| Matt's rating system: GO! I liked the book a lot and recommend it to you without reservation. CAUTION I liked it, but your tastes may be different. STOP! I really didn't like this book at all. |
Unless I've miscounted, I think three are 71 books on this list. Lots of them were stinkers,
but they all had something to say, and I don't regret a one of them. Still, I'm thinking that I
should resolve to read less in 2011 and try to have more of what some might call "a life." I
doubt if that will happen, but stick around and we'll find out together if that will happen. See
you in 2011.
The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry The following may sound to some of you like damning
with faint praise--and perhaps it is, but Mr. Berry's books have always been a guilty pleasure
for me. His plots are predictable; his characters seem to be becoming increasingly
two-dimensional, and some might call his work manufactured entertainment; but I've always
jumped on each new release and read it eagerly. After trashing most of the World Heritage
Sites in Europe, Mr. Berry's alter ego Cotton Malone has turned his attention to Asia,
specifically, the museum of the terra cotta soldiers near Xi'an. Cotton and his author
unleash their entire bag of tricks, which seems engineered to provide the highest possible
Mayhem Quotient (see left sidebar). The MQ=23 The aforementioned World Heritage Site is
trashed; legendary treasure; vengeful parents; evil millionaires; hot woman with a gun;
stolen government secrets; CIA drinking buddies; private jets--if there had been any sex, it
would have been a clean sweep.) Check it out. (12/19/2010)
Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges I think I'm a victim of false advertising. I bought
this book because it said "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize" on the cover. I thought that phrase
described this book. Apparently, Mr. Hedges received the award for something else he
wrote. But I digress. The liberal class that Mr. Hedges is lamenting is--in no particular
order--muckrakers, socialists and communists. Their natural habitat includes the press,
universities, labor movement, culture (!), the Democratic Party and liberal religious
institutions. These institutions have either "collapsed" or been compromised by the evil
forces of capitalism. To say that they've collapsed is just ridiculous, but I'll admit that whether
or not they've been compromised by "the man" is open to discussion. Personally, I find his
reasoning to be pretty weak--but then I would. Curiously, the one place where Mr. Hedges
doesn't think there's enough capitalism is the Internet, where he says that Pulitzer
Prize-winning writers don't get paid enough for their work. Serves him right for selling books
under false pretenses. (12/15/2010)
Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 by Fergal Keane Have you ever been to the
Lennoxlove Book Festival? Me neither. Lennoxlove is a grand old Scottish house near the
town of Haddington, twenty miles east of Edinburgh. The festival is always held the third
weekend in November, which means that it usually ends the day before I get to Haddington
to have Thanksgiving with friends. One of this year's highlights was Fergal Keane reading
from his new history of the siege of Kohima, which he calls the last great battle of imperial
Britain, and happily, my friend got me a copy of his book while she was there. If you never
heard of this battle in far off India, it might have something to do with the facts that: 1) the only
Americans participating in it were airmen who were dropping supplies into the remote town
near the India-Burma border; and 2) it was wrapping up about the same time that D-Day was
unfolding in Normandy. The book is well-researched and written, and you'll find it hard to put
down. You might disagree with some of its assertions--for example, was this undeniably
fierce but poorly-supplied Japanese force really capable of marching deep into India and
knocking it out of the war at such a late date in 1944?--but in any event, you'll find Mr. Keane's
arguments compelling. If you're a student of history, I recommend it highly. (12/13/2010)
Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen Somewhat shockingly, I've actually read three of
the books on Steven King's list of the top ten books of the year. I liked the other two quite a
lot, but I couldn't disagree with him more about this one. I could not connect with this novel in
any way. Patty and Walter Berglund of St. Paul--who share Mr. King's political
sentiments--are such hollow, soulless beings that I just couldn't work up much enthusiasm
to celebrate their triumphs or commiserate with them in their failures--of which there were
many. It may be that the author is trying to comment on the hollowness and soullessness of
modern society--and if so, more power to him. I'm sure there are people like this in the
world,and I'm sure that Steven King probably knows many of them. I just kind imagine why
anyone would want to write a book about them. (12/3/2010)
Brave by Nicholas Evans took about three hours to read, and when it was over, I felt a little
dirty. It's the story of a kid who grows up in England with all kinds of family secrets. By the
time he and his mom move to America, he's completely screwed up--and not in a good way.
As a screwed up adult, he botches the job of raising his son, and the reader is invited to
compare and contrast the rearing of the father and son. It's not pretty--but it is affecting. It's
one of those books that you don't necessarily enjoy while it's in your hands, but once you put
it down, you're pleased that you made the effort. (11/30/2010)
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson Mr. Bryson has a million facts at his
fingertips about the commonplace things in our lives,and he does a wonderful job of paring
them down to the most interesting couple of thousand and sharing them with the reader.
How did salt and pepper get to the top of the condiment food chain? What's the difference
between an herb and a spice? What are the two most influential houses in America? (And
why?) Those and thousands of other questions are answered in this delightful book.
Check it out. (11/29/2010)
And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi Occupied Paris by Alan Riding I think of this
book as a lost opportunity. It should have been catnip to someone like me--Paris AND
Nazis! The author catalogues some of the most interesting people in the world in the cultural
worlds of theatre, film, literature, ballet, opera and the visual arts during one of the most
interesting periods of their lives. And that's the problem. The book reads like a catalogue.
(NOTE: Just today, someone in Scotland told me she was reading my snarky comments, so
in her honor, I'll use the UK-approved spellings of "catalogues" and "catalogue".) It's a
mind-numbing procedural of people doing things between the day in 1940 when the
Germans came to town and the end of the occupation in 1944. There's really no sense of a
narrative. At the very end of th book, the author tries out a couple of ideas that he thinks might
have overarching themes of the period, but there was no sense of those themes in the
400-odd pages that precede his wrap-up. In short, I wish the author of the book had listed to
Kelly from The Office, when she was explaining her theory of office birthday parties--There's
always a theme. (11/18/2010)
The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie If you're not from Mississippi, move on down
the list. The next book is much better. If you are from Mississippi, you know who Dick
Scruggs is, and you think he's either guilty or innocent of the crime that landed him in prison.
If you think that Mr. Scruggs is guilty and deserves what he got,,you'll probably be more
comfortable reading King of Torts. But if you think he was brought low by a conspiracy of
good old boys who resented his power and fortune, Mr. Wilkie is with you. The author writes
as if he--like Mr. Scruggs--claims not to know how Scruggs could have gotten himself
involved with such a sorry bunch of characters. In a metaphor that he beats to death, Mr.
Wilkie even has a name for them--The Dark Side of the Force. Here's a partial list of the folks
that he thinks are up to no good: Senator Trent Lott (who, oddly, is Mr. Scruggs's
brother-in-law); former State Auditor Pete Johnson; former Hinds County D.A. Ed Peters; P. L.
Blakely (whoMr. Wilkie describes as "a figure in their network"); the Sigma Nu fraternity at Ole
Miss (which is compared to Skull and Bones at Yale); and the First Presbyterian Church of
Jackson (by contrast, the Fondren Presbyterian Church that I attend is referred to as
"progressive"--the author's highest compliment).
I really don't have an opinion on the guilt or innocence of Dick Scruggs. At the very least, I
would say that if you lie down with dogs, you're going to get up with fleas. What I do resent is
the smarmy tone the author uses. "While men such as Blake wormed their way into
Eastland's political network, Pete Johnson was born into it," is typical. Likewise, there are no
"liberal" Democrats in Mississippi, only "progressive" ones. You get the idea. What's really
troubling is that the author is a journalism professor and teaching this method to the next
generation of "reporters". (11/8/2010)
Washington by Ron Chernow If you'd asked me a couple of decades ago who my favorite
president was, I would have said Thomas Jefferson. That was before I started reading much
about him. While I agreed with him (then and now) about a lot of things, I discovered that as
a human being, I'm not sure I'd even let him in my house. (This was before the Sally
Hemmings thing, so that's not it.) So while others continued to extol the virtues of
Jefferson--or Roosevelt (pick one), Lincoln or Reagan, I became a George Washington guy.
And I still am, which might explain why I was wary of this book. The last thing that interested
me was yet another dry bio spiced up with the occasional tidbit that might compel me to like
the man less. I don't like facts getting in the way of my idol worship. Happily, Mr. Chernow
has written a masterpiece. He transforms the original George W from a monument as rigid
as the obelisk that bears his name to a man of flesh and blood genuinely worthy of the
praise he has received.
