bookshelves: currently-reading
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The title of the book is entirely misleading.
What it really is is the story of Albert "Sonny" Murry (a lawyer), Altovise Davis (Sammy's last wife), and Sonny's attempt to rebuild the estate of Sammy Davis, Jr. years after his death. Sammy Davis, Jr. died heavily in debt after years of poor business decisions and exploitative mismanagement.
If you're wondering why Sammy Davis Jr.'s memory (or memorabilia) isn't held in the same league as those of his fellow Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, the story of uncovering his financial record might be of interest.
What the book ends up as is an interesting read about a determined lawyer (who's motives aren't entirely clear) and his struggles with a self-destructive and alcoholic widow as they try and clear up a tax debt, and regain access to rights and royalties... Though it's far better a read than it sounds, there's very little "Music", "Madness" or "the Mob".
I'll be trying to track down In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr., which is supposed to be the best biography out there, or one of Sammy's self-penned works. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading, on-my-desk
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bookshelves: mysteries-and-thrillers
Note: this book contains somewhat graphic scenes of violence, bondage, sexual sadism, polyamory, etc. While it isn't as grisly or visceral as the work of Val McDermid, it's not the sort of book you want to give to your gran for Christmas.
The novel is about a financial journalist, who after losing a libel case takes on a job investigating an 40-year-old disappearance (under the guise of writing a family chronicle) for an aging CEO of one of Sweden's elite. Thrown into the mix is one of my favourite characters of any crime novel, Lisbeth Salander, a dysfunctional post-pulp femme fatale who defies pigeonholing.
It's no wonder that this book by the late Stieg Larsson (who only attempted to publish the three novels in the series shortly before his death) caught on so quickly.
Highly recommended. ]]>
bookshelves: memoirs-and-biographies, non-fiction
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bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: crime_fiction, mysteries-and-thrillers
This was recommended to me by someone at Portland's Murder by the Book, after I picked up a few noir titles.
I'm giving it three stars, but it's probably closer to two and a half. I probably only enjoyed the last third of the book. Some of the characters were really well drawn, but the plot was a bit muddled. It was hard to tell the focus of the book until Tuco, took centre stage as the chief protagonist. But that didn't happen until the final third of the book.
This was Green's debut; the sequel, Dead Cat Bounce, seems to be Green's most favourably reviewed book, so I'll hope for better when I come across his next book. ]]>
Hey Dan,
What are the titles in question? I let my subscription lapse , so I could catch up on some other books and start the subscription up fresh. Now might be a good time.
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