Tag: memoir

Roughing It

gr4c5Leave a comment

Twain, Mark. Roughing It: a personal narrative. Harper and Row, 1913.

Reason read: to celebrate Twain’s birth month.

Originally published in 1872, Roughing It is most commonly presented as a two-volume travel adventure. Twain, ever the storyteller of exaggerated fact and humorous fiction, takes us on a epic journey across the country; an exercise that he called “variegated vagabondizing.” This would seem to be a nonfiction, but you really cannot trust Twain with his stories of Slade, the Rocky Mountain desperado and the outrageous shootouts Twain supposedly witnessed. My personal eye roll story was when Twain and a companion rowed 12-15 miles to an island…in the middle of a storm. I am from an island ten miles out to sea and I can tell you it takes 70-75 minutes to go that far with an engine-powered boat in flat calm weather. My favorite moment was a Winnie-the-Pooh situation when Twain and his companions were thinking they are being stalked by a growing group of men when really it was their own footprints multiplying as they wandered around in circles. Did Milne get the idea from Twain?
But. I digress. Back to Twain’s western adventure. Beyond California, Twain journeyed to Utah, Nevada and Hawaii. [As an aside, when Twain described the scorpions and the centipedes (with forty-two legs on each side), I found myself lifting my feet high off the floor.]

Quotes to quote, “Three months of camp life on Lake Tahoe would restore an Egyptian mummy to his pristine vigor, and give him an appetite like an alligator” (p 158). Does the tourism board of Lake Tahoe know that Twain said this? What a great endorsement! Here is another line that made me laugh. This one on the subject of polygamy: “Take my word for it, ten or eleven wives is all you need – never go over it” (p 109).

Author fact: We know Twain was born Samuel Clemens and that he worked as a steamboat captain. he also married Olivia Langdon and became filthy rich.

Book trivia: Twain spends an entire chapter discussing the Mormon bible.

Playlist: “Shining Shire”, “Coronation”, “Praise God From Whom All Blessings”,

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Western Memoirs” (p 241).

Summit Visions

gr4c5Leave a comment

Fraser, Graeme. Summit Visions. Self published, 2024.

Reason read: every now and then, I receive a book to read for the Early Review Program from LibraryThing. I never know what I’m going to get…

If you were to think of Summit Visions as a journey, the number of pages would equal the number of miles to travel on said journey. Imagine setting out on this trek of more than five hundred miles and every two miles there is a diversion, a speed bump of superfluous information or comments about something you will read more about later. I wish Fraser kept his examples grounded in the Nashua Millennium Big 5 Challenge instead of delving into diamond mining ventures or the the struggles of being a corporate lawyer. I know I would have enjoyed Summit Visions more if it did not morph into a preachy self-help book. Fraser toggled between his personal career goals as an entrepreneur and lawyer and the athletic goals of an elite athlete. The narrative became unfocused with side stories about the eating habits of the Arsenal team, yacht racing, climbing Thaba Ntlenyana, tax lawyer quotations, information surveillance, what climate change means for the Maldives Islands, a mini memoir about Fraser’s experiences crossing the finish line at every event, lots of disparaging comments about his physique, a plug for reading the Bible, and a myriad of analogies. I lost track of the number of parenthetical statements (there were a lot!). All of the stories are inspiring but a bit longwinded. So much so that I had to chuckle when Fraser cautioned against information overload. His humor was and fascinating stories when on-topic were not enough to keep me engaged. I gave up after 300 pages.

Salvation on Sand Mountain

gr4c5Leave a comment

Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. Da Capo Press, 1995.

Reason read: October is National Reptile Month and in honor of snakes, I am reading Salvation on Sand Mountain. I also needed a book set in the mountains for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge of 2024.

