Book Review: Calico Joe by John Grisham

Calico Joe

Author: John Grisham

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Date of Publication: March 26, 2013

Pages: 240 (Trade Paperback)

   
      It's almost October and playoff baseball time.  This is the perfect book to read to get into the proper World Series frame of mind.  John Grisham, known as a master of the legal thriller, has penned a very good baseball novel.  It captures the magic of baseball for young boys and the triumphs and tragedies of men playing a boy's game for high stakes.  The author does a great job of including some of the nuances of baseball strategy and the "baseball code" which are entertaining for baseball fans but not so obscure that they would bore the non-fan.

     The story is told by an adult male, the son of a former major league player.  As a youngster in the 1970s he listens to games on the radio, avidly computes statistics and keeps notebooks with newspaper and magazine clippings on his favorite players, including his father, a journeyman pitcher for the New York Mets.   I can relate to this character in every regard except my father didn't play baseball.  He is captivated by the story of a young phenom for the Chicago Cubs, "Calico Joe", who flashes on the baseball scene performing Ruthian feats with his bat and speed.  The intertwined tales of Calico Joe, the kids father and their tumultuous interaction and its effect on all parties including the narrator are magically told. It's a story of fathers and sons, tragedy and regret and the power of forgiveness. 

     There's really nothing to dislike abut this book.  The characters are a bit stereotyped but very engaging.  The plot, although fairly predictable, is very satisfying.  There is humor, pathos and irony mixed in just about equal perfect proportions.  This was a fun book to read and I enjoyed it very much.  Play ball!

The Beach Boys, Charlottesville, Virginia

The Beach Boys

nTelos Pavillion

Charlottesville, Virginia

August 28, 2013

     These weren't your father's Beach Boys.  The band that played in Charlottesville on August 28 included founding member and lead vocalist Mike Love and Bruce Johnston (who replaced Glen Campbell in the band in 1965).  The rest of the band has been touring with Mike Love as The Beach Boys for years and upheld the traditions of the original band quite well.

   

Mike Love

                                     

     

 

                                            

                                                                        

     This was not the usual rock band crowd, either.  The fellow in front of me had two hearing aids.  The guy next to me had a cane.  I'm not so young or spry anymore myself.  There were some young people present.  At one point I looked around and a twenty-something-ish couple were standing with puzzled grins.  I could only guess what they were thinking:  “Why are all of these old people jumping around singing ‘Help me, Rhonda.  Help, help me Rhonda”?

                                                                                                      

    The band played for over 2 hours, unleashing medley after medley of immediately recognizable riffs, chord progressions and harmonies.  Everything was pitch-perfect and the audience reaction and participation was enthusiastic.  Everybody, it seemed, knew all of the words to all of the songs.  Play beach music and it's hard to keep a bunch of Baby-Boomers, no matter how infirm, from dancing!

     It’s totally unfair to any band to compare their performance to Paul McCartney, but, since Sir Paul’s concert in Washington, D.C. was the other show we have seen this summer, I can’t help but do this.     This show was Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and a bunch of guys that sounded a lot like The Beach Boys, while the other was Paul McCartney and a bunch of guys that sounded a lot like The Beatles.  Certainly both acts displayed a tremendous level of professionalism and musicianship, but Paul McCartney is in a class by himself.  The difference really was the music.  Both sets included songs 50 years old or older.  McCartney’s, however still sounded relevant, innovative and fresh.  The Beach Boys provided a classic nostalgia-fest and recreated an era with precision and gusto, but it really was just that – a re-creation of and a testament to a more naïve and simpler time of fast cars, pretty girls and good times at the beach.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, I had a blast and would go see this group again in a second!

Bood Reveiw: Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders

Tenth of December: Stories

Author: George Saunders

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Date of Publication: January 8, 2013

Pages: 159 (NOOK Edition)

   This eclectic collection of nine short stories was heralded upon its publication in January, 2013 as one of the best books of the year.  It is an interesting set of stories, all dealing with contemporary issues.  The opening story "Victory Lap" is the story of a teen abduction told from three different perspectives: the victim, the perpetrator and an autistic neighbor.  There are stories of families with children facing various challenges, out of work middle class Americans and a noteworthy Iraqi war vet dealing with his dysfunctional family upon his return from active duty ("Home").

     The author uses various different writing styles in these stories. Some are told as an internal stream of consciousness ("Victory Lap" and "Al Roosten").  One story takes the form of a letter to employees trying to improve morale and maintain positive attitudes ("Exhortation").  Another is in diary format as a father explains why he cannot adequately provide for his family ("The Semplica Girl Diaries").

     There's an odd science fiction story ("Escape from Spiderhead") which is reminiscent of Anthony Burgess' A clockwork Orange in which Saunders creates an indictment of science and the scientific method.  My favorite line from any of the stories is the conclusion to a self-deprecating rant by the main character in "Al Roosten."  It is in regards to his wife who "  "...cheated on him with Charles, which had fried his ass possibly worse than any single other ass frying he'd ever had, in a life that, it recently seemed, was simply a series of escalating ass fries."

