Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters – Jane Austen en Ben H. Winters
1 out of 5 stars
Giant lobsters, terrifying swordfish, London converted into a giant dome on the bottom of the sea and a man suffering from a curse by a sea witch. All form the background of the new book by Quirk Classics in the monster mash-up genre: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. One thing’s for sure: it’s a monstrosity of a book.
After the success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the publishers must have wanted to cash in on this new hype. Granted, who could blame them? The combination of Pride and Prejudice was funny. It’s not for everyone, it’s over the top and the idea of zombies certainly got a little old close to the end of the book. Still, it gave a funny twist to the story. More publishers must’ve noticed that the public seemed to like it, because currently there are books appearing everywhere that combine classic Austen with freaky super natural monsters. Quirk must’ve thought that they’d better be quick with their own follow up. That’s why, a couple of months ago, a trailer appeared for “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters”.
Sadly, the book doesn’t live up to the trailer. And that’s saying a lot, because the trailer wasn’t all that great to begin with. Except, it was still funny and the book isn’t.
This is Sense and Sensibility in a world in which every animal that lives in the sea has turned against mankind and wants to eat every single human there is. Strangely, this doesn’t mean that the British all move inland stay away from the water. The Dashwood family goes to live on a small island that is on the most dangerous coast: Devonshire. And instead of visiting London halfway through the book, they visit Submarine Station Beta, which is below sea level. Both of course, set the stage for disaster.
It’s just all a little too farfetched. To make it worse, Ben Winters thought it necessary to change most of the characters around. Margaret, instead of being a happy child turns into a member of some sect. Mr. Palmer had his own experiences with this sect, because apparently he can’t behave like he does in Sense and Sensibility for no reason other than his character and bad marriage. All the characters are less sensible in that they usually ignore the dangers or attacks of sea monsters that happen in front of their nose for reasons of decorum. The worst change is made, however, to Colonel Brandon. He was hit by a curse which changed him into a half-squid and makes him utterly unlovable from the start. I love the character of Colonel Brandon in the classic Sense and Sensibility, but was unable to feel anything but disgust in this book. Of course, mostly this was disgust for whatever Ben Winters was thinking. Readers have to struggle through pages in which Colonel Brandon has to pin his tentacles to his ears to be able to eat, is regularly covered in slime and worst of all: his tentacles are linked to that other part (or parts, apparently in his case) of his body that deal with sexual arousal. How, if ever, could you want to read a book based on Austen that features the sentence:
‘She noticed that his appendages at times seemed to stiffen a bit when he chanced to glance upon Marianne, as if excess blood were flowing into them.’
Not even the semi-critical look at colonialism helped the enjoyment of this book. If you want to voice your objections to Britain’s colonial past, why insist on giving Lady Middleton, Mrs. Palmer and her mother (in this story all forcibly abducted from a faraway island) so many characteristics that are basically ethnocentric prejudices from the same period?
If you look at my library you will see two types of non-fiction books: history and baseball history. I stumbled across this book in the sports section of Barnes and Noble one day and really enjoyed it. I have read several of David Halberstam’s books and thought I would give The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship a try and was pleasantly surprised.
Teammates tells the story of Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio who jumped in a car and drove 1,300 miles to see their friend, the great Ted Williams. Williams was dying at his home in Florida when the two decided to visit and spend one last time with their friend. One other close member of the group, Bobby Doer was unable to make the journey due to illness.
The thing that amazes me is how close the group all stayed together over the years. I have always wanted to find friends like this group had but have so far been unable to.
A very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it if you are into sports history and/or baseball
Richard Phillips booklet is a part of a ten part series, published by Presbyterian and Reformed. Each booklet provides a snapshot of a crucial area of theology that serve as a catalyst for more in-depth study.
This work overviews the vital doctrines of election and predestination and is rooted in Scripture throughout. Phillips distinguishes between election and predestination, i.e. “God elects persons and predestines things.”
After providing basic definitions, Phillips articulates biblically informed responses to typical objections to these doctrines. He argues that election is not in fact, a doctrine that is concocted in the mind of man; rather it is a biblical doctrine. Second, he maintains that election does not promote pride as some suppose; rather this doctrine sparks humility. Third, he argues that “election promotes holiness and not license.” Phillips contends that “election promotes assurance of salvation, but not presumption.” Finally, the author strongly argues that “election promotes glory to God alone and not to man.”
The section on predestination responds to the two primary arguments that are advanced by our Arminian friends, namely, that predestination is unfair and it is incompatible with human responsibility. Phillips argues against these notions in a winsome and theologically precise way.
There is a strong movement in America that is returning to our Reformed theological roots. Richard Phillips short treatment of this subject serves as a basic introduction to the doctrines of grace and should be utilized with anyone who struggles (as I did for many years) with these doctrines. A more comprehensive treatment may be found in John Murray’s, Redemption Accomplished and Applied and Lorraine Boettner’s, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.
Salaries are clearly a very important part of work for job seekers, employers and employees alike. When we go to work, more often than not we are exchanging our time for a salary of a monetary value. Daniel Pink, who has authored various terrific books (including my personal favorite ‘A Whole New Mind’) has recently published a new book called ‘Drive’ for which I found an interesting review ‘Drive’ author Daniel Pink: Raises make bad motivators. This was shortly followed by a blog post from Daniel Pink clarifying his stance on salary raises and their relevance when it comes to motivating staff.
In his post ‘Raises *do* matter’ it is clearly not as black and white situation as perhaps it once was – pay them more and they will work harder. Pink highlights that employees will not succumb to childish practices such as “If-then” rewards — “If you do something great, then you’ll get a raise”, which he views as being dangerous.
Pink is an advocate of paying people well and ensuring there is a certain amount of equitability amongst employees for similar roles to keep people motivated. However, I would suggest that for some roles, such as sales, an incentive or bonus scheme can be very effective (i.e. the carrot and stick approach). This may not translate well into all professions and so requires us to look at the topic of incentives on a profession (and potentially individual) case by case basis. Pink concludes his post with “The best use of money is to take the issue of money off the table . . . Effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself.” No doubt there is some truth in this but in reality we all have bills to pay; have career, educational and financial ambitions; etc which means that remuneration is never too far from our thoughts and can be a good motivator.
Share your views on the topic – are you motivated by salary increases and/or other incentives at work?
Be forwarned, I ramble on quietly for over nine minutes. I’m so sorry.
I feel stupid talking to a camera, what can I say? I also touch my matted late-night hair way too many times. But try to get through it, and share your thoughts with me.
Waddle! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder
“It’s Waddle! And it’s in color. And boy, is it irresistible. In the same way that kids can’t read Gallop! without wanting to gallop around the room, Waddle!, an animals-in-motion Scanimation book, will inspire prancing, hopping, stomping, and scampering. And did we mention color? Created by the optical genius behind the phenomenal #1 and #2 New York Times bestselling children’s books, Gallop! and Swing!, Waddle! adds touches of color to the images and integrates it into the text. That prancing pig is pink, the leaping dolphin is blue, the slithering snake yellow.” [JPB SEDER]
Newsgirl by Liza Katchum
“Never has 12-year-old Amelia Forrester found it so inconvenient to be a girl. Her mother and family friend, Estelle, can come all the way from Boston to San Francisco as businesswomen, but Amelia can’t even sell a months’-old Boston newspaper without being assaulted and taunted by boys. While the two women—dressmakers by trade—adjust their business plan to make clothing for men, Amelia makes an entrepreneurial decision of her own. She chops off her long hair, dons a borrowed cap and trousers, and takes to the streets of 1851 San Francisco to hawk newspapers. Her nose for news soon leads her and her new friend, Patrick, to a much-hyped balloon launch. As fate would have it, they are invited to stand in the balloon’s basket, but the men on the ground lose their grip on the tethers and the children find themselves soaring over the mountains.” [J KETCHUM]
Mysterious Messages: A History of Codes and Ciphers by Gary Blackwood
“History’s amazing secrets and codes-and how to crack them yourself.
This fascinating look at history’s most mysterious messages is packed with puzzles to decode and ciphers that kids can use themselves. Here are the encrypted notes of Spartan warriors, the brilliant code-crackers of Elizabeth I, secret messages of the American Revolution, spy books of the Civil War, the famous Enigma Machine, and the Navajo code talkers. As computers change the way we communicate, codes today are more intriguing than ever.
From invisible ink to the CIA, this exciting trip through history is a hands-on, interactive experience – so get cracking!” [J652.8 BLACKWOOD]
Drumroll, please! The Caldecott Medal, awarded each year by the American Library Association to the artist of the best American picture book for children published that year, was awarded last Monday to Jerry Pinkney for The Lion and the Mouse, a wordless adaptation of the famous Aesop fable.
How about this for an unusual, daring book cover? No title, no author’s name! And who do you think the lion is looking at out of the corner of his eye? Guess who is pictured on the BACK of the book?
Check The Lion and the Mouse out and see how Pinkney’s glowing watercolor paintings deliver the heartwarming old tale about the unlikely friendship between a strong lion and a meek field mouse.
Summary: This is the story of a little boy who antagonizes his little sister and one day is caught by his grandfather. The grandfather tells him that his actions “empty his sister’s bucket”. The boy wakes up the next day puzzled about the concept of a bucket but soon understands the lesson his grandfather was teaching him. His day begins with a series of negative interactions but it soon turns around and the boy realizes that his bucket is filled through kindness which is much better than hurt negative behavior generates.
