Although it is not necessary to have read the previous book in this series, it does help to unravel some of the complex relationships between the charAlthough it is not necessary to have read the previous book in this series, it does help to unravel some of the complex relationships between the characters in Gabaldon’s universe, but she provides enough backstory to fill in new readers without dragging down the story for those familiar with Lord John Grey, a gentleman, soldier, family man, and secret homosexual. For those who enjoy male erotica in their historical romance/murder mystery, the story delivers a few steamy interludes. What I found most engaging in this second in a series that focuses on an Outlander offshoot is the realities of being gay, or rumored to be gay, in this time period. The penalties were severe: banishment, ruination, and death. Sadly, this continues to be the case in parts of the world for LGBTQ+ people. There are other competing story lines that sometimes get in the way, including unraveling the mystery of John’s father, searching for hidden Jacobites, and a war against the French, but she is able to keep all the plates spinning throughout the novel....more
Tea’s autobiographical novel is divided into two sections which are as different in style as they are in setting. In the first half she captures a momTea’s autobiographical novel is divided into two sections which are as different in style as they are in setting. In the first half she captures a moment of gentrification in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood as her artistic set, who had replaced poor immigrants, are themselves priced out of their neighborhood by the tech sector. Her story relies on her own experience, living life as an "outlaw" lesbian, hypercritically aware of her marginalized world shrinking around them, and her struggles to write a second book as she indulges in a blossoming addiction to heroin. Tea shares intimate details of her life, her helplessness, and her crushes on rebellious, smart, and intoxicated young women. She vividly captures a snapshot of an artistic community that many cities have lost due to the high cost of living.
The second half of the novel is set in Los Angeles, which is influenced by the mythology of Hollywood and star sightings. Isolated from her community she tries to write about her experiences without hurting anyone’s feelings, a genuine issue for someone who specializes in memoir. Her challenge to be honest or revise her truth, while indulging in copious amounts of alcohol, fades away when she learns that the world is about to end. With nothing left to lose, she looks inward to define her last days and finds fulfillment in a bookstore she inherits. This section is filled with chaos and dreams, suicide and hope, and finally self-acceptance. Tea documents the days leading up to the end of the world, driven by man-made climate change, and is reminiscent of the national gestalt following 9/11, while simultaneously feeling like it is only the fictional characters (inspired by real people) who are facing their end as the reader finishes her novel and closes the book. ...more
For me this novel read like a painting, with Japanese history, culture, overheard conversations, and the landscape represented on a large canvas. At tFor me this novel read like a painting, with Japanese history, culture, overheard conversations, and the landscape represented on a large canvas. At the heart is the story of an Everyman who spends his entire life as a migrant worker to provide for a family who does not know him. He is a ghost haunting his own life, with no impact on the world around him, moving through decades of personal tragedy. His story ends as homeless man, invisible and forgotten, wading through his shifting and often painful memories. The author uses his predicament to bring attention to these forgotten people, while commenting on the Japanese government who kept sweeping them, and other problems (poverty, Fukushima, class systems), under the rug....more
Like many others I was absorbed by the high production values, interesting story line, and sublime acting in the Netflix limited series based on the nLike many others I was absorbed by the high production values, interesting story line, and sublime acting in the Netflix limited series based on the novel. While it improved on some aspects of the story, enriching the relationships between the characters and giving Elizabeth Harmon's parents backstory, what it missed—surprisingly—is the actual game of chess. In the US chess is not known as a high stakes competition, but Tevis uses active and engaging language to give the play-by-play for key games, walking the reader through the intricate dance on the board. The game, not her addictions, are the center of the novel. Chess continues to dominate her life and all the mundane aspects of the day-to-day grind fall to the wayside. Also, isolation of an intellectual from American society appears to be a theme for Tevis, and was central to The Man Who Fell to Earth. The story arc of an orphan to international chess prodigy is littered with obstacles, as if her life was itself a game of chess with different characters assisting her to move from pawn to queen to eventually topple the king.
