FIVE THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT by Holly Shumas
1.Books
2. my family and friends (no that does not count as 2 separate things)
3. margaritas on the rocks, no salt
4. Chapstick
5. a good hairbrush
You should have known this review would start like that. I encourage you to do your own as well. And yes, its okay if it changes now and then.
FIVE THINGS I CANT LIVE WITHOUT by Holly Shumas was one I had wanted to read, but had a very hard time getting ahold of it. My library didn’t carry it; the bookstore couldn’t seem to find it; alas my new love, Paperspine.com, shipped it to me. (Its like Netflix for books)
A quick read, if a bit plodding, FIVE THINGS, follows Nora, a 29-year old currently writing animal bios at a local shelter, as she abruptly quits, moves in with her boyfriend and opens her own business writing profiles for Internet daters. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, Nora is an overthinker, spending waaaaaaaaaaay too much time in her “meta-life,” analyzing every possible outcome of a situation before it ever really begins.
While interviewing her clients, Nora asks them the Five Things question and begins considering the Five Things She Cant Live Without. She begins taking a salsa class with her all-too-perfect boyfriend of 6 months Dan in an effort to pick up the pace on an otherwise coasting relationship; visits with friends who are moving forward in their lives in contrast to Nora’s almost-30 mentality.
FIVE THINGS was a good book. But that’s about it. It was an easy and just okay book What would have made it better?
1. more about Dan (he sounded awesome, why would Nora ever question that)
2. less bitching and whining from Nora
3. a little more background on her friends
4. the reality of paying the bills with a job created and posted on Craiglist
5. more intellectual substance to provoke readers into writing their own list.
OVERALL: FIVE THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT was just okay. It was well-written but seemed to lack something meatier with more substance. I don’t care for near-neurotic heroines who still get the awesome guy, can pay the bills, and has a cool job, and that’s how I ended up feeling about Nora. I was glad I read it but not wholly satisfied.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Sunday, November 25, 2007
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by Mark Haddon is probably the book with the best voice that I’ve read in a long time. Voice is important in any story but particularly interesting and enticing when the story is told by an 15-year-old English boy living with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.
Haddon’s remarkable character Christopher John Francis Boone find a neighbor’s dog dead in the yard, he begins a search for the killer and in turn finds mystery after mystery and begins to solve them in a way that only a savant, such as Christopher, can. The story becomes less about the killer of the dog and more about Christopher.
He begins chronicling his investigations at the advice of his friend and counselor Siobhan. Inserted as randomly as the thought forms in his mind, Christopher inserts drawings, diagrams and explanations into the dialogue in his way of assisting the reader in understanding his tale.
CURIOUS is refreshing in tone, both light-hearted and serious at times. Despite having a very limited world to live in, Christopher details his universe with such detail that it actually sounds like an interesting place to reside. He despises yellow and brown, loves the color red. He does not like to be touched, to the point where even his parents hold out their hands and fingers and touch his fingertips, rather than hug. He does calculations and math in his head to calm his nerves, much like any of us would take deep breaths or attempt a meditation. He cannot tell a lie, speaking what many of us only think.
I found my reaction to CURIOUS to be similar to when I had read Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. I saw Christopher doing things, although deemed characteristic of autism, that I do, just in a different way.
Where he would do calculations, I might pray or recite poetry; where he cannot handle certain situations, I become panicked on occasion and wonder how I will complete the situation at hand.
OVERALL: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a extraordinary read. It is both honest and moving sans the sappy heart-warming mush.
Haddon’s remarkable character Christopher John Francis Boone find a neighbor’s dog dead in the yard, he begins a search for the killer and in turn finds mystery after mystery and begins to solve them in a way that only a savant, such as Christopher, can. The story becomes less about the killer of the dog and more about Christopher.
He begins chronicling his investigations at the advice of his friend and counselor Siobhan. Inserted as randomly as the thought forms in his mind, Christopher inserts drawings, diagrams and explanations into the dialogue in his way of assisting the reader in understanding his tale.
CURIOUS is refreshing in tone, both light-hearted and serious at times. Despite having a very limited world to live in, Christopher details his universe with such detail that it actually sounds like an interesting place to reside. He despises yellow and brown, loves the color red. He does not like to be touched, to the point where even his parents hold out their hands and fingers and touch his fingertips, rather than hug. He does calculations and math in his head to calm his nerves, much like any of us would take deep breaths or attempt a meditation. He cannot tell a lie, speaking what many of us only think.
I found my reaction to CURIOUS to be similar to when I had read Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. I saw Christopher doing things, although deemed characteristic of autism, that I do, just in a different way.
Where he would do calculations, I might pray or recite poetry; where he cannot handle certain situations, I become panicked on occasion and wonder how I will complete the situation at hand.
OVERALL: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a extraordinary read. It is both honest and moving sans the sappy heart-warming mush.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
SUMMER AT TIFFANY by Marjorie Hart
Yet another recommendation from Trashionista, SUMMER AT TIFFANY was a great end-of-summer read for me. Marjorie Hart’s true-life account of the summer 1945 as a shop girl at Tiffany of New York (yes, that Tiffany) is as sweet as she and her friend Marty seem to be during their season in the city. Turned away from the stores they thought they wanted to work for, Hart and friend land positions as pages, jobs usually held by young men. With the majority of the available young men away at war, the young collegiates become the first women to set foot on the Tiffany sales floor.
Once there in their Tiffany blue shirtwaist dresses and leather shoulder bags, the eager girls are responsible for whisking clients’ diamonds and pearls through the secret elevator to the elusive rooms where the pieces are to be repaired. They work diligently while living in a cramped apartment, mingling with midshipmen on leave in the city and admiring the rich and famous visiting their workplace.
SUMMER AT TIFFANY combines two of my favorite things. I love reading and learning about the WWII era and believe the zest with which people lived during that time has influenced current culture. And quite simply, who doesn’t like Tiffany’s?
Its just as romantic and funny as readers would hope and inspirational as well. Hart grows up quite a bit during her summer away from Iowa- she falls in love, she questions authority, she ventures out on her own. And what a better way to do it, than with a summer working at one of the most famous places on earth?
OVERALL: Not to sound trite, but SUMMER AT TIFFANY was completely delightful. I’ll definitely be gifting this book!
Yet another recommendation from Trashionista, SUMMER AT TIFFANY was a great end-of-summer read for me. Marjorie Hart’s true-life account of the summer 1945 as a shop girl at Tiffany of New York (yes, that Tiffany) is as sweet as she and her friend Marty seem to be during their season in the city. Turned away from the stores they thought they wanted to work for, Hart and friend land positions as pages, jobs usually held by young men. With the majority of the available young men away at war, the young collegiates become the first women to set foot on the Tiffany sales floor.
Once there in their Tiffany blue shirtwaist dresses and leather shoulder bags, the eager girls are responsible for whisking clients’ diamonds and pearls through the secret elevator to the elusive rooms where the pieces are to be repaired. They work diligently while living in a cramped apartment, mingling with midshipmen on leave in the city and admiring the rich and famous visiting their workplace.
SUMMER AT TIFFANY combines two of my favorite things. I love reading and learning about the WWII era and believe the zest with which people lived during that time has influenced current culture. And quite simply, who doesn’t like Tiffany’s?
Its just as romantic and funny as readers would hope and inspirational as well. Hart grows up quite a bit during her summer away from Iowa- she falls in love, she questions authority, she ventures out on her own. And what a better way to do it, than with a summer working at one of the most famous places on earth?
OVERALL: Not to sound trite, but SUMMER AT TIFFANY was completely delightful. I’ll definitely be gifting this book!