It all started with a trial. A man in southern Appalachia Alabama was accused of trying to kill his wife with a snake. It’s an interesting way to attempt murder. Glenn Summerford put a gun to his wife’s head and forced her to reach into a box containing a bunch of venomous snakes. She was bitten four times and survived to testify against her husband. After Dennis Covington covered the trial, published his piece, and tried to put the story out of his mind, a book editor came knocking. It didn’t take much for him to convince Covington “this needs to be a full-length book” and Salvation on Sand Mountain was born. Covington immerses himself (and at times, his family) in the mysterious world of praying with dangerous snakes. What makes this journalism different is that Covington has ancestral history with preaching with snakes. As time with the congregation goes on and the more he observes their method of practicing their faith, Covington comes to care for the individual people, even Glenn Summerford. [Confessional: I sense Covington developing a crush on a member of the congregation as well.] Salvation on Sand Mountain culminates with Covington immersing himself completely by taking up a snake and preaching to the congregation he initially only wanted to write about. To think that it all began with a trial and a conviction.

Author fact: Covington has written quite a few books. Salvation on Sand Mountain is the only book I am reading for the challenge.

Book trivia: Salvation on Sand Mountain includes a small series of black and white photographs. Some contain the infamous snakes. All include the people who worship them. Salvation on Sand Mountain was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Playlist: Alabama, “In My Robe of White, I Shall Fly Away”, Liberace, Loretta Lynn, “I Saw the Light”, “How Great Thou Art”, “Only One Rose Will Do”, “I’m Getting Ready to Leave This World”, “Wading Through Deep Water”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, “Prayer Bells From Heaven”, and “Jesus on My Mind”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Approaching Appalachia” (p 22). Pearl liked Salvation on Sand Mountain so much that she also included it in More Book Lust in the flattering chapter called “Just Too Good To Miss” (p 132).

Soul of an Octopus

gr4c5Leave a comment

Montgomery, Sy. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. Atria, 2015.

Reason read: leisure. A coworker gave this to me and how could I resist?

I have mixed feelings about The Soul of an Octopus. If it had been titled The Soul of an Octopus: a Memoir about Bonding with This Mysterious Creature, I would understand the narrative much better. The subtitle made me think I would be getting something a bit more didactic and less charming and scientific-adjacent. Montgomery commuted from her home in New Hampshire to the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, once a week to interact with various octopuses. [As an aside, if you have never been there – GO.] Montgomery developed relationships with NEA staff, trainers, and fellow volunteers while growing attached to the animals, specifically the octopuses. If you didn’t pick up Soul of an Octopus because the subtitle was a little off-putting, rest assured that the writing is not bogged down with technical jargon. It is an easy read. You will learn conversation-starting facts you can use at your next party; like, did you know an octopus lays eggs like a chicken, fertilized or not. You know an octopus has eight arms, but did you know an octopus has three hearts and will taste you with hundreds of suckers on each of those eight arms? If you have seen “My Octopus Teacher” you already know they are smart, clever, and seemingly emotional creatures.

Confessional: there was something to Montgomery’s writing that made me think she wanted her readers to be jealous of her. I have no idea why I feel that way. Maybe it is because she was continuously putting herself in a special relationship with various octopuses that may or may not have existed outside of her mind.

As an aside, a restaurant that Montgomery mentions, Jose McIntyre’s, is permanently closed. Since it was on Milk Street, I have to wonder if I have ever eaten there. It’s on the way to the aquarium.

Book trivia: The Soul of an Octopus was a National Book Award Finalist.

Music: John Denver, Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World”, Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”, and Roberta Flack’s “Baby, I Love You”.

Especially Dogs

gr4c5Leave a comment

Taber, Gladys. Especially Dogs…Especially at Stillmeadow. J.B. Lippincott, 1968.

Reason read: I call books that make you happy “ice cream” books. In the month of July, ice cream is one of the most sought after cool treats. Additionally, I needed a book for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge for the category of a book that makes you happy. Even though I am a cat person, this made me smile.