While Mr. Chernow acknowledges Washington's reserved demeanor that served him so
well, he also talks about less reserved times such as marching his army to Yorktown and
seeing the French reinforcements for the first time. He stood on the bank of a river, jumped
up and down, shouted and laughed in delight. Mr. Chernow describes the scene so well that
I can see him doing it. To underscore Washington's concern about the way that others
perceived him, he discusses at length the clothes he wore, his dental problems and the care
that he took to make Mount Vernon appear to his countrymen as a home of some
consequence. If I have a criticism, it would be that Mr. Chernow is fashionably fixated on the
slave issue, but I'm sure he didn't want to be accused of trying to sweep it under the rug.
(Interestingly, George's will provided for the manumission of his slaves after Martha's death.
During the year that Martha outlived him, she was afraid that some of the slaves, impatient
for their freedom, might try to kill her. To rectify the situation, she freed them all a few months
after George's death.) This is a great book. You'll thank me for recommending it to you.
(11/5/2010)
The Confession by John Grisham I guess anyone could have seen this one coming. Mr
Grisham, if you've been paying attention, has become one of the leading proponents of the
movement to outlaw the death penalty in the United States. Which is fine with me. If you
know me at all, you know that I'm somewhat ambivalent about the use of the death penalty. I
believe that there are some instances in which it is absolutely appropriate. Others, not so
much. (If you really want to get me started, ask me what about the idiotic notion of "victim's
rights". But I digress.) I don't have a problem with the politics of the book. You may think
differently. Ironically (this poor word is so abused in our language that I'm always somewhat
hesitant to use it), I think that Mr. Grisham's prodigious talent works against the message he
wants to convey in this book. It is so effortless to read that you're hardly challenged to
consider the strong position he's advocating. It's such a cut-and-dried and blatant example
of what he's against that you wish it had been more nuanced and ambiguous. If the truth
were told, it's practically a revenge fantasy for defense attorneys. If you're ready for the
medicine to go down, here's your spoonful of sugar. (10/31/2010)
Antony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy First, Mr. Goldsworthy does a fine job of
presenting the events: Cleopatra met Caesar when she was 18...she had her brother
murdered...she had a son...she was in Rome when he was murdered...Marc Antony was a
mediocre general and not the shrewdest politician around...they had three kids....Actium...
SNAKES!!...and, cut. This is familiar territory, and although I don't recall reading anything I
hadn't seen anywhere else, Mr. Goldsworthy's way of relating the story keeps it fresh. From
time to time, he'll toss in a phrase like "Our sources tell us..." that might make you think that
you're watching E! News. If you're looking for a thoughtful and straightforward telling of this
story, this is a great book. Having said that, let me vent my complaint about this book and
everything else I've ever read about Caesar, Cleo and Marc. The events I cavalierly
mentioned at the top of the paragraph actually happened over a twenty-year period. In the
usual tellings of the story, you get the impression that it takes about four or five years. (I think
I blame Shakespeare for this.) What's remarkable to me is that in a culture that chewed up
members of the Ptolemy family and spit them out--without any help from Romans who
coveted Egypt's wealth--Cleopatra held on to her throne and her country for a very long time.
Very few writers make a point of emphasizing that fact or discussing what life was like in
those years. I think that would be a fascinating topic for a book. Somebody who knows more
about it than I do should write it. (11/3/2010)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin is a book that the folks at
www.visitmississippi.org hope will be forgotten quickly. I'm no psychologist, but my guess is
that the only two characters in this novel about a dying little town in Mississippi who might
have triple-digit IQ's are the two girls whose murders frame the plot. This is a dark, dark
book about ignorance and prejudice. In other words , it sounds very much like something
that could have happened around here. Two boys--one white, one black--growing up in the
70's have more in common than they might guess. Along thew way, the black child goes off
to Ole Miss and sees a little bit of life before returning to the small town as its constable. The
white boy stays home and takes over his father's automotive repair shop, living as a local
pariah because he may or may not have had something to do with the disappearance and
presumed murder of a girl when he was in high school. I'm not crazy about the way the novel
jumps around on the time and space continuum, but overall, it's a compelling tale that will
stick with you long after you've put it down. (10/27/10)
Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre It's been so long since I've read one of Mr. Le Carre's
books that I can't remember if they were all this bad, or if this is a recent development. He
seems to be doing well for himself, so I'll assume that this is a surprising disappointment. I
really did read the book, and yet I can't find any connection between the title of the book and
any of the characters in it. For the record, the Mayhem Quotient (MQ) is a woeful 4. (Vengeful
parents, evil millionaires, old drinking buddies, private aircraft--see left sidebar). Maybe after
decades of glamorous spies, Mr. Le Carre is trying to do the world a favor by making covert
operatives banal. Maybe if more of them were as dull and uninteresting as those presented
here, people inclined to those kinds of jobs would choose more productive occupations. In a
nutshell, a Russian billionaire knows that the boys at home are out to get him and tries to
defect to the West. To assist in this effort, he chooses a couple of self-absorbed British dolts
who think that a little secret agent derring-do might be a lark. Ennui ensues. (10/25/2010)
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse Instead of the agricultural operation at the old
Manor Farm, what if Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer from Animal Farm had opened a
bookstore on the Left Bank in Paris? The results might be something akin to "The Good
Novel" , the fictional bookstore on the rue Dupuytren in this book, founded by an otherwise
uninvolved man and woman who decide that their store will sell on only the "best" novels as
selected by a panel consisting of the best novelists in France. The store doesn't make any
money-but it's pure. The primary enjoyment to be had here is in listening to a bunch of
bubbleheads talk about whose books would be sold at the store and whose would not. (To
say that this book would not be sold in the store that it is named for would be too easy a
shot.) And oh, by the way, this is a mystery novel. The MQ is a pitiful 1.5 (sex and a
millionaire who may or may not be evil). The book is almost as hard to take seriously as the
riots that are currently engulfing Paris. You have to accept it for its charm and curious
Frenchness. (10/24/2010)
Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama by Bill O'Reilly Here's a
paradox: The only people who will get anything out of this book are people who know
nothing about Bill O'Reilly, and the people who will learn the least are those who know even
a little about him. In other words, I think you could say that he's preaching to the choir. He
talks about himself, President Obama, himself, other politicians and journalists, himself,
Lassie (!), and --oh yeah--himself. Don't get me wrong: I like Bill O'Reilly, and think he's
about the most fair-minded guy in the news game. But enough's enough. (10/12/2010)
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett This 985-page doorstop is the first of a trilogy that Mr. Follett
intends to call The Century. The book begins at the dawn of WWI and follows young men
and women of various social classes in Russia, Wales, Germany and the United States and
follows them through the course of the war and into the beginning of the 1920's. As upi
,might expect, they find themselves--like Forrest Gump--thrust into situations into which they
can observe and participate in some of the most auspicious doings of their time. The
Russian becomes an aide to Lenin; The Welsh son and daughter of miners both find
themselves elected to Parliament; the American is an aide to President Wilson (apparently
because he has time on his hands); and the German is a military officer in the German
embassy in London. It's an interesting read. While not all of his characters are equally
interesting, Mr. Follett is a wonderful storyteller, and he keeps you turning the pages. If you're
interested in this period, I think you'll like the story. (10/10/2010)
Rattlesnakes & the Moon by Darlin'Neal Ms. Neal is a native Mississippian, but to be
honest, I only picked up the book because her name was Darlin'. Darlin's book is a
collection of short stories about down-and-out women from Mississippi to New Mexico and
the male skunks who done 'em wrong. It's really not my thing, but I can't say that it's not good
writing. You may think otherwise--and for Darlin's sake, I hope you do. (10/2/2010)
Lost Empire by Clive Cussler is fairly tame by mystery standards with an MQ = 6. (World
Heritage Sites are trashed; legendary treasure; evil millionaires; hot woman with a gun;
drinking buddies; yachts). So how did the Aztecs get to Mexico? Oddly enough, there are
people in the world for whom this is a life-or-death issue. Into this quandary wade a couple
of spoiled American treasure-hunters about whom we're supposed to give a damn. They're
young, beautiful and rich, and they have a staff of weasels who neglect their own lives to
back them up--even the head librarian at the Library of Congress is only too happy to do their
backgrond checking for them. What they are not is interesting. Unlike The Spy (below), Mr.