One of the things I respected was the author's decision to not make this book about a woman entering a man’s world and dominating; Beth Harmon herself scoffs at that notion. It is not that she is the best female chess player in the US, she is the best. Period. Why should her gender make a difference? The truth is it shouldn’t, but it would have been controversial in the 1960s in which the novel is set, and possibly still would cause negative reactions today. Wikipedia lists over 1,900 chess grandmasters, only 37 of which are women....more
Reading the description of the alien who comes to earth on a rescue mission, one can't help but think who but David Bowie could have pulled it off? TeReading the description of the alien who comes to earth on a rescue mission, one can't help but think who but David Bowie could have pulled it off? Tevis's novel is part Christ story, part environmentalist warning, and part critique of American society. An alien has come to save humanity and his own race is humiliated and blinded by people who don't listen to or understand him, his own planet has been destroyed by war and pollution and he attempts to avoid a repetition of planetary destruction, and the characters that populate his life are seen as the aliens from Thomas Newman's perspective. His outsider's perspective on society, on the fleeting and short-sighted whims of humans, is the most interesting aspect of the novel. Ultimately, as noted by the author, the book is about the slow descent into addition, how it takes over your life and ruins your dreams and aspirations. Newman, and the other primary characters, Mary-Lou and Nathan, all struggle with alcoholism and are in part destroyed by it. The ending scene in the bar, reminiscent of the final scene in 1984, ends with the lost potential of a freethinking man....more
Maugham gives us an under-the-covers look at a writer's life at a certain period in England as the literary landscape was changing. His novel is seasoMaugham gives us an under-the-covers look at a writer's life at a certain period in England as the literary landscape was changing. His novel is seasoned with autobiographical details, including his being an orphan raised in the country by his conservative aunt and uncle, his attraction and daliances with "unsavory" people, and his having attended medical school before becoming an author. Also included are thinly disguised (and not terribly flattering) portraits of two well-known Victorian authors. This begs the reader to guess at what elements were also nonfictional or fictional elements blended in for spice. Did Maugham really take Thomas Hardy's first wife as his lover? Perhaps...
At its heart the novel is less about the unusual lives of writers but how should you live your life? Adhering to the arbitrary rules set by society and hewing to the norms of your station, or crossing the line and living richer more interesting lives on the outside, eschewing public opinion? Using the author Driffield as an example, his fiction was better and more challenging when married to a buxom barmaid who indulged herself in pleasure with other men and acted as his muse, and more staid when later married to his nurse who tightly controls his life. What I most chuckled over are his repeated references to his being queer, possibly code at the time but delightful in a modern read....more
Thanks to my ex-boyfriend, who worked at the Jane Street Theatre box-office, I became an early "wighead" and saw the show multiple times with differenThanks to my ex-boyfriend, who worked at the Jane Street Theatre box-office, I became an early "wighead" and saw the show multiple times with different actors, including John Cameron Mitchell. The world is small and strange and I had no idea that the handsome and aloof man who lived downstairs from me in the West Village was not just Hedwig, but the boy I had crushed on in Larry Kramer's The Destiny of Me. The pieces would not fall into place until I bumped into him at a wedding and the light bulb went off. I went on to see the movie version, which is good but doesn't hold up to the live version for a variety of reasons (primarily because Hedwig does not transform into her protege, Johnny Gnosis), but loved the Broadway debut with Neil Patrick Harris. In other words, I was a fan, but I had never read the text, though I was so familiar with it that I could hear Mitchell's voice in my head, including Stephen Trask's score.
The story of a German girlie-boy who must give up a little piece of himself to find a new life in America crosses genders, borders, and is also a tour de force of alternative musical styles. I was always curious Hedwig was inspired by Jayne County, the transgender singer and performer. County did inspire David Bowie early in his career, but Hedwig's character appears to have evolved in the club scene in New York over time. What works best for this story is that it is such a unique journey, yet at its core is a universal truths of love and acceptance, not just of others, but of yourself. A gorgeous script and a loving tribute to alternative icons....more
When I first heard about a literary zombie story, I scratched my head. Who was the audience? I like literary fiction, I enjoy zombie stories, but combWhen I first heard about a literary zombie story, I scratched my head. Who was the audience? I like literary fiction, I enjoy zombie stories, but combined? I presumed it was going to be akin to the thankfully short-lived trend of updating the classics with monsters. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? No thank you.