Literary elements at work in the story: The story is told from the point of view of the little boy. The characters in the story all have buckets hanging over their head at various stages of fullness which will help children better understand the concept. The characters display very typical actions and emotions and will be easily recognized
Perspective on gender, race, culture, economic, ability: The book is multi-racial as well as multi-ethnic and the interactions are very positive
Scripture: Matthew 7:12: “Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get.” The Message
Theology: The story is about life together in a community that builds each other up rather than tears us down.
Faith-talk questions:
Do people ever pick on you? How does it feel?
What was the last thing you did for someone that you think made them feel good? How did it make you feel?
Review prepared by Jim Collins, MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2007
A friend of mine recently sent me a copy of the Mike Matusow book, Check-Raising the Devil, so I thought I’d type up some thoughts on it.
While I have read reviews to the contrary, I actually found the writing in this book exceptionally poor. Presumably Mike Matusow was not responsible for that aspect of the book and his co-writers are to blame. The incorrect use of commas, can be very jarring to the reader (see what I did there?). Additionally, the book frequently violates the ‘show don’t tell’ guideline, and amateurishly attempts to end each chapter with some sort of serial comic book cliffhanger, e.g., ‘I thought I would go to the grocery store the next day. But I was wrong.’
As for the content of the story, Matusow undoubtedly has an interesting story to tell. However, much of the book runs as little more than a highlight reel. Anyone who has watched televised poker in the past few years will already be familiar with must of the story – the repeated run-ins with Greg Raymer, the ‘Vindication Baby’ Aruba tournament, the WSOP run-in with Shawn Sheikhan, attempting to tackle Mr. Peanut, etc.
While Matusow attempts to explain the context of each situation, there is very little in the way of genuine discussion of his motives or exploration of his thought process. In the end his rationalizing is often feeble and amounts to little more than hand waving, ‘but in any event that’s what I did.’ It is unclear if Matusow is refusing to delve more deeply or if he’s just completely out of touch with his feelings and thoughts.
For example, his lapse into illegal drug usage is recounted without any sense of accountability. According to Matusow it just sort of happened. He seems incapable of admitting that he did anything wrong, most notably in his infamous drug sell incident. One is left to wonder if he really is so ignorant of social mores or if he’s just entirely devoid of a personal moral compass.
Because Matusow is inarguably a great poker player it is worth mentioning strategy, though the book does not claim to have a strategic component. Though there is very little overall analysis of hands it is evident that Matusow plays mostly on intuition. Unfortunately he is often unable to explain his thought process beyond factually stating his conclusion. Furthermore, mathematical errors are rampant in the book: misreading of board textures and miscounting outs, describing a two outer as a bigger miracle on the river than on the turn turn (which I will admit may have been more of a lexical error), arguing for a fold of top pair plus the nut flush draw in Limit Hold ‘Em when facing a top pair hand with a better kicker (due to the structure of the game it would be difficult to construct realistic scenarios where the pot size would make this play correct), etc.
Ultimately I was disappointed that someone who feels so deeply was not able to better explain and discuss his feelings, nor utilize them correctly. For example, I found it discouraging how Matusow would refer to his ‘friends.’ At one point in the book he notes how many people in the party scene abandoned him when he got clean, but he never seems to quite make the connection that they were never truly his friends to begin with. This was the only time I really truly found Matusow to be a sympathetic character. Perhaps in the end Matusow is really just a confused and lonely person.
This year I am adding book reviews to my blog. As an avid collector of books on quilting, sewing, and embroidery, it’s nice to share my opinions on the ones I enjoy the most. The first review will be on “The Quilter’s Academy – Vol 1″, by the mother/daughter team Harriet and Carrie Hargrave.
The authors’ goal is to create a series of books that breaks down the process of making quilts into discrete classes (which in turn are broken down into 4 – 7 focused lessons). The books progress in difficulty, and by the time you work through the entire series of books you will have a “Masters” in quilt making. As someone who thrives in a classroom environment, this approach to quilting definitely got my attention.
The first book in the series, aptly subtitled “Freshman Year”, is an invaluable resource for both beginning and advanced quilters. Both groups are guaranteed to learn something new that will improve their skill. Volume 1 contains nine classes and focuses on the basics – such as tools, workspace, fabric, thread, rotary cutting, seam allowance, and so on. The techniques are broken down into specific lessons and each lesson is accompanied by a hands-on exercise that utilizes the technique presented. Each class concludes with a larger quilt project that lets you practice what you’ve just learned.
The book is packed with information – for example, the authors give a very detailed (and interesting) description about fabric grain and how this can impact your sewing. Their directions for rotary cutting are some of the best I’ve seen and all of their lessons are geared to teach the most accurate piecing possible. While you might not aspire to be a perfect quilter, I don’t think there is any harm in learning how to do things the “correct” way first, and then modifying it to suite your style.
The projects themselves are very attractive and are small enough so they can be completed in a weekend. They all use basic strips and squares (no triangles or circles – they will be covered in later books in the series), but there is a lot of variety. By the time you work your way to the end of the book you will have a good understanding of how blocks are created, how to break , calculate yardage, and be able to create your own patterns from strips and squares.
Overall, I was very impressed with the technical detail and pictures in this book. Everything is clearly explained, and it is definitely a resource you will consult over and over again. Highly recommended for any quilter’s library!
Ok, so besides the risotto I’ve made twice in the last week to a) hone it into a coherent, workable recipe (or at least the beginning of one), and b) eat it for as many meals (four) as was humanly possible, I’ve been eating a lot of Indian food. No, not because I’m pining away for the take-your-breath-away spiciness of Brick Lane’s cuisine (although I am). No, not because in the last few days, I’ve bought five or six spices I’d never used (or been able to pronounce) before. And no, not because I’ve renounced my love of gnocchi and red wine.
In fact, it’s all this man’s fault. Actually, it’s largely this man’s fault as well. See, for Christmas, Boyfriend really went all out with the cookbooks. He took every hint I’d been subtly alluding to blatantly bombarding him with for the past several months and bought me the two cookbooks I’d wanted most. He also gave me my own cookbook, which he created from the content of this very blog. I guess I’ll have to keep him around, huh?
Anyway, he’s either trying to tell me that he loves me and wants me to be happy in my little food-crazed bubble, or he desperately wants me to learn how to cook Indian food and bake lots of bread. I’m going with the former, though he has seemed a little distraught that I’ve been cooking things without his being around to taste-test.
So I’ve made a lot of curry in the last few weeks, and honestly, it’s been fantastic. I was a little wary of the book to begin with, as there are spices listed in these recipes that I’ve never even heard of, let alone tasted. But the writing is so clear and descriptive that there’s little room for error – and even in my I-want-to-change-recipes-I’ve-never-cooked idiocy, I’ve yet to screw one up. And trust me, I’ve done some major substitutions so far.
So look forward to seeing some curries up here in the near future (don’t worry, we’ll get to the bread, too) – and start checking your grocery store for curry seeds, paneer, tumeric, saffron, fenugreek, holy basil, jaggery…
Our classic for book club this round is The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. I have heard about it on multiple occasions and had a vague idea of what it was about. Turns out it really was as fascinating as I thought it would be. Wilde’s writing is witty and entertaining. Even in areas that I didn’t quite understand, I could tell that he had some great social commentary on the topics that he discusses.
The book explores Dorian Gray’s decent into a carnal lifestyle after discovering that his portrait, painted by a good friend, will take on the effects of age and sin leaving him unblemished. Dorian eventually becomes his own destruction as he becomes obsessed with his portrait that reveals all of his evils.
The climax and ending of the book are shocking, and to me, they came suddenly and are written a bit abruptly. It was just the tiniest bit predictable but still enjoyable and satisfying.
This was my first Wilde read and it was very dark but also intelligent, I would imagine, much like Wilde himself was. A great classic to add to your repertoire. 7/10
Dear God. Has Dmitri come to this? When one of his prized possessions is a smoothie maker, and he’s even cooking from recipe books on a Sunday, has the mean-sprited, moaning, lazy good-for-nothing changed from that person they knew years ago? Probably. Hell, he even went to a West End Musical called Legally Blonde – and enjoyed it!!!
This is the sort of man who goes out to Asda on a Saturday night to bulk buy his dog’s food for the next six months. This is a man who buys frozen fruit and is alwys on the look out for new offers to make up his smoothies. This is a man who wonders if his dish is going to suffer because he replaced a dash of ginger with a dash of paprika. This is a man who now marinades his food for 24 hours, and loves home-baked bread. This is a man eschewing crisps, refusing alcohol and turning down requests to go to McDonalds. This is a man who wants to walk home from work, again!
I’ve gone odd.
Anyway, for those wondering what I cooked – I bet you don’t care really – it was this. I can report that the verdict from the beloved was that the sauce was delicious – and it was – but the chicken was a bit dry but not my fault – which it was and it was because I left it in the pan too long. However added to my performance the preceding week with this recipe where the chicken was moist, the sauce excellent, and the beloved delighted, I am now getting into this Sunday cooking lark and I am on the lookout for next week’s instalment. Who’d have thought it? A Dmitri Cookery Column.
Other news of life and stuff. I watched the first ever A-Team the other day (suppress your questions of why, I just did) and wondered who on earth it was playing Face? It appears his name is Tim Dunigan and he now works as a mortgage broker. Dirk Benedict came along later. All good fun… I picked up the DVD for the first series some months back for a couple of quid, so that’s why. I have Series 2 of The Wire, Series 1 of Homicide Life on the Streets, and innumerable sports stuff to watch, so plenty to be getting on with.
