Art and Madness

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Roiphe, Anne. Art and Madness: a Memoir of Lust Without Reason. New York: Doubleday, 2011.

From the start I struggled to find the purpose of this snapshot-in-time memoir. In the beginning there is a brief mention of Roiphe at age 11 but most of the book is confined to the 50s and 60s; Roiphe’s artistic coming of age. There is a parade of authors mentioned, name drops like Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Salvador Dali and on and on. Despite a yo-yo’ing time line across the decades there is a constant in Roiphe’s dedication to holding her male counterparts up for success. It was an era when use and abuse of women was the norm and Roiphe takes it all in stride. As she says, she was the muse instead of the writer. Throughout Art and Madness Roiphe illustrates a different side of motherhood as she shamelessly bares the truth about toting her daughter all over predawn New York to answer the drunken beck and call of prominent men. But, with destruction comes the need to rebuild. In the end, Roiphe finds a self-proclaimed redemption. The muse becomes a writer in her own right.

Confessional: Art and Madness was something I would pick up and read voraciously for a day or two at a time. Yet, when I put it down weeks would go by before I would pick it back up again. I read it sporadically, compulsively, and yet, not obsessively. I have no idea why because it really was fascinating.

Friday the Rabbi Slept Late

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Kemelman, Harry. Friday the Rabbi Slept Late. Greenwich: Fawcett Crest Book, 1963.

Rabbi David Small is Barnard Crossing’s newest rabbi. His presence is a mixed blessing. While the community debates renewing his contact for the next year he is simultaneously fingered as the prime suspect in a murder case. It’s hard to dismiss the evidence – the murdered girl’s purse is found in his car and he admits being in the area at the presumed time of death. In the interest of clearing his name (and getting his contact renewed) Rabbi Small becomes a professional snoop, helping with the investigation. He becomes friendly with the lead detective and they share leads as well as discussions on religion. It is interesting to note how police work has changed! In this day and age Rabbi Small would never been able to interview the victim’s employer or search her room and yet, he does both; ultimately solving the case.

Favorite line: “The girls he went out with didn’t mean that to Mel…They were somebody he went to bed with, like he might go to a gym for a workout” (p 113) and “We Yankees don’t like anybody, including each other, but we tolerate everybody” (p 140).

Author fact: Kemelman was a Massachusetts man and died in Marblehead.

Book Trivia: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late was Kemelman’s first novel. It was also made into a made-for-television movie.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love a Mystery” (p 119).

Persepolis

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Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003.

Whenever I read a book like Persepolis I think about how gluttonous, how wanton, how extravagant my life within this country has been. Imagine being told what to wear and how to wear it. Imagine being told what to not to do or say. Imagine having a curfew. Imagine the banning of alcohol or parties. All common for coming of age, but as an adult? Imagine uncles being executed; bombs exploding and killing your entire family of neighbors. Here one day, gone the next. Persepolis was hard to read. Maybe it’s because Marjane is my age (younger by several months) so all along I kept comparing her her stages of growing up to my own. But, really, how can one compare such things when we are figuratively and literally worlds apart?

The Amercican version of Persepolis is a two-part story. Part one begins when Marjane Satrapi is ten years old. It’s her first year of having to wear the veil, of school segregation, and the disintegration of life as she knew it. The story follows the next four years of her life as she comes of age in revolutionary Iran. She is interested in all the things a typical pubescent girl should be: fashion, rock posters, friends. As she grows up her personal uprising and rebellion run parallel with her country’s political unrest. As the Iran/Iraq conflict escalates Satrapi’s childhood world becomes more and more dangerous. She struggles with religious trust versus media influences touting the extremist view. Finally, her Marxist parents decide her future is more certain if she is sent to a boarding school in Austria.

Striking line: “When I went back to her room she was crying. We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed” (p 36).

Book Trivia: Persepolis was adapted into an animated film.

Author Fact: Satrapi speaks five different languages (according to the wiki I read).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Graphica” (p 105). Obviously.

City of Light

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Belfer, Lauren. City of Light. New York: Dial Press, 1999.

As a 36 year-old spinster Louisa Barrett is the headmistress of a well-to-do boarding school and she harbors a dark secret. While she is trusted and beloved by her community she is a contradiction in character. It’s this contradiction that makes her human and extremely likable. She worries about propriety and yet goes out of her way to create confusion about her personal life. She’s modern and yet knows her place in society when dealing with members of the opposite sex. At the height of Louisa’s tenure as headmistress Buffalo, New York is going through a metamorphosis. The husband of her late best friend owns a power plant that, by using nearby Niagara Falls, promises to light the entire region. Environmentalists are up on arms over the draining of the falls and suddenly people start dying. Somehow, Louisa finds herself in the middle of the mess. It’s her secret that has her tied to the drama.

