Sue - Pittsburgh, PA (88 books)

Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
by David Sedaris

read in May, 2013

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

Pity David Sedaris. He has gained a huge and devoted following based on very funny youthful escapades and observations. (My personal favorite is “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”) He had such a keen eye for the ridiculous, such a lack of reverence, such a fi...more Pity David Sedaris. He has gained a huge and devoted following based on very funny youthful escapades and observations. (My personal favorite is “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”) He had such a keen eye for the ridiculous, such a lack of reverence, such a finely sharpened rapier that we were helpless in the face of his stories, unable to stop laughing. Personally, I was there from the beginning, when I met that disorderly Macy’s elf.

It is his formidable task to keep making us laugh, yet to grow as a writer himself, and to refrain from repeating the same successful formulas. But if his new personal memoirs seem somehow less biting, he disappoints some readers who want more of the same, book after book. And if he tries a new form, many readers are even more offended.

I’ve finished reading the new collection; as always, “reading” means listening to the audio version. Some of the essays are much like the old David (Oh, sorry. May I call you David?) His father makes a memorable appearance badgering David to get a colonoscopy. And David obliges with an unexpected ending to that episode. No spoiler, but very, very funny.

Other essays just let us know that a few years have passed. David has gotten older. He’s no longer an elf at Macy’s, and it’s been a long time since he had to clean other people’s houses. The episodes sometimes feel different, and that’s a good thing. I would argue that we expect intimate personal honest essays from our humorist now in his fifties, a world traveler because of demands for his readings. And so they are, honest representations of the person he is now. Bravo, David. You’ve grown more contemplative, and you’ve let us in on those changes.

But then there is the coda: a wild foray into short, first-person stories intended for use by students in forensics competitions. At least that’s what he says they are for. But that’s a joke, surely, for those high school judges would be choking with indignation. All of the essays are in the voice of a caustic and remarkably stupid opponent of something David supports, such as gay marriage or universal health care. They are harsh, over the top, and the experiments with a voice other than his own are not very successful. I guess the voice I want is David’s own, in his unique and bizarre take on the world.

A side note: One essay tells how he takes his notes and organizes them for access when he writes. I liked that touch – a glimpse of the writer’s method.(less)

Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith

The Importance of Being Seven (44 Scotland Street, #6)
by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2013

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

It’s nearly impossible to talk about the 44 Scotland series without spoiler alerts. So consider yourself warned. I’ll be talking about what happens.

"The Importance of Being Seven" has all of the Alexander McCall Smith imperatives.

1. We have the fun o...more

Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #2)
by Robert A. Caro

read in March, 2013

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

I know perfectly well how Lyndon Johnson’s life turned out, yet I was urgently turning the pages as his 1948 run for the Senate played out its sordid finish in this second volume of Robert Caro’s monumental biography. A biography researched and docum...more I know perfectly well how Lyndon Johnson’s life turned out, yet I was urgently turning the pages as his 1948 run for the Senate played out its sordid finish in this second volume of Robert Caro’s monumental biography. A biography researched and documented, yes; but a narrative stranger than fiction.

“Means of Ascent” covers seven years of Johnson’s life, comprising his brief (and greatly aggrandized) career in the Navy in World War II and the beginnings of his considerable fortune through ownership of Austin radio station KTBC, which was held in his wife’s name but closely monitored by Johnson and benefitting from his useful contacts in and out of government.

But the second half of the book is the dramatic heart of this book, which is considerably shorter than his other volumes (just over 400 pages). Caro wisely chose to end the installment with Johnson’s accession to the Senate, and future volumes will turn to his powerful Washington career.

But how he got there! The mendacity of the 1948 Johnson effort is the story of vote buying, ballot box stuffing, and courtroom theatrics. But the campaign was also a study in electioneering styles. LBJ needled and goaded, but his opponent, the popular former governor Coke Stevenson, never revealed a platform nor responded to the obvious lies LBJ was telling. He simply said he’d keep taxes down and uphold the constitution; he refused to dignify the charges Johnson was bringing by responding to them. It was a mistake, and his old-fashioned campaign style allowed Johnson to make dramatic inroads into Stevenson’s considerable lead with voters.

The final gap in votes was covered by the people who controlled the voting in the valley south of San Antonio. The Mexican-American residents in Duval and Jim Wells counties rarely cast their own votes, but this time their votes were cast overwhelmingly for Johnson – and reported six days after the election. The resulting challenges and courtroom dramas finally put Johnson into his Senate seat with a margin of 87 votes. The infamous ballot box 13 from Jim Wells County went missing, and poll results went missing.

Caro’s preface to “Means of Ascent” makes reference to the extraordinary civil rights triumphs of the 1960s, surely to acknowledge what many people believe to be Johnson’s most important legacy. But that is in the future, and how Johnson achieved his toehold is a story for the ages. Caro the historian digs and unearths, then Caro the storyteller grabs the reader and won't let go.(less)

Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)
by Robert A. Caro

read in March, 2013

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

As a veteran devourer of fiction, I believe that we don’t live in an age of great fiction. But we do seem to live in an age of great biographies. I have come late – about thirty years late – to volume 1 of “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” this riveting...more As a veteran devourer of fiction, I believe that we don’t live in an age of great fiction. But we do seem to live in an age of great biographies. I have come late – about thirty years late – to volume 1 of “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” this riveting account of the early life of Lyndon Johnson. Last year when I read excerpts from volume four, I knew I had to get to the beginning of Caro’s great opus, expected eventually to be five volumes. (Continue in good health, Robert Caro!)

Volume 1 illumines family background, LBJ’s boyhood, his frenetic college career, his marriage, and his gaining of a seat in Congress. He brings pork home to the Hill Country in the form of rural electrification.

Plenty has been written in rebuttal of Caro’s often harsh depiction of the young LBJ as a bully who would cheat and lie to attain power; but it is impossible to ignore the depth of Caro’s probing, so it’s hard not to take his conclusions very seriously. When he wrote the book, many of the relevant players from LBJ’s youth and young adulthood were still living. He draws a compelling narrative from his many sources. Caro writes unforgettably of the hardscrabble life in the Texas Hill Country, of Johnson’s relentless ambition, of the corrupt political realities in Texas.

The most enduring impression of Johnson was his superhuman, all-consuming will to make something happen, no matter who and what he had to climb over. Not only did he have the drive to bend others to his will and to win elections, but in his early twenties, he also had the drive to be a good teacher to young Mexicans and to coach a high school debate team.

This volume carries us up to Johnson’s first political loss in 1941. By then, he had been a member of the House of Representatives for several years, a very young member, but he lusts for the Senate. In a rare slip of concentration, he allows Pappy O’Daniel to steal more votes than he steals, and Pappy is headed for the the Senate. Johnson is in President Roosevelt’s good graces, and is returning to Sam Rayburn’s good graces, but he is still a bit player in Congress, and he chafes.

Perhaps the most startling revelation was Johnson’s unwillingness to tip his hand about his ideology. He ran for office on his ability to get federal services for his district. He attached himself to Roosevelt’s coattails, but he never embraced or worked for the principles of the New Deal. Conservatives thought he was one of them, and liberals thought the same. Caro concludes that Johnson was not going to saddle himself with an opinion he’d have to defend. In other words, he was already preparing to run for President.

I’m on to volume 2.(less)

Sue rated a book 3 of 5 stars

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (44 Scotland Street #5)
by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)

read in December, 2012

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

The format of this series of novels – continuing episodes for serial publication – determines that the story will bounce among the various plot lines. The reader can follow suit by picking up and setting down these books, reading casually. This lovel...more

Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John M. Barry

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
by John M. Barry

read in January, 2013

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

In the afterword to “Roger Williams,” author John M. Barry notes that he had initially started out to write about the tumultuous year of 1919, with much attention to the evangelist Billy Sunday and his impact on politics, particularly prohibition. Bu...more In the afterword to “Roger Williams,” author John M. Barry notes that he had initially started out to write about the tumultuous year of 1919, with much attention to the evangelist Billy Sunday and his impact on politics, particularly prohibition. But as he dug further, Barry was drawn to try to learn about the intertwining roots of sacred and secular in this country, and he found himself a completely different topic – an intriguing topic. In fact, as I am writing this review, I am thinking of the fact that every American inauguration ceremony includes several prayers. I watched one just last week. But I am also thinking that we just had an election in which Mitt Romney’s Mormonism turned out to be a non-issue. That’s the country we live in. Sometimes we separate church and state, and sometimes we don’t.

