Book Review: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

The Nickel Boys

Author: Colson Whitehead

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Date of Publication: July 16, 2019

Pages: 224

     This novel is astounding.  As a piece of writing, it is exquisite.  As a story, it is captivating, infuriating, and devastating.  As a lens to glimpse life in the Jim Crow South, it is mind-boggling.  This is an important book which should be read by every American, especially those who doubt or deny the existence of systemic racism or still hold some vestige of white supremacy.  

     On the surface this is the story of Elwood Curtis, a highly intelligent and promising young black teen who is unjustly arrested and sentenced to confinement at The Nickel School for Boys.  The Nickel "School" is a racially segregated hate farm where kids are basically worked to death and abused in every way imaginable.  Elwood is a highly engaging character.  He is abandoned by his parents and raised by his grandmother.  He reads voraciously and listens repeatedly to a recording of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches.  He was headed towards college when bigotry and hatred conspired to derail his life.  The tales from the Nickel School are barbaric, unbelievable, and invoke rage in the reader. The author does a masterful job of invoking the teachings of King, especially when Elwood describes The Letter from Birmingham Jail.  If this tale was the description of an isolated, unfortunate incident, it would still be heart-breaking.  But it's not.  History and even current events reveal that this is just one appalling example of over 400 years of deplorable behavior.

     Since the murder of George Floyd in 2019, I have been trying to educate myself on racism and the history of the Jim Crow South.  I have read Isabelle Wilkerson's Warmth of Other Suns and Caste, Lauren Sandler's This is All I Got, and fiction titles The Vanishing Half (Bennett), A Good Neighborhood (Fowler), Deacon King Kong (McBride), and Behold the Dreamers (Mbue).  This book captures the themes of Wilkerson's non-fiction and augments the stories told by Bennet, Fowler, McBride, and Mbue.   The magnitude of achievement in The Nickel Boys cannot be understated.  It is an awesome work of literature, but also such an important one because of the truth it tells.  Read it!

  

 

Book Review: The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

 

The Only Woman in the Room

Author: Marie Benedict

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Date of Publication: August 6, 2019

Pages: 336

    The Only Woman in the Room is the fictionalized story of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.  She was a woman famous for her beauty, but a smart, savvy, and independent woman existed behind the glamour.  She was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria, an only child in a Jewish family.  This book begins with her courtship by Friedrich Mandt, an older arms manufacturer.  He was enamored with her beauty and became obsessed.  She was encouraged in this relationship by her father, who thought that Mandt's connections would protect the Kiesler family from the Germans should they invade Austria.  One condition of their marriage was that Hedy would have to abandon her acting career. After their honeymoon in Italy, the couple hosts many extravagant dinners and parties to enhance Friedrich's munitions business.  Hedy becomes a trusted advisor to her husband and is often the only woman in the room during negotiations and other business meetings.  She pays attention during these discussions and learns about the munitions business and about difficulties the Germans were having with guidance systems for torpedoes.  

     The relationship deteriorates as Friedrich becomes more controlling, abusive, and manipulative.  She decides to escape and devises a clever plan. In London Hedy meets Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM studios in Hollywood and captivates him with her beauty.  She moves to America, negotiates a lucrative contract with MGM, and soon is cast in many blockbuster movies with the most popular leading men of the day.  During this time, she revisits the torpedo guidance system issue and with the help of a famous composer devises a method of alternating frequencies to improve accuracy and prevent jamming of torpedo guidance systems.  She presents her invention in Washington, D.C. to the Navy and, again, she is the only woman in the room.  The idea is rejected, mainly because of her gender.  She did receive a patent and her innovation was implemented in 1957.  This technology is still used today in Bluetooth and wireless devices.  