Cussler seems to plugging holes with what he thinks are the appropriate square pegs.
(10/4/2010)
Empire by Steven Saylor A novel about ancient Rome? Blood and guts in the
Colosseum? Check. Deflowered Vestal Virgins? Check. Debauched sex with slave girls
and boys? Check. So what was I expecting? If this is your kind of thing--and I admit that
from time to time, it's my kind of thing--it's all here. (9/28/2010)
Citrus County by John Brandon I'm sorry, but I'm going to read a book about disaffected
youth, I want some titilation! I can get bored and useless kids and clueless adults
anywhere. When I read abou the upcoming generation of drones whose lives will be worse
(and shorter) than mine as they work to pay my Social Security, I want to know that they're
having a least a little fun being bored and useless. Such does not seem to be the case. Not
in this book, anyway. (9/26/2010)
The Two Sisters Café by Elena Yates Eulo and Samantha Harper Macy This is a book that
I've been waiting for for 25 years. Well, not THE book I've been waiting for--but A book. Let
me explain. As a kid in Batesville, one of my babysitters was a neighbor named Harriet
Harper. Apparenly, babysitting me wasn't the height of her aspirations because as soon as
she was able to do so, she left Batesville and moved to New York, where she became a
successful actress under the name Samantha Harper. (Harriet was also her mother's
name, so maybe using her middle name professionally made sense.) She was on
Broadway (in Oh, Calcutta!) and television (in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), and eventually
married a fine actor named Bill Macy and moved to California. She and Bill would come back
to Batesville from time to time, and sometimes, they'd come to my mother's open house at
Christmas. On one of those occasions, she met my precious Aunt Arralee, who told her that
she had been named for an aunt named Arralee Charity Craig Matthews. In delight,
Samantha said that some day she'd write a book with a character named Arralee Charity
Craig Matthews in it. Alas, this is not that book. But while we wait for that opus, this is a fine
substitute. Gentlemen, this is not a book for you. it's chick lit of the first order, and perhaps
new age chick lit at that. As it is set in rural Kentucky in 1952, I really doubt whether the
women in its pages were as aware of their chakras as they claim. But, having said that, it is
delightful on a number of levels, and like actress Sharon Gless, who gives a blurb on the
back cover, I can easily see this book being turned into a television series and running
forever. While there is an overarching story arc, there are also a number of nice little
vignettes that could be adapted for a compelling series. And if that happens, I hope there will
be room for Arralee Charity Craig Matthews. (8/17/2010)
Toqueville's Discovery of America by Leo Damrosch Toqueville's iconic Democracy in
America, like The Holy Bible, is one of those books that almost anyone can bend to reflect
their own worldview. (For example, the City of Memphis has always irritated me, so I might
wish to quote de Toqueville and say, "Memphis! What a letdown! Neither people nor
things!" See what I mean?) In reality, Democracy in America was published eight years
after Toqueville and his friend Gustave de Beaumont flitted (if that's the word) around the
country, seeing things and meeting people. During those eight years, France became a less
democratic place, and Mr. Toqueville's appreciation for what he had seen in America grew.
Mr. Damrosch quotes extensively from the copious notes that Toqueville and Beaumont
made on their trip; and from those notes, we can see that Mr. Toqueville was not nearly as
enraptured by what saw in America as people who have had his book quoted to them might
suppose. Generally speaking, he liked the North but disliked Northerners, and he disliked
the South but liked Southerners. If that doesn't make much sense to you, you should
probably read the book. (9/13/2010)
The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps by Eric Bazan is actually three books in
one. All three of them are about Paris, of course, but they are so disjointed and
disassociated from each other that you suspect that the author has padded out a short book
with a couple essays he'd written about other things. It starts sublimely. The bulk of the
book is about how the faubourgs, arrondissements and quartiers came to be over the course
of the centuries and what famous things happened in each. This part of the book is so
dense and interesting that I had to have a map of the city at my side to be able to understand
where the author was taking me. It was sort of a graduate course in the geography of the
city. This was followed by a 90-page Part Two about "Red Paris" that traced the history of
political unrest through the city and over the course of the 19th century. The author skips
back and forth between the unrests of 1830, 1848 and 1870 (and others) willy-nilly in a
manner that soon becomes frustrating and then annoying. Part Three follows a similar tack
on the topic of Flaneurs (look it up). We bounce around town and the years with Balzac and
Baudelaire, and if anything, this part is even more annoying than the one that precedes it.
Overall, it's a frustrating ride. (9/7/2010)
Napoleon's Wars: An International History by Charles Esdaile If I were more industrious, I
would undertake a study of the biographies of Napoleon to see how many of them were
written by residents of the United Kingdom. I'm sure that "all of them " isn't the correct
answer, but frankly I can't think of one off the top of my head that hasn't seemed to have
British point of view.. I dont' want to cast aspersions on UK historians, but I wonder what the
attraction is. This biography is no better or worse than any other, and the author's "hook" is
that he claims to provide more of an international context for Napoleon's actions than one is
likely to get elsewhere. Maybe so. As an American, I was gratified to see that, for example,
someone talks about the influence (limited though it was) of our War of 1812 on the situation
in Europe. Insights like this are many but superficial, and they don't make the book much
more interesting than other books you might have read on the subject. (9/6/2010)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson Mayhem Quotient (see sidebar
left) or MQ=8 (Vengeful children AND parents; evil millionaires; Sex; Hot women with
guns--alas, not Lisbeth Salander; Evildoers from Germany) So, is this series of books finally
over, and have we seen the last of Lisbeth Salander? Yes and no. The "Millennium Trilogy"
is complete, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone makes it worth the author's while to
bring Lisbeth back for more hijinks. It's just a suspicion. And if he does, I hope he won't
confne her to a hospital bed for 90 percent of the book, as he does here. These books work
best when Lisbeth is being Lisbeth. They bog down considerably when the author devotes
endless pages to Blomkvist (the journalist and the author's alter ego) and other random
Swedes about whom we couldn't care less. The rambling nature of the storytelling that was
so fresh in the first book starts to wear thin here--not least in the four-page diversion about
how toilets are made in Vietnam and marketed in Sweden. The action here is pretty tame,
and the book reads like a police procedural. Maybe it's time for Lisbeth to take a long
vacation. (8/30/2010)
I-69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway by Matt Dellinger If
you're reading this anywhere but Indiana, move on. This is not a book for--or about --you.
(If you're reading this in Kentucky, be advised that the author thinks your commonwealth was
part of the Louisiana Purchase.) Mr. Dellinger is really only interested in telling the story of
the tree-huggers in Indiana who protested the construction of the highway, and a critical
reading of other materials about that protest suggests that it's somewhat overblown here.
(8/30/2010)
Star Island by Carl Hiassen Mayhem Quotient (see sidebar left) or MQ = 12.5 (No national
landmarks are trashed, but South Beach is; Vengeful parents; Sex; Hot woman with a gun;
Evildoer from Las Vegas--close enough; private yachts and airplanes) If you believe that
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, you're at the right website. After liking Mr.
Hiassen's previous offering, Skinny Dip, quite a lot, I was not so delighted with his latest.
Skink and Chemo, two of the author's recurring characters whom I like his books in spite of,
play major roles here, and Mr. Hiassen dotes on them. Apparently, his agent or fans had told
him after his lat book that "We need more Chemo and Skink!" and he was happy to oblige.
All the other characters are two-dimensional, which is too bad because the South Beach
celebri-culture is just crying out to be skewered (literally and figuratively) by the right person.
(8/26/2010)
A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell Mayhem Quotient (see left sidebar) or MQ = 16:
Berlin's Adlon Hotel is trashed; Vengeful parents; Semi-hot woman with a gun; Lots and lots
of evildoers from Germany; Lots of old drinking buddies) After I started reading the book, I
started thinking that it sounded kind of familiar, so I looked at the cover and the saw the
words "A Hannah Vogel Novel" in tiny letters down at the bottom. Since this is only Ms.
