></span></div>
Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-88079189488475233372016-04-03T11:48:00.000-04:002016-04-07T07:34:26.008-04:00Of Penthouses, Tenements, and Thieves<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Greeting Earthlings and others. I'm happy to say I've been reading a blue streak and want to pass on a few recommendations before my memory deteriorates entirely. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC33Utj5NYF2ZHXDvEM0GEGMsTBFAKzkevEJOGrYgF4qV-d7gzkB7qUk_vQ7hODiLXWunT4zOc-mPS3S04KCa_i4lphuCKxxzu_qdHuLtEM5xZp7bQX1Ofi2KsvjnaieHzZyHc_A/s1600/swans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC33Utj5NYF2ZHXDvEM0GEGMsTBFAKzkevEJOGrYgF4qV-d7gzkB7qUk_vQ7hODiLXWunT4zOc-mPS3S04KCa_i4lphuCKxxzu_qdHuLtEM5xZp7bQX1Ofi2KsvjnaieHzZyHc_A/s400/swans.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's start a little light with <i>The Swans of Fifth Avenue</i> by Melanie Benjamin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Early in his career, when Capote truly did show promise and began to find success, he inveigled himself into a social circle well above his meager beginnings. These women, wealthy, influential socialites, first regarded him as a pet but friendships emerged, none more so than with Babe Paley, wife of media baron William Paley and the leader of the group Capote called his "swans". Author Benjamin recreates the story of how Capote rose among these society swells as well as his being cast out by his own arrogance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 1975, Esquire published a short story by Capote entitled <i>La Cote Basque 1965</i>. It was the first time he had been published in years and was part of a purported master work he would never finish. The story </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">a thinly-veiled tale that exposed <i>very</i> private details about the lives of his "swans", details only he would know. </span>By this point in his life, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Capote's writing career had stalled. Instead, he had become a "media personality", quipping his way through 70's talk shows and being "seen" at Studio 54 all while pickling himself with coke, alcohol, and self-pity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the story was published, they would never speak to Capote again nor would he ever regain his stature. Author Benjamin does an admirable job with this piece of fictionalized history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement </i>by Jane Ziegelman </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>97 Orchard </i></span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">examines each family through the lens of what foods they ate and cooked and how they shopped. She also explains what new foods they learned to enjoy as well as which traditions were preserved from their mother countries. </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Germans, Russian Jews, Irish, Litvak Jews, and finally Italians all lived at 97 Orchard street and w</span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">e follow them, beginning in </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the 1870's through the mid 1930's, and witness the vast changes happening in New York and American culture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Reading the book caused me to visit the Tenement Museum, located at 97 Orchard street in NYC. It was an absolutely fascinating view into the lives of the families about whom I'd just read. Do visit and, by all means, read <i>97 Orchard.</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMnq3vq20qy6sGUQzfNGwQ4mBBNU3GXytJZZPMxRd9iE_Q2mjAvK4D8okUnt1LE2MrHCcx-ot6cPOGVQLpfC1m7Ls69XCkt8DK-x1e45krhHjWrZJb9boBS4rWNm865PylYXH5g/s1600/thieves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMnq3vq20qy6sGUQzfNGwQ4mBBNU3GXytJZZPMxRd9iE_Q2mjAvK4D8okUnt1LE2MrHCcx-ot6cPOGVQLpfC1m7Ls69XCkt8DK-x1e45krhHjWrZJb9boBS4rWNm865PylYXH5g/s400/thieves.jpg" width="275" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I began <i>Welcome Thieves</i>, it annoyed me. Kind of that weird-just-to-be-weird thing and I considered putting it down since the To Be Read stack is large and friends and publicists have been generous with new books of late, enough so that Mrs. Next is giving me that familiar "you need to cull the herd" look. I'm really glad I stayed with it because I think <i>Welcome Thieves</i> is clever, funny, and deserving of your time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The collection is a bit out of balance but so are the characters and once you get to the third story, "Monkey Chow", you'll know whether or not you want to proceed. Beaudoin writes well AND can tell a story. Word-wise, he is real gunslinger. A line I particularly liked comes from one of my faves in the collection, "All Dreams Are Night Dreams": </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"She grabs a towel, removes her makeup with a swipe. Beneath is the expression I once saw on the face of man who'd been stabbed with a pen over a game of dice". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If that grabs you, you'll dig the sweet and sad "Comedy Hour" and the remarkable "You Too Can Graduate in Three Years with a Degree in Contextual Semiotics". Fans of George Saunders and, especially, Karen Russell, will groove to this collection of oddballs, weirdos, and bruised hearts.