    The Only Woman in the Room does an excellent job of bringing this fascinating person to life.  Hedy Lamarr's perseverance, determination, and brilliance are a revelation to those of us who only knew her superficially as a Hollywood starlet.  The story is told in the first person from Hedy's point of view which allows for even greater insight into the character, her thought processes, and her motivations.  The author did extensive research to give this work of fiction great credibility.  My only criticism is that the The Only Woman in the Room ends in the 1940s, but the Hedy Lamarr story had many more chapters!  She lived until the year 2000, and died at the age of 85.  The somewhat abrupt conclusion to this book made me want to learn more about this fascinating lady.  There is a documentary which was released in 2017 which gives a more thorough view of Ms. Lamarr's entire life.  Entitled "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story", the documentary contains many movie clips and interviews with Ms. Lamarr as well as with members of her family.  The author's stated purpose for this book (as well as for her many other books) is to illuminate the significant contributions of many women which have been ignored or overlooked.  In this regard, Marie Benedict has powerfully succeeded!

 

    

Book Review: The Jersey Brothers by Sally Mott Freeman

 

The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and 

His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home

Author: Sally Mott Freeman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Date of Publication: May 9, 2017

Pages: 608

    

     The Jersey Brothers was selected for monthly discussion by our neighborhood non-fiction book group.  I had never heard of the book before it was selected and doubt that I ever would have stumbled upon it to read on my own.  I am glad that our group selected it, as the book is obsessively researched, tightly written, emotional in many areas, and, on top of all of that, very educational.  

     The story is about two brothers, Bill and Benny Mott, and their younger half-brother Barton Cross.  The focus is mostly on Barton who was taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of the Philippines.  The early part of the book relates much of Barton's upbringing and schooling.  The reader is also introduced to the boys' mother Helen, who becomes a major character as the book moves along.  Bill and Benny are achievers, each obtaining an appointment to the Naval Academy in Annapolis and going on to successful naval careers.  Barton has a flair for the arts and music and doesn't seem to have the same drive to succeed.  He is sent to a private boarding school for high school to try to improve his academic standing but is not offered a position in Annapolis.  He spends a year at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. instead.  He survives all the hazing and harsh treatment as a first-year cadet.  Succeeding at The Citadel he transfers to the Naval Academy, where he endures yet another year of hazing and brutal physical punishment.  He proceeds to fail a math class by a fraction of a point and winds up at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  He graduates from there with a business degree.  The point of all this backstory regarding Barton is important for the reader to know since these experiences were very formative and explain how he could survive the ordeals inflicted by his Japanese captors.  The reader also sees Helen Cross as a manipulative and obtrusive parent, what today we would call a "helicopter parent".  She embarks on letter writing campaigns every time she perceives that her son has been mistreated.  

     Meanwhile, Bill becomes an attorney and then, as a naval reservist, becomes a Naval Intelligence officer.  Benny moves up the ladder of command at sea.  As World War II approaches, Bill, recognizing that Barton will inevitably be drafted into the Army, pulls strings and gets Barton into the Navy as a supply officer.  Bill figures that this arrangement will keep Barton out of harm's way.  Unfortunately, exactly the opposite occurs as Barton is in the wrong place at the wrong time as the Japanese overwhelm the Philippines.  

     What follow is the story of Bill and Benny's relentless pursuit of information pertaining to their imprisoned brother and Barton's horrific ordeals at the hands of his Japanese captors.  Bill uses his position as chief of the White House Map Room (the war room) and his close relationship to President Roosevelt to gain access to classified prisoner and casualty lists.  Benny gets closer and closer to the Philippines as the U.S. Navy moves across the many Pacific islands as the war progresses.  These brothers collectively are witnesses to most of the pivotal events of the Pacific war: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the naval battles at Coral Sea and Midway, the Doolittle raid, and the utilization of the atomic bomb.  The author also exposes the infighting between the Army and Navy over strategy and the personal battles between General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz.  

     This book is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that it highlights the intense emotional toll that war has on families.  The unraveling of marriages, the disruption of any sense of normalcy, and, especially poignant, the terror inflicted on family members of prisoners of war.  Using Helen's diary entries and her many letters to naval officers, congressmen, and even President Roosevelt, the author shows the psychological damage inflicted on those at the home front.  