City of Light is one of those books I like to call a “location” book. It brings the sense of a particular place to reality. For City of Light that place is Buffalo, New York and its famed Niagara Falls. Set in the early 1900s this is a period piece. A time when women barely held a place in society beyond practiced restraint and stiff decorum. City of Light is also an environment versus science debate as the development of a hydro-electric plant threatens to drain Niagara Falls of its rushing waters for the sake of lighting Buffalo and beyond. Set against the political and environmental debates of the era City of Light is also a mystery as two men are found dead under suspicious circumstances. It is hard to ignore they were both prominent men, connected to the power plant. Yet, no one can prove with absolute certainty they were murdered. Finally, City of Light is a nontraditional love story. Louisa learns the best way to love is to let go.

Favorite lines: “Love made me doubt myself” (p 24), “Magic had become science, science had become magic, everything was possible and the future was ours” (p 278), “…I wondered if Miss Love would attempt the challenging role of Marie Antoinette without her head; probably it was too much to hope for” (p 320).

Interesting word: “unmarriageable” Hm. I think it sounds like “unmanageable.” Wonder. Are they one in the same?
Statement that had given me pause the first time I read it – the air quality was better in electrified homes. Gaslights consumed oxygen; electricity did not. Interesting to think of what fuel consumed rather than what it put out into the air.

Author Fact: On her website Belfer names Jane Eyre as one of her favorite classics to reread.

Book Trivia: City of Light inspired a theater version. Interesting.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “American History: Fiction” (p 22).

PS ~As soon as I saw the map of Buffalo, New York my eyes scanned the streets looking for Pearl Street; the spot where I enjoyed an unforgettable grilled pear salad with drunken abandon in the post-concert buzz of too loud music.

Off Course, Of Course

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My system of choosing books for the Book Lust Challenge couldn’t be without a snag here or there. Well…having said that, I found my first tangle in five years.
In July we are switching library systems and like the switching of anything there will be a down-time, an adjustment period. You know how it is. Change = Dead in the water. In my case it means a complete halt of requesting books from public libraries from my armchair/laptop vantage point. From June to sometime in October all borrowing as I know it will stop. In order to keep the system going I will need to, (heaven forbid), actually get a public library card. I haven’t had one of those babies (aside from Monhegan) in at least 12 years. Oh the horror!
I’ll admit it. I’m spoiled. I like having my books plopped on my desk, right where I work. No visit to a public library necessary.

So. The solution? Borrow from my own academic library and finally, finally read the books I have collected at home. I think I have over a year’s worth of books just waiting for the right time to be read. That time is now. This should be interesting.

My plan of attack is to first compile a list of all the books I have at the ready to pull off the shelves and just read.
Second step is to determine when the aforementioned books were originally scheduled to be read. An example: I have the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin on a shelf at home. Off the top of my head I know Ben was born in January. So, I probably had planned to read this in the month of January some year from now…. I’m guessing because I usually go by birth month before anything else. But now the question is can I find another reason to read about Ben Franklin between June and November? Probably. What month did he fly his kite? What month did he move to Philadelphia? When did he become a Junto? When did he marry? When did he die? In other words, how else can I honor him?

Rest assured. June 2011 is covered. I am reading …And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer. Why only one book planned for 30 days of June? Well, for starters it is over 1,400 pages long (spanning 60 years it should!). And for another it looks a bit dull! This should take some time. *sigh* So. June 2011 is …And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer in honor of June being “Small Town Month” and this epic takes place in a small town…supposedly.

May 2011 was…

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May was a month of deja vu. The Just Cause walk. Wanting to go home. Same old, same old. Nearly everything I read this month reminded me of something else I have already read. Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann reminded me of The Defiant Hero by the same author was the most obvious because the plot and characters were very similar. Almost too similar. To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite reminded me of Educating Esme by Esme Raji Codell. They had similar plot lines: taking on a difficult classroom of students as a new teacher. Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham reminded me of Where the Pavement Ends by Erika Warmbrunn. Two stories about traveling through difficult, foreign terrain by bicycle.

