David G. Cookson's Blog, page 11

Right After the Weather

Right After the Weather by Carol Anshaw

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Cate works as a set designer in Chicago. She lives with her conspiracy theory-obsessed ex-husband, Graham (and his dog, Sailor). She has a budding new romance with another woman, Maureen. She has a best friend, Neale, who lives with her son in a shady part of town. And somewhere in there is a lover on the side, Dana.

Their lives are lived somewhere above the fray: a series of ordinary relationship concerns and career choices. Until Cate encounters a violent assault on Neale taking place in her own apartment.
That horrific assault and its aftermath becomes the defining moment of each of their lives, overriding anything that ever happened before and anything that is still to come. No matter their history or how they ever classified their relationship, from that point on, it becomes about that day and what happened in Neale’s apartment.

The assault at the heart of the story becomes the point “before” and everything else is “after.” Right After the Weather is about both the before and the after of a life-changing event.

This is some terrific writing. The plot is spare, and the story is told in present tense (“Cate prowls,” “Cate walks,” etc.) which lends an immediacy to the action. The relationships of all the characters are shown as logical extensions of how their previous relationships have ended. It’s deceptively simple yet so effective.

Excellent book.







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Godzilla on My Mind

Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters by William M. Tsutsui

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This 2004 book coincided with 50 years since Godzilla’s first appearance in 1954’s “Gojira.” William Tsutsui, University of Kansas Professor and huge Godzilla fan has put together a breezy trip through those 50 years. In that time, 27 movies were made, and the character has made an indelible impression on popular culture throughout the world.

What started as a semi-serious metaphor for post-World War Japan soon settled into camp, featuring cheesy monsters and improbably conceived monster children. This was in part due to the need of the Japanese film industry to turn a profit by making movies that appealed to children, a process that Tsutsui discusses.

What Godzilla means to many people may differ from culture to culture, but for millions of fans throughout the world Godzilla is a beloved symbol of strength, individuality, and wanton destruction. Godzilla is remembered for breathing fire and smashing buildings without a second thought.

The chapters cover the “birth” of the monster, the franchise, and how his (or maybe “her”) influence has spread into language and television and literature. It is a survey, not an in-depth look, but nonetheless I feel that I have learned more than I knew before.

The mildly innocent lament for an earlier, simpler time in American culture may seem a little dated in this hyper partisan world we live in now (one reference to Donald Trump seems odd, in retrospect) but overall, this was an enjoyable trip into the King of the Monsters.




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Those People

Those People by Louise Candlish

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A tranquil community in suburban London is knocked on its ass by the sudden appearance of Darren And Jodie: The Booths.

They are the Neighbors from Hell.

They operate a car dealership out of their home and shatter the community’s award winning “Play Out Sunday” (for the children!). Darren does home repair with no regard for the noise or time of day. He plays loud heavy metal music at all hours of the day.

And they Do. Not. Listen. To. Anybody. No matter how much anyone complains, it only causes them to dig in and get worse, until the hostility in the once tranquil neighborhood boils over.
Soon, it turns into an all-out war between the “respectable” neighbors and the interlopers. But when a tragedy strikes, the fingers are pointed fast and furious…

Those People is Lord of the Flies for the upper middle class. It shows how society can break down with just a simple push. And the rules that govern society are dependent on good faith. Without that good faith they are meaningless. Darren Booth seems to be saying “So what if I park 6 cars on the street and disrupt your Sunday Play Date and play loud music deep into the night while operating power tools? My house, my property, my world!” For he is a shitty person. But he is not the only one.

There’s a point where shitty people affect things without being directly responsible. Situations that are bad become worse when the shitty party is acting in total disregard for others.
And when marriages are frayed and tempers cause people to lash out (because that is a calling card of Narcissists: when you react to their bad behavior, it is now your fault) there is the collective “who me?” of the offending shitty party.

Yes, we are all responsible for our own actions. But often our actions are impacted by hundreds of other things.

These are the issues addressed, and the nerves exposed in this novel. It is unnerving because it is so totally recognizable.
Those People is a good read for the times we in which we live.






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Kindness and Wonder

Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever by Gavin Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you grew up in any time from the 60’s through the 2000’s there is a very good chance that you are familiar with Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The Neighborhood was a slow-moving island of wonderfully warm and life-affirming television in a sea of noise and chaos outside, hosted by a man with a unique charm and ability to bring calmness to every moment.

His gentle manner, his complete honesty and sincerity and desire to help children have made him a beloved figure that touched the lives of millions of people. Almost 20 years after his death, his reach has extended to many of the adults who now have children and grandchildren of their own.

Kindness and Wonder is an attempt to explain the man whom many hold in such high regard. It is an easy book, only 236 pages, divided into 2 sections. The first is about Mister Rogers’ life and career. The second is a 10-step chapter by chapter run through of the ways that a person can take the lessons from Mister Rogers’ amazing life and apply them to their own. There are stories, there are lessons, and for fans of the man that many of us TV watching kids grew up with, it is enough.