Dogs, dogs, dogs. All things dogs. In the beginning of Especially Dogs, Taber writes a memoir of the dogs in her life, beginning with her first dog, Timmie, the Irish Setter. [As an aside, I cannot imagine putting a dog on a train! Her parents thought it would be a good idea for Timmie to visit Gladys when she got married, so Timmie made the trip from Wisconsin to Virginia in a crate.] To name a couple more special dogs in Taber’s life, the reader will meet Honey, the Cocker Spaniel, and Holly, the Irish Setter. You might think she is obsessed when you read that, at one point, Taber had thirty-five Cocker Spaniels, three Irish Setters, and three cats, all at the same time. This was the creation of Stillmeadow Kennel with her friend and former roommate, Jill.
Moving further into Especially Dogs, the reader will get a primer on how to housebreak a dog, how to feed a dog (I had no idea oatmeal could deteriorate a dog’s coat), how to introduce new or strange dogs to one another, how to make a dog heel when walking down a busy or distracting street, and even how to put your special pooch in competitions… the list goes on.
There is no doubt Taber loved her dogs. The love and humor in her writing makes that abundantly clear. This was a joy to read.

Quotes to quote, “Her approach to anything was always that there must be a book about it and she read them all” (p 89) and “We never bought a horse because I couldn’t figure out how to get it into the house” (p 177).

Author fact: Taber has written a plethora of books on various topics. I am only reading three for the Challenge. I already finished Stillmeadow Road and will have — after Especially Dogs. Taber is a self-professed addict of professional football.

Book trivia: really cute blank and white photographs of puppies and adult dogs are sprinkled throughout Especially Dogs…Especially at Stillmeadow.

Music: Tijuana Brass.

Nancy said: Pearl shared an interesting tidbit about Taber’s origin story.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Cozies” (p 57). See what I mean?

Night Garden: of My Mother

gr4c51 Comment

Tyler, Sandra. The Night Garden: of My Mother. Pierian Springs Press, 2024.

Reason read: I am a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing. This is a book I specifically requested because of my current situation.

Sandra Tyler’s The Night Garden is thought-provoking and heart-wrenching. For any daughter sandwiched between being a mother and being motherly to her own mother, this is a must read. Read it before you are in that moment as a guide for the times to come. And come they will. Read it during the struggles and you will nod in agreement every time you turn the page. Read it afterward your mother is gone and you will look back at the bittersweet memories and maybe smile, just a little. There is truth on every page. There is humor to Tyler’s story, too.
I do not have children and I will never know the balance of caring for two different generations, but I do know the slow building sadness that bubbles within while watching your mother age. The little things you took for granted will become monumental heartbreaks. When a loved one disowns you, it is hard to not take it personally because you are also busy refusing to believe they no longer know what they are saying. It takes strength to realize you cannot have it both ways – sharp intellect in contrast to a mind lost to dementia. When Tyler’s mother had to relinquish her drivers license my heart cracked in half (although my own mother has never owned a license to operate an automobile). Another piece of identity drowned.
Be forewarned – Night Garden might start you thinking about your own mortality. Tyler evokes the poem “Spring and Fall to a Young Child” by Gerard Manley Hopkins without even trying. I found myself asking “When do you do if you know it is your last (danced, movie, fill in the blank)?” Would you rather know the exact date and time of your demise or not? What about the angel date of a loved one? Would you be okay knowing, “This is my last dinner with you. Ever.”?

Tyler is just a little younger than me when she describes her relationship with her mother. Her mother married when she was in her 40s while my mother had me at 19. Even still, all throughout the story I was having these little “that could be me” moments. Our mothers complained about phones. They were both artists. They were both widowed early in their lives. I felt the helplessness when Tyler described waiting for her mother to get to the point. There is that sinking feeling when you inevitably realize, twenty minute later, that there wasn’t one. If there had ever been a point it had been lost under tons of verbal garbage. When taken-for-granted routines become unwieldy and cumbersome. Things that used to take five minutes become forever minutes. I think the first time I recognized something was wrong with my mother was when we were getting ready for a show. She knew the time to be ready and yet, when the driver arrived, she was still in just her pantyhose and blouse. No skirt. No shoes. Her hair a mess. Mom? What have you been doing for the last 45 minutes?