So, here’s the list:

  • To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite ~ in honor of National Education Month. This was a really quick (but good) read. Read in one day.
  • Catfish and Mandala: a Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham ~ in honor of May’s Memorial Day. This was probably my favorite book on the list.
  • Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann ~ in honor of Brockmann’s birth month. I have mixed feelings about this book (as my review pointed out). Read in one day.
  • A Child’s Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner ~ in honor of May being Graphic Novel month. This was super hard to “read.” Read in one day.
  • Antigone the play by Sophocles ~ in honor of May being the best time to visit Greece. I keep forgetting this plot so it was good to read it again. Read in one day.
  • Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong ~ in honor of Asian-American Heritage month. Read over a weekend. This was one of my favorites.
  • Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery ~ in honor of Eeyore’s birth month. This was an audio book and very different than everything else I have listened to so far.
  • Seabiscuit: an American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand ~ in honor of the Kentucky Derby.
  • The Dean’s List by Jon Hassler ~ in honor of Minnesota becoming a state in May. This reminded me a little too much of my own work place!
  • A Bintel Brief: Sixty Years of Letters From the Lower East Side to the Jewish Daily Forward edited by Isaac Metzker. Read in two days.
  • City of Light by Lauren Belfer ~ in honor of history month. Interesting story about Niagara Falls and the advancement of electricity at the turn of the century.
  • Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi ~ in honor of May being the best time to visit Iran. This was amazing. Can’t wait for part II. 
  • Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman ~ in honor of Prayer Day being the first Thursday in May. This was a fun murder mystery. Read in one car ride home.

I didn’t get to three books on my orginal list: China, To Me, House on the Lagoon, and, Art and Madness. I forgot to pack them and ended up finding Persepolis and Friday the Rabbi Slept Late at home.

May was also the month for crazy travel. I slept no more than two nights at a time in Bolton, Concord, Boston, Chicopee, Peaks Island, Rockland and Monhegan all in eleven days time. I took two boats, one bus and three different cars. Walked over 75 miles. Saw family. Saw friends. Breathed in the woods. Inhaled the ocean. I enjoyed every second of it.

Seabiscuit

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Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: an American Legend.New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.

I love underdog stories (or, is it underhorse in this situation?). Seabiscuit is a head-scratcher of a racehorse. “Red” Pollard, his jockey, is a head-scratcher of a jockey. Their humble beginnings make them perfect partners for anything but success. But, succeed they did, as everyone who has seen the movie knows. Hillenbrand carefully reconstructs the era surrounding Seabiscuit’s unlikely “pony” start. The 1930s come alive as the fascinating characters of Seabiscuit’s entourage are introduced; his owner Charles Howard, trainer Tom Smith, jockey Johnny “Red” Pollard, the hungry-for-more media and of course, the fans who followed Seabiscuit’s every race. Hillenbrand writes with such clarity that every competition is pulse-pounding excitement. One can hear the roar of the crowd, taste the anticipation, see the pop of flash bulbs, and practically smell the winnings.
I admit I learned a few things about horse racing from this book. Who knew that the stakes were so high that before certain races there was the threat of horses being sponged and riders being kidnapped. Horses and riders required bodyguards!

Favorite lines: “The horse’s name was Seabiscuit, and for a bent-backed trainer on the other side of the backstretch, the brief exchange of glances between the horse and Tom Smith was the beginning of the end of a long, pounding headache” (p 34), “then, like a mighty shit Godzilla, it slid out to sea and vanished” (p 88).

Book Trivia: Seabiscuit was one hot read in 2001. Every media source from The New York Times to NPR and People Magazine acknowledged it as the best book of some sort.

Author Fact: Laura Hillenbrand graced the cover of “Natural Solutions” (March 2011, issue 132) to speak out about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called ” Sports and Games” (p 225). I read Seabiscuit in honor of the Kentucky Derby always being held in May (May 7th this year).

Bintel Brief

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A Bintel Brief: Sixty Years of Letters From the Lower East Side to the Jewish Daily Forward. Isaac Metzker, ed. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.

Despite its small size (214 pages), A Bintel Brief contains the very essence of Jewish-American New York. Between its pages the culture, society, ideals, hopes and dreams of immigrants struggling to call America their own come pouring out. As a section in the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper, the Bintel Brief was a section of letters to the editor, edited by Isaac Metzker. Many of the letters were based on ethical conundrums; people seeking advice on issues like relationships, work ethic, and the daily struggle to make ends meet. The writers of these letters placed a high value on the opinion of the editor, seeking his advice, his blessing, his approval. However, some are attempts at communication with a missing loved one; a calling out of sorts. The Bintel Brief was a vehicle for exposing mistreated spouses, publicizing petty family arguments, and searching for loved ones.