EAT, PRAY, LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert
I’m not one to read the Oprah book selections because she said so. However, I did feel justifiably smart and ahead-of-the-times when I had already started reading EAT, PRAY, LOVE because I saw it on my fave-o blog Trashionista and then saw that Oprah had approved it for her book club.
I could not have read it at a better time in my life. Much like the author, I found myself in a transition period in my life and looking for answers. I was actively seeking an answer for any and every question I was asking myself, but never sure where I was to ask them. As usual, books and literature tend to act as my Magic 8 ball and provide the answers just when I needed them most.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert goes looking for answers herself when she divorces at thirty-something and decides to travel to Italy, India and Indonesia. It is there she, and the reader, find the answers in the title verbs of eating, praying and loving in her effort "to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India, and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two."
Drawn to Italy by its romantic language, Gilbert learns that the culture feeds itself both literally and figuratively with food. She learns conversational Italian and aids in teaching English to her newfound Italian friends and begins her journey towards finding her God. I say her God because after reading this I have grown and strengthened my belief that everyone believes in their own personal God. Upon her divorce, she calls upon God while on her bathroom floor. It is there, her journey truly begins. But I digress.
In battling her demons of Depression, Loneliness, which she says ‘track her down" only a few days after arriving in Italy, she personifies them. Having conversations with them and addressing them as if they were people surely must make it simultaneously easier and harder to escort them from the life to which they have become accustomed and until you see the light of Happiness at the end of the dark tunnel clouded by negativity.
Gilbert writes "when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after dark times, you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until drags you face-first out of the dirt." She continues with its justification by saying, "this is not selfishness. But obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight." This is a good summary of her time in Italy.
In India, Gilbert, also a practitioner of yoga, enrolls in an Ashram. In layman’s terms, an Ashram is a place one goes seeking instruction in disciplined personal divinity. Yoga is the effort to experience ones’ supreme excellency personally and hold onto that experience forever. She fights to quiet her mind – a struggle I can definitely empathize with – and learn what her krishna and her focus is during her time there. Again, she confronts the demons that keep her from truly meditating and uses them to build on and create her most enlightened focus. Once its found, she works to hone it, to make it the perfect focus and realizes that it’s a continual process. One that is never truly complete; one that moves and morphs and alters with her life and one that will tell you what it senses that it needs.
Gilbert travels to Indonesia – Bali more specifically, with no particular plan in mind. Living in a hotel for a few weeks, she makes quick friends with a Balinese healer and a an ancient medicine man. The two of the, aid Gilbert in her continuing journey. While she is seemingly quiet in mind following her stint in the Ashram, there is always more to learn. The medicine man continues teaching Gilbert enhanced meditations that build on what she had accomplished in India.
The meditation of the Four Brothers I found to be most interesting and according to the medicine man rarely taught to Americans. Balinese believe that every child born is accompanied by four spiritual brothers –represented physically by the umbilical cord, the placenta, the amniotic fluid and the waxy substance that protects the baby’s skin. Parents save as much of the four elements as they can and bury it in a sacred space near the home in a coconut shell. The child is taught that these brothers who represent intelligence, friendship, strength and poetry always surround him/her and are always with him/her. They are taught to speak with their brothers and ask them for protection whenever is needed. If you call for them when you wake, they will join you; to say their names at mealtimes and you will include them in the meal and to tell them at bedtime that you are sleeping and need their protection and they will keep you safe from demons and nightmares.
Gilbert extends the happiness and joy that she finds in Bali full circle when she asks her American friends for assistance in helping the healer she has befriended. It is here that we see the true karmic mantra of getting back what is put into the universe.
EAT, PRAY, LOVE is not only a journey for the author but also for the reader. I underlined passages and made notes in the margin and discovered new ways to think about conflict, happiness and the quest for both.
I’m not one to read the Oprah book selections because she said so. However, I did feel justifiably smart and ahead-of-the-times when I had already started reading EAT, PRAY, LOVE because I saw it on my fave-o blog Trashionista and then saw that Oprah had approved it for her book club.
I could not have read it at a better time in my life. Much like the author, I found myself in a transition period in my life and looking for answers. I was actively seeking an answer for any and every question I was asking myself, but never sure where I was to ask them. As usual, books and literature tend to act as my Magic 8 ball and provide the answers just when I needed them most.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert goes looking for answers herself when she divorces at thirty-something and decides to travel to Italy, India and Indonesia. It is there she, and the reader, find the answers in the title verbs of eating, praying and loving in her effort "to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India, and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two."
Drawn to Italy by its romantic language, Gilbert learns that the culture feeds itself both literally and figuratively with food. She learns conversational Italian and aids in teaching English to her newfound Italian friends and begins her journey towards finding her God. I say her God because after reading this I have grown and strengthened my belief that everyone believes in their own personal God. Upon her divorce, she calls upon God while on her bathroom floor. It is there, her journey truly begins. But I digress.
In battling her demons of Depression, Loneliness, which she says ‘track her down" only a few days after arriving in Italy, she personifies them. Having conversations with them and addressing them as if they were people surely must make it simultaneously easier and harder to escort them from the life to which they have become accustomed and until you see the light of Happiness at the end of the dark tunnel clouded by negativity.
Gilbert writes "when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after dark times, you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until drags you face-first out of the dirt." She continues with its justification by saying, "this is not selfishness. But obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight." This is a good summary of her time in Italy.
In India, Gilbert, also a practitioner of yoga, enrolls in an Ashram. In layman’s terms, an Ashram is a place one goes seeking instruction in disciplined personal divinity. Yoga is the effort to experience ones’ supreme excellency personally and hold onto that experience forever. She fights to quiet her mind – a struggle I can definitely empathize with – and learn what her krishna and her focus is during her time there. Again, she confronts the demons that keep her from truly meditating and uses them to build on and create her most enlightened focus. Once its found, she works to hone it, to make it the perfect focus and realizes that it’s a continual process. One that is never truly complete; one that moves and morphs and alters with her life and one that will tell you what it senses that it needs.
Gilbert travels to Indonesia – Bali more specifically, with no particular plan in mind. Living in a hotel for a few weeks, she makes quick friends with a Balinese healer and a an ancient medicine man. The two of the, aid Gilbert in her continuing journey. While she is seemingly quiet in mind following her stint in the Ashram, there is always more to learn. The medicine man continues teaching Gilbert enhanced meditations that build on what she had accomplished in India.
The meditation of the Four Brothers I found to be most interesting and according to the medicine man rarely taught to Americans. Balinese believe that every child born is accompanied by four spiritual brothers –represented physically by the umbilical cord, the placenta, the amniotic fluid and the waxy substance that protects the baby’s skin. Parents save as much of the four elements as they can and bury it in a sacred space near the home in a coconut shell. The child is taught that these brothers who represent intelligence, friendship, strength and poetry always surround him/her and are always with him/her. They are taught to speak with their brothers and ask them for protection whenever is needed. If you call for them when you wake, they will join you; to say their names at mealtimes and you will include them in the meal and to tell them at bedtime that you are sleeping and need their protection and they will keep you safe from demons and nightmares.
Gilbert extends the happiness and joy that she finds in Bali full circle when she asks her American friends for assistance in helping the healer she has befriended. It is here that we see the true karmic mantra of getting back what is put into the universe.
EAT, PRAY, LOVE is not only a journey for the author but also for the reader. I underlined passages and made notes in the margin and discovered new ways to think about conflict, happiness and the quest for both.
Banned Books Week September 29 - October 6
Yesterday, September 29, began Banned Books Week which runs until October 6. The American Library Association's slogan for Banned Books Week is "Free people read freely." And that meant a lot to me.