</span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-61823343126820089542016-02-27T11:12:00.001-05:002016-02-27T11:12:53.680-05:00Reed Next? I thought you were dead!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was going to come to you hat in hand, all apologies as Kurt used to sing, but I've ridden that bus already. No doubt, it's been months, MONTHS, since I've posted anything but there are no rules to this thing. Why? 'Cause I sez so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a small gesture in catching up, I just saw the movie </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">version of </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Martian</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">, the last book about which I posted here. Loved the book and, happy to say, loved the movie. Matt Damon was well-cast as Mark Watney and the effects were much as I imagined. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">As is often the case with a film, there was less development and some characters were abridged, Kristin Wiig's character in particular, which is too bad because in the book, NASA PR director Annie Montrose is delightfully hell on heels. Much along these lines, the film felt a bit rushed. In the book, time is practically a character, maybe even an enemy, to Mark's potential rescue and survival. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, well done but read the book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last year, I was lucky enough to read an unsigned novel by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen which I thought was wonderful and deserved to be published. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm so </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">happy to report the book got signed to a great house, St. Martins Griffin, and will be published November 1. As good is the cover art. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm especially pleased this is being marketed to a YA audience as it should hit home with "kids these days" but all you 80's refugees out there, read this one. You may very well find yourselves on the pages still wearing that awful beret and smoking clove cigarettes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can pre-order at Shmamazon or wait and buy it at your favorite indie. And yes, I'll be glad to remind you before the book comes out. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhEJn1aRI61kurUc8uYjCKJaDsBtRTcwKPONjfaKKIBdrS6S3ScmwpJ9ipl98hJMFbtW8y19Kx-_Hrdh1JG_8Pdt8lMr_fD07yq57jtVD914rdOKeqiXBNUzghJ5ufHdGzgIrlA/s1600/Dodgers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhEJn1aRI61kurUc8uYjCKJaDsBtRTcwKPONjfaKKIBdrS6S3ScmwpJ9ipl98hJMFbtW8y19Kx-_Hrdh1JG_8Pdt8lMr_fD07yq57jtVD914rdOKeqiXBNUzghJ5ufHdGzgIrlA/s400/Dodgers.jpg" width="261" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, an upcoming title you must read is <i>Dodgers</i> by Bill Beverly. Due out in April from Crown, this book is part buddy picture and part road novel/coming of age tale. The road trip is </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">a long journey from a bad LA neighborhood known as the Boxes</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to kill a witness in </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wisconsin</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> whose testimony has the potential to undo the drug gang to which they belong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The "buddies" are anything but. In fact, they are not acquainted at all until we learn that East, a devoted soldier, and Ty, already a cold-blooded killer, is his </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">13 year old brother.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was especially taken with the character Walter who provides a worldly counterpoint to East's narrow naivete. He brings some light and some oxygen to the tiny world East has inhabited his entire young life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beverly's prose is short and sharp and he is skillful at creating and maintaining a gnawing tension that hangs over the road trip like a cement cloud. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was moved by </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">this story</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">these characters, East most of all, and hope</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dodgers</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> finds the broad audience it deserves. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-32870094310175225822015-10-04T15:21:00.003-04:002015-10-04T15:21:57.464-04:00The Martian by Andy Weir<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGnRR678u2X2Tu7FbBZ0-4BCUYEMFZCRevfU6w4HXg58XydrWa9jcVMPt1XIBt9VF5S0oPxY5Ylic0RSzyXJLhFw5le3UiQGJc2xbE4ZBe4DRejzRX8H3TleL7hUVkzfmSQdIiA/s1600/Book-Review-The-Martian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGnRR678u2X2Tu7FbBZ0-4BCUYEMFZCRevfU6w4HXg58XydrWa9jcVMPt1XIBt9VF5S0oPxY5Ylic0RSzyXJLhFw5le3UiQGJc2xbE4ZBe4DRejzRX8H3TleL7hUVkzfmSQdIiA/s320/Book-Review-The-Martian.