Thus Barry explored religious life three centuries before Billy Sunday ever preached a sermon, and he wrote a terrific book, dense but readable. Be prepared for many characters on both sides of the Atlantic, engaged in epic struggles, political maneuvering (nothing new under the sun), and theological hair-splitting. An amazing and marvelous story we have embedded in our national DNA!

Barry has not given a biography of Williams so much as he has delineated the religious and political ideas that led to Williams’ revolutionary concepts. Don’t expect to learn much about life in 17th-century New England, because it isn’t covered.

So, right up front: here’s what was notably radical about Williams. He advocated removing the first four* of the Ten Commandments from the authority of government and extending freedom of thought even to atheists. The charter of Providence Plantation, which he founded, allowed freedom of conscience and, amazingly, never mentioned God at all, and it certainly did not insist that any citizen believe or practice religion in a prescribed way.

All of this had its roots in the ferment of 17th-century England. Every American school child knows that the Puritans came to the raw American shores to escape religious persecution, but the England they escaped was far more riven than I ever knew, and the Puritans were just as willing to persecute anyone who strayed from their doctrines. Against a backdrop of religious wars and brutality toward heretics (generally meaning the religion not currently favored by the crown), the great English jurist Edward Coke fought for the law and due process under James I and Charles I, affirming the rights of Englishmen against the king, who was inclined to claim divine right, including determining how people should worship. Coke was Williams’ mentor. The first quarter of the book covers background events in England.

In time, Williams would come to see that the council of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was also not divine. One could argue that John Winthrop, who wanted to create a “city upon a hill,” won the first round in New England. That “city” was never intended to be a refuge for those seeking religious freedom; it was, instead, a refuge for those who sought opportunity to adhere to a particular doctrine in a particular manner and to exclude all others. The Bay banished both Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, notable dissenting thinkers.

Winthrop and the Bay held sway, with ardent affirmation that this was to be a Christian country. And Williams created the other important tradition in America, with his tolerant and equally spirited views on the individual nature of personal salvation. Conflict over the meaning of religious freedom and the role of religion in our corporate life endures to this day.

-------

*The first four Commandments:
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image; You shall not bow down to them.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.(less)

Sue rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Preacher and the Presidents by Nancy Gibbs

The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House
by Nancy Gibbs

read in January, 2013

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

My interest in this book stems from a curiosity about how religion and politics intersect, and especially about the role of evangelicals in the national conversation and at the polls. I did not arrive with any particular opinion about Graham.

In retr...more My interest in this book stems from a curiosity about how religion and politics intersect, and especially about the role of evangelicals in the national conversation and at the polls. I did not arrive with any particular opinion about Graham.

In retrospect, I realize that this history was a huge undertaking. Billy Graham’s career had a long arc, and this book cannot cover it. And there are countless dramatic stories behind the eleven US presidents he knew, from the late 1940s into the 21st century, and this book does not cover those either. What it does do is show the points of intersection, and the result is all too often anecdote upon anecdote. Graham and Truman. Graham and Eisenhower. Graham and Kennedy…

The reader needs background going in. I cannot imagine how one would appreciate the import of these anecdotes without a good prior awareness of the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Watergate break-in, the taking of hostages in Iran, the Clinton impeachment trials, and on and on. It’s also helpful at the same time to know something of the international success and adulation experienced by Graham – far from the Oval Office – in his long career.