On this year's list includes "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. An award-winning book featuring two male penguins who raise a baby penguin so that it may have a two parent home, has been noted as the most challenged book of 2007. Also on this years list is "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, the Gossip Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar and "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier which I remember reading in eighth grade. Our friends JD Salinger (Catcher in the Rye), JK Rowling (the Harry Potter series) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) did not join the list this year, but are notable list-makers from years past. They join the likes Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume and Stephen King. But are these writers and authors known for being on the banned book list or for being unbelievably talented story-tellers? I think the latter.
In a day and age where anything goes on cable television, I simply cannot believe and am enraged that books are still continually banned for content and wording deemed inappropriate. Wasn't Gossip Girl just made into a television show? In the first episode, if I can recall correctly, there were two attempted date rapes. "The Chocolate War," considered unsuitable for sexual content, was required reading in my middle school honors English class as was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye" in my high school honors and AP English class. The Harper Lee classic was under fire for use of the always-enraging N-word that was at one time, a common place word. Not to say that it was right, but it was typical in the lexicon, and society learned from its mistakes and has made effort to correct that. We know now it's not suitable for conversation but would surely still benefit from other lessons in "Mockingbird."
Religious groups and civic organizations have burned books in the name of morality and ethics since 200 B.C. The premise is always the same: to offer up that which they believe goes against their god in an effort to save and/or protect themselves and others. While banning books, and in some instances burning books, is a practice of free speech rather than censorship, who is to tell me what I can and cannot read? Simply put, if you find it offensive, turn it off. Close the book. Don't buy clothes from that manufacturer. Censor and/or edit yourself, but don't censor others.
As an avid reader, I'm often chastised for spending time with my nose in between the pages, but I truly could spend an entire day reading. Ask my friends how long it took me to read the last Harry Potter book. I'd much rather have my nose in a book than my eyes glued to the latest episode of "Deal or No Deal".
In an effort to offer up what I believe is a opportunity to enrich, engage and educate and I'm asking everyone to read a Banned Book this week. If not this week, this month; if not this month, this year. If you need one, ask me, I have a great deal of them in my personal collection or check it out from the library. Or better yet, spend some time in your local bookstore and BUY it for your home library. You'll feel empowered having something you know is controversial in your collection and you'll be offering up to the powers that what you truly believe in as well.
For more on Banned Books Week and for a list of banned books over the years, visit the American Library Associations website at www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm
Yesterday, September 29, began Banned Books Week which runs until October 6. The American Library Association's slogan for Banned Books Week is "Free people read freely." And that meant a lot to me.
On this year's list includes "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. An award-winning book featuring two male penguins who raise a baby penguin so that it may have a two parent home, has been noted as the most challenged book of 2007. Also on this years list is "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, the Gossip Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar and "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier which I remember reading in eighth grade. Our friends JD Salinger (Catcher in the Rye), JK Rowling (the Harry Potter series) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) did not join the list this year, but are notable list-makers from years past. They join the likes Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume and Stephen King. But are these writers and authors known for being on the banned book list or for being unbelievably talented story-tellers? I think the latter.
In a day and age where anything goes on cable television, I simply cannot believe and am enraged that books are still continually banned for content and wording deemed inappropriate. Wasn't Gossip Girl just made into a television show? In the first episode, if I can recall correctly, there were two attempted date rapes. "The Chocolate War," considered unsuitable for sexual content, was required reading in my middle school honors English class as was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye" in my high school honors and AP English class. The Harper Lee classic was under fire for use of the always-enraging N-word that was at one time, a common place word. Not to say that it was right, but it was typical in the lexicon, and society learned from its mistakes and has made effort to correct that. We know now it's not suitable for conversation but would surely still benefit from other lessons in "Mockingbird."
Religious groups and civic organizations have burned books in the name of morality and ethics since 200 B.C. The premise is always the same: to offer up that which they believe goes against their god in an effort to save and/or protect themselves and others. While banning books, and in some instances burning books, is a practice of free speech rather than censorship, who is to tell me what I can and cannot read? Simply put, if you find it offensive, turn it off. Close the book. Don't buy clothes from that manufacturer. Censor and/or edit yourself, but don't censor others.
As an avid reader, I'm often chastised for spending time with my nose in between the pages, but I truly could spend an entire day reading. Ask my friends how long it took me to read the last Harry Potter book. I'd much rather have my nose in a book than my eyes glued to the latest episode of "Deal or No Deal".
In an effort to offer up what I believe is a opportunity to enrich, engage and educate and I'm asking everyone to read a Banned Book this week. If not this week, this month; if not this month, this year. If you need one, ask me, I have a great deal of them in my personal collection or check it out from the library. Or better yet, spend some time in your local bookstore and BUY it for your home library. You'll feel empowered having something you know is controversial in your collection and you'll be offering up to the powers that what you truly believe in as well.
For more on Banned Books Week and for a list of banned books over the years, visit the American Library Associations website at www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm
Saturday, July 28, 2007
SAMMY'S HOUSE by Kristen Gore
When I read that there was a sequel to my premier review Sammy's Hill, I couldnt get to the library fast enough. Thank goodness for home delivery!
Samantha "Sammy" Joyce, fresh off the campaign trail for her vice-presidential boss RG and fresh in love with Washington Post reporter and boyfriend Charlie, has her work cut out for her in the WHite House under the presidential rule of President Wye and his enemies the conniving opposition group called the Exterminators. When Sammy gets the hint that President Wye has slipped off the wagon, she makes fast frenemies with her fellow staffers and struggles to come to terms with boyfriend Charlie's quick move to the New York bureau to cover a developing story, all in a single bound.
SAMMY'S HOUSE is heavier in tone and politics than Sammy's Hill so there are a couple, albiet brief, monotone spots, but is nonetheless entertaining with several laugh-out-loud situations including a Say Anything reference (Lloyd Dobbler anyone? How do you NOT love that?) Readers consume the book in an almost stream-of-conciousness way, as if hearing Sammy's internal monologue. It is definitely chick lit but for the political set that power walk the streets of D.C versus the runways or publishing hallways of NYC.
OVERALL: If you liked Sammy's Hill, you will definitely want to read SAMMY'S HOUSE. While it was not quite as entertaining, its understood that Sammy has overcome several obstacles, conquered some new tasks, taken on new adventures and grown up quite a bit - right alongside her readers.
When I read that there was a sequel to my premier review Sammy's Hill, I couldnt get to the library fast enough. Thank goodness for home delivery!
Samantha "Sammy" Joyce, fresh off the campaign trail for her vice-presidential boss RG and fresh in love with Washington Post reporter and boyfriend Charlie, has her work cut out for her in the WHite House under the presidential rule of President Wye and his enemies the conniving opposition group called the Exterminators. When Sammy gets the hint that President Wye has slipped off the wagon, she makes fast frenemies with her fellow staffers and struggles to come to terms with boyfriend Charlie's quick move to the New York bureau to cover a developing story, all in a single bound.
SAMMY'S HOUSE is heavier in tone and politics than Sammy's Hill so there are a couple, albiet brief, monotone spots, but is nonetheless entertaining with several laugh-out-loud situations including a Say Anything reference (Lloyd Dobbler anyone? How do you NOT love that?) Readers consume the book in an almost stream-of-conciousness way, as if hearing Sammy's internal monologue. It is definitely chick lit but for the political set that power walk the streets of D.C versus the runways or publishing hallways of NYC.
OVERALL: If you liked Sammy's Hill, you will definitely want to read SAMMY'S HOUSE. While it was not quite as entertaining, its understood that Sammy has overcome several obstacles, conquered some new tasks, taken on new adventures and grown up quite a bit - right alongside her readers.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
THE WILDE WOMEN by Paula Wall
While I had not read anything by Paula Wall prior, she authored The Rock Orchard to favorable reviews, I am a self-admitted fan of Southern Literature, and so thought it right up my alley. I chalk it up to being from the same town as Flannery O’Conner – Savannah in the house. But whatever the reason, THE WILDE WOMEN, wears the label well and appropriately.