Then came the pandemic and this book about a deserted downtown Manhattan felt prescient. Whitehead provides all the standard zombie tropes. Hordes of living dead? Check. Loose knots of people doing everything they can to survive? Check. A dystopian landscape with where all the things we took for granted are only memories? Check. Questioning the zombie diet of slightly munched on humans… uh, what?
It is the author’s introspective interpretation of the zombie genre that sets it apart but also makes it a challenge to read. The story centers on Mark Spitz, an ironic nickname given to him in the early days of the apocalypse, who does most of the ruminating. In the days before Last Night, Spitz was a mediocre guy living in his parents’ basement, no real hopes or dreams. The apocalypse sets him free from this directionless existence and sends him running for his life, testing his survival skills. The novel takes place over three days in the post-post-apocalypse when civilization is giving it another go, however he has returned to his life of mediocrity. He is a sweeper in Zone One, the financial area of lower Manhattan, where he and his crews are tasked with the unglamourous job of clearing the empty buildings of the zombie stragglers, bag ‘em and tag ‘em.
Where Whitehead hits it for me is how he critiques our society in the aftermath of it. The stragglers are drawn to places they are familiar with, the copy room for instance, forced to repeat mundane tasks until they starve to death; this is how we work through our adult years. Spitz crafts three versions of his origin story: an elevator pitch, a slightly longer one for more robust conversations, and a real one with rich details for people who will be long term acquaintances; something we all do in our day to day. He critiques micro managers, and distant bureaucracy, and grunts doing their job despite its futility. The zombies are not just the walking dead, they are our work colleagues, our neighbors, with boring, repetitive lives. The apocalypse gives stark contrast to our often ridiculous ways of living. There is often a wry sense of humor, despite the grim details. However, when the novel shifts gears to straight-ahead action in the final chapter, it runs, and that is exactly the point. Break out your dictionary and tuck in....more
My husband became enraptured by the Outlander series on Netflix during the pandemic, an interesting show with an intelligent woman driving the story tMy husband became enraptured by the Outlander series on Netflix during the pandemic, an interesting show with an intelligent woman driving the story that has elements of romance and magic. I couldn’t get into the show, but he encouraged me to participate by reading one of the books in the series. Lord John is a gay character who has a spinoff series of books on his own. Historical romance is not my normal genre, but I was startled to discover the Private Matter is actually a murder mystery. I turned to the back and saw the list of references she used for her research, several of which I had read, and decided to stop being an elitist and plunged ahead.
John Grey is caught up in two crises, his well-heeled niece is about to marry a man who may not be as sterling as his reputation, and he has been asked to head up an investigation to find out who stole military secrets. His investigation brings him through various social strata of eighteenth-century London, from the low-rent docks to high-end salons, into brothels for both straight and gay men, and out to the messy streets filled with colorful and often dangerous characters. John Grey find ways to fit in no matter what the setting, often drinks more than he should and suffers the consequences, and frequently makes mistakes in his investigation. He may not be very complex in this first novel, and the plot seems needlessly so, but it unfolds in unexpected ways which is a plus. I started off a skeptic but found myself enjoying the novel more than I expected. Like my husband with the filmed series, I found it a welcome distraction from the news of the day....more
What could have been a dry tome full of sociological statistics is instead a riveting journey of three families that migrated out of the south to escaWhat could have been a dry tome full of sociological statistics is instead a riveting journey of three families that migrated out of the south to escape Jim Crow. Wilkerson is not just an amazing writer, breathing life into their stories, like Zora Neale Hurston, she captures the history and culture of an ignored segment of our society. She brings her subjects to life on the page, flaws and all, and tracks three unique people from different social and economic strata to show that racism is not just classism, but endemic. The intimacy with which she fleshes out their portraits is due to her becoming part of their lives, of befriending her subjects, and using their stories to talk about the larger issues of race, class, and opportunities. Wilkerson takes us on a multidecade journey from the Jim Crow south to the emergence of the Civil Rights Era, tying in other national stories like the murder of a child, Emmett Till, the burning of churches, and lynchings, all done by whites with impunity. She also brings in parallel stories of other immigrants and celebrities, like Ray Charles, who faced racism despite his fame and acceptance by white society.