     In the end, The Jersey Brothers is an exhaustive look at World War II through the eyes of a remarkable family and their many contributions to the war effort.  The author is the daughter of Bill Mott, and she has obviously poured her heart and soul into this work.  She brings the horror of war down to a very personal level; Bill, Benny, and Barton are presented as the heroes that they indeed were, but with all their humanity, doubts, failings, and inadequacies presented as well.  The Jersey Brothers is a remarkable achievement and one which I will not soon forget.  

 

Book Review: The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

 

The Last Train to Key West

Author: Chanel Cleeton

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Date of Publication: June 16, 2020

Page: 320

     I am a sucker for any book written about Key West.  We have vacationed there several times and the combination of charm, history, climate, inclusiveness, and just plain fun are hard to beat.  I have documented one such trip in a previous blog post.  The restaurants are world class as well!  There are many attractions there besides the beaches and the bars, including The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.  When this book was selected by our new neighborhood's book club, I couldn't pass it up.

     This is a novel of three women in crisis.  Their stories are told in alternating chapters.  The author does an incredible job tying these stories together at the end of the book.  The first woman is Helen, a native of Key West who finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship.  She married young, works as a waitress and is pregnant with her first child.  She dreams of her fisherman husband's death which she sees as her only means of escape. The second is Elizabeth, a former debutante from New York who is also trapped in an engagement to a New York mobster.  This marriage is the only way she can see clear of a mountain of debt her family is buried under after the stock market crash of 1929.  She has come to Key West in search of a lost brother, a WWI veteran working in a labor camp.  The third woman is Mirta, a Cuban who is on her honeymoon, having married an older man of dubious reputation.  This marriage was brokered by her father in order to improve his political position.  All three of these main characters are very well developed by the author.  They are all sympathetic and likable.  As these women are introduced and the plots are taking shape, we find that there is a hurricane threatening the area.  This hurricane is, in fact, the famous 1935 Labor Day storm, the strongest hurricane to make landfall in North American history.  This storm had sustained winds of 200 mph and virtually destroyed the village of Islamorada on Matecumbe Key.  At least 250 of the veterans sent to work camps in the Keys were killed.  The storm and its aftermath are the thrilling conclusion to this novel and the crisp, articulate writing comes to a crescendo.

     This is a story of survival.  The three women successfully navigate their personal and actual storms, each in their own way.  The novel tells of some very interesting history as well.  The plight of the World War I veterans, chased from Washington, D.C. by President Herbert Hoover as they protested delayed pension payments is touched upon.  The plight of both the rich and the poor during the Great Depression is alluded to as well.  Mr. Flagler's railroad from Miami to Key West plays a role throughout the story, although details of engineering and construction difficulties are not elaborated upon.  The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 is central to the entire novel.  Its devastation is expertly described and those chapters are nothing short of riveting.  Although it may have detracted a bit from the main plots, a little more historical detail as it pertained to the veterans and some more details regarding the railroad would have given the novel a bit more depth.

     All in all, this was a very enjoyable book to read.  It sparked my interest in learning more about Henry Flagler and his Florida Overseas Railroad as well as the veterans' work camps in the Keys during the Depression.  Entertaining and thought provoking is a great combination!

     

Book Review:Later by Stephen King

Later

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Titan

Date of Publication: March 2, 2021

Pages:272

     Summer books or "beach reads" are supposed to be brief, entertaining, and not too taxing on the brain.  This book fits these criterion perfectly.   This is the story of  Jamie Conklin, a young boy who can see dead people.  It is different from the 1999 movie The Sixth Sense in that the boy can communicate with the dead and his ability dissipates the longer the person is dead.  Initially this only sets up awkward situations for Jamie and his single mom.  As the story progresses, his gift becomes known by his mother's girlfriend, a New York city detective.  She uses Jamie and his gift to further her career and places the boy and his mom in increasingly compromised situations.  

    The story is told by an adult Jamie and moves right along.  One underlying subplot is Jamie's desire to know who his father is/was.  His mother refuses to discuss it and there are no photos, letters, or other clues to his identity.  This issue is neatly resolved at the end of the book with a surprise twist which I did not anticipate.  The characters are incredibly well developed (as is typical for Mr. King) and even the minor characters pop to life in brief appearances.  Jamie's elderly neighbor is a wonderful example of this.  