I’ve also reconnected with one of my school loves – no not some bird, as Dmitri went to an all boys school which introduced girls to the Sixth Form as some sort of strange social experiment to test out us strange people who thought all girls were evil, or some such thing. No, I mean history. I was good at it. I won the School Prize for best at history and promptly spent the book tokens on Garfield books! Just before Christmas Amazon were offering the Simon Schama History of Britain DVDs at a relatively lower price, so I bought them and have watched up to the death of Henry VIII (We have a mate at work, we should call him Henry IV, because he’s had three wives, so he’s half the man the old Henry was). I’m really interested in the medieval times, and since then have bought books on Edward I and Edward III, and also went to one of those awful cheapo stores and got a couple of Kings and Queens guides just to get myself back into it. Along with the 20 other new books I have, I doubt I’ll need any more to keep me going for a while.
Currently reading Frost / Nixon. I’ll go into that a bit more when I’ve finished it. Then I’ll watch the film (I still have the Anthony Hopkins film to watch too). People may know I’m fascinated by Nixon; much more than I am about JFK, or Barack Obama…. how could a man judged so unfavourably in hindsight (a) be president; and (b) win how he did in 1972? Watergate has always been an interest and I love All The President’s Men, the film that got me started. Frost’s attitude to Nixon now is very interesting, as is the book.
Finally, WindyBricks gave me the moment of the season so far, when DelBoy’s Irish relly equalised 20 seconds after the Sailors from the Solent had scored what looked like the winner deep in injury time. The manager of the Sailors, one Alan Absolutely Raped, is not one of my favourite characters for reasons I won’t go into now, except for the fact he’s a gobby prick. His face when the equaliser went in was a picture. An absolute picture. His notebook, which he ostentatiously made copious notes on during the game, went into orbit. His face was chewed up as if he’d eaten a dog turd. And all the while, I laughed, very loudly, at him. If ever a manager deserved that….
acquired: I bought it at our St. Vincent DePaul thrift store.
Challenges: Welsh Reading Challenge
“I stood there shouting, ‘Burp, you silly ass, burp, or you’ll never come down again!” -Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, page 112
For me, this was either my second or third reading of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember reading it a few years ago with the kids, but I’m not sure if I read it by myself as a kid. But whatever the number of reads, it is easy to say this book is fantastic fun… especially to read aloud with a child. As Mags and I read it, we took breaks at the departure of each child to watch the particular scene from the Tim Burton’s movie adaptation (and occasionally from the Gene Wilder version, as well).
Most people know the basic premise of the story: Charlie Bucket and his family are very poor, barely having enough money for food, let alone candy. Little Charlie gets one chocolate bar a year for his birthday, which is falls a few days after Willy Wonka, greatest candy-maker EVER, announces that he has placed a golden ticket in just FIVE of his candies, and these tickets will grant the winning child and up to two parents entry into his mysterious and fantastic factory, as well as a lifetime supply of chocolate. Charlie and Grandpa Joe hold out hope that they have just as much chance to get a ticket as anyone, and when the first four tickets are found by beastly, spoiled, selfish children, they almost give up. But then Charlie spots a dollar bill half buried in the snow, and rushes to buy a couple of Wonka’s Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delights, saving the rest of the money for his family, and finds the ticket in the second bar.
Roald Dahl creates a world in which children aren’t safe, which I think appeals to kids because they DON’T feel safe. In their particular position, they’re subject to the whims and fancies of the adults around them and have very little control over their lives. Readers, particularly young readers, see these over-indulged children who get everything they want which, at first blush, is something most kids would love. However, as the book progresses, we watch as each child suffers an accident which their own self-centeredness is a direct cause. Violet rips the meal-in-a-gum from the drawer and chews it, ignoring Wonka’s warnings, and ends up a giant blueberry. Veruca Salt refuses to take NO for an answer, in fact is inflamed by being told she can’t have one of Wonka’s squirrels, and goes in the nut room to claim one anyone, ending up tossed into the garbage chute by leader of the squirrels who judges her to be a “bad nut”. In the end it is the considerate and well-behaved Charlie who is rewarded. Even when Dahl shows the children leaving the factory in one piece, they are still not escaping unscathed, but instead will retain some scarring for the rest of their lives. Violet, for instance, is still purple, while Mike Teavee has been over-stretched and is now very tall and thin, about whom Wonka makes an almost-callous remark that every basketball team in the country will want him. I think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could fit in the fable category, as it is a cautionary tale with a lesson.
The best part of this book, in my opinion, was cuddling up with Maggie, who is ten and won’t let me do this much longer. She’s in her last semester of Elementary school and will, no doubt, be “too cool” to lay in bed, snuggling and being read to by her mom. Part of the book was also read at the library, which drew attention from a few people, which gave Mags the chance to tell them about the book. I will always have warm memories of this book, which was even good enough to draw my 15-year-old into the room for her favorite part, which is the quote I included. For all these things, and for making me fee like a kid again while reading it, I give Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 5 out of 5 candy stars :-)
This book is my first book read for The Welsh Reading Challenge 2010. Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales, which is part of the Cardiff cosmopolitan area. Roald Dahl day is September 13th, his birthday, every year. Check out The Official Roald Dahl website where you can learn more about the author, his books and even play games. Mags and I did the Wonkanator, a math game, and the “find the differences” game for a while this morning before she left for school, taking the book with her.
When I first discovered the wonder that is Terry Pratchett, I asked for recommendations of where to start (or continue) since his oeuvre is rather intimidating. Claire immediately responded to suggest this book and it only took me…two years to get to it?! Sorry, Claire, I totally meant to read this sooner.
Claire was right, this one was very good. I would say it was much different than the handful (or less than that) of Terry Pratchett books I’ve read so far – very much more, I don’t know, philosophical than the others? Less of a straightforward plot, at the very least.
The Wee Free Men follows Tiffany and her progress toward becoming a witch. Except there’s so much more to it – she learns about her grandmother and herself and the world (or worlds) around her. I’m not doing it justice, but take Claire’s advice and read it.
Claire, it looks like there’s at least one (and maybe two?) sequel to this book – are they just as good? Should I stick with Tiffany?
My rating: B+
And I’m sorry, but, being of the generation that I am, the name Tiffany will always be associated with this:
From the beginning of the book Dr. Emerson Eggerichs hits the nail on the head so to speak. In shades of pink and blue he describes the differences of men and women and gives you tools to help in the art of communication. This has been a touchy subject among many married couples and has caused many divorces I am sure. With this book we learn that “Without love, she reacts without respect.” “Without respect, he reacts without love”, so they both lose. With scriptures Dr. Eggerichs guides us through the strange and often painful road map of communicating with the one that you love. We must learn to choose the correct words that will lift up our spouse with love or respect. This book will help you get off the crazy cycle that keeps turmoil going in your marriage, and help you get to the rewarded cycle. Although as with all human things, there will be times when we slip into our old ways, but with this book and the steps found in it, you will realize and fix the problem before it gets out of hand. This book will also help you to understand your spouses heart and therefore draw you closer to each other as you read this book along with your daily reading of the best book, The Bible.
When Leila Hunt is swept off her feet by a ninja at a New Year’s Even costume party, she has no idea who the masked man is –but after he disappears into the night, she’s determined to find him. When the clock struck twelve, what began as a friendly New Year’s greeting quickly became the most unforgettable kiss Leila had ever experienced with anyone –including her absent boyfriend. But of all the possible suspects, Leila hardly imagines that the ninja is the same man who’s teased, tormented –and secretly intrigued her –since childhood.
Marshall Devlin is finally ready to face the terrifying truth: he’s in love with his best friend’s sister, and has been for years. There’s just one complication: Leila didn’t know he was her nija. To win her, Marsh will have to woo her. But can he make Leila forget their decades of verbal sparring in time to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life?
Originally published in 1996, Kiss and Tell does show it’s age a bit. The storyline is simple enough, characterization and chemistry moderate between the hero and heroine.
It’s a simple story of two people who thought they always ‘hated’ each other as kids, but they learn that they have always cared and now they’re ready to show it.
Assessment: Recommended, an easy read. I did not purchase any additional titles from this author.
Notice: To comply FTC Guidelines, please be aware that this book was a publisher giveaway to participants of the RWA 2009 National Conference. In appreciation, I have decided to write a book review for each and indicate whether or not the book has prompted me to purchase backlist titles from the author
I’ve just recently finished listening to two different audiobooks. I enjoyed them both, for very different reasons. The one I finished most recently is John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines.
The other audiobook is Going Bovine by Libba Bray.
Two very different books, but both had me driving around laughing my
head off. I’m sure that makes funny viewing for the other driving, like when you pull up at a stoplight and someone is singing like crazy.
While looking at both covers, I’m struck by another similarity! Both books have teenage boys going on a road trip at a pivotal time of their life! Hmmm…..
That hadn’t crossed my mind until just now.
