Gregg Sapp (Author of Dollarapalooza or The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus)

Gregg Sapp rated a book 2 of 5 stars

By the Iowa Sea: A Memoir of Disaster and Love
by Joe Blair

read in April, 2013

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Desite my general disdain for any books sold in Costco, I picked this off the pile and decided to add it to my tour of Midwestern novels. I admit that I wasn't paying close attention. In fact, this is a memoir, not a novel (this fact was in small pri...more Desite my general disdain for any books sold in Costco, I picked this off the pile and decided to add it to my tour of Midwestern novels. I admit that I wasn't paying close attention. In fact, this is a memoir, not a novel (this fact was in small print on the cover). So, I delved into it under fasle pretenses.

Oddly, I had more empathy for the narrator when I thought he was a character, rather than when I realized that he is a real person. Likewise, when I discovered that these were actual events, rather than a portrayal of fictional episodes crafted allegorically, I felt disappointed. Admittedly, this perhaps says as much about my own literary biases as anything of the author's intentions. Still, my thought was basically, this fellow has a lot of gall.

The subject is the author's extramarital affair and eventual reconciliation -- heady, gut-wrenching stuff. Other reviewers have gushed over Blair's honesty, and, well, it is that, but even so, he does not come off as a particularly deep thinker (a sometimes ingratiating trait with a character, but one that most memoirists would be advised to avoid). Part of it is his short, direct, unadorned prose; he doesn't even seem to be trying too hard. There are a lot of two word sentences and simplistic dialog that doesn't seem to go anywhere. Overall, I found the casual narrative style insufficient to convey a man in a profound moral quandary. The "honesty" seems more to reflect his account of what happened, rather than what it meant to him. It almost seems like he leaves it for the Iowa flood, which is the background for his infidelity, to represent the turmoil that he really can't manage to express.

And then there's the sexual honesty. Let's just say that if his wife is still speaking to him after some of these public revelations, then she either had a lot of therapy or a religious conversion. There's such a thing as too much information, even in a memoir. Especially in a memoir.

It all works out for the Blairs in the end, though, and I'm happy for them. That doesn't make it a good read, though.(less)

Gregg Sapp rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Driftless
by David Rhodes

read in March, 2013

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My self-directed tour of novels by Midwest authors and/ or set in the American Midwest took me to Words, Wisconsin, the location for David Rhodes's wry, folksy tale of lives intersecting in ways that are both mundane and beautiful. Having grown up in...more My self-directed tour of novels by Midwest authors and/ or set in the American Midwest took me to Words, Wisconsin, the location for David Rhodes's wry, folksy tale of lives intersecting in ways that are both mundane and beautiful. Having grown up in the Midwest, I know these people, whome Rhodes describes:

"...They lived in trailers, rented or heavily mortaged houses, and rooms above storefronts. They worked on construction crews, as field hands, janitors, clerks, part-time plumbers, unlicensed electricians, short-run truck drivers, house cleaners, waitresses, secretaries, cooks and gardeners. They found employment in factories, motes, lumberyards, garages, stockyards, packinghouses, breweries,grain elevators, and coal plants. They plowed snow, collected garbage, shoveled gravel, poured concrete, guided tourists, sold vegetables out of pickups, trained horses, made crafts, painted barns and houses, repaired automobiles, welded pipes, and fixed small engines..."

Often, the Midwestern small town is depicted as a kind of backwoods place where despite the people's outward faith and wholesomeness, there are unseemly undercurrents that nobody mentions. Not so in Words. The town has its share of oddballs, delinquents, and bigots, certainly, but in intricate ways that nobody fully appreciates, each of their lives supports everybody else in the community. The character July Montgomery seems to be the only person who realizes this, though. He almost seems like he pays for his enlightenment with the events that unfold in the novel.

Not only do these characters think, act, and feel with a very sincere, although almost acciental morality, they also seem to have a common faith that takes many forms, but is ultimately rooted in the community. Rhodes brings these people to people to life with a gentle touch and some colorful prose (my favorite, a woman whose scream was described as "loud enough to crystallize blood sugar for miles around.") Reading this novel is like visiting old friends.(less)

Gregg Sapp rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the Science Behind Its Lost Secrets
by William J. Broad

read in January, 2013

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The institution of the oracle of Delphi, not entirely unlike latter day faith healers and psychic channelers, was invested in a certain degree of magic and mysticism to give it a degree of otherworldly credibility. To appreciate how the oracle worked...more

Gregg Sapp rated a book 3 of 5 stars

An American Tragedy
by Theodore Dreiser

read in November, 2012

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I undertook this book as part of my self-directed literary tour of Midwestern authors. Theodore Dreiser, from Indiana, was on my list.
Upon second thought, maybe I should’ve read Sister Carrie.