    As with other Stephen King stories and novels, this stands as an allegory for facing your fears and accepting yourself for who you are, even if that means becoming comfortable with your ability to see dead people.  Maybe I sold this brief novel a bit short in my opening sentence.  It is a quick read and is very entertaining.  It does, however, make you think a bit, especially about confronting one's fears.  I enjoyed this, recommend it, and not necessarily just for the beach!

Book Review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

 

The Maidens

Author: Alex Michaelides

Publisher: Celadon Books

Date of Publication: June 15, 2021

Pages: 352

     The Maidens is book number 2 for this author following his wildly successful The Silent Patient.  This book has a different premise and setting but lots of the same psychological backdrop.  The main character is Mariana Andros, a young but recently widowed group therapist from London.  She rushes to Cambridge to be with her niece whose classmate has just been murdered.  She decides to stick around to continue comforting and counseling her niece and try lending the police a hand in solving the murder.  Potential suspects are introduced on almost every page.  First there is the creepy guy on the train who stalks Mariana, then a misogynistic but charismatic literature professor, the victim's boyfriend who happens to have a criminal record and deals drugs, and a quiet but suspicious custodian.  One by one more young girls are killed.  These victims are stereotypical privileged elite class young women.   Like the first girl, each new victim belongs to a select study group led by the literature professor.  Mariana becomes more involved and feels the wrath from both the police, who feel their toes are being stepped on, as well as from suspects who feel wrongfully accused.

    There is a lot of great character development here, much like in The Silent Patient.  The psychological histories of many of the characters are similar: distant and/or abusive fathers who these characters are either trying to escape from or live up to.  There are a lot of "daddy issues" in this novel.  The setting is like another character, with detailed renderings of the Cambridge campus.  The plot is where this novel falls a bit short, though, in my opinion.  The story tends to drag as Mariana has dinner at the professor's home or drinks in various college bars with other characters.  The ending is wrapped up nicely with a twist that I did not see coming, although in retrospect, I should have.

     All in all, this is an entertaining read with a great setting.  For me, the plot could have used a faster pace with a little less psychology.

 

   

Book Review: The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson

 

The Sirens of Mars

Searching for Life on Another World

Author: Sarah Stewart Johnson

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Date of Publication: July 7, 2020

Pages: 288

     The Sirens of Mars is a unique amalgam of history, science, philosophy and memoir.  Sarah Stewart Johnson is a planetary scientist and an assistant professor at Georgetown University.  In this book she gives us the history of man's interest in and study of the planet Mars.  This starts with early attempts to describe and then map the planet's surface.  It culminates in today's sophisticated rovers, complete with equipment to analyze soil and rock samples in attempt to find conditions compatible with life.

    This book chronicles the many successes and failures of Mars expeditions as well as the surprises which have come from these missions.  The author does an amazing job of explaining complex scientific concepts and creates very understandable commentaries on how this research is conducted and, more importantly, why this research is necessary.  Exploration of a planet thought to be similar to ours but not contaminated by homo sapiens is essential to our understanding of the beginnings of life on Earth.

   The author weaves a parallel narrative of her own burgeoning childhood interest in science, her college and graduate school experiences and her subsequent participation in the male-dominated field of planetary science.  She cleverly juxtaposes her own personal milestones (career advancements, meeting and marrying her husband, and her first pregnancy) with landmark events in the history of Mars exploration.  The chapter where she describes the birth of her first child while at the same time the Mars rover Curiosity (a project with which she was critically involved) successfully navigated the Gale Crater looking for simple organic compounds, the "building blocks" of potential life, was captivating.

     I found this a very readable, entertaining, and educational book.  The author does an outstanding job of bringing complex science to a non-science audience.  It gave me new insights into the importance of  this kind of research.  I enjoyed The Sirens of Mars much more than I anticipated and recommend it to anyone curious about scientific investigation, space exploration, and/or planetary science.