Cantrell's second book, I'm assuming that I must have read the first one, although I must not
have made much of an impression on me. (If YOU'RE curious, you can go back to my past
years of comments and look for it.) I'm hoping, however, that this will be my last "Hannah
Vogel Novel" because Hannah Vogel is kind of a pill. My primary beef with the book is the key
role played by the mother of real-life scumbag Ernst Rohm. Ernst Rohm was slime who
deserves to be treated as badly as any novelist cares to treat him. However, in her
Acknowledgments at the back of the book, the author states that little is known about his
mother. Therefore, I think that she is way off base by throwing Mrs. Rohm's reputation under
the bus. I find that particularly egregious in light of the heroine's repeated assertions about
her own irreproachable maternal instincts. (8/25/2010)
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas is really too fine a book to be
discussed as superficially as it can be in this space. It's wonderful, and if I have any problem
with it whatsoever, it's with the title. Herr Bonhoeffer was certainly an incredible theologian
and pastor, and Mr. Metaxas covers that aspect of his life in much (and much-appreciated)
detail. But a martyr? Yes, he was jailed by te Nazis for the last two years of WWII, but for the
majority of that time, he was in a prison supervised by his uncle, meaning that he was
treated well and received regular visits from his parents and fiancee. His prison experience
became unspeakable only as the war neared his end and Hitler had him murdered in the
month before liberation. Martyred he may have been, but the war was over before anyone
knew it. Prophet? That's a tough call. Throughout the 30's, he predicted that things would
get bad under the Nazis. How hard could it have been to see that coming? The miracle of
Bonhoeffer is that knowing that things would get worse, he still chose to forsake the relative
safety of the Unted States and England to go back to Germany and minister to those who
needed him. Spy? At best , he was an "agent'. But these are trivial concerns. Mr. Metaxas
has written a fine book. (8/15/2010)
In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Ann and Sean Touhy. Oh,
come on. You knew I'd like it. The book itself could have been about running over puppies
with your SUV, but I would have given it a pass, based on the title alone. (Just to be clear, the
book is NOT about running over puppies with your SUV.) To anyone who has been following
the story of the Touhys, Michael Oher and phenomenon of The Blind Side, there's really not
much here that you didn't already know. The book covers the same material as the movie,
and the Touhys go to pains to emphasize that yes, lots of people had a hand in helping
Michael Oher become a first round NFL pick, and yes, he did actually know something about
playing football when he showed up for his first practice at private school. Those of us who
have been following the story closely know all that, but maybe others don't; so maybe it's a
good idea that they made sure that their side of the story got put down on paper somewhere.
(7/26/2010)
Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered
by Kathleen Koch Even though the title pretty much says it all, you should still read the book.
During the hurricane and its aftermath (stop me if you've heard this before), Mississippians
(some of us, anyway) resented that New Orleans and Louisiana were getting the lion's share
of the attention. The reactions generally fell into two categories: "The storm actually hit us,
not New Orleans;" and "Mississippians aren't complaining as loudly as the folks in
Louisiana about how the government isn't doing enough for us." (There was also a thrid line
that went something like "Louisiana is the story because they're so screwed up," but I won't
go there.) But there were exceptions. Mainly because ABC anchor Robin Roberts hails from
Pass Christian and CNN reporter Kathleen Koch is from Bay St. Louis, those two networks
gave more attention to the Mississippi Coast than they might have. This book is Ms. Koch's
account of her youth in "the Bay" and what the process of seeing it destroyed and (slowly) put
back together meant to her. If Katrina affected you at all, this is a difficult book to read. Ms.
Koch does a wonderful job of recreating the experience and explaining what it meant to the
people she'd known all her life. I can't praise it enough. (7/23/2010)
The Last Empty Spaces by Peter Stark I picked up this book, thinking it might help set the
tone for a Maine vacation later this week. Mr. Stark has identified four parts of the United
States he's identified as "empty", taken his family to them; and discovered that--surprise,
surprise--they're really not "empty" at all. I'm not saying this is a terrible book; I'm saying that I
really didn't connect with it. To me, good travel writing makes me want to go somewhere, but
Mr. Stark really didn't sell me on the places he visited. In case you're wondering, they are: 1)
northern Maine; 2) western Pennsylvania; 3) eastern Oregon; and 4) the New Mexico desert.
All of these areas are interesting in their own right and have compelling to stories to
share--which is eventually the point Mr. Stark wants to make. So this begs the question:
What's the point? More than once, it occurred to me that he was just trying to find a way to
write family vacations off on his taxes. (7/19/2010)
The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans Although both books are excellent and cover
much of the same territory, The Third Reich at War could not be more different from
Deathride (next). Where Deathride has a few big ideas it wants you to believe, TRAW is
exhaustive and and exhausting. (The bibliography alone runs to forty pages.) It's the last of a
three-volume series of books chronicling the late, unlamented Reich. Mr. Evans is nothing if
not thorough, and his book is grim reading indeed. The book has some interesting
idiosyncrasies (he refers to Hitler as the Leader, not the Fuhrer; and his book is My Struggle,
not Mein Kampf), but there can be no doubt of his mastery of the subject. Read it when you
want to know the full story--and when you have a couple of weeks to read it. (7/17/2010)
Deathride: Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945 by John Mosier If there is any
justice, Mr. Mosier's book will stand the conventional narrative of World War II on its ear and
compel us to rethink what we think we know about the war. During the past fifty years, most
historians have followed the Russian narrative of the Eastern Front because that was the
line that Stalin wanted them to follow, and no one is Russia was contradicting it (or him).
Among the widely-held perceptions that Mr. Mosier attacks is that the Allies were of no help to
the Russians, who fought the Germans alone until the second front was opened in
Normandy in June 1944. Mr. Mosier says, "Not so fast." Hitler started draining the Eastern
Front of men and materials in 1943 to reinforce the Italian peninsula and to begin to dig in for
the Normandy invasion. He also debunks myths like: 1) Stalin's claims that Russian
manpower was "inexhaustible"' 2) the Russians were producing so much weaponry in their
own factories that they were not dependent on American material; and 3) Germany was
utterly defeated after their defeat at Stalingrad. In addition to his surprising insights, Mr.
Mosier is an excellent storyteller. At one point, he offers the observation: Of course given the
speed with which the Germans executed operations, for the Red Army responding forcefully
was a bit like the helpful hint that the best way to disable a rattlesnake was to grab him
behind the head after he had struck. It's an excellent and compelling book, and I recommend
it to anyone who thinks they know the history of WWII. (7/6/2010)
Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May
1-July 4, 1776 by William Hogeland You think you now something about something, but
then you find out you don't. The process of crafting the Declaration of Independence has
been chronicled practically every way you can think of--even in a Broadway musical, but who
knew they all missed the big story. You're probably familiar with the story of John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin getting appointed to a committee to draft a Declaration,
but the real action that hot summer in Philadelphia was elsewhere. Samuel Adams turns
out to be the lead instigator--ably assisted by his cousin and henchman, John. In the nine
weeks after the voters of Pennsylvania voted for a colonial assembly that would oppose
independence and favor reconciliation with the king, the Adamses and their cronies would
get the election reversed and move a motion for independence through the Continental
Congress. The actual drafting of the Declaration was almost an afterthought. In fact, the
Declaration was such a sideline operation that the document sat on a table in the room
where the delegates met for about six months before all of them got around to signing it. Mr.
Hogeland's book is full of these kinds of observations, and it's a "must read" for anyone with
an interest in the founding of the country. (7/1/2010)
but they all had something to say, and I don't regret a one of them. Still, I'm thinking that I
should resolve to read less in 2011 and try to have more of what some might call "a life." I
doubt if that will happen, but stick around and we'll find out together if that will happen. See
you in 2011.