Author Fact: When Metzker was 20 years old he came to America as a stowaway.

Favorite photo: “Shopping on Hester Street, 1895” (p 10-11). Looking into those eyes I can almost touch the desperation.

Most striking letter: “This is the voice of thirty-seven miserable men who are buried but not covered by earth, tied down but not in chains, silent but not mute, whose hearts beat like humans, yet are not like other human beings….” (p 110). how can that not draw you in?

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “The Jewish-American Experience” (p 133).

Anne of the Island

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Montgomery, L.M. Anne of the Island.Performed by Barbara Caruso. Maryland: Recorded Books, LLC, 1996.

This was my third audio book. My first fiction in audio form. I have mixed feelings (as I always do) about listening to a book instead of reading it. As far as a walking companion, Anne of the Island wasn’t that bad.

Anne of the Island is the third “Anne Shirley” book by Lucy Maud Montgomery (L.M. for short). The first two books, Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea cover Anne Shirley’s childhood from ages 11-18 but Anne of the Island takes over when Anne leaves Avonlea for Redmond College in Novia Scotia. The title comes from Anne’s distinct connection to Prince Edward Island while away at the landlocked college. This leaving is a pivotal phase of Anne’s life and the title is supposed to reflect that. While at college Anne is making new friends, rediscovering her past (she lost both of her parents and was adopted by Miss Marilla as a baby), and has the unfortunate task of warding off many suitors asking for her hand (she has no less than four marriage proposals during her time at Redmond). It’s these proposals that I found frustrating. Anne is perfect in every way. She is beautiful, smart, funny, popular and oh, so romantic. When several different men propose to her the proposals are not how she pictured them to be. Each proposal is different but Anne considers the moment “ruined.” When her childhood friend, Gilbert Blythe, proposes I wanted to strangle Anne. She’s as innocent as the day is long about her feelings for Gilbert and tosses his proposal aside like a discarded toy. I wanted Gilbert to rebound and marry someone else just to spite Anne! Of course, their love for one another cannot be denied and, in the end, Anne chooses Gilbert.

My favorite characters in Anne of the Island are Phillipa Gordon and Davy Keith. Phillipa is a college classmate and roommate of Anne’s. I consider her the most realistic of all the characters. Davy is especially humorous with all of his questions (all ending in “I wanna know!”).

Book Trivia: Anne Shirley is so popular that there are websites and message boards dedicated to the character. While there are no film or theater adaptations specifically of Anne of the Island, Anne of Green Gables had plenty.

Author fact: Montgomery’s life mirrors Anne’s. Having lost her parents early in life she lived with grandparents and was often lonely.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Three-Hanky Reads” (p 237). The saddest scene in the whole book is when a childhood friend of Anne’s (Ruby Gillis) dies.

Dean’s List

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Hassler, Jon. The Dean’s List. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997.

One of the dangers I have with reading books based in academia is making comparisons to my own employment. The Dean’s List was no exception. Scarily so. Right down to the weird chick who pretends to be a professor…

Leland J. Edwards, Ph.D, Dean of Rookery State College and senior member of faculty is 58 years old. From the moment you meet Leland you get the sense he has never really experienced the world; never really grown up. Rookery State College runs in the family as his father chaired the History Department. He still lives with his 81 year old mother and caters to her every need as she has advanced lung disease. He is, in his own words, “excessively attached” to her. With his marriage failed, Leland pours himself into boosting Rookery’s flagging fund-raising efforts. In the hopes of bringing national exposure to the college he works to bring a renowned poet to the college for a reading. It is from this moment that Leland starts to stand up to his mother, quell the memory demons, and make peace with the problems of his past.

Favorite zingers (and there were a few): “We still had high academic standards in those days; near-illiterates had a hard time graduating” (p 2), “If all of his students had brains, who would Kahlstrom feel superior to?” (p 46), and “If I’m ever to become as enlightened as I’ve always secretly wished to be…” (p 150).

Author Fact: Hassler died in 2008 just ten days shy of his 75th birthday. He suffered from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. It’s related to Parkinson’s. One of Hassler’s characters, Richard Falcon, suffers from Parkinson’s…Which made me wonder if Hassler was trying to disguise a little of himself in Falcon.
Another interesting fact – on Hassler’s website his final resting place is given, complete with plot location in the cemetery. I thought that was a great idea. Fans of Hassler can pay their respects anytime they want.