This much is clear from the book: Some presidents, in their isolation, found this man to bring comfort as a friend or as a pastor. It is to his credit. And Graham liked the proximity to power, hoping to influence policy and to make its power centers more Christian. His attraction to power is not so much to his credit.

Some Presidents appeared to use Graham for their own purposes. They may well have genuinely counted him as a friend, but they certainly also knew the value of a chummy photo with America's most prominent evangelical leader. This was particularly true of Richard Nixon. Much was made of the fact that Jimmy Carter was not so connected to Graham – but his presidency was hard on the heels of Graham’s overt support of Richard Nixon, and Carter may have been wary. At another point Graham found himself used and manipulated by the Soviet Union when he went there to preach. This would not have happened in the same way if he had not been known by the Soviets to have access to the Oval Office. Ronald Reagan asked him to take readings among the evangelicals about his proposed appointment of a US ambassador to the Vatican. Most of this made me squirm.

It turns out that Graham frequently counseled on policy, but he was not so tied to the political activity of evangelicals. He was much more independent, and much more accepting of the differences among the men he knew as presidents. And although he is generally associated with Republicans, he also maintained close relationships with Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton, as well as with both their wives. This was probably less about an obsession for power and more about a deeply held conviction that God has ordained our leaders and we must help them whether or not we voted for them.

But since I was curious about the growing political involvement of evangelicals, I was particularly intrigued by the glimpse the book provided into the careful pre-nomination coaching that George H.W. Bush received – so that his answers about his own faith would satisfy evangelical voters. I have a pretty jaundiced view of presidential faith statements, knowing how calculated they are, and I’m even more cynical now.

This book is not particularly well written, and it ultimately could only skim over a Billy Graham story that lasted for decades.(less)

Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Flight Behavior
by Barbara Kingsolver

read in December, 2012

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

My earliest experiences with Barbara Kingsolver were not so good. I liked the beautiful phrases and the gorgeous images, but I always objected to the heavy handed moralizing. Sometimes I didn’t make it through a book. I’d sigh and return the book to...more My earliest experiences with Barbara Kingsolver were not so good. I liked the beautiful phrases and the gorgeous images, but I always objected to the heavy handed moralizing. Sometimes I didn’t make it through a book. I’d sigh and return the book to the library because I could see clearly where it was headed, and I wanted the fiction to be a bit more nuanced. I wanted characters who weren’t in a morality play.

This book is about monarch butterflies who lose their migratory way, ending up in east Tennessee, and about the community where they alight. The book is surely not immune to my usual criticisms, especially in the first half. We are set up early on for the rift between a rural community — rigid in its viewpoint, suspicious of “climate change” – and the earnest and moral scientists who come to study the unexpected phenomenon on the Turnbow property. Dellarobia is the bright farm woman with potential, repressed by circumstance. Her husband Cub and his parents are limited and without ambition. Ovid is the brilliant and worried scientist who sees disaster in the butterflies’ behavior.

Predictable, yes?

But this time I kept reading. It turns out that I was a good deal more forgiving of Kingsolver's often heavy hand in "Flight Behavior," and this is why: Kingsolver clearly wants to make a case about climate change and often is too wordy... but at the same time she shows warmth and respect for the farmers who have not had very good educations, who know little of the world beyond their community, who work hard and owe money to the bank. That the butterflies seemed to be a sign to them from God is surely not surprising. The early chapters on sheep shearing and a church service are strong, as is the late chapter when a ewe gives birth in the snow.

The restless Dellarobia’s own “flight behavior” takes several forms. It seems early on that she’ll take flight with a man whose chief quality is simply that he is not her husband. Then, she wanted to know more science and to move past the stultified life that resulted from her teenage shotgun marriage. Dellarobia also had to recognize how badly she had treated her husband. I was rooting for her the whole way.(less)

Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The World According to Bertie
by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)

read in October, 2012

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

There’s a predictability in Alexander McCall Smith’s little escapist novels, with their episodic romps through modern Edinburgh. In this one, however, I think McCall Smith is starting to become instructive. There are many rambling musings about relat...more

Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Last Night at the Lobster
by Stewart O'Nan

read in October, 2012

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

Stewart O’Nan is a novelist of the everyday, and nothing is more everyday in modern life than a chain restaurant. This novel, set on the last day of business of a Red Lobster restaurant, tells the story of Manny DeLeon, who has learned that corporate...more

Sue’s Profile

Sue’s favorite books

Sue’s Bookshelves

rss
Sue's Recent Updates

recent posts
Sue’s Groups

Sue’s Friends (5)

People Sue is Following

Sue’s Favorite Authors

Quizzes and Trivia

Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris read in May, 2013	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
Pity David Sedaris. He has gained a huge and devoted following based on very funny youthful escapades and observations. (My personal favorite is “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”) He had such a keen eye for the ridiculous, such a lack of reverence, such a fi...more
Jun 12, 2013 07:36pm · see review
Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Importance of Being Seven (44 Scotland Street, #6) by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2013	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
It’s nearly impossible to talk about the 44 Scotland series without spoiler alerts. So consider yourself warned. I’ll be talking about what happens. "The Importance of Being Seven" has all of the Alexander McCall Smith imperatives. 1. We have the fun o...more
Apr 14, 2013 06:08pm · see review
Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #2) by Robert A. Caro read in March, 2013	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
I know perfectly well how Lyndon Johnson’s life turned out, yet I was urgently turning the pages as his 1948 run for the Senate played out its sordid finish in this second volume of Robert Caro’s monumental biography. A biography researched and docum...more
Mar 28, 2013 11:09am · see review
Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1) by Robert A. Caro read in March, 2013	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
As a veteran devourer of fiction, I believe that we don’t live in an age of great fiction. But we do seem to live in an age of great biographies. I have come late – about thirty years late – to volume 1 of “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” this riveting...more
Mar 17, 2013 05:04pm · see review
Sue rated a book 3 of 5 stars The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (44 Scotland Street #5) by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author) read in December, 2012	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
The format of this series of novels – continuing episodes for serial publication – determines that the story will bounce among the various plot lines. The reader can follow suit by picking up and setting down these books, reading casually. This lovel...more
Feb 02, 2013 02:33pm · see review
Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry read in January, 2013	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
In the afterword to “Roger Williams,” author John M. Barry notes that he had initially started out to write about the tumultuous year of 1919, with much attention to the evangelist Billy Sunday and his impact on politics, particularly prohibition. Bu...more
Jan 31, 2013 07:05pm · see review
Sue rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House by Nancy Gibbs read in January, 2013	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
My interest in this book stems from a curiosity about how religion and politics intersect, and especially about the role of evangelicals in the national conversation and at the polls. I did not arrive with any particular opinion about Graham. In retr...more
Jan 31, 2013 03:07pm · see review
Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver read in December, 2012	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
My earliest experiences with Barbara Kingsolver were not so good. I liked the beautiful phrases and the gorgeous images, but I always objected to the heavy handed moralizing. Sometimes I didn’t make it through a book. I’d sigh and return the book to...more
Dec 30, 2012 07:34pm · see review
Sue rated a book 4 of 5 stars The World According to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author) read in October, 2012	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
There’s a predictability in Alexander McCall Smith’s little escapist novels, with their episodic romps through modern Edinburgh. In this one, however, I think McCall Smith is starting to become instructive. There are many rambling musings about relat...more
Nov 14, 2012 10:26am · see review
Sue rated a book 5 of 5 stars Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan read in October, 2012	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
Stewart O’Nan is a novelist of the everyday, and nothing is more everyday in modern life than a chain restaurant. This novel, set on the last day of business of a Red Lobster restaurant, tells the story of Manny DeLeon, who has learned that corporate...more
Nov 14, 2012 08:23am · see review

Sue’s Profile

Sue’s favorite books

Sue’s Bookshelves

rssSue's Recent Updates

recent postsSue’s Groups

Sue’s Friends (5)

People Sue is Following

Sue’s Favorite Authors

Quizzes and Trivia

rss
Sue's Recent Updates

recent posts
Sue’s Groups