     This is a very entertaining and thought provoking set of stories regarding contemporary American life.  I liked the varying points of view but was put off by some of the seemingly endless stream of consciousness
style.  One of the best books of the year?  Maybe, but the year's not over.

Book Review: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

Author: Dave Eggers

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Date of Publication: June 15, 2010

Pages: 325 (Trade Paperback)

"The whole place was anarchy."

     This book makes me furious.  It makes me mad at prejudice and profiling, chaos and circumstance; mad at policy and ignorance.  It makes me mad at people who do their job without thought of humanity or reason and yes, mad at God.  I'm even mad that not everyone in this country has read this book and been as outraged as I am.  I'm mad.

   Zeitoun should be required reading for every bureaucrat and politician and anyone else who may have a hand in shaping policy for disaster response and recovery.  This should be required reading for every police chief, National Guard and military officer who may participate in disaster relief.  It should be read by every American, especially those bellicose politicians and civil libertarians who pride themselves on being protectors of our freedoms.

    This book is the true story of Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun.  Abdulrahman (or "Zeitoun" as he is called) was born in Syria, worked for years at sea and settled in the United States.  He is a naturalized citizen who met his American wife at a mosque in New Orleans.  Kathy converted from being a Southern Baptist before meeting Zeitoun.  Together they built a family and a successful painting and contracting business.  The story unfolds as Hurricane Katrina approaches and then devastates the Gulf Coast.  Kathy and the children flee while Zeitoun stays behind to protect his business and properties.  The author uses flash backs of Zeitoun's childhood and family in Syria as well as his experiences as a naturalized American citizen to create a tremendously sympathetic character.  

   The book follow the humble and God-fearing Zeitoun as he tries to do the right thing by his neighbors and fellow citizens.  What transpires is the most remarkably outrageous transgression of human rights imaginable.  In the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!  In 2005!!!  My God, there are passages here that read like they are taking place in Nazi Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union.  Where was I when this was happening?  Where was anybody that cares about human beings for that matter?  Zeitoun is not an indictment of Republicans or Democrats, Muslims or Christians, blacks, whites or Syrians.  It is an indictment of human nature, the abrogation of responsibility and the lack of human-ness in the face of disaster.  Zeitoun has been compared to Kafka's The Trial, but it actually reminded me more of a modern day Book of Job, except Zeitoun has more resilience than Job.  The most amazing part of this story is that despite events which would have destroyed the strongest of individuals, Abdulrahman never loses hope and never loses faith in his God.  Zeitoun is a truly remarkable man.

    Truman Capote is generally credited for inventing the genre of "creative non-fiction" with the phenomenal In Cold Blood.  Dave Eggers has taken this genre to a whole new level with this monumental work.  Read this book.  Be as mad as I am.

     

Book Review: Joyland by Stephen King

Joyland

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Titan

Publication Date: June 4. 2013

Pages: 288 (Trade Paperback Edition)

     I’m not a huge fan of this author, but every five years or so I pick up and read a Stephen King novel.  Sometimes I am intrigued by the premise (Needful Things) and am disappointed by the resolution of the plot and other times I am interested in the topic (capital punishment in The Green Mile) and am pleased with King’s take on that topic.  I picked up Joyland for several reasons.  First, I admired the author’s refusal to release the book in electronic format, instead promoting the perpetuation of the physical book.  Secondly, this novel was released as part of the “Hard Case Crime” series, a celebration of the crime noir genre which I have enjoyed for years.  The books in this series are inexpensive paperbacks with classic “pulp fiction” covers released by The Dorchester Publishing Company.  The series includes the re-release of classics by James M. Cain, Donald Westlake and Ed McBain as well as new efforts by contemporary writers such as Stephen King.

     

      The major rediscovery for me while reading Joyland was that Stephen King can really write.  He is noted for his horror fiction (Carrie, Pet Semetary, The Shining, etc.) but his writing transcends that genre and his prose ranks right up there with the best contemporary authors.  In Joyland he evokes the sights, sounds and feel of the early to mid-1970s.  He uses the music of the time (most notably The Doors and Pink Floyd) so set the tone of the story and the sometimes dour mood of Devin Jones, the main character.  He describes North Carolina beaches so perfectly that the reader can feel the breeze off of the ocean.  King also includes a lot of carnival lore including the peculiar idioms used by veteran “Carny” workers which lends an authenticity to the story.  

     The plot revolves around Devin, a college student from New England who spends a summer working at an old fashioned amusement park on the coast of North Carolina.  He is suffering from the recent breakup with his college sweetheart while he adapts to the culture of the South.  There is a decades old murder mystery entwined as well as some supernatural goings-on (this is a Stephen King novel, after all) including a haunted funhouse ride.  There is also the underlying mystery of how some people are always in the right place at the right time (a familiar King theme).  Is it chance or is there a mystical rhyme and reason for coincidence?  There are numerous secondary characters including a precocious child with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy who contribute greatly to this moving story.  Joyland is not a breathlessly paced mystery, nor is it a shocking horror thriller.  It is a totally enjoyable, entertaining novel with a satisfyng ending.  It is a very well thought out and exquisitely written novel which I enjoyed reading very much.