The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry The following may sound to some of you like damning
with faint praise--and perhaps it is, but Mr. Berry's books have always been a guilty pleasure
for me. His plots are predictable; his characters seem to be becoming increasingly
two-dimensional, and some might call his work manufactured entertainment; but I've always
jumped on each new release and read it eagerly. After trashing most of the World Heritage
Sites in Europe, Mr. Berry's alter ego Cotton Malone has turned his attention to Asia,
specifically, the museum of the terra cotta soldiers near Xi'an. Cotton and his author
unleash their entire bag of tricks, which seems engineered to provide the highest possible
Mayhem Quotient (see left sidebar). The MQ=23 The aforementioned World Heritage Site is
trashed; legendary treasure; vengeful parents; evil millionaires; hot woman with a gun;
stolen government secrets; CIA drinking buddies; private jets--if there had been any sex, it
would have been a clean sweep.) Check it out. (12/19/2010)
Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges I think I'm a victim of false advertising. I bought
this book because it said "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize" on the cover. I thought that phrase
described this book. Apparently, Mr. Hedges received the award for something else he
wrote. But I digress. The liberal class that Mr. Hedges is lamenting is--in no particular
order--muckrakers, socialists and communists. Their natural habitat includes the press,
universities, labor movement, culture (!), the Democratic Party and liberal religious
institutions. These institutions have either "collapsed" or been compromised by the evil
forces of capitalism. To say that they've collapsed is just ridiculous, but I'll admit that whether
or not they've been compromised by "the man" is open to discussion. Personally, I find his
reasoning to be pretty weak--but then I would. Curiously, the one place where Mr. Hedges
doesn't think there's enough capitalism is the Internet, where he says that Pulitzer
Prize-winning writers don't get paid enough for their work. Serves him right for selling books
under false pretenses. (12/15/2010)
Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 by Fergal Keane Have you ever been to the
Lennoxlove Book Festival? Me neither. Lennoxlove is a grand old Scottish house near the
town of Haddington, twenty miles east of Edinburgh. The festival is always held the third
weekend in November, which means that it usually ends the day before I get to Haddington
to have Thanksgiving with friends. One of this year's highlights was Fergal Keane reading
from his new history of the siege of Kohima, which he calls the last great battle of imperial
Britain, and happily, my friend got me a copy of his book while she was there. If you never
heard of this battle in far off India, it might have something to do with the facts that: 1) the only
Americans participating in it were airmen who were dropping supplies into the remote town
near the India-Burma border; and 2) it was wrapping up about the same time that D-Day was
unfolding in Normandy. The book is well-researched and written, and you'll find it hard to put
down. You might disagree with some of its assertions--for example, was this undeniably
fierce but poorly-supplied Japanese force really capable of marching deep into India and
knocking it out of the war at such a late date in 1944?--but in any event, you'll find Mr. Keane's
arguments compelling. If you're a student of history, I recommend it highly. (12/13/2010)
Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen Somewhat shockingly, I've actually read three of
the books on Steven King's list of the top ten books of the year. I liked the other two quite a
lot, but I couldn't disagree with him more about this one. I could not connect with this novel in
any way. Patty and Walter Berglund of St. Paul--who share Mr. King's political
sentiments--are such hollow, soulless beings that I just couldn't work up much enthusiasm
to celebrate their triumphs or commiserate with them in their failures--of which there were
many. It may be that the author is trying to comment on the hollowness and soullessness of
modern society--and if so, more power to him. I'm sure there are people like this in the
world,and I'm sure that Steven King probably knows many of them. I just kind imagine why
anyone would want to write a book about them. (12/3/2010)
Brave by Nicholas Evans took about three hours to read, and when it was over, I felt a little
dirty. It's the story of a kid who grows up in England with all kinds of family secrets. By the
time he and his mom move to America, he's completely screwed up--and not in a good way.
As a screwed up adult, he botches the job of raising his son, and the reader is invited to
compare and contrast the rearing of the father and son. It's not pretty--but it is affecting. It's
one of those books that you don't necessarily enjoy while it's in your hands, but once you put
it down, you're pleased that you made the effort. (11/30/2010)
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson Mr. Bryson has a million facts at his
fingertips about the commonplace things in our lives,and he does a wonderful job of paring
them down to the most interesting couple of thousand and sharing them with the reader.
How did salt and pepper get to the top of the condiment food chain? What's the difference
between an herb and a spice? What are the two most influential houses in America? (And
why?) Those and thousands of other questions are answered in this delightful book.
Check it out. (11/29/2010)
And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi Occupied Paris by Alan Riding I think of this
book as a lost opportunity. It should have been catnip to someone like me--Paris AND
Nazis! The author catalogues some of the most interesting people in the world in the cultural
worlds of theatre, film, literature, ballet, opera and the visual arts during one of the most
interesting periods of their lives. And that's the problem. The book reads like a catalogue.
(NOTE: Just today, someone in Scotland told me she was reading my snarky comments, so
in her honor, I'll use the UK-approved spellings of "catalogues" and "catalogue".) It's a
mind-numbing procedural of people doing things between the day in 1940 when the
Germans came to town and the end of the occupation in 1944. There's really no sense of a
narrative. At the very end of th book, the author tries out a couple of ideas that he thinks might
have overarching themes of the period, but there was no sense of those themes in the
400-odd pages that precede his wrap-up. In short, I wish the author of the book had listed to
Kelly from The Office, when she was explaining her theory of office birthday parties--There's
always a theme. (11/18/2010)
The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie If you're not from Mississippi, move on down
the list. The next book is much better. If you are from Mississippi, you know who Dick
Scruggs is, and you think he's either guilty or innocent of the crime that landed him in prison.
If you think that Mr. Scruggs is guilty and deserves what he got,,you'll probably be more
comfortable reading King of Torts. But if you think he was brought low by a conspiracy of
good old boys who resented his power and fortune, Mr. Wilkie is with you. The author writes
as if he--like Mr. Scruggs--claims not to know how Scruggs could have gotten himself
involved with such a sorry bunch of characters. In a metaphor that he beats to death, Mr.
Wilkie even has a name for them--The Dark Side of the Force. Here's a partial list of the folks
that he thinks are up to no good: Senator Trent Lott (who, oddly, is Mr. Scruggs's
brother-in-law); former State Auditor Pete Johnson; former Hinds County D.A. Ed Peters; P. L.
Blakely (whoMr. Wilkie describes as "a figure in their network"); the Sigma Nu fraternity at Ole
Miss (which is compared to Skull and Bones at Yale); and the First Presbyterian Church of
Jackson (by contrast, the Fondren Presbyterian Church that I attend is referred to as
"progressive"--the author's highest compliment).
I really don't have an opinion on the guilt or innocence of Dick Scruggs. At the very least, I
would say that if you lie down with dogs, you're going to get up with fleas. What I do resent is
the smarmy tone the author uses. "While men such as Blake wormed their way into
Eastland's political network, Pete Johnson was born into it," is typical. Likewise, there are no
"liberal" Democrats in Mississippi, only "progressive" ones. You get the idea. What's really
troubling is that the author is a journalism professor and teaching this method to the next
generation of "reporters". (11/8/2010)
Washington by Ron Chernow If you'd asked me a couple of decades ago who my favorite
president was, I would have said Thomas Jefferson. That was before I started reading much
about him. While I agreed with him (then and now) about a lot of things, I discovered that as
a human being, I'm not sure I'd even let him in my house. (This was before the Sally
Hemmings thing, so that's not it.) So while others continued to extol the virtues of
Jefferson--or Roosevelt (pick one), Lincoln or Reagan, I became a George Washington guy.
And I still am, which might explain why I was wary of this book. The last thing that interested
me was yet another dry bio spiced up with the occasional tidbit that might compel me to like
the man less. I don't like facts getting in the way of my idol worship. Happily, Mr. Chernow
has written a masterpiece. He transforms the original George W from a monument as rigid
as the obelisk that bears his name to a man of flesh and blood genuinely worthy of the
praise he has received.
While Mr. Chernow acknowledges Washington's reserved demeanor that served him so
well, he also talks about less reserved times such as marching his army to Yorktown and
seeing the French reinforcements for the first time. He stood on the bank of a river, jumped
up and down, shouted and laughed in delight. Mr. Chernow describes the scene so well that
I can see him doing it. To underscore Washington's concern about the way that others
perceived him, he discusses at length the clothes he wore, his dental problems and the care
that he took to make Mount Vernon appear to his countrymen as a home of some
consequence. If I have a criticism, it would be that Mr. Chernow is fashionably fixated on the
slave issue, but I'm sure he didn't want to be accused of trying to sweep it under the rug.
(Interestingly, George's will provided for the manumission of his slaves after Martha's death.
During the year that Martha outlived him, she was afraid that some of the slaves, impatient
for their freedom, might try to kill her. To rectify the situation, she freed them all a few months
after George's death.) This is a great book. You'll thank me for recommending it to you.