While in the south, African Americans were so oppressed that daring to stand up to the system could mean certain death. Men were lynched for daring to speak to a white woman, or even if the white woman thought the man tried to speak to her. People were disposable, treated worse than animals, and retained as underpaid slaves for agricultural and household work. They were kept in their place and that was just the way it was. Slavery ended in name only.
They left by the tens of thousands, migrating along the train lines, settling in other regions of the country. They brought their culture with them, creating homes in the ghettos to which they were relegated. Things were not ideal and they were forced to compete with white immigrants from Europe and Russia over undesirable and underpaid work. As a group they were mislabeled as ignorant dependents of the state; Wilkerson proves otherwise, showing this group of refugees from America's south as better educated and more resourceful than their white counterparts. Despite having the skills and language, they were still forced to fight over jobs on the lowest economic rungs, and housing at the margins of the city, solely because of their race.
A question is posed to the reader, why should these Americans have been forced to leave their homes, their culture, and their families like war refugees to seek opportunities and save their own lives? What did they lose and gain with that journey? What did the south lose because of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people? Everyone loses with systemic racism. This is a must read for anyone who believes that racism is a thing of the past. Wilkerson expertly brings our history alive and brings it to our doorstep today, showing the challenges still faced and why groups like Black Lives Matter exists to help us emerge from the shadow of slavery....more
Imagining the future world based on the heavily referenced, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Bacigalupi weaves a darImagining the future world based on the heavily referenced, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Bacigalupi weaves a dark, and sadly realistic possible future for Phoenix, Arizona. Water rights are warred over and Phoenix is caught between two better organized and financed operations, California and Las Vegas. The city is at the brink of collapse and is overrun by refugees from Texas and other states that have suffered from climate change. The failing city is ruled by the mafia, who throw victims to hyenas for sport, and a Chinese company that builds self-contained superstructures for the wealthy (the "fivers", who have a 5 digit address at one of the luxury buildings). In this kill or be killed world Maria, a tough as nails Texan who will do anything to survive, Lucy, a tough as nails reporter who wants to get to the truth, and Angel, the tough of nails water knife of the title, intersect with explosive results. The sad truth is with a multi-year or multi-decade drought in the American Southwest, and cities being built where water resources are already scares, his book reads more less like a prophecy and more of a warning. ...more
Is there a better time to read Beckett than during a pandemic which is calling us to question what is relevant while we face our mortality? His work eIs there a better time to read Beckett than during a pandemic which is calling us to question what is relevant while we face our mortality? His work explores the meaning(less) of existence, our relationships with the world around us, and the impermanence of life. I confess that a few pages into Happy Days, which includes an epic number of stage directions that prescribe every gesture, reaction and pause, I read the script in tandem with a performance of it on YouTube. With a play that is stripped bare of all but the most essential elements, every object and word has a weighted, even symbolic, meaning and it was hard to get a sense of that from the page alone.
At the center of the stage is Winnie, a mature woman who begins Act I buried up to her waist in the earth and by Act II is sunk up to her neck, leaving her completely immobile. Although this may have other interpretations, my reading is about the brevity of life, that we are partially in the grave even as we live. Winnie is forced to wake by a bell (never explained) and occupies her time with her routine and a running monologue until the sleep bell; this possibly refers to the brief period of our active lives as time pours away. Despite the circumstances she continues to take delight in the little things, for instance the contents of her bag, her routine, her memories, and especially any interaction she has with her mate, Willie. As the play wears on she begins to question her memories, which are sometimes unclear on the details (the names, the circumstances), and even the existence of her own unseen body, asking "What arms? What breasts?"
Like many husbands who are married to a talker like Winnie, her mate Willie barely speaks. When he does it is to read the headlines or help wanted ads from the newspaper, or ejaculate with random shouts of “Fornication!” or “Eggs!” Their infrequency requires the viewer to make sense of them in context. Wille remains mobile, barely, and lives in his own hole, sleeping most of the time. The ads may refer to our lives filled with work, and he also represents sexuality, enjoying a graphic postcard; even his name is a synonym for penis.
