David Schwinghammer's Blog, page 21

HIDDEN AMERICA

One can't help but think that Jeanne Marie Laskas was influenced by Studs Terkel's "man on the street", working class interviews . Laskas certainly merits a comparison.

The idea for HIDDEN AMERICA came from an article Laskas wrote for GQ about coal miners, and she includes them in her investigation. She also interviews migrant workers, NFL cheerleaders, air traffic controllers, gun dealers, red angus ranchers, Alaskan oil rig workers, a female truck driver, and land fill workers.

Considering the constant danger, the coal miners were very funny. One of them wore size thirteen shoes; so his nickname became "Foot". They all had nicknames. It was also surprising how much money they made; they could earn up to $90,000 a year in a non-union mine. One of them was a college graduate who swore he'd never work in the mines, but the money was too good to pass up. Also, despite what the politicians say, coal is doing better than they ever have before, at least when Laskas wrote the book it was. For instance, 70% of China's factories draw their power from coal.

The Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleaders were also surprising. Their numbers are drawn from some unique sources. One was a scientist; another was a construction worker. When asked why she tried out, the scientist said, "Who wouldn't want to be a Ben-Gal?" The construction worker was chosen cheerleader of the week and got her picture and bio put up on the scoreboard. She got so excited she overslept for the game and was replaced, but the director gave her another chance. So then, the motivation seems to be similar with all the girls. They're not there to trap a man; players aren't allowed near the girls; they just want to be somebody, if only for a little while.

Perhaps the most charismatic character in the book was the female truck driver, nicknamed "Sputter." We're introduced to her as she's driving down the road trying to stay awake. Her solution is to go braless and to turn on the lights in the cab to show the other truckers.

The landfill workers weren't what you'd expect either, nor was the landfill itself. Puente Hills Landfill, just outside Los Angeles pipes the methane out of the landfill to a generator that provides power for a middle-sized city. You'd also never know the place was a landfill if you didn't know it was there. The engineers built a verge with trees and flowers on the boundary to hide its existence. Civil engineer Joe Haworth has been around the landfill since its inception. He was one of those who came up with the idea to use the methane as a power source. He sees the landfill as a life lesson. Nature teaches us that everything is recycled. He doesn't really believe in God, but nature seems to imply that when we die, it's not the end. We are such things as stars are made of. In 2013, Puente Hills will close and Los Angeles' garbage will be hauled by rail into the desert; this will be more expensive, but even more of the garbage will be recycled.

I guess what I learned from the book is that people tend to elevate their jobs. The migrant workers, for instance, wound up in Maine, raking blueberries. These are natural blueberries. The best. People from all over Maine used to help pick the berries when they were in season. They still hold Blueberry festivals, but, according to the migrant workers, most Americans are too lazy to pick them. They're missing out on something that would have connected them to their ancestors as well as other people of every stripe.

Laskas will also throw in the occasional factoid. Despite what politicians and TV journalists say, the number of illegals entering the country is down. It's getting too hard for the migrant workers, over half of whom are illegal, to get back into the country, so they stay. Some haven't been home for years. And American growers wouldn't be able to harvest their crops without them.

Money, Money, Money

When I first read an 87th precinct novel, I didn't like it. Not enough character development. Later, I went to a book sale at the library, got three of them in one book for a quarter. After reading all three, I got to know the detectives and their back stories. Steve Carella is the center of the stories. He's got a deaf mute wife and a son and a daughter, fraternal twins. He also has a chip on his shoulder over the way his father died (in a stick-up) and how the case was handled. Meyer Meyer is Carella's bald, Jewish sidekick, and Burt Kling is the youngest member of the squad and the resident lady's man. There's a black detective named Brown.
Another amazing thing about these books is that McBain has invented his own city. Of course, it's based on New York. I read someplace that he did this to avoid research. There's always some eagle-eyed reader who knows New York better than the writer.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY is exactly what it sounds like. Everybody's after a big stash. A cocaine deal unravels and the abused parties are all out to get their money back. A retired Gulf War pilot is the most interesting of those involved. She makes Kinsey Millhone look like Little Orphan Annie. Fat Ollie Weeks draws jurisdiction in one of the ensuing murders. One of the culprits is literally thrown to the lions. Fat Ollie is one of my favorite recurring characters. McBain is having fun thumbing his nose at the PC police. Ollie hates everybody; he even does a W.C. Fields impression.
Another satirical element is the front for the cocaine operation. Would you believe a publishing house?
Every once in a while I hit a bad stretch where every book I buy stinks, but I'm too cheap to quit reading. The problem is always easily remedied, though, if there's an 87th precinct novel at hand.