Wall’s second novel, THE WILDE WOMEN, starts off with a typically Southern scenario. Pearl Wilde catches her fiance with her sister and promptly leaves town. When she returns a few years later to her depression-soaked hometown of Five Points, she brings with her a business venture unlike any other and thus a truly entertaining read.
Opening the Five of Clubs, a members-only brothel, just on the edge of town, Pearl not only employs some of the town’s typically southern-lit characters but also finds them as clients as well and lets the gossip traditional of small towns do her promotion for her. The more the town talks, the more interesting swanky enterprise becomes and the more expanded the story lines of each character.
Reading seamlessly like a collection of short stories, THE WILDE WOMEN, oozes like molasses through the sweaty sex, illicit affairs, drinking, money or lack thereof, work troubles and drama they only have in the south. We learn about the long-ago incident that turned the Wilde sisters into who they have become, the town’s token widow, the good ol’ boys network, the outcast single mom and her Hollywood-handsome son, the unfaithful fiance, his family and their covert business of outlawed alcohol production.
Having read THE WILDE WOMEN, I’m ordering The Rock Orchard from my library’s home delivery service. When it gets here, I’m pouring a glass of sweet tea and cracking it open with high hopes for a good read.
While I had not read anything by Paula Wall prior, she authored The Rock Orchard to favorable reviews, I am a self-admitted fan of Southern Literature, and so thought it right up my alley. I chalk it up to being from the same town as Flannery O’Conner – Savannah in the house. But whatever the reason, THE WILDE WOMEN, wears the label well and appropriately.
Wall’s second novel, THE WILDE WOMEN, starts off with a typically Southern scenario. Pearl Wilde catches her fiance with her sister and promptly leaves town. When she returns a few years later to her depression-soaked hometown of Five Points, she brings with her a business venture unlike any other and thus a truly entertaining read.
Opening the Five of Clubs, a members-only brothel, just on the edge of town, Pearl not only employs some of the town’s typically southern-lit characters but also finds them as clients as well and lets the gossip traditional of small towns do her promotion for her. The more the town talks, the more interesting swanky enterprise becomes and the more expanded the story lines of each character.
Reading seamlessly like a collection of short stories, THE WILDE WOMEN, oozes like molasses through the sweaty sex, illicit affairs, drinking, money or lack thereof, work troubles and drama they only have in the south. We learn about the long-ago incident that turned the Wilde sisters into who they have become, the town’s token widow, the good ol’ boys network, the outcast single mom and her Hollywood-handsome son, the unfaithful fiance, his family and their covert business of outlawed alcohol production.
Having read THE WILDE WOMEN, I’m ordering The Rock Orchard from my library’s home delivery service. When it gets here, I’m pouring a glass of sweet tea and cracking it open with high hopes for a good read.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
THE QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT by Meghan Daum
When NYC lifestyle reporter Lucinda Trout travels to the midwest to produce a research piece on crystal-meth addicted housewives, she leaves behind a miniscule apartment and a DOA love life in search of what she deems The Quality of Life Report.
Her series of Little House on the Prairie meets Sex and the City-esque productions prove not only popular to her fellow New Yorkers but quickly turn her into something else as well. The never maudlin, ultimately determined Lucinda finds herself living in a barn with a local river-bathing, bearded, eccentric semi-mountain man and his children and, gasp, liking it.
With impeccable comic timing and incorrigable social criticism, QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT, pokes fun without harm and allows every reader to move with Lucinda to Prarie City and in short, convinces readers and viewwers to drink the kool-aid. When it comes to light that PC'ers have their own set of problems and issues, just like those in NYC, Lucinda is able to see them for who they are, and she for her true self. Whereas when she arrived, she believed some actions and reactions just didnt count, much like a trip to Vegas. The yankee smarty-pants gets a hard and fast lesson in lovin' leavin' and farm animals.
OVERALL Somewhat chick-lit-ish, QUALITY OF LIFE, is LOL funny and simultaneously satistfying. We all learn a lesson(s) , if anything, about ourselves while having a good laugh as well and cheering for our heroine at the end.
When NYC lifestyle reporter Lucinda Trout travels to the midwest to produce a research piece on crystal-meth addicted housewives, she leaves behind a miniscule apartment and a DOA love life in search of what she deems The Quality of Life Report.
Her series of Little House on the Prairie meets Sex and the City-esque productions prove not only popular to her fellow New Yorkers but quickly turn her into something else as well. The never maudlin, ultimately determined Lucinda finds herself living in a barn with a local river-bathing, bearded, eccentric semi-mountain man and his children and, gasp, liking it.
With impeccable comic timing and incorrigable social criticism, QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT, pokes fun without harm and allows every reader to move with Lucinda to Prarie City and in short, convinces readers and viewwers to drink the kool-aid. When it comes to light that PC'ers have their own set of problems and issues, just like those in NYC, Lucinda is able to see them for who they are, and she for her true self. Whereas when she arrived, she believed some actions and reactions just didnt count, much like a trip to Vegas. The yankee smarty-pants gets a hard and fast lesson in lovin' leavin' and farm animals.
OVERALL Somewhat chick-lit-ish, QUALITY OF LIFE, is LOL funny and simultaneously satistfying. We all learn a lesson(s) , if anything, about ourselves while having a good laugh as well and cheering for our heroine at the end.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Guen
I dont remember where I had first heard about Water for Elephants. Perhaps it was while perusing my latest issue of Jane magazine; or the best seller list on nytimes.com; or even a passing mention on my Borders books emailed newsletter but it was on my list nonetheeless when headed to the library during the most recent venture to grab reading material for a work-related trip to Reno, NV (more on that later).
I dont remember where I had first heard about Water for Elephants. Perhaps it was while perusing my latest issue of Jane magazine; or the best seller list on nytimes.com; or even a passing mention on my Borders books emailed newsletter but it was on my list nonetheeless when headed to the library during the most recent venture to grab reading material for a work-related trip to Reno, NV (more on that later).
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is told through simultaneous but seamless present day and flashback dialogue. Telling the Depression-era story of the Jacob Jankowski, a veterinary college near-graduate who drops out during his finals following the death of his parents, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, is vibrant and colorful in depictions and descriptions. Doing what many of us mischievously say as children, Jacob does - he runs away and joins the circus. He moves both effortlessly and with difficulty through the social caste system of the circus, making friends and enemies of the upper and lower echelon, mingling with each and every "character" within the circus. Guen depicts each color, sound, smell, touch, and sighs of the circus, from setting up the tents to running for the train as it moves to the next town, with startling eloquence and beauty. Each character, normally seen as freaks or the stereotypical circus folk, becomes the star of their own show, despite their existence in a second-rate circus in its own continuous quest for greatness trailing ever so many steps behind the star Ringling Bros show.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is simplistic complex and unbelievably colorful, with romance, drama, horror, angst, action and the readers involvement within each emotion. Although mentioned on the jacket as a love story, I felt that it was less of a love story and more of a human interest piece with somewhat of a dark-sided love story drifting along side the main plot; towards the middle and end of the piece, the love story raises its head and up and begins running feverishly towards the end keeping up with the previous pace of the both.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is simplistic complex and unbelievably colorful, with romance, drama, horror, angst, action and the readers involvement within each emotion. Although mentioned on the jacket as a love story, I felt that it was less of a love story and more of a human interest piece with somewhat of a dark-sided love story drifting along side the main plot; towards the middle and end of the piece, the love story raises its head and up and begins running feverishly towards the end keeping up with the previous pace of the both.