An Abundance of Katherines is the story of Colin Singleton and his best friend Hassan. They take off on a road trip to cure Colin of his heartbreak of being dumped by the nineteenth Katherine in his life. How does one guy get dumped by 19 Katherines with a K? Colin, child prodigy/hoping to be a genius has managed. The boys end up in Gutshot, Tennnessee, making friends, interviewing townspeople for their summer job, writing mathematical theorems and trying to decide what life has in store for them. Not a YA book you can listen to with your children in the car, as both Colin and Hassan are prone to use “fugging” in place of another curse word frequently throughout their speech. There are so many amusing parts that I it’s hard to name one, but the hunt for the “feral pig” would be in my top three.
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray, is funny in a whole different kind of way. The cover of a cow carrying a lawn gnome, was just too good to pass up! Main character, Cameron, is having a hard enough time surviving high school and that is even before he comes down with Mad Cow Disease of the human form! Hallucinations of fire demons, a road trip with side kick and midget, Gonzo, a punk angel, a quest to save the world. all of which Cameron endures as he either is a: dying in his hospital bed or, b: really going on the trip of a life time. You’ll have to decide as you read (or listen) which you think. I might need to go back and read Don Quixote.
I do love Libba Bray’s humor. From scanning her blog, she sounds like a hoot to hang out with.
I heard Steve Hamilton give an interesting talk at a writer’s conference and decided to try one of his books. The one I wound up with was Ice Run. It is the follow-up to the Gumshoe-Award-winning Blood in the Sky. It also features the same protagonist, Alex McKnight.
McKnight is trying to live a quiet life after his first adventure. However, the quiet is shattered when a crazy old man tells McKnight and his girlfriend Natalie Reynaud who is a member of the Ontario Provincial Police that he knows a secret from their past. Shortly thereafter, the man is found dead.
Thus begins an intriguing mystery set in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Hamilton creates a very interesting picture of winter life there. Snowfall is married in feet rather than inches. It also gives the book an unusual setting. The mystery itself also has an interesting setting. It ties into the Prohibition-era when illegal alcohol was smuggled into the United States by crossing the frozen lakes and rivers between Canada and Michigan.
The story is a solid, interesting mystery, though I didn’t find myself compelled to read constantly so I could finish the story and find out how it ended. Still, I did enjoy the journey to someplace I have never been before.
Returning to free-lance work after a year-long (interim) assignment, I also took some time for reading. More particularly I have read ‘The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies’, 2007 by Scott Page.
In the prologue Page claims his book will offer a logic of diversity and show that diversity improves performance and, under certain conditions, trumps ability. It takes the first part of the book to, quite convincingly, argue and illustrate that cognitive differences improve the group’s capacity to solve problems. Cognitive differences are the basis for different predictive models. Page shows that, what he calls “a diverse crowd of models” always outperforms a single expert, even if the individual models that are part of the crowd are not as good as the experts’ model. For this claim to hold, it is required that the crowd members have at least some relevant abilities to contribute towards solving the problem, and that the problem the group deals with, is rather complex. Interestingly, these conditions are relevant to most management teams, hiring committees, juries and boards of directors.
Page’s claim is based on a link between cognitive differences and different predictive models. Predictive models can be complex or very simple (“red cars go fast” is the outcome of a – not so accurate – predictive model that links a car’s color to its speed). Critics of his book say Page does not adequately treats the issue of communication within his “diverse crowd of models”. Indeed, he does note that different (cognitive) perspectives on the same reality can lead to quite some miscommunication, but most of the time he seems to abstract from such problems.
While diverse predictive models are beneficial for the accuracy of predictions and create “wise crowds”, a major complication arises when these crowds are to actually decide on problems. This is because of their diverse personal preferences. These preferences are dealt with in the third part of the book. Page argues that members of a group tend to make different choices because they pursue different goals (different fundamental preferences) or they think – on the basis of their individual predictive models – that certain goals are best achieved in specific, different ways (different instrumental preferences). Too much diversity of preferences may lead to circular outcomes of decision-making processes, misrepresentation or strategic voting and agenda manipulation. Agenda manipulation is more of a risk when groups have diverse fundamental preferences because there are fewer incentives to be open about the agendas.
So much for diversity you would say. Nice for predicting outcomes, bad for decision-making. But that would be too quick a conclusion. Diverse preferences create problems but also have benefits. The fact that diverse fundamental preferences are linked to diverse perspectives, a major ingredient of cognitive diversity, mitigates their negative influence. Diverse perspectives are very beneficial to problem solving and innovative capacities of groups and make the group into a “wise crowd”. Members of the group can use the same problem solving technique (f.e. rank cases based on a hypothesis about a proxy for a single variable and test cases for their variable of choice until they are convinced they have a solid top 5). At the same time their preferences determine their perspective, the variable they use to rank those cases. This will lead to each having a different top-5 pick. A benefit of their diverse perspectives is that the group will not likely stick to a sub-optimal solution: what is good for one is not good enough for another group member and they will continue to improve on solutions (provided they communicate well…..)
So what is there to be learned from all this? To sum up Pages conclusions:
Cognitively diverse societies, cities and teams perform better than homogeneous ones – diversity produces benefits
Particularly fundamental preference diversity creates problems – people do not get along and public goods tend to be underprovided
A – likely – combination of cognitive diversity and fundamental preference diversity in a group helps to produce better outcomes, but it also produce more conflict.
So theoretically diversity has benefits and downsides. Do these actually add-up in real life? What is the net result? What does the evidence tell?
To look at the empirical “evidence” you need to be able to link the diversity we can see with real cognitive diversity. When we talk about diversity we normally mean “identity diversity”. People differ in terms of age, cultural and ethnic background, race, gender. Cognitive diversity is related to, but certainly not equal to identity diversity. Identities influence experience and opportunities, which in turn influence cognitive toolboxes, but assuming any linear relation would overly simplify the connections. And, the connections depend on the problem.
Reviewing a vast collection of empirical studies about identity diversity, Page claims they support that, when diverse identities are connected to cognitive differences that are relevant to the problem, diversity tends to have net benefits. His review of the empirical evidence ranges from studies related to firms and organizations, to studies of societies that look at linkages between ethnic and linguistic diversity of countries and their economic growth and history. For example, one study referred shows that within the same company, branch offices with more gender diversity generated more revenues etc. Page refers to a considerable variety of studies. Most of his evidence fits his model, not such a surprise, but it is indeed impressive. Too much to summarize here. He also includes interesting side-tracks: he reasons that the European Union is a way to harness diversity to produce benefits. Interesting perspective indeed.
The book comes with a warning that it contains a lot of mathematics and I did struggle at times. But then again, I find it equally daunting to read about diversity’s dialectically constitutive relationship to the discursive structure… (see call for abstracts, Critical Management Studies Conference 2009).
I will stick to freelancing for organizations and networks. Organizations can be supported to take some risks: there is no need to always recruit look-a-likes into their management teams, committees and boards of directors. Teams may need support to draw on the differences and allow them to inspire creativity and better predictions. And at the same time you can unpack and discuss with them their diverse preferences, separating goals from means. Teams can prevent diverse preferences becoming a source of conflict and make them generate new perspectives on complex problems. In his book, Page sometimes goes into details that I find hard to digest and sometimes he cuts corners where I dwindle in doubt, but I like the way he carefully un-wraps diversity, very insightful.
This most recent Jennie Shortridge novel is her darkest and, I think, her best. I feel like I have to disclose that she had the book sent to me after I’d reviewed a couple of her other novels. But we both understood that a freebie was not going to require a positive review. I’m too much of a contrarian for that. So really? I just liked this book a lot.
For the most part, this is the story of Jess and Lindy, and Lindy’s father, Ray. Motherless Lindy, a bright and sweet-natured 12-year-old, is living off the grid with Ray, a traumatized Iraq veteran. Specifically, they’ve created a home for themselves in a public forest. Ray sees to Lindy’s education, and her portion of the narrative shows that she is happy, though there are hints of the rebellion that is likely to occur when she becomes a teenager.
Policewoman Jess knows all about that rebellion — her daughter, Nina, hasn’t stopped rebelling, even though she’s now in her 20s and has a child of her own. In the rare moments she allows herself to think about their estrangement, Jess is in agony. So she immerses herself in her job. When Lindy and Ray are discovered, Jess is drawn into their situation and finds herself having to make some uncomfortable decisions about her own life in ways that affect theirs.
I thought this was one of the most heartfelt novels I’ve ever read. Shortridge tends to be a generous author, imbuing even her villains with a substantial degree of humanity. If anything, her characters make too much sense in light of who they are. But they are challenged — and everyone in When She Flew is challenged — they discover capabilities and stances they didn’t know they possessed.
I’m strongly recommending this book. If you haven’t read anything by Shortridge, I advise starting with this or Eating Heaven.
As for animals, there are a lot of birds because Lindy watches birds and cares about them. She and Ray even have a near-pet in the form of Sweetie-Pie, a barn owl who Ray rescued from a fox and who hangs out at their encampment. Blue herons play a big role, too, both literally and symbolically. For her part, Jess befriends Chris, a policeman from the K-9 squad whose partner is a German shepherd named Larry. Otherwise, there are assorted farm animals. Since none of these animals come to any harm, I am declaring this book SAFE for animal lovers. Enjoy!
I’m going to post my thoughts on the books I read here this year. I’ve been keeping track of the books I read for a long time, but have only started actually making notes on them in the past few years, on 43Things and Good Reads. I also keep track of all the movies I watch. I’ll post about those, too, I guess. But maybe only the new ones and the ones I really like, since I seem to watch 100+ movies a year and read between 40-50 books.
Consume much? Oui.