LIBBY PRISON BREAKOUT

LIBBY PRISON BREAKOUT may remind you somewhat of the 2010 political bickering between the two major parties. The North accused the South of deliberately mistreating its prisoners; The Confederated denied it. The North refused to exchange prisoners because the 30,000 soldiers who surrendered at Vicksburg returned to action and because the Rebel prisoners were much more capable of returning to action. Confederates also refused to trade black prisoners and white officers who led them into battle.

Probably the most remarkable characters in the book are Colonel Thomas E. Rose, a former Pennsylvania schoolteacher, who led four separate efforts to dig the prisoners' way out of Libby Prison. Rose was relentless when everyone else was willing to give up. He did most of the digging himself when the last effort neared fruition. The other major character was Elizabeth Van Lew, a union spy who managed to plant a union sympathizer into Libby Prison who ran the head count and conveniently looked the other way when some of the prisoners were missing because they were digging. She also carried on a constant communication with Grant using a cipher code.

The most exciting part of the book is author Joseph Wheelan's account of the prisoners attempt to reach union lines after their escape. Wheelan also provides a brief epilogue about what happened to the various characters after the war and a picture section. With so many Civil War books out there, this one provides a unique perspective about a little known subject.

Why Read SOLDIER'S GAP?

1. It’s mystical. Lots of stuff in there about the Mescalero Indians (who believe in ghosts), although it’s set in Minnesota.

2. Theme: There are lots of them, unusual for a mystery novel, but I guess the main one is that good kids fall through the cracks and often seek advice from people they consider cool rather than their parents or their teachers.

3. Characterization: Some editors recommend keeping the number down to around a dozen or so, but I’d say I must have over a hundred in SOLDIER’S GAP, if you want to count the dogs and other animals.

4. The reviewers say it's really funny. A murder mystery shouldn’t be funny? Who says? Donald Westlake is funny. Ed McBain is funny. Even Stephen King is funny. Anyway, that’s the compliment I get most often in Amazon reviews. The relationship between protagonist Dave Jenkins and Mingo Jones, the Mescalero night deputy is especially droll.

5. There are some strong women characters for you ladies. The mayor of the town is a woman, and when she says jump, the men say, “How high?” Dave Jenkins’s girlfriend plays shortstop for his softball team, and she’s the best player on the team. She's also a member of the volunteer fire department.

6. There’s a boy genius for you Harry Potter fans; he helps Dave Jenkins solve the murder of the local high school principal. He's also in love with one of the murder suspects.

7. Unless you’re really quick, you won’t be able to figure out who done it until the murderer is actually apprehended, and there are at least a dozen suspects, including the school superintendent who was having an affair with the principal’s wife.

8. Lots of sub plots. The sheriff, Harry Kline, can’t do his job anymore and he tells terrible jokes and smokes too much. His main competition is Dave Jenkins, who, as I said, dates his daughter. Dave is also still in love with his high school sweetheart.

9. The story is set in the Red River Valley, sugar beet country for those of you who know Minnesota. The river also runs north which is even stranger. The town also has an odd name, SOLDIER, named after the civil war soldiers, including Colonel Colvill, hero of the Battle of Gettysburg (poetic license) who settled the town. There’s a weird statue of him in the town square whose eyes seems to follow you around.

10. Lots of Minnesota curiosities. We have 10,000 lakes, an Indian heritage (Ojibwas and Sioux), lots of Germans and Scandinavians and weird accents. The stuff in “Fargo” isn’t too far wrong.

Anyway, thanks for tolerating my self promotion, and if you’ve got the time, please read the reviews at Amazon.com.

THE LOWLAND

It’s hard to know where Jhumpa Lahiri is going with her novel, THE LOWLAND. It’s about two brothers who were born fifteen months apart, but were often mistaken for each other. Both are good students, but one is conservative and the other is a revolutionary.