At some point while reading Dreiser’s An American Tragedy,...more I undertook this book as part of my self-directed literary tour of Midwestern authors. Theodore Dreiser, from Indiana, was on my list.
Upon second thought, maybe I should’ve read Sister Carrie.

At some point while reading Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, the thought occurred to me that this is one of those "classics" that everybody has heard of, but few have read. I wondered if I might not be the last person in the world ever to read this mammoth novelization from start to finish, all 873 pages of it. Why would anybody? Whatever new literary ground it turned in 1926 has since been thoroughly plowed, so that from Truman Capote to Brent Easton Ellis, the psyche of the quintessentially American murderer is now very familiar in our national literature. This book may remain of historical interest as a case study in the early 20th century school of realism, such but academic relevance merits a footnote, not the time and attention that it takes to grind through almost 900 pages of some of the most florid and tortuous prose imaginable. Consider the following, which is actually one of the most succinct in the entire book:

"There are moments when in connection with the sensitively imaginative or morbidly anachronistic – the mentality assailed and the same not of any great strength and the problem confronting it of sufficient force and complexity– the reason not actually toppling from its throne, still totters or is warped or shaken – the mind befuddled to the extent that for the time being, at least, unreason and disorder and mistaken or erroneous counsel would appear to hold against all else. In such instances the will and the courage confronted by some great difficulty which it can neither master nor endure, appears in some to recede in precipitate flight, leaving only panic and temporary unreason in its wake."

Now, personally, I do have an affinity for writers who are not afraid to slather their grandiloquence a bit thick upon the page, and I’ll also allow that the standards for literary overreach were different back in Dreiser’s day… but sentence after sentence, passage after passage, chapter after chapters, from start to finish, the grandiosity of the exposition begins to feel somewhat like an assault. Uncle, already.

In the preface to the volume that I read, H.L. Mencken praises Dreiser’s command of detail and his uncompromising insistence that they ring true in the minutest nuance. I think that he strives too mightily for details that, instead of illuminating a situation, bury it. This is especially true in his dialog. His characters go on for pages to impart what could be said in a sentence. They give the equivalent of an presidential acceptance speech to say “good morning.”

What I do appreciate, though, is that as you read you can almost feel Dreiser’s determination to get it right, as he saw it, every word, glance, and thought. To me, the author’s unyielding dedication to his own, personal vision is what really distinguishes the novel.

I give this work two stars for artistic impression, and a third just for sheer effort.(less)

Gregg Sapp made a comment on his review of The Art of Fielding

"The thing that I like best about this book is that it is so unpretentious and casual that its quirks are just taken for granted. I do not find that th...more "

Gregg Sapp rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach

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Gregg Sapp rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Main Street
by Sinclair Lewis

read in July, 2012

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By any modern standard of what qualifies for scandal and controversy, it is difficult to understand why Sinclair Lewis’s “Main Street” created such a sensation when it was published in 1920. It’s major themes of the pettiness of small town life and t...more

Gregg Sapp rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Omensetter's Luck
by William H. Gass

read in May, 2012

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I know that this is supposed to be a magnificent work, but I just don't abide obscure genius with much sympathy. Even most of this book's most ardent supporters agree that large sections of the narrative are almost incomprehensible. My rule of thumb...more

Gregg Sapp made a comment on his review of The Legacy of Chernobyl

"S. wrote: "what would you recommend as a good, readable book about Chernobyl? I am also interested in a book of photography. You seem to be knowledgal...more "

Gregg Sapp rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Prize Fight: The Race and the Rivalry to be the First in Science
by Morton Meyers

read in April, 2012

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The following is derived from my review for Library Journal...

Scientists don’t always play nice together. The natural human desire to receive due credit for one’s work and creative expression notwithstanding, rivalry is exacerbated where recognition...more

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	Dollarapalooza or The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus 3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2011	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Brief History of the Future of Libraries: An Annotated Bibliography 3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2002	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Historical Figures in Fiction by Gregg Sapp (Goodreads Author), Donald K. Hartman 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1994	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Access Services in Libraries 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Building a Popular Science Library Collection for High School to Adult Learners: Issues and Recommended Resources 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1995	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Historical Figures in Fiction by Donald K. Hartman, Gregg Sapp (Goodreads Author) 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1994	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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