I found this book quite engaging. Interesting group of characters engaged in an interesting situation. It could have used a bit more development of some of the conflicts, and needed MUCH more conflict development around the biggest decision that is made toward the end. (Trying not to spoil it for anyone.)
If you do hit that point where you find a character’s decision implausible, I’d urge you to push through to the end, because it’s worth it.
If I were a filmmaker, I’d have rushed for the rights to this, because I think it can be made into an excellent film while addressing my issue with the plot.
All said, I’m glad I spent the hours with this book that I did.
See more progress on: Keep track of all the books I read in 2010
I eat about half of my dinners alone, and I prefer it that way. I get to experiment with food I like, I don’t have to consider anyone else’s tastes, and I only have to please one person: me. I also like to cook, though I’m not going to spend hours in the kitchen for myself or anyone else. If I end up sharing something I make, fine. If not, fine. I deserve a good meal regardless of who else may or may not be here, and I am going to have that good meal!
Yet people have argued with this, like there’s something strange about it. A retired professional chef said it wasn’t worth the trouble. Someone else said that the leftovers I plan to freeze for later could get freezer burn (like I made it to this age without ever hearing of freezer burn?). There’s the issue of waste, which in my world is just a matter of poor planning.
So I was delighted when Judith Jones came out with The Pleasures of Cooking for One. (And who is Judith Jones, you might ask? She’s only the world’s most influential cookbook editor, the woman who discovered and edited Julia Child, among others.) After her husband, Evan, passed away a few years ago, Ms. Jones began cooking for herself alone. And Pleasures is the result.
The book truly is a pleasure. Ms. Jones has a fondness for organ meats, which aren’t that popular in the United States, and I don’t like them myself. But there are so many other recipes, and the discussions about how to phase a dish into several different recipes are helpful and, to me, intriguing. I tend to cut recipes in half and freeze a lot, so I always like it when someone like Ms. Jones gives me another way of seeing things.
When reading a cookbook, I tape-flag recipes I want to try. And I think I marked about 2/3 of the recipes in this book. For example, the broiled lamb chop, which segues into lamb and lentils for the leftovers, is something I definitely want to make. I also like to make the occasional souffle, and so will try Ms. Jones’ cheese souffle recipe. Leftover broiled salmon might go into her corn and salmon pancakes, and the apple maple bread pudding is also on my list.
If you’re not fortunate enough to be cooking for one, I’m sure these recipes can be doubled. I strongly recommend this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I plan to.
I’m in a bit of a reading funk at the moment. None of the books in my backlog appeal to me in the slightest which usually happens when I’ve either A.) read a string of disappointing books back-to-back or B.) been reading a lot for work and have difficulty adjusting back to the idea of reading for entertainment. I’m in the midst of a Code B right now and as a result, I’ve been knee deep in the long tail of Amazon and I’ve got to say, I’m suspecting a lot of authors of behaving badly in the review sections – more so than normal.
So begins a short series of posts because the behaviors I’m see bring up some interesting things about writing, netiquette, and book marketing. I’m sure how many posts this will be; the idea is slowly percolating. So let’s begin with just a couple of things.
1. Do not abuse other reviewers who leave negative remarks about your work. Often times you’re not as transparent as you think, -especially- when a little bit of research shows that your account was only created that day, has only responded to negative remarks on this one book, and has only left positive reviews on your books and your books only. Not cool, not cool. As a consumer, I loose a lot of respect for an author when I suspect them of this.
Everyone has the same right to free speech. A published author enjoys that same right by having their words published and put before the public. So let the readership have their opinions, for good or ill. There are times when a reviewer has another agenda and is honestly only out there to twist the facts and flame an author. In most cases, they already look like an idiot so there really is no need to dignify their baseless ranting with a response whether it is under your real name or an anonymous handle.
The other thing I see happening often are suspect retorts to well-developed and legitimate opinions, and that is when an irate short response only makes the responder look like an ass. Rejection doesn’t end at the querying phase. Everyone will react differently to your work. We would all be NYT bestsellers if everyone liked everything and even still, take a look at Stephen King, Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown etc. Everyone has a critic, and not all critics are moronic flamers. There are very eloquent reviews on the flaws of these authors’ works just which are just as helpful to consumers as those who sing their praises.
So do not attack your reviewers.
2. By that same token, control your family and friends. I know of authors who intentionally send family members and friends after bloggers and reviewers. And I’ve heard other stories of good intentions gone astray when friends and family take it upon themselves to attack perceived internet trolls. As your book approaches publication, sit down with your family. Be open and honest. As a published author, you’ll have to separate your private life from your public profile which will be out there for viewing and open to scrutiny.
Let your family know that this kind of thing can and will happen, but that you are okay with it. (And if you’re not okay with it, you need to tweak that thinking. Not everyone will like your bound darling. Bad reviews will happen.)
Criticism usually hurts, especially when as a writer we are so emotionally invested in our works. And often times our loved ones feel a similar attachment to our work and careers since our writing permeates our household lives and relationships. We work on major holidays, take revisions of vacations, crack open notebooks and laptops while kids are in practice, wake up early to pack lunches and write a dozen or so pages etc. (Disclosure: I’m guilty of only the first two points. No kids.) Even if you are prepared for the inevitable dissatisfied reader, your family may not be. Kids, I’ve heard, can take it especially hard. So prepare them.
I’ve not really seen a lot of posts about this topic and have no first-hand experience myself but I’d be majorly interested in hearing your thoughts or experiences. How do you prepare a family for publication? I would love to get some e-mails on this.
Chabon, Michael. Wonder Boys. New York: Villard Books, 1995.
From what I understand, Wonder Boys was made into a movie. Of course, that means I haven’t seen it. I don’t even know if it was any good when it first came out.
Wonder Boys was a pleasure to read once I actually sat down to read it. The story is written from the point of view of aging, graying, heavy-weighted, writer/professor Grady Tripp but it’s really about his writing student, James Leer. James is a young, quiet, skinny, troubled, yet talented writing student who is obsessed with Hollywood suicides. Almost like a party trick he can recite style of suicide along with date of death and no one finds this strange. Somehow Leer and Grady become involved in a couple of crimes together and the rest of Wonder Boys is their journey in search of redemption and sanity. Michael Chabon’s style of writing is eloquent with a bite of sarcasm. Humor and sadness hold hands on nearly every page.
A few of my favorite passages: “Her own parents had married in 1939 and they were married still, in a manner that approximated happiness, and I knew she regarded divorce as the first refuge of the weak in character and the last of the hopelessly incompetent” (p 30), and “They weren’t my family and it wasn’t my holiday, but I was orphaned and an atheist and I would take what I could get” (p144).
BookLust Twist: Spotted a couple of times in More Book Lust - first in a chapter called, “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest (Pennsylvania)” (p 30). Also in “Lines that Linger; Sentences that Stick” (p 143). Just so you know, I didn’t quote the sentence that drew Ms. Pearl in. I found others I liked better.
Jeffrey Gitterman is an award-winning financial advisor and the founder and CEO of Gitterman & Associates, LLC www.gittermanassoc.org. In these challenging economic times, Jeff recently started Beyond Success www.beyondsuccessconsulting.com, a consulting firm, coaching and seminar training company that brings more contemporary spiritual, holistic and ethical values to the business world.
He has been a top requested and keynote speaker at numerous national conferences for the financial, insurance and spiritual capitalism markets, directly engaging with 10 to 15,000 business professionals annually. His first book, Beyond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity, was published in May by AMACOM, the publishing house of the American Management Association.
Over the past several years, Jeff has been featured and interviewed in several national and local print, TV, and radio programs, including Money, CNN, Fortune Small Business, New Jersey Business Journal, Financial Advisor, News 12 New Jersey, and The Dr. Pat Show. He also serves as chairman of the advisory board to the Autism Center of New Jersey Medical School, an organization that raises significant monies each year for autism research and support services.
Gitterman recently read an article about Max Planck, who won a Nobel Prize for his work with atoms. After years of study and research, Planck eventually said that he could only know one thing–that some invisible force holds together energy to create this minute solar system, and he must assume, based on his research, that some higher intelligence is behind this force.
Gitterman was born with some understanding that the world was made of energy. He didn’t buy the story that kept showing up in front of him, whether it was his parent’s story, his schoolteacher’s stories, or the stories in the news. He just didn’t buy it. He saw the world as energy. And Gitterman actually saw that the only thing that was really important was the joint flow between human beings and how that energy was working and processing.
And what he saw in the eyes of everybody he looked at as a kid, until he got older and met some people with wisdom, were people who were looking to take energy from others. The reason for that, he thought, was that most people felt a big void within themselves. Gitterman loves the fact that the word “a-void” means to turn away from something. We all spend our lives avoiding the void. And in truth, the void is us. It’s us at our purest essence. It’s us in the silence; it’s us in the quiet. That was something he kind of lived in; he lived in the void. But then he would come out and see these people who were miserable, wanting and lacking. They weren’t producing anything in their lives; they couldn’t get enough money, they couldn’t get enough of anything no matter how much they stole, borrowed or tried. They couldn’t get enough into their lives.
He also recently learned that the root word for money in the Hebrew language is flow. That really blew him away, because it was something that he had thought about for much of his life.
“There is nothing you can do to create money because money is just a flow, and it’s the flow of energy that is the root of capitalism. Capitalism and money in and of themselves are just neutral. There is no inherent action to either of them.