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This weekend's release of the film version of <i>The Martian, </i>starring Matt Damon, has thus far received almost universal acclaim. This makes me happy because the book lends itself to a film adaptation. In fact, it screamed "Make me into a movie!" when I read it on vacation a few months back. From the hype and reviews of the film, it sounds like they got it right. Now it is my hope people will go back to read the book because it is terrific. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Author Andy Weir has given us an engrossing, wildly funny, and action-packed </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">story</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mark Watney is a crew member on a Mars mission when a violent storm separates him from his crew who</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">, thinking him dead, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">abort their mission and head back to Earth. As you can guess, Mark isn't dead and now he's stuck alone on Mars and must fend for himself. It is a bit Robinson Crusoe on Mars though fortunately not this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe_on_Mars" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">Robinson Crusoe on Mars</span></a>. Watney is a plucky sort as well as a very able scientist who can assess his situation and work toward his goal of staying alive. His other challenge is to find a way to communicate with Earth to let them know he's very much alive and <i>really</i> needs a lift home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Weir is a first-time novelist who never thought <i>The Martian</i> would get published, so much so, he posted the book online for free before an agent made hay with the book and turned it into a bestseller. In interviews, Weir talks about how hard he worked on the science of the book and it shows. While some of it was well over my head, it only slowed down the pace of the book a wee bit. Readers smarter than me may not be slowed down at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Provided director Ridley Scott has done his job successfully, and by all accounts, he has, audiences will be cheering in the theaters much like I did in a Nags Head beach house. <i>The Martian</i> is a great, big, rousing success of a story, book, and author. Don't just see the movie. Read the book. </span><br />
<br />Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-76521594310490382592015-08-15T16:22:00.000-04:002015-08-15T16:27:29.751-04:00The Wonder Garden and Fortune Smiles<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hey! Remember me? I used to intermittently blog about books. Then, in early May, I got a new job and have been hunkered down, desperately trying to master my new duties. It hasn't allowed for much in the way of writing so if you're still with me, I appreciate your patience. As you might imagine, I have some catching up to do. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvI440zJmDDR2BdrIeEx4kgehQMh3p7OsQHtioHugZHIUdPhxAGObgHxLugzL3a8RpR7C86cUWn2EUp5ukChlQxaH3xybLF07OgzCxk7FdGVCu8W4QHgZBSaB5xiEd5Hib8shFw/s1600/acampora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvI440zJmDDR2BdrIeEx4kgehQMh3p7OsQHtioHugZHIUdPhxAGObgHxLugzL3a8RpR7C86cUWn2EUp5ukChlQxaH3xybLF07OgzCxk7FdGVCu8W4QHgZBSaB5xiEd5Hib8shFw/s400/acampora.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a sizable stack of books which I call the "guilt pile" to remind me that these are the books I need to tell you about. It's unlikely I'll get to them all but I thought I'd begin with two short story collections. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first is <i>The Wonder Garden</i> by Laura Acampora. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a set </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">of </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">linked </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">stories that take place in the small town of Old Cranbury, Connecticut, the author introduces us to a dark group of denizens. The concept of house and home as far more than where people simply live crops up in almost every story. In fact, many of the stories are disturbing, such as <i>Afterglow</i>, in which a husband works out a deal to watch his wife's brain surgery up close or the creepy absurdity of the story, <i>The Virginals</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">What struck me most about the collection was how unlikable most of the characters are. They are weirdos and oddballs but they aren't charming weirdos and oddballs in the vein of a Lewis Nordan nor are these traits played for laughs as is often the case in fiction. I never came away liking them or feeling as though they had grown in a positive way. While the stories are very compelling and the author is very gifted--</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Acampora has a way with words that I found very satisfying and re-readable--</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think I was just happy to get away from them</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">. Still, I recommend this collection.