Confessional: I didn’t read Pearl’s description of Hassler’s work closely enough. If I had, I would have caught on that Rookery Blues should have been read before The Dean’s List. Oh well.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Big Ten Country: The Literary Midwest (Minnesota)” (p 28). This was read in honor of Minnesota becoming a state in the month of May but I easily could have read it in honor of college graduation month since this took place on a college campus.

Fifth Chinese Daughter

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Wong, Jade Snow. Fifth Chinese Daughter. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950.

I have to start of with a confession: Chinese culture makes me think Americans are unspeakably rude.

Fifth Chinese Daughter is an autobiography written in simple and straightforward language in the proper Chinese third person. As a result I read it in two day’s time. It covers the first 24 years of a Chinese-American girl, Jade Snow Wong. From the very beginning, growing up in San Francisco, California, Wong struggled with cultural differences between modern America and the Old World Chinese of her parents. Everything from food, physical contact, gender discrimination, mourning the dead & burials, order of names, to education was contradictory and Wong had to wade through it all during her most formative years. While she didn’t mean to disrespect her parents she struggled with independence in a new world, especially when she sought an education normally expected of males in her culture.

I am borrowing this book from a school so it shouldn’t surprise me that someone has drawn in it, and yet it bugs me just the same.

Favorite moments in the book: first, I love the cat in the illustration on page 22. Second, I found the description of the treatment of rice (p 58 – 59) to be very interesting.

Book Trivia: Fifth Chinese Daughter is actually the first volume in a two-volume autobiography. The second volume is No Chinese Stranger but, sadly, Pearl only recommends Fifth Chinese Daughter.

Author Fact: Wong was an accomplished potter and some of her pieces made into museum shows.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called ” Asian American Experiences” (p 26).

Catfish and Mandala

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Pham, Andrew X. Catfish and Mandala: a Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam. New York: Farrar. Straus and Giroux, 1999.

It has been several years since I read a bicycle memoir (the last being Where the Pavement Ends by Erika Warmbrunn). I was very excited to start Catfish and Mandala. So much so that I started it two days before May began. Even though May is Bicycle Month I read this for Memorial Day. I’m glad I went that route because it’s not really about the bike.

Catfish and Mandala is more than an adventure story about biking across Vietnam. It’s a cultural exploration and by turn, an explanation. Comparing American versus Vietnamese differing viewpoints on mundane topics like when a child should move out of his parent’s home after reaching adulthood. And yet. Noticing similarities: we all want our fathers to be proud of us, in any culture.
The story of Pham’s father’s imprisonment in the Labor Camp is brief, but heartbreaking just the same. After reading pages 16-20 I will never look at catfish the same.
Pham’s ability to weave past with present is brilliant. He recaptures his family’s flight from Vietnam to the U.S. when he was a small child seamlessly while recounting his own journey from the U.S. back to Vietnam as an adult. His confusion over what he remembers is intertwined with his inability to articulate what he is really looking for. Pham finds himself asking “what am I doing here?” time and time again. As he faces prejudice and violence and corruption I asked the same question.

Favorite lines: “Somehow they got by on love and rice” (p 17),” Everything could shift, and nothing could change” (p 107), “I have an urge to kick myself in the head” (p 158), and “A stray mutt curls up at my feet and shares his fleas with my ankles” (p 200).

Author Fact: I have to start of by flirting. Pham is a good looking guy! My next fact is actually a question – how can you be a “starving” restaurant critic?
Book Trivia: Catfish and Mandala is Pham’s first book.

Things that need further explanation: what, exactly, are “angry egg-eyes”, and what do they look like? Pham mentions five different types of bananas. Now I want to know their names and characteristics.

Pham mentions Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage. I’m so excited it’s actually on my list. Sad to say I won’t be reading it until probably May 2016 though!

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Bicycling” (p 36). Simple enough.

ps~ I enjoyed Catfish and Mandala so much that I added Pham as a favorite author on LibraryThing.

Antigone

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Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by Elizabeth Wycoff. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954.

The Cliff/Spark version of Antigone is this: Two sisters want to bury their dead brother. One wants to bury him admirably and the other doesn’t want to break the law. The brother in question cannot be buried because he was executed for a crime and must be left to rot in the courtyard as an example for the community. Defiant sister must go against the king alone as everyone who is anybody refuses to help her. True to Greek tragedy nearly everyone, including the king’s wife ends up committing suicide. The end.