There is nothing we can do to create energy either, as the only thing we can really do with the flow of energy is allow or block it from coming into our lives. When I talk about energy, I often use the metaphor of a laser. While sunlight in its natural form is a source of warmth, it doesn’t have much power because it’s spread out in so many directions. But when it’s focused and concentrated through a magnifying glass, it suddenly becomes far more powerful. And when the power of light is condensed to a much greater degree, it becomes a laser that can cut through steel.”
So if everything is ultimately made of energy and this energy is just kind of flittering around, what focuses that energy? Attention focuses energy. But most of us don’t have control of our attention. Most of us know what we want, but few of us know what we want to give. And our attention has to be grounded in serving based on our unique creative expression in order for it to have power. That doesn’t mean you can’t have money, but Gitterman can show you plenty of people that are miserable and have more money than they know what to do with. So for us as a society, the measure of money as success is really our own fault.
“I’m going to bring this back,” Gitterman writes. “Some people have intentions that serve the world, and others don’t. Then there is everyone else. And what happens to our energy if we have no vision for ourselves? We get swallowed up into people around us whose intention is stronger than ours.
Marianne Williamson, although it is often credited to Nelson Mandela, has a quote in her book, A Return to Love, that talks about the fact that we all play too small. On an energetic level, when we play too small, we give our energy to others around us who want it. And believe me, people want it, because they’re trying to accomplish things. It’s just happening at an energetic level where we’re not seeing it. So we follow along while someone else has a vision of the world that doesn’t suit ours, whether it’s people on Wall Street, in the government, or whatever. And if we’re just witnesses, we fall in blindly and give up our intention to the people that have a vision for the future that they want.”
Gitterman continues; at the surface level, we can’t see this going on, but on an energetic level it’s happening. And that’s why so many of us feel drained and filled with void. Because we literally have had the energy sucked away from us so someone else can realize their vision and goal.
“My financial services company is based around a model I’ve been teaching for several years called the Four Pillars of Success. These pillars are relatively simple, but if practiced with sincerity can have dramatic results:
“PILLAR ONE is that we have to have some practice rooted in silence. I don’t care what it is. I stand for all religions and spiritual practices: whatever it is that allows you to get in touch with your Source. Because in my mind and on an energetic level, it’s almost like we’re an electrical appliance, or a hybrid car; one of the old ones that you had to plug in. At some point in the day we’ve got to plug in. I recommend at least 5 to 15 minutes every day. I don’t care if it’s sitting in the shower if that’s the only place you can find any quiet, because that’s actually where I get mine. Fifteen minutes every morning in the shower with the water running, in the quiet, because I have an autistic child that starts talking at 6 a.m. when he wakes up and doesn’t stop until 10 p.m. when he goes to sleep, and that’s about the only 15 minutes of silence I can find. So we have to have a practice rooted in silence, and from a scientific measure, we’re just recharging our energy. Otherwise we go out in the world and have nothing to share.
“PILLAR TWO is that we have to have an idea of what our unique creative expression is in the world: i.e. what each of us feels we have been placed on this earth to do. And it doesn’t have to be right. Because as Norman Schwarzkopf once said in a seminar I saw him give, was that the worst thing he saw in the army was that no one was making any decisions. The only way to know that anything is right is to make a decision, and if it’s wrong, correct it. I would say the same thing for individuals, because most of us spend our entire lifetime waiting for someone to tell us what our unique expression is, or kind of knowing what it is but waiting for someone to come and reinforce it. So pick something, literally, that you sense is your unique expression, and seek to build a life around it that offers something to the world.
“PILLAR THREE is that you have to have a forward vision, three to five years out, of what your unique creative expression looks like in the world. The way I teach people to do this is to have a two to three minute movie that you can play in your head all day long, especially as you go to bed at night. A two-minute movie of you and what a day in the life of you looks like: the house you live in, the car you drive, where and what you do at work. Are you singing to an audience? Are you best plumber in the world? Are you the best insurance salesman, doctor, accountant or basketball player? What does that vision look like three to five years out in a perfect day in the life of you? And then give it up to the universe because in all likelihood that vision, while it may come true, will find reasons to change and grow as you make it bigger and better. We need to give our energy a direction to move in. It’s critical that we do that. Otherwise, we flounder. It’s like getting in our car without a navigation system and driving around with no idea where we’re going.
“PILLAR FOUR is that what we do has to be grounded in service. There is nothing to get. If I can leave you with any message, it’s that. There is nothing to get. There’s no money to get; no love to get; no sex to get; no happiness to get. There’s nothing to get that isn’t already in us. The world shows up and reflects what we are. If we have lack in our life, it’s because we’re holding on to lack within ourselves. If we’re seeing things we don’t like, it’s because we’re seeing things within ourselves that we don’t like. There is nothing outside in the world that we could possibly get that could fulfill us except to fulfill our own dreams of who we are.
So what is success?
“If I had to give a definition, I would say success is to be aligned with our unique creative expression in service to the world as much as possible. I’m going to say that one more time. To be successful is to be aligned with our unique creative expression as much as possible in service to the world.
“I used to have a radio show called Beyond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity, where I talked to many people who in my mind were successful, and those were mostly people who got to do what they loved to do all the time. That could be a ski bum who skis 300 days a year and manages to do that on a $20,000 a year job in a ski shop in the off season. Or it could be someone like William McDonough and Michael Braungart, who wrote Cradle to Cradle, a phenomenal book about how to create products that have no waste. In the book they talk about a guy who created a wrapper that disintegrates and leaves plant seeds in the soil when you throw it on the ground. It’s being marketed in India right now. They also talk about another guy who created the seats in the new double-decker airbus airplane that are 100 per cent edible. There’s no carcinogenic runoff at all and they could literally be digested without doing any harm. Not that you would want to eat the seats, but they were created because of the runoff that is currently in most of the plastics in cars and airplanes.
“There are two other things that I really like to think about. One is the computer and the other is the Internet. I have no real knowledge of how either of these work, but I think everything that’s showing up is a forerunner for what’s going to happen to human consciousness in the future.”
There is a book out at the moment called Consciousness by mathematician Norbert Wiener that talks about this very phenomenon. At one point you had a hard drive sitting on your desk and that was it. There was no communication with the outside world. That’s how individuals mostly still operate today, ego based minds where at some level, there might be a universe out there that we’re all connected to, but there’s no real communication between individuals and that universe. Wiener goes on to say that the Internet is a forerunner for what consciousness is going to look like some time in the future, where we will all literally be connected through a neruo-net, and the Internet is showing us the way for how that is going to happen.
We’re obviously not there yet and I’m not saying we shouldn’t get out there and vote, or speak out against things that aren’t appropriate, but if we’re not aligned with our unique creative expression and bringing that to the world in service, then we’re not transforming the world. The world again is literally a reflection of us, and if we don’t know what we’re doing, and feel filled with void and lack, is it any wonder that the world shows up like that as a reflection?
“It is my hope that these ideas will leave you thinking about you, what you’re doing here and how you’re aligned with your energy. It’s my sincere belief that this is what will truly change the world.”
For quite a long time, Gitterman was very unsuccessful – he had debt, depression – the whole nine yards. But then one day, he came to the realization that he needed to change his attitude from “what can I get from others” to “what can I give to others” in every personal and business interaction he had. Very soon after he did this, he became very successful in a relatively short period of time.
Around the same time that he had the above realization, he also realized that money and wealth cannot remain static – and by this I mean it cannot be hoarded and kept for oneself – but instead needs to be shared with others in a constant state of flow. In turn, the more he was able to help others acquire wealth without being concerned with what was in it for him, the wealthier he became.
Jeff’s book, Beyond Success; Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity, promotes four central or CORE concepts:
Connecting to Source
Everything in this world is a movement of energy. The more aligned we are with what we call the Source energy of the universe (others might call it God, Higher Intelligence, etc. , the more we can accomplish. In order to do this, we need to have some daily practice of silence/meditation. It doesn’t matter what technique you use – but take some time each day to quiet your mind and senses so that you can develop more control over your thoughts and interactions throughout the day. You will be able to think more clearly and function more effectively.
Owning your Unique Expression
There is something specific that each of us is here to do. Enacting our unique purpose in the world is a greater source of fulfillment than the possession of any object. Are you working in a job/industry that truly represents what you feel you are here to do in this world? If not, perhaps its time to start thinking about how you could move towards combining your true passions in life with your career.
Redirecting your Attention
Investing our attention towards the future gives us the energy to become who we hope to be. Have a clear sense of vision as to where you want to be in 3-5 years. Create a 2-3 minute “movie” in your head as to where you would like your life and your career to go. Much of the book is based on the idea that our thoughts are the foundation for the results in our lives, therefore we must learn to focus our thoughts in the direction we would like to see our lives and careers go. The only way to see if this is really true is to put it into practice with sincerity and for an extended period of time and see if it is actually so.
Expanding your Awareness
The key to true success is to find a way to give. Giving is not an afterthought to success but rather the foundation. Find a way to give to others rather than look for what you can get in all of your dealings and interactions. It may seem like a cliche and somewhat of a paradox, but it does seem to be true that the more you give the more you will receive. Again, the only way to see if this is really true for yourself is to put it into practice and see if it is actually so. Our sense is that you will be amazed as to how your life will change and your career will grow if you do.