It is a quick read that is probably more of a snapshot of a life, but it duly hits all the major points. Fred Rogers’ apparent simplicity was hard to understand if you didn’t see the show or meet him in real life. The chapter on how he dealt with people who made fun of him was instructional. I wonder how he might have dealt with the current online world with all its trolling and awfulness, but I get the feeling that Twitter would be no match for his disarming and unflagging ability to stay calm and see the goodness in everyone.

It’s a terrible world out there. But Mister Rogers spent his life trying to make it better.









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The Warehouse

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In the near future, the world is overheated, desolate: a brutal place to live. There are very few jobs due to the global domination of a company called Cloud, which has pushed out the last remaining “Big Box” stores (which were all decimated by something called the “Black Friday Massacre”, referenced throughout and eventually explained) in favor of a drone system that can bring anything anywhere. Cloud is like Amazon to the nth degree, where the ones lucky enough to get a job live and work in an air-conditioned dome that is a de facto city.

The job is simple, yet the demands are high. And the price for all this convenience may be higher than anyone realizes.

Into this mix: Paxton, a former prison guard whose idea for a perfect egg cooker was co-opted by Cloud. Paxton comes in having little choice but to work for the man who ruined him, which is:
Gibson: The old man who founded Cloud. He is dying and touring all the Cloud facilities while dictating his memoirs.

Then there is Zinnia, a corporate spy sent to bring down the behemoth that is Cloud…

I’ve never worked in a warehouse or a factory or in retail but at this same time, this book really spoke about the depths of unrestrained capitalism. The voice of Gibson is the voice of all the “bootstrapping” men in the world who point fingers at people less successful than them while being blind to their own privilege.

The Warehouse is fast paced, exciting, socially relevant and very tightly written, almost cinematic. I would not be surprised to one day see a movie being made from this.







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Stay Up With Hugo Best

Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


June Bloom, writer’s assistant for a late-night talk show that has just wrapped, agrees to spend a weekend at the home of host Hugo Best. Best is a Leno-like comedian who was once daring and edgy but is now safe and conservative and has reached the end of the road as a relevant comic. Why Bloom agrees to go to the home of a notorious womanizer is up in the air. She has no idea what he wants or why she’s there. But as a 29 year out of work comedy writer, she has nothing better to do and besides, Hugo Best is…or at least was her comic idol.

So, for the next 4 days she spends time at his vast estate, getting introduced to a series of hangers-on, relatives and sycophants, who suddenly have no reason to get up in the morning or be his friend at all. Over the course of the weekend June learns all about the sadness of fame and the loneliness of public life. Hugo is a larger than life character who has fallen and faded but who craves the limelight more than anything.

Not much really happens in this book. It’s a little like a long and sad Seinfeld episode with a few less jokes. The story is based around something funny but is not in itself laugh out loud funny. But it is very enjoyable in the meandering way we go from Friday to Monday, learning a little more along the way, all in due time and none of it earth changing. What we see is a snapshot of a life and the cost of fame, and the selling out one must do to appeal to the masses, and the hollow and fleeting satisfaction of the entertainment business.

I loved it for a while, then it settled back to a “like.” Ultimately I think this will be a three and a half star effort but I'm rounding up to four.





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On Writing

Stephen King
On Writing.

In 1997 Stephen King, author of Carrie, The Stand, and countless other horror classics, started penning his thoughts about a subject he knows something about: writing.

The book that resulted, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, is both memoir and tutorial, written in an honest and direct way without ever getting boring. And it may be one of the finest books I’ve ever read about this subject.

Split into three parts, the book dives into how King began, and what he learned and how he learned it, then moves on to the tools a writer needs to succeed. Part three takes a wide and unexpected turn that oddly, brings it all together. I guarantee that I don’t think he could have planned a better ending.

This book is so clear and smart and full of wisdom. I’m not the biggest Stephen King fan (I have only read The Shining, and that was for a class) but I’ve always respected his work and his work ethic. Loved this.

A Belated Post about Kim Shattuck

This is belated, in more ways than one…

I’ve had many feelings about an artist with whom I only had a passing familiarity until the day after she died.

Lately when a famous musician dies, I have spent at least part of the evening playing their songs, as a small tribute and remembrance. Eddie Money got some love, though after his hits, I kinda lose interest; Tom Petty (I crank up "Won’t Back Down" every time I hear it on the radio); Dolores O'riordan’s death reminded me that while I used to really like the Cranberries, I think I only retain affection for a small number of their songs.

Kim Shattuck died a few days ago at age 56 after a long bout with ALS. And so I started listening to the Muffs, the band she fronted and a band I was only acquainted with thru Spotify playlists.

And now I have been listening to the Muffs (and nothing else) for 2 days straight.