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2gvkM4XbzryiAJ0QxctIghwZji7UZ5LBDCTLvL8mL6CjHsvYHL8wO-4wo6GXVPDY_gkNXT3HcBrQZmR4ZNMEFlkbRfwlmEv-3ITXe8j62SJ6513XxbYvz9xgIuKTFvyH0StSbxw/s1600/Fortune_Smiles_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2gvkM4XbzryiAJ0QxctIghwZji7UZ5LBDCTLvL8mL6CjHsvYHL8wO-4wo6GXVPDY_gkNXT3HcBrQZmR4ZNMEFlkbRfwlmEv-3ITXe8j62SJ6513XxbYvz9xgIuKTFvyH0StSbxw/s400/Fortune_Smiles_cover.jpg" width="262" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like <i>The Wonder Garden</i>, Adam Johnson's forthcoming collection, <i>Fortune Smiles,</i> is also peopled with unlikable characters. There is an overwhelming sense of isolation in them and a lack of honesty with themselves. This is perhaps most prominent in "George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine", which tells the story of a former Stasi prison warden who simply will not allow, despite the wealth of the evidence of history, that he did anything wrong. These themes also play out to great effect in the title story. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unlike <i>The Wonder Garden</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">, Johnson's characters are not irredeemable. At best, they are adrift. At worst, they are lost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Having never read <i>The Orphan Master's Son,</i> which won the Pulitzer two years ago, I thought his sense of voice was astoundingly good and his characters were rich. Nonc, a character in <i>Hurricanes Anonymous</i> and DJ in the title story were especially memorable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Fortune Smiles</i> hits bookstores August 18 and should be added to your list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-13072882154449609962015-04-30T14:25:00.001-04:002015-04-30T14:28:48.912-04:00Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1w-jBsKBG5FVACzX7hJYwtOwF6GDi_0f4cD7jaH86C8cnvijr_-ZiTqRBPGYo_i-raTQYAmMvi3ebet8hOTvEdgCCzF4dqka9HothTc55Fme-CBSfMasQo9D3dPgTtUJ1oWs4g/s1600/streetgang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1w-jBsKBG5FVACzX7hJYwtOwF6GDi_0f4cD7jaH86C8cnvijr_-ZiTqRBPGYo_i-raTQYAmMvi3ebet8hOTvEdgCCzF4dqka9HothTc55Fme-CBSfMasQo9D3dPgTtUJ1oWs4g/s1600/streetgang.jpg" height="400" width="278" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In high school, I participated in linguistics competitions that pitted students from area schools against each other. I was very good at prepared speeches but extemp was my domain. I owned it. In one of these winners, I referred to kids my age as "the Sesame Street Generation". For some reason, the judges, a panel of smart teachers, thought this terribly clever though I'm not certain why because we <i>were</i> the "Sesame Street Generation". I was only two years old when it debuted on TV but it seemed a constant to me the way the Steelers always won the Super Bowl in the '70's or FDR was always president to my Dad's generation. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Michael Davis does a tremendous job of giving us a very complete picture in this worthwhile 2008 history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Street Gang</i> is a story of </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">wannabes, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">gonnabes, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">lesser-knowns,</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and more than a few rebels at all levels, Jim Henson and the Muppets the most prominent. However, without the alchemy of Joan Ganz Cooney, Jon Stone, Joe Raposo, Tom Whedon (Joss Whedon's dad!), and others, Henson would likely never have gone into children's TV and without Henson, no Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster or Big Bird, no Frank Oz, Carol Spinney, or Kermit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The idea to utilize public television to teach poor, inner-city pre-schoolers </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">began as dinner party conversation in 1966, when Bonanza, Gomer Pyle, and Green Acres were top-rated programs. It was an incalculable gamble though many thought it sheer folly. Remarkably, the right people came together to create a landmark in television, one that broke socio-economic, racial, and educational boundaries forever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We know now that young kids in poverty have fewer opportunities than other kids and it is accepted wisdom that educating them at such a young age is vital to their academic success, earning potential, and ability to break the cycle of poverty. That kids, poor and otherwise, could learn from television (public television, no less) was astounding in 1968 and that the show succeeded to such an extent was without precedent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">For kids of color to see themselves on TV was groundbreaking but it was also meaningful to a kid like me who grew up in a world of white. Of course I didn't realize it at the time but seeing those faces made them less exotic, less unusual, more real. They were just kids like me so when I met them later on, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I didn't fear them in the manner of the generations before me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was, however, a bit intimidated by the small font size of this </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">generously footnoted,</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> 350 pager but Davis writes with ease and authority. The story is informative, entertaining, and, at times, gossipy. Turns out Bert <i>was</i> sleeping with Ernie. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-47016157032225112342015-04-09T15:14:00.001-04:002015-04-09T15:14:38.257-04:00Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgi2UKM9Ruyt1zyaA-U-qeiS3cJJrZH9gJ0Sb7iRK_u2WA5AklW84o5-hDf14WBJve9FLyhCgZrBSC89nlIX4G29w2Eq_8a6c5gpJmf14iJlGnts2Zi56aMdLTFlX3qerp_fpRg/s1600/dear-committee-members.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgi2UKM9Ruyt1zyaA-U-qeiS3cJJrZH9gJ0Sb7iRK_u2WA5AklW84o5-hDf14WBJve9FLyhCgZrBSC89nlIX4G29w2Eq_8a6c5gpJmf14iJlGnts2Zi56aMdLTFlX3qerp_fpRg/s1600/dear-committee-members.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, I meandered into my favorite second-hand book bazaar to kill some time before treating a friend to a belated birthday lunch at the diner of a nearby bowling alley (his choice). Pickings were slim on this visit but I was fortunate to find a copy of <i>Dear Committee Members </i>by Julie Schumacher which I began reading in the car while waiting for the birthday boy to arrive and completed it by beddy-bye. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As regular Reed-ers know, I'm a sucker for an epistolary novel and this slender collection of letters of recommendation doesn't disappoint. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The letter writer, Jay Fitger, is a creative writing professor at the appropriately named Payne University, a small Midwestern school whose English department has seen far better days. He labors in a building that is under extensive construction, mostly for the benefit of the Economics department whose upstairs offices are getting a royal makeover while his department suffers toxic dust, loud noises, and foul, leaky restrooms. Retired professors aren't being replaced, funding has gone the way of the dodo, grad students aren't being added, and the new department head is (gasp!) a sociologist. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like the department, Fitger, a once promising novelist whose backlist is largely out of print, is slowly spiraling into literary obscurity. His </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">spark for academia no longer burns brightly and his personal relationships are in tatters. Like Sid Straw in Michael Kun's delightful <i>The Locklear Letters, </i>Fitger can't get out of his own way. Unlike Sid, he is not a likeable man. He is bombastic, cranky, misanthropic, sexist, and unpopular with colleagues and administrators, all of which he is acutely self-aware. Seemingly, he spends more time writing letters of recommendation for students and colleagues than he does teaching or other more literary pursuits. But oh, the letters! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Schumacher, herself an academic at the University of Minnesota, is obviously no stranger to the folderol but she imbues Fitger's considerable ire with biting commentary on the state of academia and publishing to great effect. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In one instance, he writes on a friends' behalf to a Dean of a school he believes entirely unworthy of her. And so:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Let's consider the facts: Carole is comfortably installed at a research university--dysfunctional, yes; second tier, without question--but we do have a modest reputation here at Payne. Shepardville, on the other hand, is a third-tier private college teetering at the edge of a potato field and is still lightly infused with the tropical flavor of offbeat fundamentalism propagated by its millionaire founder, a white-collar criminal who is currently--correct me if I'm wrong--atoning for multiple financial missteps in the Big House in Texas". Ouch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Later in the novel, he grudgingly defends his own department head to Payne's Dean of Arts & Sciences: "In my wildest nightmares I never imagined that I would make or endorse such a recommendation, akin to Hamlet naming Uncle Claudius counsel (Hamlet is a play by a writer named William Shakespeare: I'll send you a copy on some other occasion.)"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">While it might have been enough to let Fitger froth at the mouth for the entire 180 pages, Schumacher wisely and slowly brings about a sense of decency in the man, mostly in his desire to help a promising grad student in whose novel, a re-telling of Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener set in the accounting department of a 1960's Vegas casino, he believes and the reappearance of an old friend with whom he studied at an Iowa-like writing program years before. On their behalves, Fitger reaches out to agents, publishers, and academics in a knowing effort to do something for someone other than himself. While he doesn't spare his spleen with any of these recipients, he makes an uncharacteristically sincere effort with mixed results. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">If I had a criticism, it is that the ending came too quickly, both in the narrative sense and for my own selfish reason that I didn't want the book to end. Both of these are small beer compared to the joy the book brought me. Find a copy soon.</span><br />