Book Review: Chasing My Cure by David Fajgenbaum

 

Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope into Action

Author: David Fajgenbaum

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Date of Publication: September 10, 2019

Pages: 230

     Finding a cure for a rare disease about which little is known is challenging to even the most seasoned medical researcher.  Imagine if that researcher was an inexperienced medical student who is also suffering the ravages of this obscure disease and you have David Fajgenbaum's Chasing My Cure.  This plot line sounds like something out of an implausible, syrupy TV show, but this riveting story is true.

    Chasing My Cure begins with David's early life in Raleigh, North Carolina.  His father was a successful orthopedic surgeon and team doctor for the North Carolina State Wolfpack.  David was an excellent athlete and was a high school football star.  He went on to play quarterback at my alma mater, Georgetown University.  David's interest in medicine began with an unfortunate turn of events involving his mother.  Unfortunately she was diagnosed with a glioblastoma during his freshman year of college and died fairly quickly.  We get an early glimpse of this young man's organizational skills as he forms a support group for grieving college students, first at Georgetown but soon at many campuses nationwide.  David decided to pursue oncology to try to help patients like his mother.

   While attending medical school at the University of Pennsylvania he begins experiencing severe fatigue which he blames on his rigorous schedule.  He becomes severely ill, is admitted to the hospital and proceeds to plummet downhill from a process no one can diagnose.  He is thought to have an autoimmune disease and is treated as such but continues a downward course of multiple organ system  failure.  He is even given his last rights, a sacrament for Catholics who are felt to be close to death.  He finally responds favorably to therapies and a diagnosis of Castleman Disease is made.  This is a rare disorder where a patient's lymphatic system overproduces interleukin-6 causing an intense systemic inflammatory response.  

    The remainder of the book chronicles David's quest to find out all he can about this disease and improve treatment.  In between four near-fatal relapses he is able to complete medical school.  He then studies for an M.B.A. at the Wharton School of Business in order to better organize an international collaborative effort to study and defeat Castleman Disease.  He is aided by a very supportive family and group of colleagues.  He falls back on his experience in sports to foster teamwork and achieve goals.  This is a fascinating study of one individual's tenacity, will to live, and capacity to enlist a myriad of different doctors, medical researchers, and even patients to get a handle on this disease.  At one point he writes:

                    "Fear disintegrates, Doubt disorganizes.  Hope clears the way."

     That reminded me of the little poem by Emily Dickinson:

                                  

     This book is a tribute to one man's grit and determination.  It is also a tribute to hope, that most fragile of human emotions which is often so easily dashed.  This man has remained in remission for a number of years now, utilizing a therapy that he was able to help create.  He is an assistant professor of Medicine in Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Director, Patient Impact of the Penn Orphan Disease Center, Founding Director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment and Laboratory, and Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN).  In December of 2020 Dr. Fajgenbaum published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine about cytokine storm in covid-19 patients.  His efforts at collaboration have paid off handsomely.  This is truly an inspiring story,.    

Book Review: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

 

Miracle Creek

Author: Angie Kim

Publisher: Picador

Date of Publication: April 7, 2020

Pages: 384

     This is a marvelous novel which succeeds on many levels.  First, it is a top-notch "who-done-it".  Four patients and parents of two of those are in a sealed multi-place hyperbaric chamber when a fire erupts.  One pediatric patient and another child's parent are killed in the mishap.  This event is told in the opening of the book and the background is all revealed through the murder trial of the dead child's mother.  Did she intentionally set the fire as all of the circumstantial evidence would suggest?  Could the perpetrator be any one of a number of other characters?  The reader has suspicions, but they change multiple times as details are elicited during the trial and through flashbacks.  The plot of Mystery Creek is a variation of the "Closed Circle Mystery" genre: a limited number of suspects are presented, all with motive, opportunity, and means to have committed the crime.  The reader needs to sort through this increasingly tangled story to try to figure out what exactly happened.