(11/5/2010)
The Confession by John Grisham I guess anyone could have seen this one coming. Mr
Grisham, if you've been paying attention, has become one of the leading proponents of the
movement to outlaw the death penalty in the United States. Which is fine with me. If you
know me at all, you know that I'm somewhat ambivalent about the use of the death penalty. I
believe that there are some instances in which it is absolutely appropriate. Others, not so
much. (If you really want to get me started, ask me what about the idiotic notion of "victim's
rights". But I digress.) I don't have a problem with the politics of the book. You may think
differently. Ironically (this poor word is so abused in our language that I'm always somewhat
hesitant to use it), I think that Mr. Grisham's prodigious talent works against the message he
wants to convey in this book. It is so effortless to read that you're hardly challenged to
consider the strong position he's advocating. It's such a cut-and-dried and blatant example
of what he's against that you wish it had been more nuanced and ambiguous. If the truth
were told, it's practically a revenge fantasy for defense attorneys. If you're ready for the
medicine to go down, here's your spoonful of sugar. (10/31/2010)
Antony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy First, Mr. Goldsworthy does a fine job of
presenting the events: Cleopatra met Caesar when she was 18...she had her brother
murdered...she had a son...she was in Rome when he was murdered...Marc Antony was a
mediocre general and not the shrewdest politician around...they had three kids....Actium...
SNAKES!!...and, cut. This is familiar territory, and although I don't recall reading anything I
hadn't seen anywhere else, Mr. Goldsworthy's way of relating the story keeps it fresh. From
time to time, he'll toss in a phrase like "Our sources tell us..." that might make you think that
you're watching E! News. If you're looking for a thoughtful and straightforward telling of this
story, this is a great book. Having said that, let me vent my complaint about this book and
everything else I've ever read about Caesar, Cleo and Marc. The events I cavalierly
mentioned at the top of the paragraph actually happened over a twenty-year period. In the
usual tellings of the story, you get the impression that it takes about four or five years. (I think
I blame Shakespeare for this.) What's remarkable to me is that in a culture that chewed up
members of the Ptolemy family and spit them out--without any help from Romans who
coveted Egypt's wealth--Cleopatra held on to her throne and her country for a very long time.
Very few writers make a point of emphasizing that fact or discussing what life was like in
those years. I think that would be a fascinating topic for a book. Somebody who knows more
about it than I do should write it. (11/3/2010)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin is a book that the folks at
www.visitmississippi.org hope will be forgotten quickly. I'm no psychologist, but my guess is
that the only two characters in this novel about a dying little town in Mississippi who might
have triple-digit IQ's are the two girls whose murders frame the plot. This is a dark, dark
book about ignorance and prejudice. In other words , it sounds very much like something
that could have happened around here. Two boys--one white, one black--growing up in the
70's have more in common than they might guess. Along thew way, the black child goes off
to Ole Miss and sees a little bit of life before returning to the small town as its constable. The
white boy stays home and takes over his father's automotive repair shop, living as a local
pariah because he may or may not have had something to do with the disappearance and
presumed murder of a girl when he was in high school. I'm not crazy about the way the novel
jumps around on the time and space continuum, but overall, it's a compelling tale that will
stick with you long after you've put it down. (10/27/10)
Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre It's been so long since I've read one of Mr. Le Carre's
books that I can't remember if they were all this bad, or if this is a recent development. He
seems to be doing well for himself, so I'll assume that this is a surprising disappointment. I
really did read the book, and yet I can't find any connection between the title of the book and
any of the characters in it. For the record, the Mayhem Quotient (MQ) is a woeful 4. (Vengeful
parents, evil millionaires, old drinking buddies, private aircraft--see left sidebar). Maybe after
decades of glamorous spies, Mr. Le Carre is trying to do the world a favor by making covert
operatives banal. Maybe if more of them were as dull and uninteresting as those presented
here, people inclined to those kinds of jobs would choose more productive occupations. In a
nutshell, a Russian billionaire knows that the boys at home are out to get him and tries to
defect to the West. To assist in this effort, he chooses a couple of self-absorbed British dolts
who think that a little secret agent derring-do might be a lark. Ennui ensues. (10/25/2010)
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse Instead of the agricultural operation at the old
Manor Farm, what if Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer from Animal Farm had opened a
bookstore on the Left Bank in Paris? The results might be something akin to "The Good
Novel" , the fictional bookstore on the rue Dupuytren in this book, founded by an otherwise
uninvolved man and woman who decide that their store will sell on only the "best" novels as
selected by a panel consisting of the best novelists in France. The store doesn't make any
money-but it's pure. The primary enjoyment to be had here is in listening to a bunch of
bubbleheads talk about whose books would be sold at the store and whose would not. (To
say that this book would not be sold in the store that it is named for would be too easy a
shot.) And oh, by the way, this is a mystery novel. The MQ is a pitiful 1.5 (sex and a
millionaire who may or may not be evil). The book is almost as hard to take seriously as the
riots that are currently engulfing Paris. You have to accept it for its charm and curious
Frenchness. (10/24/2010)
Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama by Bill O'Reilly Here's a
paradox: The only people who will get anything out of this book are people who know
nothing about Bill O'Reilly, and the people who will learn the least are those who know even
a little about him. In other words, I think you could say that he's preaching to the choir. He
talks about himself, President Obama, himself, other politicians and journalists, himself,
Lassie (!), and --oh yeah--himself. Don't get me wrong: I like Bill O'Reilly, and think he's
about the most fair-minded guy in the news game. But enough's enough. (10/12/2010)
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett This 985-page doorstop is the first of a trilogy that Mr. Follett
intends to call The Century. The book begins at the dawn of WWI and follows young men
and women of various social classes in Russia, Wales, Germany and the United States and
follows them through the course of the war and into the beginning of the 1920's. As upi
,might expect, they find themselves--like Forrest Gump--thrust into situations into which they
can observe and participate in some of the most auspicious doings of their time. The
Russian becomes an aide to Lenin; The Welsh son and daughter of miners both find
themselves elected to Parliament; the American is an aide to President Wilson (apparently
because he has time on his hands); and the German is a military officer in the German
embassy in London. It's an interesting read. While not all of his characters are equally
interesting, Mr. Follett is a wonderful storyteller, and he keeps you turning the pages. If you're
interested in this period, I think you'll like the story. (10/10/2010)
Rattlesnakes & the Moon by Darlin'Neal Ms. Neal is a native Mississippian, but to be
honest, I only picked up the book because her name was Darlin'. Darlin's book is a
collection of short stories about down-and-out women from Mississippi to New Mexico and
the male skunks who done 'em wrong. It's really not my thing, but I can't say that it's not good
writing. You may think otherwise--and for Darlin's sake, I hope you do. (10/2/2010)
Lost Empire by Clive Cussler is fairly tame by mystery standards with an MQ = 6. (World
Heritage Sites are trashed; legendary treasure; evil millionaires; hot woman with a gun;
drinking buddies; yachts). So how did the Aztecs get to Mexico? Oddly enough, there are
people in the world for whom this is a life-or-death issue. Into this quandary wade a couple
of spoiled American treasure-hunters about whom we're supposed to give a damn. They're
young, beautiful and rich, and they have a staff of weasels who neglect their own lives to
back them up--even the head librarian at the Library of Congress is only too happy to do their
backgrond checking for them. What they are not is interesting. Unlike The Spy (below), Mr.
Cussler seems to plugging holes with what he thinks are the appropriate square pegs.
(10/4/2010)
Empire by Steven Saylor A novel about ancient Rome? Blood and guts in the
Colosseum? Check. Deflowered Vestal Virgins? Check. Debauched sex with slave girls
and boys? Check. So what was I expecting? If this is your kind of thing--and I admit that
from time to time, it's my kind of thing--it's all here. (9/28/2010)
Citrus County by John Brandon I'm sorry, but I'm going to read a book about disaffected
youth, I want some titilation! I can get bored and useless kids and clueless adults
anywhere. When I read abou the upcoming generation of drones whose lives will be worse
(and shorter) than mine as they work to pay my Social Security, I want to know that they're
having a least a little fun being bored and useless. Such does not seem to be the case. Not
in this book, anyway. (9/26/2010)
The Two Sisters Café by Elena Yates Eulo and Samantha Harper Macy This is a book that
I've been waiting for for 25 years. Well, not THE book I've been waiting for--but A book. Let
me explain. As a kid in Batesville, one of my babysitters was a neighbor named Harriet
Harper. Apparenly, babysitting me wasn't the height of her aspirations because as soon as
she was able to do so, she left Batesville and moved to New York, where she became a
successful actress under the name Samantha Harper. (Harriet was also her mother's
name, so maybe using her middle name professionally made sense.) She was on
Broadway (in Oh, Calcutta!) and television (in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), and eventually
married a fine actor named Bill Macy and moved to California. She and Bill would come back
to Batesville from time to time, and sometimes, they'd come to my mother's open house at
Christmas. On one of those occasions, she met my precious Aunt Arralee, who told her that
she had been named for an aunt named Arralee Charity Craig Matthews. In delight,
Samantha said that some day she'd write a book with a character named Arralee Charity
Craig Matthews in it. Alas, this is not that book. But while we wait for that opus, this is a fine
substitute. Gentlemen, this is not a book for you. it's chick lit of the first order, and perhaps
new age chick lit at that. As it is set in rural Kentucky in 1952, I really doubt whether the
women in its pages were as aware of their chakras as they claim. But, having said that, it is
delightful on a number of levels, and like actress Sharon Gless, who gives a blurb on the
back cover, I can easily see this book being turned into a television series and running
forever. While there is an overarching story arc, there are also a number of nice little
vignettes that could be adapted for a compelling series. And if that happens, I hope there will
be room for Arralee Charity Craig Matthews. (8/17/2010)
Toqueville's Discovery of America by Leo Damrosch Toqueville's iconic Democracy in
America, like The Holy Bible, is one of those books that almost anyone can bend to reflect
their own worldview. (For example, the City of Memphis has always irritated me, so I might
wish to quote de Toqueville and say, "Memphis! What a letdown! Neither people nor
things!" See what I mean?) In reality, Democracy in America was published eight years
after Toqueville and his friend Gustave de Beaumont flitted (if that's the word) around the
country, seeing things and meeting people. During those eight years, France became a less
democratic place, and Mr. Toqueville's appreciation for what he had seen in America grew.