However it is Winnie who dominates the conversation, one held mainly with herself, and keeps returning to three themes. The first is the “old style”, which is often thrown in at random and the reference does not appear clear. Is she referring to her life before, when she was mobile and sexual (referring to her first kiss in the shed), or her daily routine maintained with an almost religious adherence? The second is her grooming routine and the objects in her bag, which she treats with reverence. Each object has a story, a meaning, besides Brownie, her pistol, which she kisses, leaves outside the bag, but never uses. The last is human relationships, as she takes joy in her brief interactions with Willie, expressing her excitement by exclaiming "Oh, it is a Happy Day!" when he does some little thing, like respond to her nagging queries.
The overall theme pulls the viewer into engagement. Several times, particularly in Act II, Winnie refers to being watched in almost paranoid tones, referring to the audience; tearing down the fourth wall is common of the genre. Secondly, as she recalls the last humans to see her, the couple Mr. and Mrs. Shower (or Cooker, she can't remember), who question why she is buried in the earth. Mrs. Shower asks, "What’s the idea of you… what are you meant to mean?" This can have two simultaneous interpretations, what is the point of this play as well as what is the point of life? Without being sentimental, the last interaction when Winnie sings to Willie from the Merry Widow, an comedic operetta about finding the right spouse, that the point of life is to love....more
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” — attributed to Mark Twain
At this moment when our reality is being warped by rabid demagogues, rig“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” — attributed to Mark Twain
At this moment when our reality is being warped by rabid demagogues, right wing media, and corrupt politicians, it is worth revisiting an equally troubling time in which those same actors starred. The introduction sets the stage in which an America, transformed by WWII which brought it out of the Great Depression, is searching for a new war. Joe McCarthy, an unremarkable Republican senator, takes the national stage by creating a war on American loyalty, perhaps to distract from his own closet full of skeletons. All he had to do was keep lying to keep the cameras on him and the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC); everyone was guilty by association and anything could be used against you. The media boiled over with dramatic headlines and televised courtroom reveals, giving legitimacy to what we now know was a wholly manufactured crisis. Neither President Truman, nor the media, nor the public, tried to stop this runaway train, which destroyed the lives of countless Americans. Speaking out against it would put your own loyalty in question.
Lillian Hellman, a renowned playwright, looked back at her own life during this time and the destruction that those baseless accusations had on her and those around her. Rather than fold under pressure to implicate others in this Ponzi scheme of recriminations, Hellman took the stand and refused to name names. This hour long trial had consequences for her finances, her career, as well as on her relationship with Dashiell Hammett, who had been jailed in this fiasco and was blacklisted for the remainder of his life. This brief book blends diary entries, memoir, and news, at turns introspective, optimistic, and melancholy. One scene that stands out is their last night on the farm that they were forced to sell. They watch a herd of deer graze on their property. That she was able to find beauty and magic during a moment of crisis reminds us that life goes on. ...more
When Mr. Stone, a confirmed bachelor and exemplary curmudgeon, looks into the lonely maw of his supposedly golden years he decides, seemingly on a whiWhen Mr. Stone, a confirmed bachelor and exemplary curmudgeon, looks into the lonely maw of his supposedly golden years he decides, seemingly on a whim, to take a wife, the vivacious widow, Margaret. His goal at the outset of the novel is outsmarting and assassinating the nasty neighbor’s unnamed black cat, an animal who plays an outsized role in this short book and is as cantankerous as Mr. Stone (but more successful with the ladies). The story of this failed assassination is parlayed into a joke to impress his future wife at a dinner party (and there are an inordinate number of dinner parties with equally awkward jokes filling these pages). Once Margaret moves in his quiet ordered life is invaded by women, including his distant sister and her odious child, Gwen, and his underappreciated maid, Mrs. Millington. Mr. Stone escapes to his study (much like an author) to draft a plan to create a society of men, retirees of his company, who, like his near-future self, have lost their life-defining work. The project, the Knights Companion of the title, quickly gains success and publicity and he tastes, for a brief moment, the thrill of success for the one novel idea in his life. This thunder is stolen by an odious and awkward younger man, Mr. Wymper, who is credited for the idea. The last laugh in this dark comedy is that not only does Mr. Stone not get credit for his plan, but will soon be one of the men relegated to the dust bin of his company and a Knights Companion himself. The cat, with whom he had established a report, is euthanized in the end because the family no longer wants him, foreshadowing the possible demise of Mr. Stone. A sad ending for an unlived life. In some ways this is reminiscent of The Old Man and the Sea, in which an older man (and novelist) is not valued for his contribution....more