OVERALL: I simply cannot say enough about WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. I hadnt read any of Guen's other acclaimed works but look forward to picking them up.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
TALES FROM THE BED by Jenifer Estess.
Do not, I repeat, do not read this book for a feel-good laugh out loud simple read. Tales from the Bed, a memoir told to one sister by another sister dying of ALS, aka the uncurable Lou Gehrig's Disease, is nothing short of tear-jearkingly poignant, but so motivating that you feel as though you have done nothing with your perfectly-healthly-able-to-feed-yourself life, and inspired enough to do something...anything, after reading it.
Estess' physicians tell her to prepare to die; max out the plastic; take the trips you've always wanted to take; do all the things you've wanted to do. Just as she begins to truly live, her health truly begins to fade. In her failing condition, her work, including research on ALS, its effects, affects, potential cures and establishing awareness, continues to soar, accomplishing more than she could have hoped for. She relies on her sisters, to be her voice and continue to inspire others as she has been inspired by her debilitating disease to live as never before. Project ALS, as her work is called, is relied upon by not only Estess but also her own doctors, her sisters, other ALS patients and others to try and find a cure.
Estess details every instant that she realizes one more muscle doesnt work, the second she discovers that she can longer smile, the moment she uncovers that she really is dying. Each significant time period lets readers peek into her life, into THAT life, to see the disease as it ravishes the body; each span pushes readers to see do the things they need to do before it is too late.
The last pages are easily read through streaming, but well worth it tears. Jenifer Estess is not just her sister's sibling; she is every reader's sister, mother, daughter, friend.
OVERALL: a quiet moving memory that will no doubt inspire even the hardest soul
Do not, I repeat, do not read this book for a feel-good laugh out loud simple read. Tales from the Bed, a memoir told to one sister by another sister dying of ALS, aka the uncurable Lou Gehrig's Disease, is nothing short of tear-jearkingly poignant, but so motivating that you feel as though you have done nothing with your perfectly-healthly-able-to-feed-yourself life, and inspired enough to do something...anything, after reading it.
Estess' physicians tell her to prepare to die; max out the plastic; take the trips you've always wanted to take; do all the things you've wanted to do. Just as she begins to truly live, her health truly begins to fade. In her failing condition, her work, including research on ALS, its effects, affects, potential cures and establishing awareness, continues to soar, accomplishing more than she could have hoped for. She relies on her sisters, to be her voice and continue to inspire others as she has been inspired by her debilitating disease to live as never before. Project ALS, as her work is called, is relied upon by not only Estess but also her own doctors, her sisters, other ALS patients and others to try and find a cure.
Estess details every instant that she realizes one more muscle doesnt work, the second she discovers that she can longer smile, the moment she uncovers that she really is dying. Each significant time period lets readers peek into her life, into THAT life, to see the disease as it ravishes the body; each span pushes readers to see do the things they need to do before it is too late.
The last pages are easily read through streaming, but well worth it tears. Jenifer Estess is not just her sister's sibling; she is every reader's sister, mother, daughter, friend.
OVERALL: a quiet moving memory that will no doubt inspire even the hardest soul
Sunday, November 05, 2006
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES by Jennifer Weiner
By one of the best authors of "chick-lit," Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, is more like "mommy-lit" but nonetheless relatable. Told in four separate narrations by four women - three soon-to-be mommies and one former starlet turned mourning mother - Little Earthquakes flows freely and with wit standard of Weiner's work.
By one of the best authors of "chick-lit," Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, is more like "mommy-lit" but nonetheless relatable. Told in four separate narrations by four women - three soon-to-be mommies and one former starlet turned mourning mother - Little Earthquakes flows freely and with wit standard of Weiner's work.
The four voices - Rebecca, a chef married to a doctor with an overbearing mother-in-law; Kelly - a perfectionista with a corporate husband and Martha-Stewart inspired apartment; Ayinde, a former news anchor married to a professional athelete husband who recently committed adultery and Lia, an actress mourning the loss of her motherhood to her son's recent death.
While some may relate to an individual, I found a little bit of myself in each character.
Weiner, author of Good In Bed, In Her Shoes (a great movie by the way), Goodnight Nobody-her foray into comedic murder mystery and most recently and my cant-wait-to-read the Guy not Taken, puts herself into all of her books, which most likely is why every woman reading it can relate to each sentence in a different way. I was laughing out loud in some places and tearing up at others seeing both my self and my friends in the unbelieveable situations and reactions.
Weiner's emotionally-frank writing combined with the "everywoman" characters make for a great and comfortable read. Little Earthquakes is what happens when chick-lit grows up.
OVERALL - A fat and sassy read with a little bit of something for everyone.
While some may relate to an individual, I found a little bit of myself in each character.
Weiner, author of Good In Bed, In Her Shoes (a great movie by the way), Goodnight Nobody-her foray into comedic murder mystery and most recently and my cant-wait-to-read the Guy not Taken, puts herself into all of her books, which most likely is why every woman reading it can relate to each sentence in a different way. I was laughing out loud in some places and tearing up at others seeing both my self and my friends in the unbelieveable situations and reactions.
Weiner's emotionally-frank writing combined with the "everywoman" characters make for a great and comfortable read. Little Earthquakes is what happens when chick-lit grows up.
OVERALL - A fat and sassy read with a little bit of something for everyone.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls
Despite living a life with no food, no toys, very little clothing and virtually no "parental supervision," Jeannette Walls, author/narrarator of The Glass Castle, was, if nothing else, rich in a unique love unlike any other I've ever encountered in a work of non-fiction, fiction or otherwise.
Shuttled around the country in what her alcoholic, rootless father and "excitement addict" mother call the skedaddle-usually a midnight dodge of bills or the law- Walls and her siblings parent their mother, father and one another as best they can when confronted with what would normally tax any other person, both mentally and physically.
The family, no doubt, loves one another, if only in a love others cannot understand. Mother Rose Mary resides in an alternate universe of painting and writing and an "everything's an adventure" mentality while father Rex conspires to build his family a glass castle with his self-taught entrepreneurial efforts. Their stance on society, the world, and even the universe paired with their hearty non-conformist ideals were at best, a blessing and a curse, resulting in a life of only the most organized chaos expected.
The family, no doubt, loves one another, if only in a love others cannot understand. Mother Rose Mary resides in an alternate universe of painting and writing and an "everything's an adventure" mentality while father Rex conspires to build his family a glass castle with his self-taught entrepreneurial efforts. Their stance on society, the world, and even the universe paired with their hearty non-conformist ideals were at best, a blessing and a curse, resulting in a life of only the most organized chaos expected.
Effectively emotional without being a sob story, I found Walls' story of survival awe-inspiring while at the same time devastating to realize that people have really lived the way many of us cannot imagine. Walls and her siblings marched on the only way they knew - sleeping under a tarp when the roof over the bed leaked, scrounging for food in the cafeteria trash cans, sleeping in their car when they were inbetween homes, making a cross country move in the back of a U-haul, and most poignantly, choosing what star they wanted for Christmas during a particularly harsh holiday. I was touched by Walls story but for whatever reason did not feel "sorry" for the unique family. That conflict of emotions, nearly bothered me as I feel I am an empathetic reader and person; but at the same time, I wanted to read The Glass Castle as an observer and really understand a childhood to which I could never relate.
One reviewer found the story "sad and occassionally bitter," but I saw neither. Hardly comparable to the other hardscrabble childhood recounts I've read in the past, The Glass Castle, in fact, far surpasses it. It is a memoir, yes, but more than that it is an amazing recount of a survivor (arent we all survivors of childhood) rather than a victim of an unimaginable and more-than-unconventional lifestyle.