Book Review: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Beautiful Ruins

Author: Jess Walter

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date of Publication: June 12, 2012

Pages: 368 (Nook edition) 

     What a pleasant surprise this novel was.  When it was first published in 2012 I read a brief blurb about its premise: a beautiful but terminally ill actress shows up unexpectedly in a small Italian fishing village.  I immediately dismissed it from my list of potential reads.  Even though I read the author before (Edgar Award winner Citizen Vince) and enjoyed that book very much, this sounded too much like a romance novel for my taste.  However, I kept seeing the book showing up on "Best Books of (fill in the blank)" lists.  It was like this book kept presenting itself to me telling me to read it.  So I did.

     The author does a splendid job of juggling multiple plot lines in two different time periods.  It's really like two novels woven into one.  Walter does this so seamlessly that there is never any confusion about what is going on or when.  He brings the two story lines together spectacularly at the end.

     The novel does begin with the maudlin premise of a dying young actress appearing mysteriously at a remote Italian fishing village.  She stays at a former brothel which a young Italian fellow is trying to re-invent as a hotel and vacation destination for "rich Americans".  The novel does indeed evolve into a love story of sorts, but an unpredictable and richly satisfying one.  The plot elements include Hollywood legend (the making of "Cleopatra" in Rome in the early 1960s) and current Hollywood wheeling and dealing.

     The author has also constructed an admirable ensemble cast of colorful characters, not the least of which are Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.  The main characters in the first story (set in 1962) turn out to be the actress and the Italian hotelier, his extended family including a grieving mother and devious aunt and a motley bunch of fisherman and villagers. The main characters in the second story (set in the present day) are an aging movie producer and his ambitious and frustrated assistant.  The character that unites the two stories is the aforementioned actress.  How the author does this you need to read the book to find out.

     Beautiful Ruins cleverly sneaks in a repeated moral cunundrum for the reader to pause and ponder.  Through the stories of these varied characters, the author constantly poses this philosophical question: should humans act on impulse and satisfy their needs or should they always strive to do the right thing, even if the results of that action do not satisfy their wants or needs?  In the immortal words of the young hotelier's widowed mother: "It's best if what you want and what is best are close to the same thing."  For all of these characters, however, that is not always the case and uncomfortable choices need to be made.  Although it seems like the choices should be clear, more often than not, they aren't. 
 
     Jess Walter has many strengths as an author, all on display in Beautiful Ruins.  The plotting is superb, paced perfectly and with enough suspense to keep the pages turning quickly.  The characters he has created are engaging and, despite their many flaws, very likable.  His writing is very evocative and descriptive but he is able to do this with an economy of words.  The dialogue is genuine and gives insights into the characters and their motivations.  Finally, he is able to mix in just the right amount of humor and irony in order to amuse as well as entertain the reader.   

     Beautiful Ruins now scores a place on another "Best Of" list:  this is one of the best novels which I have read in a long, long time!

Book Review: Death in the City of Light by David King

Death in the City of Light

Author: David King

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Date of Publication: June 5, 2012

Pages: 462 (Trade Paperback Edition)

     Death in the City of Light is a disturbing look at a fascinating side story to the Nazi occupation of Paris.   It begins with a grisly discovery of dismembered bodies in various stages of decay in an up-scale neighborhood of the 16^th Arrondissement of Paris.  This discovery sets off a search for the strange and puzzling owner of the building who promptly disappears. 

     The book is an attempt to define or describe Dr. Marcel Petiot.  He is a medical doctor whose past as well as his life in Paris is cloaked in mystery.  The author has done painstaking research into Dr. Petiot’s entire life story in order to help the reader try to understand the incomprehensible.    He also includes many contemporary accounts of the investigations of the despicable crimes for which the doctor was eventually tried and convicted.   The author cleverly leaves unanswered (as does history) the conundrum of which of two stories is true.  The first story (expounded at the criminal trial) is that the doctor was a merciless killer who lured innocents into a trap by promising them a road to freedom from the Nazis.  He instead stole all of their belongings, tortured them and then dismembered and disposed of their bodies.  He had a history of mental illness and there arose some question as to whether the doctor was in fact insane.  There was speculation that he had indeed also killed his first wife years before.  The second story as told by the doctor as his defense is that he was a master of deception, working for a faction of the French Resistance, did indeed help people escape to Argentina and was framed by the Gestapo.  There is some corroboration of the Doctor’s version of events.  The author presents all of the available evidence for both stories.

     There are other notable characters whom the author fleshes out in detail, including the police inspector, Dr. Petiot's wife and brother (accomplices or naive relatives?) as well as many of the victims who disappeared.  These secondary characters add a lot of texture to the story of Dr. Petiot.

     It is very interesting to read of the attempts at justice and proper police investigation by the French during the chaos of Nazi occupation.  It is also interesting to read a about a murder investigation which took place many decades before the availability of forensic studies such as DNA analysis which we so take for granted. Death in the City of Light is a fascinating book, although at times the author sacrifices pace and readability for comprehensive reporting.  The character of Dr. Petiot is portrayed as somewhat of a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”  which rings true whichever story you as the reader want or come to believe.