Music: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, James Taylor, “From a Distance”, Judy Collins, and “Silent Night”.

Addie

gr4c5Leave a comment

Settle, Mary Lee. Addie: a Memoir. University of South Carolina Press, 1998.

Reason read: Mary Lee Settle was born in July. Read in her honor.

There is something to be said for honoring one’s past. The oral histories of yesteryear are the cornerstones to who we are as people today. When Mary Lee Settle decided to write about her grandmother, Addie Settle, she chose to recognize not only a blood relative, but historical events: World War I, the Great Depression and mining strikes with Mother Jones leading the way. Settle honors her own personal tapestry of life by remembering family holidays from her childhood, coming of age, and the natural beauty of Kentucky and the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. My favorite section was the poignant moment when Settle went back to Pineville, Kentucky. Sixty-five years after leaving the area as a six year old little girl, sharp memories rushed to meet her at every turn.
As an aside: when Mary Lee Settle was nine or ten years old she wrote a poem. When that poem was published someone had changed a word in the finished copy. In childish indignation she vowed never to write again. I just love that self righteous ardor for the integrity of her craft at ten years old!

An another aside: was it a typo to call it Wail Street instead of Wall Street?

Line I liked, “When your childhood has been spent on the river, the river will, wherever you are, flow through your dreams forever” (p 177). This quote reminded me of Natalie Merchant’s song, “Where I Go” – a song about finding solace on the banks of a river.
And this: “We had learned to watch for signs of that happiness as you watch the weather” (p 125). Confessional: my sister and I ask each other about the weather when we are really asking about our mother’s mood. Like weather in New England, it can change in a heartbeat.
Here is another one: “Since my mother never forgave anybody, she refused to go to the funeral when her friend died at ninety” (p 185). Does this kind of obstinate stubbornness come with old age? I see this in my own mother.

Author fact: Settle is in the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

Book trivia: I am reading ten different books by Mary Lee Settle. This is my first one off the Challenge list.

Music: “Little Corey”, Guy Lombardo, “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi”, “We shall Overcome”, “It was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down”, “In the shade of the Apple Tree”, “Down on the Farm”, Mozart, Nellie Lutcher, Flagstad & Melcior’s “Liebestod”, Hal Kemp, “If I Had the Wings of an Angel”, Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, and “the Valley of Kentucky”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 62) to be read with Charms for the Easy Life because they are both about the south.

I Sleep Around

gr4c5Leave a comment

Jaffarian, Sue Ann. I Sleep Around: the Humorous Memoir of a Nomadic Writer. Harbor Lane Books, 2024.

Reason read: An Early Review selection from LibraryThing…another travelogue book. I am sensing a pattern with my preferences. Ha!

How to describe I Sleep Around? Part primer on how to retire to a life on the road with tips and tricks to make the transition to fulltime traveler, part humorous travelogue and touching memoir. Sue Ann Jaffarian will help you keep your body, sanity, and snail mail healthy while on the road for long periods of time. She can help you chose an RV of the right size, the right amount of storage, and any other options you desire. She found “Novella”, her Winnebago Travato 59K, to be just perfect for her new life as a nomadic writer. When I Sleep Around takes a break from RV instruction in the first quarter of the book, Jaffarian talks about the business of writing as a professional before circling back to RV repairs. The second half detailed the places she visited along her five-year journey.
As an aside, I found it interesting that she chose to switch to RV life before officially retiring from her job as a paralegal. Juggling both the planning for a life on the road and finishing up a career must have been exhausting and emotional.
The section on RVing during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was interesting for those of us who were housebound for that period.
Jaffarian makes the claim that travel changes you. I would have loved for her to expound on that. Tell me more about that metamorphosis. I am so curious! Another wish – I wish Jaffarian would have included a compiled list of all of the attractions she was able to take in along her journey. It would have been cool to have a directory of interesting places to visit. High on my list is the Tabasco factory. I put that sauce on everything! Pictures would have been cool, too.