Suddenly this band that I only knew for two great songs (Lucky Guy and Honeymoon) has taken on a spot in my heart. Starting with the 1993 self-titled album, and just playing the albums available on Spotify straight through, I have been blown away by this music that somehow previously escaped my attention. These catchy, short, pop punk gems that usually culminate with a fantastic scream (sometimes they begin with it…or sometimes she throws it in the middle) all have something to love. I have found myself singing the songs even though I’ve never heard them before, such is the simple structure of the songs. I don’t even say that as a bad thing. It’s awesome. (Even songs I maybe don’t like quite as much are short enough so I don’t have time to really dislike them.)

And I have belatedly come the inescapable conclusion that this band was something special.

In two days I know my favorite song is “Outer Space” from the “Happy Birthday to Me” album, and that many of these songs are as deceptively simple as they are brilliant. Like the Pixies (who she was in for a minute in 2013) and Daniel Johnston, the Muffs made honest music that was uncomplicated. There is not a truly bad song in the lot of them.

Kim Shattuck knew what the fuck she was doing when she wrote her songs.

And I am in it, nonstop. I don’t want to listen to anything else right now. This band that existed right under my nose and poked their head out into my life in the last year or two on Spotify, enough to make it on to a few of my playlists, is now finally receiving my full attention.

I am so sorry that I wasn’t on board with them before, when I could have gone to see them live. But in 2 days I have belatedly realized the true awesomeness that this band brought to the world.

Better late than never, right? And now I love the Muffs. And maybe you will, too.

My Unofficial Ranking of MLB Playoff Team Preferences (and who I Will be Rooting for as an Orioles Fan who will probably be on the couch for several more years…)

There are ten teams going to the playoffs and alas, mine is not one of them. But just for fun, I am offering my ranking of my preferences, hopefully with a justification of my ranking.

Here we go!

10. The Yankees. Because they suck. If you need further proof, please consult this informative website. http://www.dotheyankeessuck.com/

9. The Nationals. Although they are geographically the closest team to Baltimore and would bring joy to people around me, I cannot live in world where the Nats are anything but a heartbreaking and soul crushing disappointment.

8. The LA Dodgers. You’ve had your chances. Don’t be the 1990’s Buffalo Bills. Just win. Or don’t. I am kinda sick of you.

7. St. Louis. See #10. Many of the same reasons.

6. Twins, 5. Athletics. (TIE) Neither of these teams offend me nor inspire me. I imagine MLB wants them both gone quickly for the same reason. My world won’t end if either of these 2 make it and I would probably like them more if they manage to upset the big boys.

4. The Astros. I like this team in part because they provide a blueprint for what the Orioles are trying to do. Their kind of success could be our kind of success in a few years.

3. The Rays. They have no fans, but they always have pitching. And they need the love.

2. The Braves. Because they have many old Orioles. I used to hate this team when they were good. Now they represent what we could have done with the same players. Plus, they have Nick Markakis, and dammit, he is a beloved former Oriole who deserves something for the years he was a shining star on a turd of a team like the 2006-2011 Orioles.

And finally….my hopes and good vibes all go to:

1. The Milwaukee Brewers. Because Milwaukee is kinda like Baltimore and I have some online friends who are fans and because I want to hear Bob Uecker call a World Series.


Ok! As each team gets eliminated, I will go down the list for the next one!

The Cassandra

The Cassandra by Sharma Shields

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In the 1940’s Mildred Groves lives at home with her oppressive mother and catty and mean sister but runs away from home to join a facility in Oregon that works on the Atom bomb. She is blessed but mostly cursed with an ability to see the future. It causes her to hallucinate and sleepwalk and contributes to people thinking that she is crazy. At the camp, she makes friends and proves her value even while not quite being seen as an equal with her male colleagues. But it is still better than living at home, though the weapon they are about to unleash will bring an evil on the world that cannot be contained.

The Cassandra was classified SCI-FI by my local library, but the science fiction is a very small part of this story, like a small trace of it seeped in to make the character something more than a beleaguered woman living in the 1940s. What this story takes a view on a historical event and shows it from another angle.

There are some developments in this book that could very well make some people uncomfortable. It might even lapse into shocking.

We have led the world to environmental ruin, wars, devastation, destruction, racism, hatred, poverty, overcrowding, and a whole host of awful things. I don’t think it is unreasonable to point at men and say “you did this.”

And ultimately our protagonist learns the secret of surviving this ugly world: you have to stop giving a shit, especially about other people. Kinda like a man.

I can definitely see reasons to love it or hate it, in equal measure. The main character is kinda batshit. There are certainly things that drive her toward that. Her helplessness and entrapment and her crushing visions of the future could not be more stark and depressing. But this is the kind of story that probably isn’t told enough. In the real life narrative which paradoxically says “those bombs saved lives” there is a corresponding narrative that is also true: with the action of dropping the first atom bombs against a country that had none, we unleashed a terrible force upon the world.
We did that, and it worked. But The Cassandra forces us to take responsibility for the pain that it caused humanity.

(I went back and forth on this one. I started at three stars then wanted to give it four but I think it most accurately would fall into 3 and a half.)

This book is very dark, and it only gets darker as it goes along. It is difficult and ultimately unsettling. And I think that is exactly the point.







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