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Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32539593.post-2357662381363835302015-04-01T14:00:00.001-04:002015-04-01T14:06:59.534-04:00Of Fans and Vans<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAJUAwVb8wrkEQg84Ifnl40KPohzMs6qJv9_oLI8EWfM9QuTPW7qK6_qJOTGFuixIIZMieUd0YlyFrtCwExAS48pwdXYzmPcmKUMW0PgXvWyObUFdXcQvxPcZiIegxJvuiC_LUw/s1600/sellersperfect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAJUAwVb8wrkEQg84Ifnl40KPohzMs6qJv9_oLI8EWfM9QuTPW7qK6_qJOTGFuixIIZMieUd0YlyFrtCwExAS48pwdXYzmPcmKUMW0PgXvWyObUFdXcQvxPcZiIegxJvuiC_LUw/s1600/sellersperfect.jpg" height="400" width="256" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes I come across a book that I believe I should have written. Two that come to mind are <i>The Day I Turned Uncool</i> by Dan Zevin and <i>Talking to Girls About Duran Duran </i>by Rob Sheffield. Zevin's book was right on the money and it made me feel cheated that he beat me to it and desperately lazy because not only did I not think of it first, I probably wouldn't have had the wherewithal to actually write it. Sheffield's book missed the mark entirely by my account and so I felt justified and appropriately pompous. With John Sellers' <i>Perfect From Now On</i>, I'm somewhere in the middle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Perfect From Now On</i> is Sellers' examination of his own musical obsessions, which are plentiful. Remember that kid in junior high that couldn't stop talking about The Ramones while wearing his Ramones t-shirt and jeans with holes in the knees a la The Ramones with music by the Ramones leaking from the headphones of his Sony Walkman? That was me. That was Sellers, too, only his bands were U2, Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, Pavement and, ultimately, Guided By Voices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remember well the need to know only the "cool" bands before they became so as well as the need to disavow them as sell-outs once they enjoyed mainstream success. I remember the long, stoned discussions with like-minded pals about the "importance" of the music and musicianship. I recall almost going broke buying all the obscure bootlegs of my favorite artist, most of them imports and therefore even pricier than normal. I strove to be a completist and flaunt my musical superiority. Sellers goes even further, seeking to touch the hem of GBV lead singer, Robert Pollard, in which he succeeds and fails brilliantly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sellers writes with honesty and considerable self-deprecation however his "righteous" anger overwhelms any sympathy you might have for him. He also uses copious footnotes, many of them lengthy asides on even more trivial matters, that slow down the book. It's only in the last third of the book that he reveals that his copious footnotes are, in fact, in tribute to Nicholson Baker. Aren't we clever? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ultimately, I did enjoy the book mostly because I could see where my path diverged from the authors': I grew up. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnjdmdquiMz08QBro6bzJ_SVQwWrRFLJejdzZsZ4MbJm1KE5x2W4tfVzBCjE5ur60Y7IPf8EtTcIUFYnk0nUSXmv6WHX2UHl_HuLCeJWiUeWuZLoHRRHp4u2KJVxzflm8slM16A/s1600/on-the-road-with-the-ramones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnjdmdquiMz08QBro6bzJ_SVQwWrRFLJejdzZsZ4MbJm1KE5x2W4tfVzBCjE5ur60Y7IPf8EtTcIUFYnk0nUSXmv6WHX2UHl_HuLCeJWiUeWuZLoHRRHp4u2KJVxzflm8slM16A/s1600/on-the-road-with-the-ramones.jpg" height="400" width="321" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of the boys from Forest Hills, I thoroughly enjoyed <i>On the Road With The Ramones</i> by the band's long-time, long-suffering road manager, Monte Melnick. This is about as insider as it gets and gives a clear portrait of the band that influenced so many musicians and inspired so many listeners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the exception of Marky and C. J., Monte is the last man standing and he was there for the entire ride. Having read most of the Ramones bios out there, I think Monte's version comes across as </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">an honest and loving account of the band especially b</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">ecause he <i>wasn't</i> a performer. The band, even in good times, was difficult and it only became more fractious as their career continued. Here, Monte comes off as the glue that held them together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what a big job that! Dee Dee was crazy, Marky was drunk (then not), Johnny was the all-powerful overlord, and Joey was plagued by insecurity, OCD, and other health problems. Only Tommy comes off as a normal adult human being and he left because he thought he'd have a breakdown because of the others. We're a happy family? Not by a longshot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Told in the oral history style of <i>Please Kill Me</i> by Legs McNeil, Monte shares the pages with band members, road crew, producers, fellow musicians, and management but Monte is again the glue that makes <i>On the Road</i></span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">...</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">a worthy addition to the story that was The Ramones. </span>Reed Nexthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03527553205063638497noreply@blogger.com2