Question: has Jaffarian read Gogarty? Paul’s Coast Road is a similar excursion.

Confessional: Jaffairian’s first test camp was Yosemite. I have decided to make visiting all the U. S. national parks a life goal. My first official park since choosing this challenge is Yosemite. Other things we have in common: she and I share the “alone” trait. She likes sightseeing and sleeping alone in parking lots. I prefer to run alone, watch tv, and cook alone. As she says, “loneliness is not about being alone” (a line I hope she keeps in I Sleep Around). I fully agree.

Author fact: I love Jaffarian’s independence, confidence and humor. If she wrote I Sleep Around to get people interested in her fiction, job well done. I plan to look her up on the socials and possibly read an earlier book or two. She wrote the Odelia Grey, Granny Apples, and Zelda Bowen series; as well as the Madison Rose Vampire mysteries.

Chef on Ice

gr4c5Leave a comment

Kuhn, Sebastien J.M. Chef on Ice: Living and Working as a Chef in Antarctica.

Reason read: This is a LibraryThing Early Review win for the month of May.

Chef on Ice is sort of a misnomer. Kuhn does not just tell the story of cooking in Antarctica, he also describes starting up a pretzel business in the off months in Brisbane and Melbourne. He mentions other cooking gigs as well. A better title for the book would have been Adventure Chef: Daring to Cook Anywhere. Seriously. Sebastien sounds like one of those people who would be perfect for an assignment with CoolJobsdotcom. While not a professional writer, Kuhn writes with an abundance of emotion, briefly remembering the sights, sounds, experiences of his various cooking expeditions. He has fantastic subject matter but not the articulation to translate it to the written word. I would have liked more stories about the actual cooking – more about the meals served, sourcing the ingredients in such a remote area, food prep. That sort of thing.
Confessional: I had one head-scratching moment in terms of chronology. Admittedly, for most of the book I didn’t try to keep up, but when it came to Covid-19 Kuhn stated they endured a year and a half of lockdowns. Later he states he was back in business by November 2020. That would mean the Australian lockdown started September of 2018. I don’t know. Maybe I read that part wrong?
Most impressive moment: I was impressed with Sebastien’s level of respect when recounting the death of a crew member; never revealing the nature of the accident or the deceased’s identity. Other authors would sensationalize such a tragedy.

Confessional: I had to look up Kelly Slater and Zach Galifianakis.

Author fact: The entire time I was reading Chef on Ice I was wondering what kind of family Kuhn was leaving behind every time he ventured to Antarctica. He made mention of a mysterious partner and some dogs. It would have been better to leave them out of the story completely.

Book trivia: Chef on Ice includes a generous amount of color photographs. Some didn’t need an explanation, but some description would have been cool for others. It was hard to read on a phone. The formatting was strange. I could only read for less than thirty minutes at a time.

Playlist: none. There were plenty of opportunities for Kuhn to mention music but he never did. Blah.

Coast Road

gr4c5Leave a comment

Gogarty, Paul. The Coast Road: a 3,000 mile journey around the edge of England. Robson Books, 2007.

Reason read: April is the month in which Earth Day is celebrated. Gogarty took the time to travel around his corner of the earth.