Since success often comes with a great deal of responsibility, Gitterman leads a very full and busy life. In addition to being the founder and CEO of Gitterman & Associates www.gittermanassoc.org and Beyond Success Consulting www.beyondsuccessconsulting.com, Gitterman is married to his lovely wife Leslie and has four children: Justin, Joelle, Jake and Gianna. On a day-to-day basis he is running both companies and enjoying life with his family. Jeff’s son Jake is autistic, and he also serves as the chairman of the advisory board to the Autism Center of New Jersey Medical School, an organization that raises significant monies each year for autism and research support services.
The back of our business cards read, ” To be successful is to be aligned with our unique creative expression in service to the world.” To this Gitterman would add that silence and stillness are far too underrated in our society. Take some time every day to be silent and still in whatever way works for you. Identify what you believe your purpose in this world is, and find a way to offer that purpose to others in service. In turn, you will be so busy doing what you feel you are meant to do, that happiness and abundance will find their way to you on their own.
I know I said my time for self-promotion is past, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t brag, and wow, is this something to brag about! I just saw a review on Goodreads.com for More Deaths Than One, and either Mickey Hoffman’s resolution for the New Year is to be kind to other authors, or she really liked the book. I’m going with the second option. Thank you, Mickey! I hope everyone reads the review. It’s the sort of review we all dream about and seldom see.
“What are you waiting for? Read this book. Now. “More Deaths” is much better than any “bestseller” out there. The plot is constantly surprising and intricate, the characters draw you into the tale and the overall writing is top notch.” –Mickey Hoffman, author of School of Lies.
You can read the first chapter of More Deaths Than One by clicking on the More Deaths Than One tab at the top of this blog. You can also download the first thirty percent of More Deaths Than One free from Smashwords. Hmmm. Do you think I mentioned the title enough?
Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Publication Date: October 19th 2009 Buy it from: Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!) Gold star (4.5/5 stars)
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him. When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissa’s long-lost meth addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa. He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. His experiences range from the comic (surviving his dad’s birth control talk) to the tragic (a harrowing after-hours visit to the morgue). In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty, Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.
Review: Madigan portrays a brilliant insight of the mind of a teenage boy in her debut novel. Blake has unusual parents, his dad works in the morgue and cuts open dead bodies while his mom parades around in a shirt and underwear in the morning. This bit immediately captures the reader’s attention and leave them wanting more. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of photography in book being an aspiring photographer myself (though I love digital cameras).
Even though Blake is supposedly a comedian, I did not find his jokes funny and very rarely laughed-out-loud. The jokes came off as Blake trying too hard to be funny and I didn’t see the humor in them. However, I did snicker once or twice as his jokes are usually sarcastic. Blake is an interesting protagonist and it was fun reading the book from his perspective.
Marissa has a very complex family background which draws the reader in and sparks curiosity about her absent parents. Readers cannot help but root for her and Blake to be together despite Blake being already with Shannon. From the start I disliked Shannon as she was the typical girlfriend, pretty and popular but (surprise!) she plays soccer. You would expect her to be the head cheerleader. The rest of the secondary characters were alright, I didn’t really like them too much but Garrett, Blake’s brother, did impress me by doing something unexpected.
Madigan did a wonderful job of exploring issues like drugs, death, family and friendship-turn-crush in this book. As the book has serious issues I would recommend it to teens ages 14 and up. I would like to add that Blake is quite a sexually aroused guy. He keeps picturing himself kissing/touching Shannon which might be what 15 year old teenage guys think but I just want readers to be prepared for it.
Madigan’s writing is brutally honest and refreshing. Flash Burnout is a novel which I recommend to fans of How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan as well as Sarah Dessen fans.
Life for Calpurnia “Callie Vee” Tate is full of the daily intricacies you’d expect of life for a 11-year-old girl at the turn of the century: tending to animals on her family’s large Texas farm; monitoring her boisterous brothers’ behavior; learning the “feminine arts” of sewing, cooking and tatting under the watchful eye of her mother. But what appeals most to Callie — her most fervent and serious of desires? Science. The natural world. And, guided by her taciturn but loving grandfather, Callie discovers the natural world — and learns more about her place within it.
In Jacqueline Kelly’s magical coming-of-age novel The Evolution Of Calpurnia Tate, the year is 1899 — and Callie is the only girl in a home of six sons. A little lost in the shuffle and wishing to escape from the mundane Texas summers, Callie is befriended by her own grandfather, a Civil War veteran and man of science who spends long days in a shed on the property, the former slave quarters that have been converted into his private laboratory. Callie is immediately drawn into the world of questions and experiments, and after she’s introduced to Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest”? A burning quest for knowledge is ignited.
Though she longs to while her days away with her grandfather examining plants and gathering samples of river water for inspection with her grandfather’s microscope, Mrs. Tate has little patience for Callie’s endeavors. And, likewise, Callie has little patience for learning to bake bread or knit socks for her brothers. But while dreams of attending university or taking over the farm responsibilities are excellent for Callie’s six brothers, including oldest Harry, the most Callie is told she can aspire to is becoming a schoolteacher or, most respectably, the wife of a wealthy man.
From the get-go, Callie’s narration — wise, humorous — had me intrigued and delighted as she ran away from her meddling brothers and found solace in her grandfather’s lab, and her notations and remarks in her scientific notebook are both hilarious and touching. I fell into the world of the dusty Texas plains at the turn of the century in no time flat, and I blinked like a newborn babe after I closed the final pages . . . it really felt strange to be back in the twenty-first century. Discovering, as the Tates did, newfangled machines like the telephone (picking up a receiver and talking to someone — across the country! Unbelievable!) and the automobile (it has the strength of four horses!) was actually touching.
But my favorite part of the novel? All of the family relationships. Despite the fact that the Tates are a seriously overflowing brood, Callie’s relationships with her brothers — especially Harry and the youngest, J.B. — were adorable. I could absolutely feel Callie’s reluctance to accept any young woman her oldest brother brought home, knowing that the arrival of Harry’s new wife would signal the end — or, at least, a huge change — to her tight-knit family.
More than anything, The Evolution Of Calpurnia Tate is a glimpse at growing up — and, though Callie is young in 1900, not 2010, many of the concerns and questions she has about life and aging are universal, and still apply today. While the plot isn’t slow, it’s not action-packed, either; those looking for lots of bells and whistles in a story should probably look elsewhere. But for book lovers with a sweet spot for young adult fiction with an historical slant, there’s plenty to fall in love with in Calpurnia. An entertaining, tender story I’ll remember for quite a while.
4.5 out of 5!
ISBN: 0805088415 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website Personal copy obtained through BookMooch
I have to admit, I am a sucker for snarky, humorous memoirs. It’s slowly becoming an addiction. It started off when a friend of mine, J, loaned me “Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress” by Susan Jane Gillman. I could not suck that down any faster.
I managed to throw myself back into horror and thriller fiction, my true love, and then I came across “Such a Pretty Fat” by Jen Lancaster. I’m not even sure HOW I learned this book existed, but I pined for this for awhile. Eventually, I was lucky enough to come across it in a thrift store, and snatched this baby up. And let me tell you, not a single regret!
I have to say, it is a rare occurrence for me to literally laugh out loud while reading, but more then once I found my sides cramping up, my chest heaving, and the blood rushing to my head to hold in my laughter so I don’t wake those sleeping while I read this book. Trust me when I say, I am NOT a giggler, but this book had me giggling like I was a 12-year-old girl at a slumber party.
Far beyond dieting and a journey to self-betterment, Lancaster takes you on a trip and shows you that life is more than trying to fit into a size 2. A Weight Watchers ad from 2008 boasts “Live or Diet”, and this book fully embodies this theory.
This is a must read for anyone who has ever looked in the mirror and thought “I’m fat… when did this happen?” or really anyone who has ever tried to diet. Jennifer Lancaster puts into words what EVERY dieter has thought, and then some.
Don’t expect this book to preach and teach you how to lose weight. Oh no, that’s just not Lancaster’s style. Instead, expect to hear every grumbling complaint you’ve ever uttered, pining for that Haagen Das or that Triple Chocolate Chunk brownie while chewing on a tasteless rice cake.
From Weight Watcher members grumbling about birthday cake, to her hatred of Barbie the personal trainer, to the guy on the bus that calls her a “fat bitch”, Jen Lancaster is the typical bitter dieter, and this book will have you yelling “YES!” and “EXACTLY!” in every single chapter.
Do yourself a big favor, and read this book. Dieters and non-fat people alike will love this humor filled memoir. Jen Lancaster is an amazing author, and I’m personally looking forward to reading her other works. As soon as I stop giggling.
I.
Colum McCann is from Ireland, but his novel Let the Great World Spin already won the 2009 National Book Award and seems like a contender for the Pulitzer, an award given for a book that deals “preferably with American life.” McCann has ear to the ground in 1974 New York City, capturing the cinematic qualities of city life by chronicling the sights, sounds, smells, people, and conflicts. But it’s not a novel about place, it just has a great sense of place.
It’s a novel about a highwire act, the historical tightrope walk of Philippe Petit between the World Trade Center towers. But that’s just backdrop. McCann then swoops into the lives of a series of characters intertwined by life and by Petit.
In the novel’s coda, Jasyln (whose mom and grandma were both prostitutes and the focus of previous chapters) tells Pino, “I like people who unbalance me.” That’s what McCann does in this novel—he unbalances us through the novel’s structure, which shuffles the chronology of events and people’s lives to create a panorama of contemporary America and it’s issues: race, religion, law, family, war, and art. Each new character delves into a different aspect of America’s diversity and unbalances us a little.