OVERALL: Technically, an easy but beautifully-written read and without a doubt, emotionally, completely heartrendering. The Glass Castle is something everyone should read if only to understand the accomplishments of overcoming a childhood, the person one becomes as a result of that accomplishment and the importance of family.
OVERALL: Technically, an easy but beautifully-written read and without a doubt, emotionally, completely heartrendering. The Glass Castle is something everyone should read if only to understand the accomplishments of overcoming a childhood, the person one becomes as a result of that accomplishment and the importance of family.
Monday, October 16, 2006
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN by Annie Proulx
Having read Brokeback Mountain prior to seeing the movie, I found this more of a love story than anything else. The too-short story of two people who meet under certain circumstances, fall in what can only be called love, are torn apart and reconnect time and time again, could fill any gender, race or age into the blanks. Once I saw the movie, my opinion only heightened and filled with a warm, pink glow.
Beautifully-written with each word carefully thought out and positioned, Brokeback Mountain reads like a extended poem. Proulx, a recognized short-story author, moves the story along quickly and efficiently without sacrificing an ounce of eloquence. It is just simply excellent-the type of short story I strived to write in my college years, but could never find within my mind or pen. Deeply-sincere but easily grasped by anyone who has ever experience love of any kind, Brokeback Mountain moves anyone with a heart that will accept it into their reading rapport.
I struggle with saying that it is not for the close-minded, because I feel many people cant get past the fact that it follows a relationship between two stereotypical males, but it is so moving that even the narrowest of minds could be broadened to the overall tone of love and longing.
Just as the book, this review is brief, but there is not much more to say. It truly speaks for itself.
OVERALL: An all-too-brief-love story above all else. Easy read, I completed it in a night. And how do you not read a book with one of the best lines ever, "I wish I knew how to quit you."
Having read Brokeback Mountain prior to seeing the movie, I found this more of a love story than anything else. The too-short story of two people who meet under certain circumstances, fall in what can only be called love, are torn apart and reconnect time and time again, could fill any gender, race or age into the blanks. Once I saw the movie, my opinion only heightened and filled with a warm, pink glow.
Beautifully-written with each word carefully thought out and positioned, Brokeback Mountain reads like a extended poem. Proulx, a recognized short-story author, moves the story along quickly and efficiently without sacrificing an ounce of eloquence. It is just simply excellent-the type of short story I strived to write in my college years, but could never find within my mind or pen. Deeply-sincere but easily grasped by anyone who has ever experience love of any kind, Brokeback Mountain moves anyone with a heart that will accept it into their reading rapport.
I struggle with saying that it is not for the close-minded, because I feel many people cant get past the fact that it follows a relationship between two stereotypical males, but it is so moving that even the narrowest of minds could be broadened to the overall tone of love and longing.
Just as the book, this review is brief, but there is not much more to say. It truly speaks for itself.
OVERALL: An all-too-brief-love story above all else. Easy read, I completed it in a night. And how do you not read a book with one of the best lines ever, "I wish I knew how to quit you."
WAKE UP CALL: THE POLITICAL EDUCATION OF A 9/11 WIDOW by Kristen Breitweiser
Ironically, I began reading Wake Up Call: the political educaiton of a 9/11 widow, by Kristen Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow and now author, just a few days before the fifth anniversary of the tragic attacks that rocked New York City, the Nation and ultimately the world. As I neared the middle of the book, I found myself with the television on at the close of that infamous day. Reading Breitweiser's story that night, I continually found myself gazing at the tv screen that was displaying the C-SPAN broadcast of the reading of the 2000+ names of those who perished that day. It was only after I gave my full attention back to the book the next night that I could try to comprehend even a fraction of how Breitweiser must feel.
Breitweiser lost her husband who worked for Fidicuary Trust in tower two of the World Trade Center. Ron Breitweiser was killed when the tower finally collapsed just minutes after the planes impact. Unlike others, Breitweiser was able to speak with her husband prior witnessing his death on television. Infuriated at the government, its representatives and its response to the terrorist attacks, Breitweiser explains why she and her fellow 9/11 widows, the Jersey Girls, as they have been dubbed, began what can only be a practically-grassroots campaign to answer the hardest question, "how did this happen to our loved ones?" Their efforts alongside others 9/11 families, directly resulted in the formation of the 9/11 investigative commission as well as continued prodding of the government's response to many of the questions the Jersey Girls, as well as the nation, had following the attacks.
Her dedicated activisim and lobbying as told through her no-nonsense and frill-free method of story-telling combined with the heart-wrenching personal account, gives readers a tug large enough to imagine what it must feel like to be so close to the events of 9/11.
Not a political-minded reader by any means, I surprisingly found Wake Up Call to be less political and more poignant than anything. I found myself pondering the same questions that she and her friends had and really, that we all should have. While Breitweiser has been considered a critic of the Bush Administration, the book is thankfully, not political in nature. Somewhat raw with emotion, and rightfully so, Breitweiser ventures from grief, to anger, to action, to resolution and back again during her time asking the hard questions, demanding answers and finding internal peace for her sake and the sake of her daughter and helping readers began striving towards that peace as well.
Unfortunately, Breitweiser is not yet a true household name unlike that of Ann Coulter, the conservative pundit, who attacked the Jersey Girls and their campaign. Breitweiser's response to Coulter is included at the end of Wake Up Call and should be read by all as well.
For someone who had no personal ties to 9/11, other than what will become the proverbial "where were you" question down the road, I was deeply touched by Wake Up Call. If you are not, perhaps you should read it again.
OVERALL: Moving without being grief-filled; have some tissues handy, her letters to her husband will definitely start the sniffles. P.S. I am poised to read Coulter's latest Godless, where she makes the claim against the Jersey Girls-keep an eye out.
Ironically, I began reading Wake Up Call: the political educaiton of a 9/11 widow, by Kristen Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow and now author, just a few days before the fifth anniversary of the tragic attacks that rocked New York City, the Nation and ultimately the world. As I neared the middle of the book, I found myself with the television on at the close of that infamous day. Reading Breitweiser's story that night, I continually found myself gazing at the tv screen that was displaying the C-SPAN broadcast of the reading of the 2000+ names of those who perished that day. It was only after I gave my full attention back to the book the next night that I could try to comprehend even a fraction of how Breitweiser must feel.
Breitweiser lost her husband who worked for Fidicuary Trust in tower two of the World Trade Center. Ron Breitweiser was killed when the tower finally collapsed just minutes after the planes impact. Unlike others, Breitweiser was able to speak with her husband prior witnessing his death on television. Infuriated at the government, its representatives and its response to the terrorist attacks, Breitweiser explains why she and her fellow 9/11 widows, the Jersey Girls, as they have been dubbed, began what can only be a practically-grassroots campaign to answer the hardest question, "how did this happen to our loved ones?" Their efforts alongside others 9/11 families, directly resulted in the formation of the 9/11 investigative commission as well as continued prodding of the government's response to many of the questions the Jersey Girls, as well as the nation, had following the attacks.
Her dedicated activisim and lobbying as told through her no-nonsense and frill-free method of story-telling combined with the heart-wrenching personal account, gives readers a tug large enough to imagine what it must feel like to be so close to the events of 9/11.
Not a political-minded reader by any means, I surprisingly found Wake Up Call to be less political and more poignant than anything. I found myself pondering the same questions that she and her friends had and really, that we all should have. While Breitweiser has been considered a critic of the Bush Administration, the book is thankfully, not political in nature. Somewhat raw with emotion, and rightfully so, Breitweiser ventures from grief, to anger, to action, to resolution and back again during her time asking the hard questions, demanding answers and finding internal peace for her sake and the sake of her daughter and helping readers began striving towards that peace as well.