Gogarty faithfully records the sights, sounds, and smells of villages and people he meets along his journey around the coast of England. All 2,800 miles of it in a newly acquired emotive motorhome he named Sid Sundance. He is no stranger to traveling around England. Gogarty previously spent four month on a pilgrimage around 900 miles of England’s inland waterways. This time he is traveling from town to town following the sea. At every stop he meets interesting people. From refugees seeking asylum to fishermen and artists; a man who poses as Dracula for tourists.
There is a sadness to Gogarty’s observations and conversations with locals in these poor seaside towns. Like Coney Island in New York, the grandness of the metropole in the late 1800s has all been changed since the devastation of war. The nostalgic heyday of Joseph Conrad and Henry James has given way to gaudy health clubs and modern art galleries with bad art. Gogarty describes the depressed area like a deflated balloon long forgotten after a birthday party. The children have all gone home and the decorations droop neglected. But Coast Road is not just a travelogue. You will get history lessons, studies in architecture, a running commentary on ecology and natural history, humor.
Can I just say I loved Gogarty’s writing? Every sentence was a explosion of imagery filled with aching beauty. My heart broke for the fisherman who could not quit the sea even though he had long since resigned himself to a life on terra firma. I smiled at the delightful memory of the Gogarty family bombing down the road – mom and dad on a motorcycle while the kids (all three of them) snuggled in the sidecar. Fast forward to adulthood: the advance of technology and the ability to send copy from the comfort of the front seat of Gogarty’s car elicited a grin from me. I would like to visit the pub that can only serve three guests at one time.

As an aside, I liked Gogarty’s “see no” monkeys. He has four: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and “hopefully do no evil”.
Second aside, I never thought about England being “stuck” between America and the Continent.
Third aside, how exactly does a Dutch auction work? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Quote I immediately identified with: “As an island race, we are all suckled by the sea, and whatever the particulars of the image seared on our memory, inside each of us there is an seaside all our own” (p xii). Amen.
Here is one I liked for its subtle humor, “the current PC climate has meant less of Punch knowing seven bells out of Judy” (p 68). Another amen. Another example of Gogarty being funny, “It has existed since 1050 and doesn’t look as if its had a lick of paint since” (p 270).

Author fact: Coast Road is actually Gogarty’s second travelogue. I am not reading the first, The Water Road.

Book trivia: Coast Road includes a collection of delightful color photographs.

Gogarty likes his music! Playlist: Abba, “Aint No Stopping Us Now”, “Aint She Sweet”, Albert King, “All You Need is Love”, “And Then He Kissed Me”, Andy Sheppard Trio, Anthony Keidis, Bay City Rollers, Beatles’ “Love Me Do” and She Loves You” , Ben Waters’ Boogie Band, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock”, Bob Dylan’s “New Morning”, Billy J Kramer’s “Bad To Me”, “Born to be Wild”, “Bunty’s Such a Big Girl Now”, “California Dreaming”, “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter, Charlie Drake, “Da-Doo-Ron-Ron”, “Delilah”, The Denisons, Des O’Connor, Dr John’s “Iko Iko”, Elvis Presley, Eminem’s “Cleaning Out My Closet”, “England Swings”, “Evergreen”, “A Fine Romance”, Four Tops, Gillian Welch, “God Bless the Child” by Billie Holiday, George Harrison, “God Save the King”, “Good Golly Miss Molly”, Hank Marvin, Hank Williams, “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, Howlin’ Wolf, “Imagine”, “It’s Raining Men”, JJ Cale’s Troubadour album, James Brown, Jalikunda Cissokho, Jamiroquai, “Jesu, Lover of My Soul”, John Lennon, John Martyn’s “London Conversation”, John Williams, “Joy and Pain” by Maze, Julian Bream, Keith Moon, “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Little Ukulele in My Hand”, Lulu, Luvvers’ “Shout”, Mary J Blige’s “No More Pain”, Miles Davis, Morrissey, the Mojos, “Mr Wu’s a Window Cleaner Now”, Nat King Cole, Nickleback, “Night and Day”, Nolan Sisters, O Jay’s “I Love Music”, The Pogues, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ringo, Robert Johnson, Roger Daltry, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Rose Royce, Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman”, Ry Cooder, Screaming Lord Such, Sex Pistols, Skatalites, Solo’s “Blowing My Mind”, The Stranglers, Stevie Marriott, Stevie Wonder, “A Summer Place”, Temptations, Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”, Tonic, the Troggs’ “The Very Thought of You” and “I Can’t Control Myself”, Tower of Power’s “It Really Doesn’t Matter”, The Undertakers, “We are Family”, “Wild Thing”, Watership Brass, Waterson: Carthy, The White Stripes, Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, Vera Lynn, and “Uptown Girl”.