     Miracle Creek is also a series of extremely well drawn character studies.  The operators of the unlicensed hyperbaric chamber are a Korean immigrant family (the Yoos): a father (the chamber operator), his wife, and their teen-aged daughter.  The author calls on her own immigrant experience to portray these folks as flawed but tremendously sympathetic characters.  The other patients include a medical doctor with infertility, a child with cerebral palsy, and two children with different degrees of autism (and their mothers).  The prosecutor and the defense attorney are central to the story also, even as minor characters. 

     This book also succeeds in painting a very realistic picture of the immigrant experience in America.  These folks come to America looking for opportunity and often find exploitation, misunderstanding, and frustration instead.  The Kims fight prejudice, racial and ethnic stereotyping, and bullying in their workplace and in school.  It is not an easy path and the author questions the risk vs. benefit ratio in deciding to abandon their native country.   

    Finally, the author does a fantastic job of describing the frustrations and difficulties of parenting a special-needs child.  The parents' whole lives are consumed with therapy appointments, treatments and hands-on control of these very needy children.  The tasks take their toll, often causing relationships to splinter.  Is all of this turmoil, self-doubt, and aggravation enough to make a mother want to kill her own child?  Would she really strike a match and intentionally cause a fatal chamber explosion?  That is the question the court is trying to answer and the book addresses so adroitly.  

     This book intrigued me from the very start.  I am a retired hyperbaric physician and have experience as a hyperbaric facility accreditation surveyor, so I am very familiar with the risks of hyperbaric therapy, especially in unlicensed, non-hospital affiliated settings.  The author certainly did her homework in that regard and understands the issues quite well.

     This is a very well written book which is entertaining as well as informative.   It is very deserving of the Edgar Award it was awarded in April of 2020 as the Best First Mystery Novel.

Book Review: A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

A Good Neighborhood

Author: Therese Anne Fowler

Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Date of Publication: March 10, 2020

Pages: 320

     This is a novel for our times.  It is set in a bucolic racially integrated neighborhood in a classic Southern city (the author lives in Raleigh, North Carolina).  When intolerable nouveau-riche white people invade with their gentrification and scorched earth attitude towards the environment, conflict arises.  The characters are a bit stereotypical, but that sets the stage for the struggles which ensue.  The basic conflict involves a stately oak tree which is irreparably damaged when a huge home is built next door.  Racial, class, religious, age discriminations, and unfounded fear add dimension to and accelerate the tensions between neighbors.  

     About half way through this book, I couldn't decide whose story it was.  Was it the story of Valerie Alston-Holt, a college professor who happens to also be a black single mother with a talented, mixed-race teenaged son?  (She also owns the home with the oak tree.)  Was it the story of Xavier, her gifted musician-son who has earned a prestigious college scholarship?  Was it the story of Brad Whitman, the narcissistic good old boy who tears down an older home and builds the McMansion next to Valerie, in the process destroying her pastoral back yard?  Was it the story of Juniper, Brad's step-daughter who is drawn to her new neighbor, Xavier, like a moth to a flame despite the Purity Promise she has made at her evangelical church?  After reaching the book's heartbreaking conclusion, I realized that this is OUR story: America's story.  It's the story of what happens when events transpire based on false assumptions, age-old stereotypes, and ingrained prejudices.  It reminds me a bit of Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere, in that the underlying theme is race, but so much more is layered into the story.  Hypocrisy abounds, self-centered agendas rule, and the common good gets thrown under a bus.

 

     The author uses an interesting technique: she introduces some chapters with unnamed omniscient third person narrators.  This Greek chorus of un-named neighbors are witnessing events unfold while trying not to be involved.  Some narrations are told with a retrospective feel, hinting at the story's eventual outcome. The interesting effect which this technique has is that it makes the reader feel a part of the neighborhood.  It makes you think "What would I be thinking or doing if this was going on down my street?"

     A Good Neighborhood is an excellent book.  It has a terrible sense of dread which propels you through the chapters.  The writing is crisp and economical - no wasted words.  The story really is a parable for our times.  There is much here to make the reader stop and ponder.  It makes you look at your own "good neighborhood" in a different light.  It is one of those books which entertains but at the same time teaches.  It is remarkable.