Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Book Reviews: Jonoathon Tropper's The Book of Joe and Ron McLarty's The Memory of Running







The Book of Joe 

Author: Jonathan Tropper


The Memory of Running

Author: Ron McLarty


(Blogger Note:  These reviews were previously published in "The LAMLight," the physician newsletter published monthly by The Lynchburg Academy of Medicine.)

“An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience.” – James Baldwin

“It is always the same:  once you are liberated, you are forced to ask who you are.” – Jean Baudrillard

It is purely by happenstance that I read these two books back-to-back.  They both deal with basically the same theme of self-discovery and do so in the setting of similar life-changing circumstances.  The main characters and sub-plots are radically different, however, making these two very dissimilar novels dealing with similar themes.  Both authors have an entertaining style and infuse a good bit of humor into what could have been very maudlin stories.

The main character in Ron McLarty’s The Memory of Running is Smithson “Smithy” Ide, an obese, alcoholic, chain smoking, single Viet Nam war veteran.  He works as a quality control inspector in a toy factory in Rhode Island making sure that action figures are assembled correctly.  As the story begins both of Smithy’s parents are killed in a freak car accident.  While going through his parents’ mail after their funeral he discovers that his only sibling, a mentally ill older sister, has died and her body remains to be claimed in a morgue in Los Angeles.  After a drunken binge Smithy impulsively decides to ride his old red Raleigh bicycle to L.A. to claim his sister’s body.  The story is told by Smithy in the first person and the chapters alternate between his mis-adventurous cross-country bike ride and his turbulent adolescence dealing with his sister’s bizarre behavior.  The sub-plot of major significance involves Smithy’s childhood neighbor Norma, a girl four years his junior who had a persistent crush on him.  Smithy always rebuffed her, especially after an accident left her paraplegic.  Smithy stays in contact with Norma throughout his bike ride and his discussions with her reveal his own self-discovery.  During his trip Smithy is run over by a dying HIV patient, threatened at gunpoint by the son of a Viet Nam war buddy in a ghetto in East St. Louis and is swept into a cross-mountain bike race in California.  Each encounter teaches Smithy something valuable about himself.  The final chapter is exceptional.  Smithy finally accepts himself for who he is, understands the wonder of unconditional love and exorcises the demons guilt and self-recrimination which resulted from his dysfunctional adolescence.

Joe Goffman is the main character in Jonathan Tropper’s The Book of Joe.  Joe is the antithesis of Smithy Ide.  While Smithy is reminiscent of the classic comic character Ignatious Reilly from John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, Joe would seem more in the mold of Sherman McCoy, Tom Wolfe’s “Master of the Universe” from Bonfire of the Vanities.  Joe is in his early thirties and is a successful novelist living in a posh Manhattan apartment.  His first book was an autobiographical novel based on his own adolescence in the small town of Bush Falls, Connecticut.  Because of many revealing and embarrassing details regarding the residents of his hometown he has not returned for seventeen years and has remained estranged from his family.  Joe’s father suffers a severe stroke which prompts Joe to return to Bush Falls and confront all of the unresolved issues from his past.  This is another first person narrative, and Joe alternates between stories and anecdotes from his current visit home and the story of his senior year in high school which was the basis for his sensational novel.  The subplots involve Joe’s high school girlfriend and one true love Carly, and two male best friends.  The two best friends had a homosexual relationship as high school seniors, the reactions to and bitterness arising from which is the centerpiece of Joe’s novel.  Joe’s journey of self-discovery is more of an inward one compared to Smithy’s bike ride, but it is difficult and yet rewarding all the same.  The resolution of all of the subplots is not as satisfying as in The Memory of Running, but Joe does discover a lot about himself over the course of this book and there is hope for the future (and a probable sequel). 

Both of these books are well written: fast paced with excellent dialogue and imagery.  There is a generous dose of humor in both, The Book of Joe containing the more ribald kind.  I enjoyed them both immensely.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Book Review: The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly




The Gods of Guilt

Author: Michael Connelly
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Date of Publication:  December 2, 2013
Pages: 400 



     Michael Connelly has produced another intriguing legal thriller featuring Mickey Haller, "The Lincoln Lawyer".   This one reprises characters from the first book in the series (this is #5).  The strengths of all of Connelly's novels are in evidence here.  First the plot is intricate and complicated but not to the point of being improbable.  The characters are well drawn and there are plenty of conflicts to keep them in a stew.  The pace is fast and driven by crisp dialogue, especially when the story hits the courtroom.  You would think that his novels would become formulaic, but they don't.  