This book is part of a series exploring the most widely practiced religions. I found it in my building's informal book swap when I lived in Brooklyn aThis book is part of a series exploring the most widely practiced religions. I found it in my building's informal book swap when I lived in Brooklyn and have been carting it around for more than a decade. I have long been fascinated with the practice of Buddhism and finally committed myself to reading it. The book spends a lot of time tracking the spread of Buddhism across the continents and the centuries (skimmed it). This is not to be confused with a "primer" on Buddhism. It is a dense academic deep-dive with extensive quotes from religious texts and the evolution of the Buddha. The dry text was less than inspiring to push through and I put the book down a few chapters in. Another reader who has more historian leanings my find this exploration fascinating; I will gladly share with you my hardcover....more
I found myself laughing out loud during the infamous deli scene and the oft-repeated line, "I'll have what she's having." Perhaps it is my familiarityI found myself laughing out loud during the infamous deli scene and the oft-repeated line, "I'll have what she's having." Perhaps it is my familiarity with the movie, but Ephron's brand of romantic comedy spills off the page and you can't help but chuckle. The build up between strangers who become friends who become lovers in the relationship desert of New York is so universal that it doesn't feel dated (even without cellphones and social media). This script is a good reason why more women should be in the film industry. ...more
I am attending a performance of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett and wanted to familiarize myself with the scriI am attending a performance of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett and wanted to familiarize myself with the script beforehand. Albee maintains an awkward discomfort over the course of an evening as George and Martha play a blood sport called “unhappy marriage”. The younger couple, Nick and Honey, begin as spectators and get dragged into participation; they seem doomed to the same future. The facts reveal themselves not explosively, but in the aggressive banter that the couples share, delving into Martha’s alcoholism and infidelities, George’s lack of ambition, Nick settling for a woman whom he was “tricked” into marrying, and Honey’s willful cluelessness about what is actually taking place. The undercurrent of dark humor keeps the play from becoming overwhelmingly morbid, and the volume of alcohol consumed in this volatile evening—enough to put average people into a coma—enables these jaw-dropping moments to take place. The complexity of these characters has made this a perennial stage favorite, but curious how this will be staged in the #metoo era....more
Let us put aside the premise of the novel. The world is overrun by some kind of creature that cannot open a door but can drive a person to homicide anLet us put aside the premise of the novel. The world is overrun by some kind of creature that cannot open a door but can drive a person to homicide and/or suicide just by looking at them. A woman has survived four years with two children, Boy and Girl, and has barely left her house, training them to listen to the world of danger that surrounds them. Although the children are four years old, somehow they have the maturity of children more than double that age. Two pregnant women end up in the same safe house and end up giving birth simultaneously at the worst moment possible? People who are already crazy who defend the creatures and try to force the frightened people in hiding out into the open. It is absurd.
Once you get over the premise, this claustrophobic survivalist thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and up late at night until you finish. Malerman moves the story forward in two timelines: the first months of the crisis and then four years later when she tries to get the children to safety by traveling downriver, blindfolded, in a rowboat. This was turned into a mediocre movie with Sandra Bullock that had an amazing opening and loses steam 15 minutes in, but the book maintains and heightens the tension with each short chapter by showcasing the growing paranoia of the characters, most of whom don't make it, and the helplessness of being blind. This novel dovetails nicely with other survivalist stories with zombies and the like.
A suggestion for anyone who enjoyed this is the brilliant Blindness by José Saramago, in which blindness is transmitted by a disease that spreads across the entire population, causing the collapse of society. ...more
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