FF: You Must Remember This
Mei-Ling Embraces Miss Marple
I’m just about finished with the biography of David Bowie I’ve been reading. My general impression of this book overall is that the editor has an agenda. This is a good time to remind people that “biography” and even “autobiography” are not fact, but a delicate dance between fact and opinion, because the writer, compiler, or editor makes choices as to what to include and how to lead into various sensitive issues.
With David Bowie: The Oral History, I was particularly annoyed by the lack of a bibliography, since without that the editor is creating the impression that he spoke to each and every person, and at the time the book was compiled when, in fact, he is clearly cherry-picking from a host of sources. That said, reading it was an interesting intellectual exercise.
For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.
Recently Completed:
Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. Largely from the POV of Alleyne’s now-grown son. Minor complaint, in the light of having also recently read Spinsters in Jeopardy is that there is no mention of the fact that this is not the first time Alleyne’s job put his son at risk.
Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. This one goes back to when Alleyne and Troy’s son, Ricky, was six. A bit of an initial jolt after him being a young man in Last Ditch. Also raises the question of why the kids of detectives are so often precocious and rather bratty.
In Progress:
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie. I could probably recite some of these aloud, but I needed something both absorbing and yet familiar to read before bed. My dreams have been loaded with anxiety.
Pasttime by Robert B. Parker. Audiobook. Just starting. I read this years and years ago, and cannot remember anything but that I liked it.
David Bowie: The Oral History compiled by Dylan Jones. Bowie is dead. Editor is mixing reactions of friends and family to the event with a look at the cultural impact not only of Bowie, but of reactions to his death.
Also:
Smithsonian magazine, which has apparently been put on a diet. The letter’s column contains a reference to the Covid-19 pandemic, which brings the issue into current events.