Subhash, the older one, and Udayan, were born in North Calcutta. Lahiri shows them fashioning a putter into an all-purpose club and sneaking into the exclusive golf course near where they live. Her point seems to be that India hasn’t changed much since independence. You still have the haves and the have nots. Strangely she never uses the word “Untouchable.” Not that the boys are poor; their parents are sort of upper middle class, just not rich enough to belong to the club.

Matters come to a head when the Naxalite (communist) movement entices Udayan, and he is introduced to Gauri, a friend’s sister, whom he marries in defiance of his parents. In the India of the time, the late sixties and early seventies, parents chose their children’s spouses. Subhash would never have done that, but he does decide to attend a college in Rhode Island to study some sort of oceanography, where he picks up some American habits.

Ultimately Udayan pays with his life and Subhash goes home to console his parents. They act like he's not there. He disapproves of the way they treat Gauri, rather like a servant girl, and he decides to marry her and take her back to America with him. This is really where the story starts. Gauri is pregnant with Udayan’s child. She’s also been studying philosophy and Subhash does everything in his power to help her achieve her goals in that respect, despite the child. Remarkably the baby seems drawn more to her “father” than her birth mother.

I had a bit of a problem with Gauri’s behavior. She’s inappreciative; she can’t form a normal mother/daughter bond with her own child. I know we can’t help how we feel, but one would think being saved from life as a servant girl would have more of a psychological impact, whether sexual or only platonic. But apparently, as an author, Lahiri needs this to happen. Despite this, her objective, journalistic approach doesn’t provide much of a tone. And what is she saying about Udayan? Is he responsible for the unhappiness most of the characters go through because he wanted to help poor people? There’s no denying matters would have been quite different if Udayan had lived. Or is she saying that it doesn’t matter where the traumatic incident happened, that we’re all influenced by our families, and that they set the course of our lives?

ZODIAC

Robert Graysmith is no Vincent Bugliosi, but he does know more about the Zodiac killings than anybody else on the planet. The detail about each of the five known killings is incredible, and Graysmith unearths another killing that occurred in Riverside prior to the Zodiac killings that may have been committed by the same person. And he does come up with a likely suspect.

Prior to reading ZODIAC, I rented the David Fincher movie. I was expecting the movie to follow the book pretty closely, but there are some composite characters in the movie. Graysmith tells us about three main suspects; whereas, there were only two in the movie. Graysmith also speculates (pretty much believes) that Zodiac went right on killing after the murder of cab driver Paul Lee Stine. He lists 41 possible Zodiac murders, the last one occurring in 1981. Graysmith also had access to the Zodiac letters in which the murderer claimed credit for many more murders than those generally attributed to him.

Graysmith has some annoying habits. For one thing, he describes every stitch of clothing one of the early murder victims is wearing. He's also awfully skittish about using real names. So many people are given pseudonyms this might as well be fiction. Later on he goes into elaborate detail about the phases of the moon, and how the Zodiac could have been planning his murderers to correspond with them. Then there's the sycophantic description of Filcher's movie as an addendum to the book. Here's Graysmith's description of Filcher's attention to detail: "His eye is calculating, more precise than any mechanical optics."

Something else that I find puzzling was the police's inability to keep track of two of the victims who lived through Zodiac attacks, Mike Mageau and Kathleen Johns. Kathleen got a really good look at him. I would have liked to see a "where are they now" epilogue concerning some of the major characters. Mageau is barely mentioned, strange since he supposedly identified the man who tried to kill him. I would imagine that's covered in ZODIAC UNMASKED, the follow-up.

JULIUS CAESAR

According to Philip Freeman's account, Julius Caesar may have been the most misunderstood man in history. He owed his military and political career to the plebians, the lower class Romans with whom he sided. By doing this he won the never-ending antipathy of the patrician families who controlled the Roman senate.

As a general Caesar led from the front. When he was in danger of losing a battle to the patrician forces in Spain, he charged the opposing line single-handedly, embarrassing his men into redoubling their efforts, snatching victory from defeat. We know as much as we do about Caesar thanks to his own account of the GALLIC WARS, which has survived, and Freeman quotes from it extensively. Perhaps Caesar's most impressive victory was the BATTLE OF ALESIA, where he fought a two front battle against the Gauls under Vercingetorix whom he'd cornered in the city, only to be confronted by 100,000 Gaulish soldiers in his rear.

We see Caesar rise from a poor patrician family living in the slums of Rome to work his way up from military tribune, to sequester, to aedile, to preaetor and eventually consul of Rome. One of his first official acts was to redistribute land to the plebians and the Roman soldiers, some of which was taken from the rich patrician families who controlled the Senate. On his way to becoming consul, Caesar was in charge of keeping the Appian Way in good repair. Caesar was not only a great general and politician, he was also an engineer, a great public speaker, and a lawyer.

We also get a good look at the Roman Civil Wars. At first, Caesar gained power through a triumvirate with the great general Pompey and Crassus a rich Roman senator. But because of his successes in Gaul, Pompey became jealous and eventually went to war with Caesar after Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a sort of demilitarized zone most generals knew not to cross. Pompey had a large army, more than twice as large as Caesars. When Caesar confronted him in Greece, it looked like the jig was up once again. It was only because of his supreme confidence and superior tactical skills that Caesar was able to defeat the great Pompey.

As you read this biography, you will be amazed at the number of times, Caesar snatched victory from defeat. He should've lost in Gaul, he should've lost to the patrician forces in Spain, he should've been decimated in Egypt. Pompey had him defeated but was too cautious to move in for the kill. Caesar's undoing came when he had defeated the patrician forces and come home to accept his laurels. He was given four triumphs (victory parades) and was made dictator for ten years. During one of the triumphs his soldiers complained that Caesar was spending too much money that should've rightfully gone to his old soldiers. Caesar had two of them put to death and sacrificed to the god Mars. He let the laurels go to his head, and the conspirators were worried he wanted to be king.

My one complaint about the book is that we don't get a real good look at the plot to assassinate Caesar. We don't really know who these people were, other than that Brutus was a former favorite. It's hard to understand why Caesar's former supporters were part of the plot, other than that they were worried Caesar was about to bring down the five hundred-year-old Republic. But as Caesar always said, "The Republic has been dead for years."

I was a history major in college but I never had a firm grip on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey until I read this book, and I never really knew what a great man Caesar was. There's certainly evidence to support Alexander Hamilton's contention that Julius Caesar was the greatest man who ever lived.

THE PLAGUE OF DOVES

The reader should be forewarned that THE PLAGUE OF DOVES is more of a collection of short stories than a traditional novel. The "novel" is only loosely constructed around an early 20th century murder of a farm family near fictional Pluto, North Dakota, after which three Ojibway men were wrongfully accused and lynched.

Many of the same characters move in and out of the various stories. The Milk family is the most compelling. Seraph Milk or "Mooshum," and his brother Shamengwa were alive at the time of the lynchings. Mooshum's granddaughter, Evelina is a modern-era voice. Mooshum was almost hanged along with the other three Ojibways. He has turned into a loveable old man who offers comic relief in his dealings with the local Catholic priest. At one point, when his brother Shamengwa dies, the Catholic priest gets them mixed up and delivers a eulogy for Mooshum who is sitting in a pew grinning at the clergyman.

Evelina appeals more to our heartstrings. She's a college student and parttime waitress at one of the few remaining businesses in Pluto. She has a boyfriend, Corwin Peace, who is related to Cuthbert Peace, one of the three Indians lynched after the farm family was murdered. He turns to taking and selling drugs, but is saved by Shamengwa's violin, which has mystical properties. One of her teachers, Sister Mary Anita Buckendorf, is a descendant of one of the German farmers who hanged Cuthbert and the other two Indians. Evelina nicknames her "Godzilla" because of her unfortunate protruding chin, but regrets it when Corwin begins to antagonize the nun as well. Evelina eventually goes to work at an insane asylum where she falls in love with one of the female patients, complicating her relationship with Corwin. Evelina's plot line is never fully resolved. Perhaps it will be in a future edition of the NEW YORKER.

Erdrich works hard at establishing connections between the tormenters and the abused over three generations. One of the tormenters' progeny even marries a descendant of one of the hanged Indians. Erdrich manages to tack on an ending during which we find out who really killed the farm family. The town doctor's identity also furnishes a surprising twist.

THE ABSENCE OF MERCY

THE ABSENCE OF MERCY is a serial killer mystery, for the most part, with a tinge of psychological thriller and Robin Cook medical effects thrown in for good measure.