Nancy said: Pearl called Coast Road excellent.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Entering England” (p 76).

Out of Africa

gr4c5Leave a comment

Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa. Modern Library, 1992.

Reason read: Karen (Isak) Blixen Dinesen was born on April 17th, 1885. Read in her honor. I also needed a book for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge in the category of a book with a bird on the cover.

Karen (Isak) Christenze Dinesen von Blixen-Finecke was a woman well ahead of her time. There is no denying her courage, independence, intelligence and strength. To be a Danish woman living alone on a four thousand acre coffee plantation in the early 1900s takes fortitude. Her famous memoir, Out of Africa, covers her adventurous life in Kenya from 1914 to 1931. Whether it is keeping a pet antelope named Lulu, being caught in the middle of a shooting tragedy, or being at the bedside of a dying Kikuyus chief, Dinesen seems to have a deep understanding of, and respect for, her surroundings. She understood the cultures of the tribes with whom she lived. Agreeing with Kikuyus custom of not burying their dead and letting the African wilderness take care of their remains is one such example. She was respected within the tribal communities.
Personally, the elephant in the Out of Africa room was who was the real squatter on this plantation. Dinesen acknowledged that the squatters (who she employed) were born there, and their fathers’ fathers before them. Instead of saying the land is their birthright she states, “they likely regarded me as sort of a superior squatter on their estate” (p 10). Note the use if the word likely. Dinesen, being from Denmark, technically had no right to claim the land as inheritably hers. By the end of Out of Africa she came to a different conclusion by saying, “It is more than their land that you take from the people, whose Native land you take” (p 385). This, as she was returning to Denmark and leaving her squatters to displacement.

Author fact: Dinesen married her second cousin but divorced him in 1921. She then took a lover until his untimely death in 1929. I appreciated the fact that Karen kept this personal part of her life out of the pages of Out of Africa. As a memoir about Kenya, her romances, failed or otherwise, had nothing to with it.

Book trivia: Out of Africa has been called a masterpiece. I would have to agree, but I would have liked to see at least one photograph besides the author photograph on the back flap of the book. Confessional: I wanted to see Denys’ face so I Googled him.

Natalie Merchant degree of separation: there is a section of Out of Africa where Dinesen discusses the killing of elephants for their ivory tusks. the entire time I was reading the passage I kept hearing the 10,000 Maniacs song, “Hateful Hate” and the line “Curiosity spilled the blood of these for their spotted skins and ivory.” If you know the song, you can hear the chains being dragged continuously through the whole song.

Quotes to quote, “It is a moving thing to work together with a demon” (p 40), “There is something strangely determinate and fatal about a single shot in the night” (p 93),

Playlist: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in G Major.

Nancy said: since Pearl mentions Out of Africa three times, it is safe bet to say she liked it. There is a part of me, however, that wonders if she brings it up because it is a classic and, well, easy to include.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Dreaming of Africa” (p 76) and again in Book Lust To Go in the chapters called “Africa: the Greenest Continent” (p 7) and “Kenya” (p 122).

Unexpected Light

gr4c5Leave a comment

Elliot, Jason. An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan. Picador Press,

Reason read: Victory Day in Afghanistan was on April 28th.