Unfortunately, Breitweiser is not yet a true household name unlike that of Ann Coulter, the conservative pundit, who attacked the Jersey Girls and their campaign. Breitweiser's response to Coulter is included at the end of Wake Up Call and should be read by all as well.
For someone who had no personal ties to 9/11, other than what will become the proverbial "where were you" question down the road, I was deeply touched by Wake Up Call. If you are not, perhaps you should read it again.
OVERALL: Moving without being grief-filled; have some tissues handy, her letters to her husband will definitely start the sniffles. P.S. I am poised to read Coulter's latest Godless, where she makes the claim against the Jersey Girls-keep an eye out.
THE LOBOTOMIST: A MAVERICK MEDICAL GENIUS AND HIS TRAGIC QUEST TO RID THE WORLD OF MENTAL ILLNESS by Jack El-Hai
A squeamish subject to say the least, lobotomies and the subject of psycho-surgery and mental illness is not traditional reading material. When I picked up freelancer Jack El-Hai's The Lobotomist..., I thought it would be one person's experience with having a lobotomy as a result of mental illness. While that is tapped within the piece, what I found was an intriguing mix of history and biography in the life's practice of Dr. Walter Freeman.
A pioneer of psycho-surgery but a neurologist and psychiatrist by training, Freeman's specialization led him to St Elizabeth's Hospital and Fort Steilacroom, Pierce County, where he was able to almost-freely practice the underdeveloped sub-specialty psycho-surgery, the unique and highly criticized melding of psychology and surgery. The public's revulsion of such an unknown area followed by their lack of acceptance of the mentally ill led to hospitals overcrowded with patients that could not be reached emotionally much like the nation itself following WWII.
A pioneer of psycho-surgery but a neurologist and psychiatrist by training, Freeman's specialization led him to St Elizabeth's Hospital and Fort Steilacroom, Pierce County, where he was able to almost-freely practice the underdeveloped sub-specialty psycho-surgery, the unique and highly criticized melding of psychology and surgery. The public's revulsion of such an unknown area followed by their lack of acceptance of the mentally ill led to hospitals overcrowded with patients that could not be reached emotionally much like the nation itself following WWII.
While Freeman did began doing lobotomies using an ice pick, hammered into the eye socket and then into the brain, his passion and dedication to the oft-misunderstood field led to the fine-tuning and revision of his practice of psycho-surgery resulting in different types of lobotomies utilizing tools from ice picks to his invention, the leucotome and finally the orbitoclast. The controversial procedures were deemed successful by patients and their families. Patients that were once lethargic, combative, psychotic, schizophrenic, in varied states of catatonia or completely "not like themselves," were found, following their surgeries and extensive therapy, to be reading, writing, speaking, and living their lives as normally as to be expected. Some had negative results - Freeman's ill-fated lobotomy on John F. Kennedy's sister Rosemary-and few resulted in death.
As reported in The Seattle Times, author Jack El-Hai discovers within his research that "aside from Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, Walter Freeman ranks as the most scored physician of the twentieth century." Readers can both understand and wonder why when despite his best intentions, Freeman's procedures were highly controversial and occasionally thought to completely alter, rather than cure, his patients. El-Hai validates the readers emotions, okaying both the morbid curiosity and the sympathy and empathy for both Freeman and his patients. He details the state of the mentally ill in the nation during Freeman's time and why his perspective on their treatment was necessary.
The Lobotomist.., is not light reading, nor for the faint of heart or delicate of moods. It is a very informative and truly interesting read. El-Hai offers both the biographical and historical information needed to enjoy the book as a great non-fiction read. In fact, I found myself Googling "walter freeman" and "lobotomy" to find out more; I wanted to know more about Rosemary Kennedy and her mental illness, and more about mental illness in general.
OVERALL: The Lobotomist is an excellent, deep and strong read, highly recommended if only for the curiosity and interest in knowing something you didnt know before.
As reported in The Seattle Times, author Jack El-Hai discovers within his research that "aside from Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, Walter Freeman ranks as the most scored physician of the twentieth century." Readers can both understand and wonder why when despite his best intentions, Freeman's procedures were highly controversial and occasionally thought to completely alter, rather than cure, his patients. El-Hai validates the readers emotions, okaying both the morbid curiosity and the sympathy and empathy for both Freeman and his patients. He details the state of the mentally ill in the nation during Freeman's time and why his perspective on their treatment was necessary.
The Lobotomist.., is not light reading, nor for the faint of heart or delicate of moods. It is a very informative and truly interesting read. El-Hai offers both the biographical and historical information needed to enjoy the book as a great non-fiction read. In fact, I found myself Googling "walter freeman" and "lobotomy" to find out more; I wanted to know more about Rosemary Kennedy and her mental illness, and more about mental illness in general.
OVERALL: The Lobotomist is an excellent, deep and strong read, highly recommended if only for the curiosity and interest in knowing something you didnt know before.
Monday, September 25, 2006
THE LONG LIST
The list of "to be reviewed" is long and dare i say, arduous. Lying ahead of me like the Everest of my imagination, its a task to be tackled one review at a time. But should you wish to somewhat skip ahead in the Choose Your Own Adventure book that is being friends with Jessica and/or reading her blog, below is the list of the "to be reviewed." I wont reveal the "to be read" pile, for it is quite long as well and I have reasons to read them in a certain order which will be unveiled upon their reading. Aside from the fact that its one I lack, patience is a virtue.
In no particular order, the review-ominees are...
Little Earthquakes & Goodnight Nobody/Jennifer Weiner
The Abortionist Daughter/Elizabeth Hyde
Savannah from Savannah & Savannah Comes Undone/Denise Hildreth
The Lobotomist/Jack El-Hai
The Tattoo Artist/Jill Ciment
A Bride Most Begruding/Deeanne Gist
The Girls/Lori Lansens
Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold
Secret Life of Bees & The Mermaid Chair/ Sue Monk Kidd
Brokeback Mountain/ Annie Proux
Quality of Life Report/ Meghan Daum
Bride Stripped Bare/Anonymous
Portrait of A Killer/Patricia Cornwell
The Harry Potter series(through book 6)/JK Rowling
The list of "to be reviewed" is long and dare i say, arduous. Lying ahead of me like the Everest of my imagination, its a task to be tackled one review at a time. But should you wish to somewhat skip ahead in the Choose Your Own Adventure book that is being friends with Jessica and/or reading her blog, below is the list of the "to be reviewed." I wont reveal the "to be read" pile, for it is quite long as well and I have reasons to read them in a certain order which will be unveiled upon their reading. Aside from the fact that its one I lack, patience is a virtue.
In no particular order, the review-ominees are...
Little Earthquakes & Goodnight Nobody/Jennifer Weiner
The Abortionist Daughter/Elizabeth Hyde
Savannah from Savannah & Savannah Comes Undone/Denise Hildreth
The Lobotomist/Jack El-Hai
The Tattoo Artist/Jill Ciment
A Bride Most Begruding/Deeanne Gist
The Girls/Lori Lansens
Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold
Secret Life of Bees & The Mermaid Chair/ Sue Monk Kidd
Brokeback Mountain/ Annie Proux
Quality of Life Report/ Meghan Daum
Bride Stripped Bare/Anonymous
Portrait of A Killer/Patricia Cornwell
The Harry Potter series(through book 6)/JK Rowling
Sunday, September 24, 2006
SAMMIE'S HILL by Kristen Gore
I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason and karma and what goes around comes around. This book not only came into my life at an appropriate time and gave me a ultra-witty way of observing my current situation but was also a way to get lost in someone else's situation without the cliche "get away from it all" feel.
A 20-something political aide on Capital Hill, Sammie is a reader's "every girl." Easy to relate to, acceptable to laugh at and unavoidable to laugh with, Sammie is a character somewhat typical of chick-lit but with a refreshing difference.