As an inveterate mystery lover and writer, I know about mystery conventions, and I was looking for the “plant” early on. The plant is when the author shows the real killer early on, if only briefly. It’s not fair to spring an entirely new character on the reader at the last minute. An author also does that with a knife or a baseball bat that saves the main character's life. We should be saying, “Yeah, I remember he had that thing in his sock drawer.” I couldn’t find the plant. It’s usually the character you least expect.

In John Burley’s book, someone is killing teenagers and pre-adolescents. Dr. Ben Stevenson is the county coroner in this small Ohio town, and he’s the main character.

Burley seems to be worried we won’t believe Stevenson is really doing an autopsy of a murder victim. As a result, we are treated to a deluge of medical terminology. Hey, if “Ducky” from NCIS doesn’t do that to us, Burley doesn’t have to either. Actually he does it twice, and it’s extensive.

Burley talks a lot about sociopaths, how they don’t have human feelings etc., but it seems to me that the perpetrator is more of a psychopath if the damage he does to his victims is any indication. Sociopaths seem to be quite common, and they don’t have to be homicidal. About half of my bosses were sociopaths. This killer reminds me of Ted Bundy.

I also hated the ending. It leaves everybody in the lurch. And we’re not sure exactly what’s happening at the end. Some writers do that to let the reader write his own ending, so to speak, but there’s really only one possibility here, and it’s too depressing to think about.

Despite the above, I’m tempted to give this novel five stars because of the visceral effect it had on me as a reader. It was rather like watching LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR, which bothered me for at least a week. But I really dislike novels that don’t provide resolution, especially one like this that involves a family and one of our most respected professionals, so I have to take away that extra star. Sorry, Burley, old chap.

GONE GIRL

Some readers might think GONE GIRL is a fictional version of a "48 Hours" episode. It certainly does sound that way at times.

One difference is that the novel is somewhat topical. The two main characters, Nick and Amy Dunne run afoul of the Great Recession. At the beginning of the book both are writers living the great life in New York City. But then Nick loses his job working at a magazine and Amy follows suit shortly afterwards. She was working, somewhat beneath herself, as a personality quiz writer for magazines like COSMOPOLITAN.

They're not really in trouble yet, unless you count Nick's depression. They're not hurting financially since Amy is an heiress. Her affectionate parents wrote a series of children's books staring a barely disguised version of their daughter entitled, AMAZING AMY, which explains a lot.

Then Nick's mother is stricken with cancer, and Nick decides to move back to Missouri to be with her; he and his twin sister, Margot, borrow money from Amy's trust fund to buy a bar. Amy is outwardly cheerful but is a seething volcano inside. This isn't the life she pictured for herself; she wants her ideal life back, and she wants her old husband back.

Nick is a guy's guy; he has trouble remembering anniversaries and birthdays, Valentine's day, whatever. Amy claims she doesn't want to be one of those Dumb Doras who gets her undies in a bundle when her husband doesn't conform to wifely expectations. Their fifth anniversary is about to arrive and Nick still hasn't figured out what to get her. We all know twenty-fifth is silver and fiftieth is gold. Some might even know that first is paper, but who knows the fifth is wood. Amy likes to put Nick through the ringer with little scavenger hunts during their anniversaries. Nick hates them because he can rarely understand what she's hinting at. Nick's sister, whom he calls "Go", isn't very helpful. She suggests he "Go home (blank) her brains out, then smack her with your (blank) and scream, `There's some wood for you, (blank). "Go" is the most unique character in the book but considering the seriousness of what's happening there's not a whole lot for her to do.

The similarity to "48 Hours" occurs when Amy disappears. The door is open, the cat is sitting on the doorstep, too stupid to run away, a dress is on the ironing board upstairs and the iron is still on, but Amy is missing. Did a stranger kidnap Amy? Did she run away? Did her husband kill her? The husband is usually the principal suspect and as time goes by this case isn't any different. Nancy Grace even makes an appearance as a fictional character, and she's not a Nick fan. All Nick has to prove his innocence is Amy's scavenger hunt, and he follows it religiously. It's a lot easier than it usually is.

We also have Amy's journal to help us learn what she was thinking before she left. Author Gillian Flynn alternates between the two characters chapter wise. About half way through, we get a serious twist which makes Nick look even more guilty.

The ending is a bit, okay a lot, disappointing, because the culprit doesn't get his/her comeuppance and Flynn leaves us hanging. In one respect it's kind of intriguing because you can predict what's going to happen if you try hard enough. One of the characters has already told us.