Of course there is much, much more to the story and, depending on which version you read, you get it. In my version of Antigone translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff the language is watered down and somewhat pedestrian. It’s not as lyrical as other translations. A small example: from a 1906 Oxford Clarendon Press version (translated by Robert Whitelaw): “Ismene: There’s trouble in thy looks, thy tidings tell” compared with the 1954 University of Chicago Press version (translated by Elizabeth Wycoff): “Ismene: What is it? Clearly some news has clouded you” (p 159). Ismene is basically saying the same thing in each line, but the Whitelaw version has more animation, more movement. In the end Antigone is a simple story about the man against The Man, no matter how you read it.

Note: I’m note sure how many other versions have this, but I appreciated the biography of Socrates in my version.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “The Alpha, Beta Gammas of Greece” (p 9).

A Child’s Life

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Gloeckner. Phoebe. A Child’s Life and Other Stories. Berkeley: Frog, ltd., 2000.

Nothing could have prepared me for Gloeckner’s A Child’s Life. I don’t know what I was expecting – maybe something along the lines of Robert Louis Stevenson or Kate Greenaway. Something really benign and cute, perhaps. I was prepared to be bored. but sweetly so.

Not so. To put it bluntly, A Child’s Life is a visual assault that needs to happen. When there are news reports of sexual abuse, rape, incest, drugs either on television or the radio we viewers are shielded from what that really means. We allow our imaginations to blunt the sharp edges of reality. We cringe, but we don’t go there with the truth. Gloeckner doesn’t allow for this numbing of truth. With Gloeckner you don’t have permission to soften this horrific reality. As a graphic novel the pictures tell the stories of an abused childhood better than any words in a novel. In a word, it was painful. When I finished I had words of my own; words like harsh, gritty, shocking, tragic yet truthful rang in my ears.

Author Fact: If you pick up the 1583940286 version of A Child’s Life you will find hints that this is semi-autobiographical. Gloeckner denies it.

Book Trivia: In addition to being called semi-autobiographical, A Child’s Life was also once called “a how-to for pedophiles.”

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter “Graphic Novels” (p 103).

Out of Control

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Brockmann, Suzanne. Out of Control. New York: Ivy Books, 2002.

Here is the quick and dirty plot: Couple #1: Savannah von Hopf needs Navy SEAL Ken “WildCard” Karmody to help her save her kidnapped uncle somewhere in Indonesia. Couple #2: In Jakarta, missionary Molly Anderson is inexplicably drawn to silent, brooding “David Jones” who reminds me a little too much of the famed Indiana Jones. Couple #3: Back at FBI headquarters Alyssa Locke is trying to walk away from ex-lover Sam Starrett while avoiding walking into the arms of her boss, Max Bhagat. All three relationships will come together when Savannah’s rescue attempt goes horribly wrong.

The best part of Out of Control was the clever placement of Double Agent, a book written by Savannah’s grandmother, Rose. It’s on the best seller list so even missionary Molly is reading it.

The worst part about Out of Control was the corny sexiness of it all. If the three couples weren’t having sex they were imagining it at the most unrealistic moments. A helicopter just blew up and there are no survivors. That sucks, but boy would I like to lick that hard chiseled body of yours…
My favorite eye rolling line: “And as for getting a strenuous workout, his heart was not the primary organ he wanted to exercise” (p 23).

Also, when I started reading Out of Control I had this weird sense of deja vu. Something sounded really familiar about not only the characters but the plot as well. As if I had read it before. So, I did a little digging and back in 2008 I reviewed an earlier book by Brockmann called The Defiant Hero. Here are the similarities between the two books:

  1. Both plots involve a kidnapping of some sort.
  2. Both plots involve Navy SEALS and by default, both plots involve the FBI
  3. Both plots include a grandmother
  4. Both plots have a terrorist element to them
  5. In both books all lead characters are impossibly good looking
  6. Both books involve three sets of couples in sexual turmoil
  7. The same characters are in each book

There is a philosophy about writing – write what you know. I’d like to think authors take that with a grain of salt. If my third Brockmann book has Navy SEALS, sexy bodies, kidnapping, terrorism and a random grandmother thrown in for good measure I’ve figured out her formula.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Romance Novels: Our Love is Here to Stay” (p 260).