Mary Simses's Blog, page 2

Back In Connecticut

I’m in Connecticut, my home state, and I’m happy to be back. There are so many great things to photograph here, like this beautiful red barn I often pass, and these funny chickens that belong to friends of mine. They raise them for their eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

At Bookcon 2017

I had a wonderful time signing books at this year’s bookcon in New York City. It’s great to talk to so many readers and be in a place where everybody has one love in common – books!

The Surfing Life

I saw this Land Rover with the surfboards on the roof at the grocery story and I loved the way it looked. There’s something so alluring about the idea of traveling around the world, looking for great waves (or traveling anywhere looking for great waves). I would never do it. I’m not even a very good swimmer. And all I really know about surfing is that it involves boards and the ocean. But the whole concept is intriguing. In fact, I recently read the memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan and I loved it. It took me into the middle of a world I knew nothing about and let me live and breathe it for a few days. That’s probably as close to surfing as I’ll ever get, but at least I got that far.

 

 

 

Masterful Memoir: Once We Were Sisters

I loved this memoir about the relationship between the author, Sheila Kohler, and her older sister, Maxine. It’s so beautifully written, with such soul and intensity, it was impossible for me to put it down even though I knew tragedy was lodged in its heart.

The tragedy comes from what took place thirty-eight years ago, when Maxine was thirty-nine, and her husband, Carl, drove them off of a deserted road in Johannesburg, injuring himself and killing Maxine. Kohler, who knew of the abuse her sister had experienced at Carl’s hands, is convinced her sister’s death was not an accident. This book is Kohler’s tribute to Maxine and her way of setting the record straight about her sister’s life and death.

Kohler describes the relationship between herself and her sister beautifully and meticulously, alternating between their childhood and their adult years, describing their largely absent father and impulsive mother. Also beautifully described are the places where the two women lived, including the estate in South Africa where they were raised as children, as well as Florence, Paris, and New York. I always felt as though I was there with them, the writing was so vivid.

I’d never read anything by Kohler before this, and I found it especially interesting when she mentioned the ways in which she’d previously fictionalized Maxine in other of her works – always with better outcomes. That’s not surprising, considering how close the two were and the tragedy of Maxine’s death. The idea of rewriting the past made me think about another wonderful book, the novel, Atonement, by Ian McEwan, in which that narrator also gives a better “second life” to her sister. Maybe we can’t change the past, but we can reinvent it and create what we wish had happened. That’s one way to get through it. The other way is to write the hard-knuckled truth. It’s taken Kohler a long time to do that, but I’m glad she finally did and I’m hoping she is, too.

 

Before the Days of “On Demand”

Don’t get me wrong. I love having instantaneous access to the huge selection of movies, television shows, plays, music, and everything else we can get our hands on with the click of a button. But there’s a little nostalgic part of me that remembers the excitement of settling down to watch a movie like The Wizard of Oz, which only came on television once a year. Yes, once a year. From the time I was so young that I covered my eyes when Dorothy and her companions went down the frightening green tunnel to see the Wizard, to my teen years when I’d invite friends over to watch with me, seeing that movie was always an event.

The pent-up anticipation to view a story we loved, one that was only broadcast once a year, was enormous. We savored every scene, we sang every song, we added to our knowledge of the characters’ lines during each viewing. And when one of my cousins got her hands on a copy of the script and gave a copy to me, I might as well have been handed the Holy Grail.

Today we can watch and re-watch the same movie all day long if we want to, or binge-watch an entire cable series over a single weekend. Whether or not that’s the best use of time, I won’t get into. But I will say that I doubt anyone who grew up in this era of instant access to entertainment can feel the joy I felt when my favorite movies, with their long-awaited appearances, were about to begin. They were like rare gems in a jewelry box that was only opened at certain times. And they did sparkle.

My Workspace

I don’t write every day. I wish I could, but some days other parts of life just get in the way – like paying bills and going to the grocery store and doing errands. When I do write, however, I usually do it in this little nook in our bedroom. (And, yes, our cat, Cinnamon, is a great assistant.) The windows make the area bright and there’s also a French door, just out of the frame, which opens to the back yard. I’ve written two books, mostly while sitting on this banquette, although I’ve definitely logged some hours while traveling as well. Once in a while I’ll take my laptop into the kitchen and write in there – it’s also a sunny space – or I’ll leave the house altogether and find a place to write outside. Anything to keep my brain going.

Books & Books in Miami

I love the independent bookstore Books & Books. I’ve been to the flagship store in Coral Gables, Florida (in fact, I did a book talk there a few years ago) and it’s a fabulous place, with room after room of books, a courtyard with a full restaurant, more books, a coffee shop, more books, and a calendar of great author talks and signings. (And more books!) There are three stores in South Florida and several other affiliated stores, most of them in Florida. Today I happened to be on my way to an event in Miami and came across the Cafe at Books & Books at the Adrienne Arsht Center. I had a delicious cup of coffee and bought two books, including a birthday gift for a friend. So glad I happened to be driving by that corner.

Beside Myself with This Book

I had never read anything by Karen Joy Fowler before reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and I’m not even sure how I came across it, but I ended up downloading it onto my iPad and I’m so glad I did. (By the way, I’m about half and half when it comes to paper books and e-books. I like e-books for travel and prefer them for night reading, but I still really love the good old feel of paper.) Anyway, I loved this book. I think Fowler is an amazing writer. I was hooked from the beginning – the characters (dysfunctional family, but with reason), the plot, the writing style, which is beautiful, and the way the book made me take a different view of the world around me. There’s a big reveal fairly early on – a moment when I uttered an audible, “Oh!” And from that point on, I couldn’t help asking myself (every few pages), how did she do this? It’s a Pen/Faulkner Award winner. No surprise to me.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

I found this book fascinating. Although it was published several years ago, I only recently read it. I was prompted to read it after I finished The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis, which I've also reviewed here. Daniel Kahneman, the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, is one of the two men Lewis wrote about in The Undoing Project. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, both brilliant psychologists, formed a dynamic duo that changed forever the assumptions about the mind's decision-making process. In this book, which became a best-seller, Kahneman goes into detail about many of the theories he and Tverky developed. These theories are also discussed in The Undoing Project, but not in as much detail, as that book also focuses on the unique friendship these two men shared.

The bottom line is that I have to thank Michael Lewis for getting me interested in these incredible men and in Kahneman's book, which is both fun and thought-provoking to read. I highly recommend both books, for anyone who is interested in the human mind and how we make decisions in our daily lives. My recommendation would be to read The Undoing Project first and to then read Thinking, Fast and Slow. It's intriguing stuff. Thinking, Fast and Slow

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
I read a lot of fiction, which isn't surprising, because that's also what I write. I happen to love fiction. But I also like to add non-fiction books to the mix. Let's face it, there are plenty of things in real life to learn about. I've read several of Michael Lewis' books and I think he's a terrific writer. This one is about the friendship and professional relationship between two brilliant psychologists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose research and writings changed forever the assumptions about the mind's decision-making process. The book includes many examples of the kinds of problems or questions the two men used in their research, to test which "system" of the brain (the fast-thinking system or the slow-thinking system) their research subjects used in responding. It was fascinating to look at and respond to the questions myself and see how my results compared with their test subjects' results. (Alas, my results were typical.)

The biggest benefit I got in reading this book, however, was that it prompted me to also read Thinking Fast and Slow, which was written several years ago by Kahneman and which ended up becoming a best-seller. I never read the book when it was first published, although I thought it looked interesting. After reading about Kahneman in The Undoing Project, I wanted to know more. Please see my review of Thinking Fast and Slow, if you're interested.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds