With Kerouac, cold weather wives and more than one ghost
What I've read:
The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties by Helen Weaver. The author dated Kerouac (they lived together) for awhile not long before On the Road came out. She is very frank about their relationship, her affection and frustration, his enormous appeal and finally, the sheer fatigue that overtook her from being with Jack. She knew him as a talented man and respected him as such while also boggled by how he could be married and deny his child and pursue other women. She writes:
I rejected him for the same reason America rejected him: he woke us up in the middle of the night in the long dream of the fifties. He interfered with out sleep.
Wide Open by Deborah Coates. A solid ghost story about an Afghan War vet who comes home on leave after her sister is killed in an accident or suicide or....? Hallie herself was dead for a few minutes in the war and since then has been haunted by a variety of ghosts, all of whom seem to want something. It all gets real personal when her dead sister is waiting at the airport when she arrives at home. The mystery is to find out what happened to her sister, who did it and why and what the heck is going on at the new local industry which supposedly creates weather. Hallie is tough as nails, the local deputy is smart and hiding a secret or two and the bad guy is truly awful. I think the magical mystery is a bit underwritten but it's still a page-turner. Decent read.
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Sun. For the May column, this excellent ghost story is about the creepiest sibling relationship ever. Chloe and Ruby have a relationship of epic enabling proportions and Ruby is...well Ruby is special (and not in a happy jolly holiday kind of way). It's scary, it's twisted and it has just enough WTF going on to keep you on the edge of your seat. Couldn't get enough of it and look forward to writing it up.
Archaeology by Mark Dion. An exhibition catalog that I scored at Third Place Books for a silly cheap price. I'm a huge fan of Dion and . This one is about the discovery of buried "treasure" on the banks of the Thames as well as the bottom of a Venice canal. He always makes you think, about history, archaeology and, most importantly, art.
"The Particles" by Andrea Barrett. Her short story in the current issue of Tin House. I'm ever hopeful that it is part of a book-in-progress by Barrett. It's about a small group of academics (among others) on a British passenger ship sunk by the Germans in 1939. The protag, Sam, reflects on their personal history, his research into genetics, and the difficult relationship he has with one of the men. It is, of course, about science and history and people; beautiful and honest and pure...if that makes any sense. I enjoyed it very very much.
Polar Wives by Kari Herbert. Not a surprise that I found a book on the wives of some [in]famous polar explorers to be so compelling but I have to give author Kari Herbert some credit for both her research and style. The book is organized not as straight biographies but chapters on each of her subjects by category - essentially their own upbringings, how they met their husbands, how they coped with their explorations, how they coped with their fame. Some of the stories are unbearably sad, some frustrating (I have never been a fan of Robert Peary and that is cemented now) and some make you want to cheer. (EMILY SHACKLETON!!!!) More on this in coming days and a review to follow - in May hopefully.
What I'm reading now:
Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell. For Booklist so I can't say anything but what an interesting topic - "adventures in the world's most polluted places". (The Tar Sands are chapter 2.)
Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby. I had to set this one aside when I realized it wouldn't work for my May column but I'm hoping to finish it in the next couple of weeks or so. My plan is to review it for the fall.
Hmm - clearly I need to start a few more books! Nothing for review until I'm caught up but there are several titles for pleasure reading I've been looking forward to. More on those as the pages start turning!