Mr. Damrosch quotes extensively from the copious notes that Toqueville and Beaumont
made on their trip; and from those notes, we can see that Mr. Toqueville was not nearly as
enraptured by what saw in America as people who have had his book quoted to them might
suppose. Generally speaking, he liked the North but disliked Northerners, and he disliked
the South but liked Southerners. If that doesn't make much sense to you, you should
probably read the book. (9/13/2010)
The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps by Eric Bazan is actually three books in
one. All three of them are about Paris, of course, but they are so disjointed and
disassociated from each other that you suspect that the author has padded out a short book
with a couple essays he'd written about other things. It starts sublimely. The bulk of the
book is about how the faubourgs, arrondissements and quartiers came to be over the course
of the centuries and what famous things happened in each. This part of the book is so
dense and interesting that I had to have a map of the city at my side to be able to understand
where the author was taking me. It was sort of a graduate course in the geography of the
city. This was followed by a 90-page Part Two about "Red Paris" that traced the history of
political unrest through the city and over the course of the 19th century. The author skips
back and forth between the unrests of 1830, 1848 and 1870 (and others) willy-nilly in a
manner that soon becomes frustrating and then annoying. Part Three follows a similar tack
on the topic of Flaneurs (look it up). We bounce around town and the years with Balzac and
Baudelaire, and if anything, this part is even more annoying than the one that precedes it.
Overall, it's a frustrating ride. (9/7/2010)
Napoleon's Wars: An International History by Charles Esdaile If I were more industrious, I
would undertake a study of the biographies of Napoleon to see how many of them were
written by residents of the United Kingdom. I'm sure that "all of them " isn't the correct
answer, but frankly I can't think of one off the top of my head that hasn't seemed to have
British point of view.. I dont' want to cast aspersions on UK historians, but I wonder what the
attraction is. This biography is no better or worse than any other, and the author's "hook" is
that he claims to provide more of an international context for Napoleon's actions than one is
likely to get elsewhere. Maybe so. As an American, I was gratified to see that, for example,
someone talks about the influence (limited though it was) of our War of 1812 on the situation
in Europe. Insights like this are many but superficial, and they don't make the book much
more interesting than other books you might have read on the subject. (9/6/2010)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson Mayhem Quotient (see sidebar
left) or MQ=8 (Vengeful children AND parents; evil millionaires; Sex; Hot women with
guns--alas, not Lisbeth Salander; Evildoers from Germany) So, is this series of books finally
over, and have we seen the last of Lisbeth Salander? Yes and no. The "Millennium Trilogy"
is complete, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone makes it worth the author's while to
bring Lisbeth back for more hijinks. It's just a suspicion. And if he does, I hope he won't
confne her to a hospital bed for 90 percent of the book, as he does here. These books work
best when Lisbeth is being Lisbeth. They bog down considerably when the author devotes
endless pages to Blomkvist (the journalist and the author's alter ego) and other random
Swedes about whom we couldn't care less. The rambling nature of the storytelling that was
so fresh in the first book starts to wear thin here--not least in the four-page diversion about
how toilets are made in Vietnam and marketed in Sweden. The action here is pretty tame,
and the book reads like a police procedural. Maybe it's time for Lisbeth to take a long
vacation. (8/30/2010)
I-69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway by Matt Dellinger If
you're reading this anywhere but Indiana, move on. This is not a book for--or about --you.
(If you're reading this in Kentucky, be advised that the author thinks your commonwealth was
part of the Louisiana Purchase.) Mr. Dellinger is really only interested in telling the story of
the tree-huggers in Indiana who protested the construction of the highway, and a critical
reading of other materials about that protest suggests that it's somewhat overblown here.
(8/30/2010)
Star Island by Carl Hiassen Mayhem Quotient (see sidebar left) or MQ = 12.5 (No national
landmarks are trashed, but South Beach is; Vengeful parents; Sex; Hot woman with a gun;
Evildoer from Las Vegas--close enough; private yachts and airplanes) If you believe that
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, you're at the right website. After liking Mr.
Hiassen's previous offering, Skinny Dip, quite a lot, I was not so delighted with his latest.
Skink and Chemo, two of the author's recurring characters whom I like his books in spite of,
play major roles here, and Mr. Hiassen dotes on them. Apparently, his agent or fans had told
him after his lat book that "We need more Chemo and Skink!" and he was happy to oblige.
All the other characters are two-dimensional, which is too bad because the South Beach
celebri-culture is just crying out to be skewered (literally and figuratively) by the right person.
(8/26/2010)
A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell Mayhem Quotient (see left sidebar) or MQ = 16:
Berlin's Adlon Hotel is trashed; Vengeful parents; Semi-hot woman with a gun; Lots and lots
of evildoers from Germany; Lots of old drinking buddies) After I started reading the book, I
started thinking that it sounded kind of familiar, so I looked at the cover and the saw the
words "A Hannah Vogel Novel" in tiny letters down at the bottom. Since this is only Ms.
Cantrell's second book, I'm assuming that I must have read the first one, although I must not
have made much of an impression on me. (If YOU'RE curious, you can go back to my past
years of comments and look for it.) I'm hoping, however, that this will be my last "Hannah
Vogel Novel" because Hannah Vogel is kind of a pill. My primary beef with the book is the key
role played by the mother of real-life scumbag Ernst Rohm. Ernst Rohm was slime who
deserves to be treated as badly as any novelist cares to treat him. However, in her
Acknowledgments at the back of the book, the author states that little is known about his
mother. Therefore, I think that she is way off base by throwing Mrs. Rohm's reputation under
the bus. I find that particularly egregious in light of the heroine's repeated assertions about
her own irreproachable maternal instincts. (8/25/2010)
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas is really too fine a book to be
discussed as superficially as it can be in this space. It's wonderful, and if I have any problem
with it whatsoever, it's with the title. Herr Bonhoeffer was certainly an incredible theologian
and pastor, and Mr. Metaxas covers that aspect of his life in much (and much-appreciated)
detail. But a martyr? Yes, he was jailed by te Nazis for the last two years of WWII, but for the
majority of that time, he was in a prison supervised by his uncle, meaning that he was
treated well and received regular visits from his parents and fiancee. His prison experience
became unspeakable only as the war neared his end and Hitler had him murdered in the
month before liberation. Martyred he may have been, but the war was over before anyone
knew it. Prophet? That's a tough call. Throughout the 30's, he predicted that things would
get bad under the Nazis. How hard could it have been to see that coming? The miracle of
Bonhoeffer is that knowing that things would get worse, he still chose to forsake the relative
safety of the Unted States and England to go back to Germany and minister to those who
needed him. Spy? At best , he was an "agent'. But these are trivial concerns. Mr. Metaxas
has written a fine book. (8/15/2010)
In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Ann and Sean Touhy. Oh,
come on. You knew I'd like it. The book itself could have been about running over puppies
with your SUV, but I would have given it a pass, based on the title alone. (Just to be clear, the
book is NOT about running over puppies with your SUV.) To anyone who has been following
the story of the Touhys, Michael Oher and phenomenon of The Blind Side, there's really not
much here that you didn't already know. The book covers the same material as the movie,
and the Touhys go to pains to emphasize that yes, lots of people had a hand in helping
Michael Oher become a first round NFL pick, and yes, he did actually know something about
playing football when he showed up for his first practice at private school. Those of us who
have been following the story closely know all that, but maybe others don't; so maybe it's a
good idea that they made sure that their side of the story got put down on paper somewhere.
(7/26/2010)
Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered
by Kathleen Koch Even though the title pretty much says it all, you should still read the book.
During the hurricane and its aftermath (stop me if you've heard this before), Mississippians
(some of us, anyway) resented that New Orleans and Louisiana were getting the lion's share
of the attention. The reactions generally fell into two categories: "The storm actually hit us,
not New Orleans;" and "Mississippians aren't complaining as loudly as the folks in
Louisiana about how the government isn't doing enough for us." (There was also a thrid line
that went something like "Louisiana is the story because they're so screwed up," but I won't
go there.) But there were exceptions. Mainly because ABC anchor Robin Roberts hails from
Pass Christian and CNN reporter Kathleen Koch is from Bay St. Louis, those two networks
gave more attention to the Mississippi Coast than they might have. This book is Ms. Koch's
account of her youth in "the Bay" and what the process of seeing it destroyed and (slowly) put
back together meant to her. If Katrina affected you at all, this is a difficult book to read. Ms.
Koch does a wonderful job of recreating the experience and explaining what it meant to the
people she'd known all her life. I can't praise it enough. (7/23/2010)
The Last Empty Spaces by Peter Stark I picked up this book, thinking it might help set the
tone for a Maine vacation later this week. Mr. Stark has identified four parts of the United
States he's identified as "empty", taken his family to them; and discovered that--surprise,
surprise--they're really not "empty" at all. I'm not saying this is a terrible book; I'm saying that I
really didn't connect with it. To me, good travel writing makes me want to go somewhere, but
Mr. Stark really didn't sell me on the places he visited. In case you're wondering, they are: 1)
northern Maine; 2) western Pennsylvania; 3) eastern Oregon; and 4) the New Mexico desert.
All of these areas are interesting in their own right and have compelling to stories to
share--which is eventually the point Mr. Stark wants to make. So this begs the question:
What's the point? More than once, it occurred to me that he was just trying to find a way to
write family vacations off on his taxes. (7/19/2010)
The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans Although both books are excellent and cover
much of the same territory, The Third Reich at War could not be more different from
Deathride (next). Where Deathride has a few big ideas it wants you to believe, TRAW is
exhaustive and and exhausting. (The bibliography alone runs to forty pages.) It's the last of a
three-volume series of books chronicling the late, unlamented Reich. Mr. Evans is nothing if
not thorough, and his book is grim reading indeed. The book has some interesting
idiosyncrasies (he refers to Hitler as the Leader, not the Fuhrer; and his book is My Struggle,
not Mein Kampf), but there can be no doubt of his mastery of the subject. Read it when you
want to know the full story--and when you have a couple of weeks to read it. (7/17/2010)
Deathride: Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945 by John Mosier If there is any
justice, Mr. Mosier's book will stand the conventional narrative of World War II on its ear and
compel us to rethink what we think we know about the war. During the past fifty years, most
historians have followed the Russian narrative of the Eastern Front because that was the
line that Stalin wanted them to follow, and no one is Russia was contradicting it (or him).
Among the widely-held perceptions that Mr. Mosier attacks is that the Allies were of no help to
the Russians, who fought the Germans alone until the second front was opened in
Normandy in June 1944. Mr. Mosier says, "Not so fast." Hitler started draining the Eastern
Front of men and materials in 1943 to reinforce the Italian peninsula and to begin to dig in for
the Normandy invasion. He also debunks myths like: 1) Stalin's claims that Russian
manpower was "inexhaustible"' 2) the Russians were producing so much weaponry in their
own factories that they were not dependent on American material; and 3) Germany was
utterly defeated after their defeat at Stalingrad. In addition to his surprising insights, Mr.
Mosier is an excellent storyteller. At one point, he offers the observation: Of course given the
speed with which the Germans executed operations, for the Red Army responding forcefully
was a bit like the helpful hint that the best way to disable a rattlesnake was to grab him
behind the head after he had struck. It's an excellent and compelling book, and I recommend
it to anyone who thinks they know the history of WWII. (7/6/2010)
Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May
1-July 4, 1776 by William Hogeland You think you now something about something, but
then you find out you don't. The process of crafting the Declaration of Independence has
been chronicled practically every way you can think of--even in a Broadway musical, but who
knew they all missed the big story. You're probably familiar with the story of John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin getting appointed to a committee to draft a Declaration,
but the real action that hot summer in Philadelphia was elsewhere. Samuel Adams turns
out to be the lead instigator--ably assisted by his cousin and henchman, John. In the nine
weeks after the voters of Pennsylvania voted for a colonial assembly that would oppose
independence and favor reconciliation with the king, the Adamses and their cronies would
get the election reversed and move a motion for independence through the Continental
Congress. The actual drafting of the Declaration was almost an afterthought. In fact, the
Declaration was such a sideline operation that the document sat on a table in the room
where the delegates met for about six months before all of them got around to signing it. Mr.
Hogeland's book is full of these kinds of observations, and it's a "must read" for anyone with
an interest in the founding of the country. (7/1/2010)
| Matt's Mayhem Quotient (MQ) for Rating Mysteries |
When I read Steve Berry's The
Paris Vendetta, I had a deja
vu-y sense that I'd read the
book before. Well, of course I
had: All of Mr. Berry's books
seem to follow the same
formula.
Then I had the
not-very-original revelation that
ALL mysteries pretty mucy
follow the same formula.
Taking that assumption to its
logical conclusion, it occurred
to me that if all mysteries
could adhere to a formula,
they could also be reviewed
by a formula.
So here's mine. I grade on ten
components:
1. National Landmarks or
World Heritage Sites
Trashed
2. Legendary or Mythical
Treasure
3. Vengeful Children, Parents
or Siblings
4. Evil millionaires or
Presidents of the United
States
5. Sex Between People Who
Didn't Know Each Other
Yesterday
6. Hot Women with Guns
7. Evildoers from Germany
South Africa or New
Orleans
8. Stolen Government
Secrets
9. Old drinking Buddies from
the CIA
10. Yachts or private aircraft
Using this scale to score, for
example, The Paris Vendetta,
we'd have 2 world heritage
sites trashed (the Musee
Cluny in Paris and the Hotel
des Invalides); 2 mythical
treasures ("Rommel's Gold"
and "Napoleon's Cache"); 1
vengeful parent; 8 evil
millionaires; no sex (who has
time?); 1 hot woman with a
gun; 1 South African evildoer;
no government secrets that I
recall; 3 old drinking buddies
from the CIA; 1 yacht and 1
private plane, for a total MQ of
20.
Paris Vendetta, I had a deja
vu-y sense that I'd read the
book before. Well, of course I
had: All of Mr. Berry's books
seem to follow the same
formula.
Then I had the
not-very-original revelation that
ALL mysteries pretty mucy
follow the same formula.
Taking that assumption to its
logical conclusion, it occurred
to me that if all mysteries
could adhere to a formula,
they could also be reviewed
by a formula.
So here's mine. I grade on ten
components:
1. National Landmarks or
World Heritage Sites
Trashed
2. Legendary or Mythical
Treasure
3. Vengeful Children, Parents
or Siblings
4. Evil millionaires or
Presidents of the United
States
5. Sex Between People Who
Didn't Know Each Other
Yesterday
6. Hot Women with Guns
7. Evildoers from Germany
South Africa or New
Orleans
8. Stolen Government
Secrets
9. Old drinking Buddies from
the CIA
10. Yachts or private aircraft
Using this scale to score, for
example, The Paris Vendetta,
we'd have 2 world heritage
sites trashed (the Musee
Cluny in Paris and the Hotel
des Invalides); 2 mythical
treasures ("Rommel's Gold"
and "Napoleon's Cache"); 1
vengeful parent; 8 evil
millionaires; no sex (who has
time?); 1 hot woman with a
gun; 1 South African evildoer;
no government secrets that I
recall; 3 old drinking buddies
from the CIA; 1 yacht and 1
private plane, for a total MQ of
20.