   In this story Haller defends a despicable but innocent man in a murder trial.  The defendant incriminated himself during the investigation and Haller has to circumvent that and establish an alternate theory for the murder.  His team of investigators (now including his driver, Earl) and a new partner stay one step ahead of the prosecutors and the police as evidence is developed pre-trial.  Haller uses courtroom maneuverings and theatrics to convince the jury ("The Gods of Guilt") of his version of the crime.

     One of the methods that Connelly uses to keep his series fresh is to introduce new characters.  This has happened several times in the long running Harry Bosch series (The Concrete Blonde, Trunk Music, The Black Box, etc...) and in The Gods of Guilt he introduces Jennifer Aronson, a young attorney Mickey hired to manage his foreclosure practice.  Jennifer wants to become more involved in criminal defense work and in this book she does.  It will be interesting to see where the author takes this new character in subsequent novels.  The core supporting characters are all here including Lorna, Mickey's ex-wife who answers his phones and arranges his schedule, Cisco Wojciechowski, Lorna's current husband and Mickey's new investigator and Earl, who drives Mickey's Lincoln Town Car.  Harry Bosch (who we learned several books ago is Mickey's half-brother) makes a cameo appearance as well.  There are humorous allusions to The Lincoln Lawyer movie and Mickey Haller copy cats in Los Angeles.  At one point Mickey leaves court in a hurry and hops in the wrong Town Car.

     The star of this and every book in "The Lincoln Lawyer" series continues to be Mickey Haller.  In this installment Mickey is a more sympathetic character.  He anguishes over his current estrangement from his sixteen year old daughter and has multiple pangs of conscience.  He still has his slick tactics and unorthodox approaches, but all of this seems more well intended this time around.
    
     This is an entertaining, fast-paced and well written novel.  As the Mickey Haller character evolves during this series the stories become better and better.  I can't wait for the next one.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Jimmy Buffett - Bristow, Virginia August 16, 2014



Jimmy Buffett
And the Coral Reefer Band

Bristow, Virginia
August 16, 2014


     You would think that after all of these years crooning about cheeseburgers and margaritas that Jimmy Buffett would be mailing it in by now.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The man still delivers a high energy, top-notch performance.  His band was particularly sharp on this cool and breezy August night in Northern Virginia.  Jimmy was in fine voice as well.

     He opened the show with a rousing version of Jimmy Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and then immediately hit the high note with crowd favorite, Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl".  This featured the band bouncing up and down in unison during the "La-la-la-la-la-la" parts.  If anyone in the crowd wasn't into it by then, there was something very wrong with them.

     The band segued through an entertaining set of old songs, new songs, country songs and even a virtuoso instrumental by Mac McAnally.  One of the highlights for me was the introduction of Brendan Mayer, son of long time Buffett guitarist Peter Mayer.  Brendan displayed his considerable guitar chops on several songs and was featured on his own composition "Something to Say".  Jimmy migrated to the rythym section to play tambourine on that one!

     My favorite tune was the Stephen Stills composition "Southern Cross".   We saw Jimmy
Buffett in Las Vegas several years ago and this was one of the encores.  Jimmy used it this time to get the crowd into a frenzy for the big finale: "A Pirate Looks at Forty" followed by "Fins" and, of course, "Margaritaville".  This show's encore including "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with "Let's Get Drunk" mixed in was well received and everyone left very happy.

     This show had a different vibe than the Vegas show we attended in 2011.  The crowds were both energetic, but the Virginia crowd seemed to have more families and younger adults.  Jimmy Buffett has managed to transcend generations and genres and attracts a very diverse crowd.  There was a fairly large contingent of the grey haired set, myself included.  The lady next to me was alternating sips of beer with puffs on an Albuterol inhaler.

     My wife made the comment that a Jimmy Buffett show is not really a concert - it's a giant party where Jimmy Buffett shows up.  You have to admire the man for finding his own unique style and sound, sticking with it, perfecting it and turning it into a franchise.  For a guy known more for party anthems though, his ballads and musicianship are quite remarkable.  His ability to work a crowd is unparalleled.  I enjoyed Jimmy's reminiscences of playing The Cellar Door in Georgetown in his early days, being the first show at this venue and also playing at the White House.  

     My days of driving three hours to and from a show, fighting crowded parking lots and standing (and jumping and dancing) for several hours may be winding down.  This is one performer that I would still go through all of that to see.  It was a lot of fun, which I think, for Jimmy Buffett, is the point!  Thank you, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, for entertaining us for all of these years and keeping it fun.