A difference that varies with the reader. Recommended to me by a friend (you know who you are) who recognized my need to read this book, Sammie's Hill was the perfect read for me at the precise moment in my life when I read it and will most likely be the appropriate time for you as well. I could also, within the first chapter, see and understand why my friend read it and how it related to her. It reads so well, circulating seamlessly between instantaneous thoughts and the immediate sitauation at hand.
Sammie advises a Maryland senator in D.C, and though tripping along over life's stumbling blocks, she seems relatively content. She lightheartedly struggles with her career and its effects on her in an all-too-familiar cocktail of passion and politics.
Of course, a man comes into the mix as only the literary staple can and stirs the concoction moreso until readers are pleasantly tipsy on her life events and their outcomes. Sammie's relationships with the man, er, men in her life -her boyfriend, her father, her boss- as well as her friends, adversaries, co-workers and those she meets along the way, allow readers to reflect on their lives, the people within it and one's appreciation and/or unfavorable emotions towards them.
Even Sammie's introspections pop and bubble as everyone's do. From her daily battle to keep her Siamese fighting fish alive, to her review of animal attack defense movements while in the shower ( a true laugh-out-loud moment) Sammie reassures us that we are not crazy after all when we find outselves pondering during the weeklt budget meeting why we can't keep a plant thriving, milk from spoiling or remember to get an oil change.
With a splash of karma and what-was-she-thinking, Sammie's Hill might be chick-lit in flavor but goes down like a delicious glass of relatively-affordable white wine.
OVERALL: Delightfully easy read without feeling patronized; great weekend read!
I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason and karma and what goes around comes around. This book not only came into my life at an appropriate time and gave me a ultra-witty way of observing my current situation but was also a way to get lost in someone else's situation without the cliche "get away from it all" feel.
A 20-something political aide on Capital Hill, Sammie is a reader's "every girl." Easy to relate to, acceptable to laugh at and unavoidable to laugh with, Sammie is a character somewhat typical of chick-lit but with a refreshing difference.
A difference that varies with the reader. Recommended to me by a friend (you know who you are) who recognized my need to read this book, Sammie's Hill was the perfect read for me at the precise moment in my life when I read it and will most likely be the appropriate time for you as well. I could also, within the first chapter, see and understand why my friend read it and how it related to her. It reads so well, circulating seamlessly between instantaneous thoughts and the immediate sitauation at hand.
Sammie advises a Maryland senator in D.C, and though tripping along over life's stumbling blocks, she seems relatively content. She lightheartedly struggles with her career and its effects on her in an all-too-familiar cocktail of passion and politics.
Of course, a man comes into the mix as only the literary staple can and stirs the concoction moreso until readers are pleasantly tipsy on her life events and their outcomes. Sammie's relationships with the man, er, men in her life -her boyfriend, her father, her boss- as well as her friends, adversaries, co-workers and those she meets along the way, allow readers to reflect on their lives, the people within it and one's appreciation and/or unfavorable emotions towards them.
Even Sammie's introspections pop and bubble as everyone's do. From her daily battle to keep her Siamese fighting fish alive, to her review of animal attack defense movements while in the shower ( a true laugh-out-loud moment) Sammie reassures us that we are not crazy after all when we find outselves pondering during the weeklt budget meeting why we can't keep a plant thriving, milk from spoiling or remember to get an oil change.
With a splash of karma and what-was-she-thinking, Sammie's Hill might be chick-lit in flavor but goes down like a delicious glass of relatively-affordable white wine.
OVERALL: Delightfully easy read without feeling patronized; great weekend read!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
I REALLY AM DOING SOMETHING.
I really am doing something. I am. I'm compiling a list of all books I can remember reading in the last few months. A somewhat daunting task being as how I devour books like Jessica Simpsons love life chews up tabloids.
I call my friendly library the other day in hopes of obtaining a list of all the books I've read in the last, oh say, 2 years. But alas,contrary to popular belief, the library, which I routinely turn to, aside from Internet, for information, does not keep reference or records of every book I have ever checked out. Surprisingly enough, I was informed, in a "big brother" is watching-type way, that due to a privacy act, the library cannot keep a record of such things. Not cannot reveal it to me, not does not keep record or will not keep record, but CAN NOT.
But she could tell me I had some currently checked out that were overdue and would I like to renew them. Shocked as I was, I did renew the cd of Harry Connick Jr's We are in Love and Entertainment Weekly's Billboard Hits of 1992 as I had already turned in the biography of Madame Tussaud and Marrying Mozart and set to making the list of all lists.
I found myself writing on scraps of paper, napkins, my palm and texting to myself, titles of books that would pop into my head, in fear of forgetting just one sumptuous literary meal I once savored. So far, I can only remember 17 delectable word feasts and am busy writing the recipe for everyone to sample as well. For those unfamilar with similes or metaphors, it just means I'm writing a review of them all soon.
That said, if you can remember me telling you that "I read this really great book called _____" please let me know via email or phone call so that I can include that particular one as well. Or, if you have read a great or not-so-great book or article or even have discovered a really great magazine, let me know. I'll take a look and see what I think.
I really am doing something. I am. I'm compiling a list of all books I can remember reading in the last few months. A somewhat daunting task being as how I devour books like Jessica Simpsons love life chews up tabloids.
I call my friendly library the other day in hopes of obtaining a list of all the books I've read in the last, oh say, 2 years. But alas,contrary to popular belief, the library, which I routinely turn to, aside from Internet, for information, does not keep reference or records of every book I have ever checked out. Surprisingly enough, I was informed, in a "big brother" is watching-type way, that due to a privacy act, the library cannot keep a record of such things. Not cannot reveal it to me, not does not keep record or will not keep record, but CAN NOT.
But she could tell me I had some currently checked out that were overdue and would I like to renew them. Shocked as I was, I did renew the cd of Harry Connick Jr's We are in Love and Entertainment Weekly's Billboard Hits of 1992 as I had already turned in the biography of Madame Tussaud and Marrying Mozart and set to making the list of all lists.
I found myself writing on scraps of paper, napkins, my palm and texting to myself, titles of books that would pop into my head, in fear of forgetting just one sumptuous literary meal I once savored. So far, I can only remember 17 delectable word feasts and am busy writing the recipe for everyone to sample as well. For those unfamilar with similes or metaphors, it just means I'm writing a review of them all soon.
That said, if you can remember me telling you that "I read this really great book called _____" please let me know via email or phone call so that I can include that particular one as well. Or, if you have read a great or not-so-great book or article or even have discovered a really great magazine, let me know. I'll take a look and see what I think.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
WELCOME TO JESSICA, ETCETERA. Aside from being my first attempt at "blogging," JESSICA, ETCETERA, is really just an outlet and response to my friends and family saying, 'please, stop telling us about these books you read.' I read all genres, for the most part, and will definitely give an opinion vastly different from that which you would read in the famed New York Times on books that you may or may not find on that same list. I'd like to think it will be a bit of literary couture, if you will. A high-stakes undertaking, couture is defined as "tailored, with close attention to detail and high end fashion." While JESSICA, ETCETERA might touch on fashion, among other things, now and then, it will be a tailored, detailed, witty, occasionally sarcastic, at times poignant, discussion and recommendation of books, magazines and other words and literature that has found its way into my life. Events, whether tragic or exciting, occur in life for a reason, just as friends and people make appearances and departures.I feel similarly about books. Lately, it seems I am reading the appropriate book for the exact moment I'm currently living and as a reader of this blog, you will see that as well. I have alot of catching up to do for JESSICA, ETCETERA and am up to the task, so it might be a bit before I'm reviewing the moment I'm complete with my latest read.
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