Adelita, a character who falls in love with the Irish monk Corrigan, describes desire this way: “Words resist it. Words give it a pattern it does not own. Word put it in time. They freeze what cannot be stopped.” This part of McCann’s genius. He does not allow words to pen down his story, but makes the words chase all of the streams of consciousness.
II.
When Corrigan describes the people he serves, he says, “They just don’t know what it is they’re doing. Or what’s being done to them. It’s about fear. You know? They’re all throbbing with fear. We all are.” It’s impossible to write a novel about life in America without touching on this new cornerstone—threat levels, security screenings, and a general fear about our perception in the world and what it could do to us. A fear about what kind of life is still possible in the future. Look at Corrigan’s language:
Bits of it [fear] floating in the air. It’s like dust. You walk about and don’t see it, don’t notice it, but it’s there and it’s all coming down, covering everything. You’re breathing it in. You touch it. You drink it. You eat it. But it’s so fine you don’t notice it. But you’re covered in it. It’s everywhere. What I mean is, we’re afraid. Just stand still for an instant and there it is, this fear, covering our faces and tongues. If we stopped to take account of it, we’d just fall into despair. But we can’t stop. We’ve got to keep going.
McCann explores the fears of life on the street, the life of the mother who loses a son in Vietnam, and the fears of lawyers and criminals (he treats them separately). Getting beyond the event of 9/11, post-9/11 America is also a place of fear because of the new, digital economy that has upended an economy and a way of life in many parts of the country. American Rust by Phillip Meyer aptly chronicled what this type of fear looked like in one Pennsylvania town stripped of its plants and industrial identity. The confluence of terror, digitalization, and globalization have left us all a little, well, unbalanced. We walk the tightrope of post-modern life trying to find a way to keep the old ways while adjusting to a new world.
Jonathan Safran Foer used the character of Oskar Schell in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (as well as Oskar’s grandfather) to illustrate the new fears a post-9/11 America must contend with. With Schell, Foer looked at the choice fear seemed to create between isolation and safety and interconnectedness and pain. McCann clearly shows the pains of a connected society in the way that he links these people’s lives. When Claire Soderberg thinks about her son, the narrative gradually shifts into his perspective. McCann shows the way a war experience is shared and not limited by space and time; words confine it in a way that doesn’t reflect the shared reality.
Another post-9/11 novel that effectively addresses fear is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In it McCarthy creates a world that terrorizes the father who tries to protect his innocent son. It is all of our fears, one that transcends the 2000’s, anyway: how can I help my kids be safe and attain some type of goodness in a world that seems to have fallen apart? It’s why Faulkner said the most base of all things human is to be afraid.
At Tillie’s daughter’s funeral, while Tillie is in handcuffs after having taken the rap for her daughter in the courtroom, the minister puts it this way: “Goodness was more difficult than evil. “Evil men knew that more than good men. That’s why they became evil. That’s why it stuck with them. Evil was for those who could never reach the truth. It was a mask for stupidity and lack of love.” Here McCann sides with Foer—love is the beautiful and true thing that Oskar Schell searches for, but it’s also what redeems Tillie and brings together the group of moms in this novel that lament lost sons. It’s what drives Corrigan and even the junkie artists. It’s what keeps the father and son going in The Road. It creates the interconnectedness that characterizes our times even in the face of unprecedented evil that has sought to cover us in fear.
So when Lara sees Ciaran at the counter and wants him but knows she can’t have him, she says, “There are rocks deep enough in this earth that no matter what the rupture, they will never see the surface. There is, I think, a fear of love. There is a fear of love.”
III.
As a novel of place, the other novel that critics trip over to place is Netherland by Joseph O’Neill. They like the “lyrical realism” of it, though it leaves me a little cold. McCann would be, I guess, just a realist, though on the book’s jacket Dave Eggers uses words like “life force”, “giddy,” and “dizzy.” There is almost something of Stephen Crane’s naturalism in the style, in the way that McCann catalogues city life, or of Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” (Whitman is mentioned in the novel, as are Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim). A quick sample of when Ciaran leaves Corrigan’s apartment: “I ran down the slick steps of the apartment building. Huge swirls of fat graffiti on the walls. The drift of hash smoke. Broken glass on the bottom steps. Smells of piss and puke. Through the courtyard. A man held a pit bull on a training rope. He was teaching it to bite. The dog snapped at his arm: there were huge metal bracelets strapped across the man’s wrists. The snarls rolled across the yard.”
The descriptions of city life are concrete, literal, and largely unfiltered. They are poetic in the way that Whitman’s poems are—full of energy and a rhythm that comes from the sounds being described rather than the descriptions themselves. The world evoked is poetic.
Which is not to say that McCann isn’t poetic in this novel. He has the same capacity for humor and devastation as, say, Lorrie Moore. When Tillie laments, “I shoulda swallowed a pair of handcuffs” to describe the way she feels she doomed her daughter, it’s hard not to think about the way Toni Morrison writes. McCann builds up the person’s story and allows them to make the devastating observation about their own behavior. The earlier quotation from Lara about the fear of love is a perfect example.
IV.
So Let the Great World Spin tackles the issues of our time in a structure and format that reflect the unique nature of our times. It is a great effort by Colum McCann. The question that’s fair to ask is how it stacks up to some of the other novels and writers mentioned: Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Safran Foer, Lorrie Moore, Toni Morrison, or Joseph O’Neill. I believe the best correlation is actually Jonathan Safran Foer because of the way both authors choose to experiment with structure as a way to tell their stories. In Foer’s novel Everything is Illuminated, he especially embodied what McCann described as the limitations of words. There Foer used an interpreter to deconstruct language and re-invent the storytelling. McCann is not so daring, but no less accomplished.
And while McCann shares some themes with McCarthy, the scope is so different that the comparison seems uninvited.
Themes aside, the structure that most resembles Let the Great World Spin is Edward Jones’ Pulitzer winning The Known World. Both are multi-layered, slow-reveal type novels that epitomize Post-Modern subjectivity.
V.
Additional stuff:
National Book Award for 2009: video here; interview here
Videos on the homepage, including short films and interviews here
Man on Wire, 2008 Oscar-winning documentary about Phillipe Petit
C. Max Magee review of Let The Great World Spin at The Millions
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters – Jane Austen en Ben H. Winters
a try and was pleasantly surprised.
Salaries are clearly a very important part of work for job seekers, employers and employees alike. When we go to work, more often than not we are exchanging our time for a salary of a monetary value. Daniel Pink, who has authored various terrific books (including my personal favorite ‘A Whole New Mind’) has recently published a new book called ‘Drive’ for which I found an interesting review ‘Drive’ author Daniel Pink: Raises make bad motivators. This was shortly followed by a blog post from Daniel Pink clarifying his stance on salary raises and their relevance when it comes to motivating staff.
Waddle! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder
Newsgirl by Liza Katchum
Mysterious Messages: A History of Codes and Ciphers by Gary Blackwood
How about this for an unusual, daring book cover? No title, no author’s name! And who do you think the lion is looking at out of the corner of his eye? Guess who is pictured on the BACK of the book?
Our classic for book club this round is The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. I have heard about it on multiple occasions and had a vague idea of what it was about. Turns out it really was as fascinating as I thought it would be. Wilde’s writing is witty and entertaining. Even in areas that I didn’t quite understand, I could tell that he had some great social commentary on the topics that he discusses.
Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Heart of the Wolf
I heard Steve Hamilton give an interesting talk at a writer’s conference and decided to try one of his books. The one I wound up with was Ice Run. It is the follow-up to the Gumshoe-Award-winning Blood in the Sky. It also features the same protagonist, Alex McKnight.
Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan
Life for Calpurnia “Callie Vee” Tate is full of the daily intricacies you’d expect of life for a 11-year-old girl at the turn of the century: tending to animals on her family’s large Texas farm; monitoring her boisterous brothers’ behavior; learning the “feminine arts” of sewing, cooking and tatting under the watchful eye of her mother. But what appeals most to Callie — her most fervent and serious of desires? Science. The natural world. And, guided by her taciturn but loving grandfather, Callie discovers the natural world — and learns more about her place within it.
Jonathan Safran Foer used the character of Oskar Schell in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (as well as Oskar’s grandfather) to illustrate the new fears a post-9/11 America must contend with. With Schell, Foer looked at the choice fear seemed to create between isolation and safety and interconnectedness and pain. McCann clearly shows the pains of a connected society in the way that he links these people’s lives. When Claire Soderberg thinks about her son, the narrative gradually shifts into his perspective. McCann shows the way a war experience is shared and not limited by space and time; words confine it in a way that doesn’t reflect the shared reality.
though it leaves me a little cold. McCann would be, I guess, just a realist, though on the book’s jacket Dave Eggers uses words like “life force”, “giddy,” and “dizzy.” There is almost something of Stephen Crane’s naturalism in the style, in the way that McCann catalogues city life, or of Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” (Whitman is mentioned in the novel, as are Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim). A quick sample of when Ciaran leaves Corrigan’s apartment: “I ran down the slick steps of the apartment building. Huge swirls of fat graffiti on the walls. The drift of hash smoke. Broken glass on the bottom steps. Smells of piss and puke. Through the courtyard. A man held a pit bull on a training rope. He was teaching it to bite. The dog snapped at his arm: there were huge metal bracelets strapped across the man’s wrists. The snarls rolled across the yard.”