Elliot writes about Afghanistan with a passion that takes you along with him. You can practically smell and see the shops where one can buy shampoo, faux leather watch straps, sticky honey, blank staring heads of goats, army green grenades, prayer carpets, cooking pots, rotting vegetables, astringent medicine, wooly socks, or steel rockets…anything to suit your needs. His mission? To prove to the world that is was possible to travel alone in the places others shunned. (As an aside, what does he think of our world now? It is still possible?)
Besides passion, Elliot also writes with lyrical elegance. His statement about time being a river was stunning. It left me pondering my fishing abilities for days. Words like spectral, silent, ghostly, and luminous describe a simple ride through town, but those words also make the journey extra eerie and dangerous. He takes this imagery a step further by adding a touch of royalty by saying they are “kings in the night on our wild chariot” (p 47). It is a romantic image in a dangerous town for Elliot and his companion are out after curfew and could be shot on sight.
Speaking of danger, the section on the diabolical designs of landmines was difficult to read. I cringed as I read about explosives that were made out of plastic so that they would avoid detection by x-ray in a victim’s body. Or mines that “jumped in the air to about the height of a man’s groin before exploding” to cause a man the most damage and bleed to death…I could go on. My favorite section was when Elliot needed to distract himself from paralyzing fear. He fantasized about riding on the back of a giant fantastical simurgh and seeing with landscape from high above.
Elliot met with people with eyes open; people who supported the Taliban and even defended their actions, pointing out how order has been restored. Perception is truth to most people.
Personal observations: Can you imagine receiving a fax from someone chatting about curtain colors after you have been in the center of incoming tank rounds? It sounds inane.
When Elliot described people ripping off parts of Russian tanks and selling them for scrap I instantly thought of the opening scene to one of the Star Wars movies.
As an aside, I would understand why Elliot would want a guide traveling through unknown territories, but why does he need someone to sherpa (my verb) all his crap, too?

I mentioned before how elegant and lyrical Elliot’s writing is. Here are other examples: a brilliant description of a mood change, “…fell across my feelings” (p 208) or the removal of an ammunition belt, “slithering to the floor like an anaconda” (p 233). When Elliot described a ride in an overburdened vehicle struggling up a steep and windy mountainside I felt his fear as if I were right beside him. Here is another quote of brilliance, “Fear has its own seductive language” (p 265).

One degree of separation from Natalie Merchant moment: When describing the mysterious world of Sufi mysticism Elliot compared it to the ancient tale of the blend men and the elephant. The same story Natalie set to music on her double album, Leave Your Sleep.

Author fact: Elliot has a very simple but cool website. There isn’t a lot of information about him, but it’s still cool. If I could meet Elliot I would ask him if Beat ever read his book and if so, did he recognize himself as the one with the idiotic smile?

Book trivia: An Unexpected Light was the winner of the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award.

Music: Mir Fakhruddin, Pavarotti’s Nessun dorma, and Puccini.

Nancy said: Pearl called An Unexpected Light perceptive and exciting.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “The Islamic World” (p 126).

Poker Face

gr4c5Leave a comment

Lederer, Katy. Poker Face: a Girlhood Among Gamblers. Crown Publishers, 2003.

Reason read: Chris Ferguson is a famous American professional poker player who celebrates his birthday in April.

To be honest, I am not sure what to think about Poker Face: a Girlhood Among Gamblers. I found Lederer’s short memoir to be incredibly sad. While she has reached critical acclaim with her poetry, I am left wanting something else by the end of Poker Face. I can’t put my finger on why or what is missing. I found everyone in the Lederer family to be depressing and I have to wonder what they thought of Lederer’s tell-all book. Dad was a teacher at a New Hampshire boarding school before authoring books on word games, while the rest of the family takes up gambling in one form or another (mom goes to work for her son). While on the surface, Poker Face is the personal memories of one woman’s coming of age, the story takes the reader deep inside the mysterious world of gambling in New York and Vegas; specifically the card game that made her siblings famous, poker. In truth, it is more a primer on the ins and outs of learning the game. I learned more about professional gambling then I ever thought possible. I had no idea someone wrote a book on “tells” – the mannerisms and facial expressions that inadvertently give away a player’s hand or next move.

As an aside, when Lederer’s mother goes on the gameshow, “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” I couldn’t help but think of the Oxygen taping of Natalie Merchant’s concert. The end result, what viewers at home saw, was nothing like what happened live in the studio. The magic of editing!

Confessional: if I saw my mother sitting in the dark drinking and crying, and playing solitaire I would be freaked out.

Author fact: at the time of Poker Face‘s publication, Lederer was not even calling herself a writer. She worked for a proprietary trading firm.

Setlist: the soundtrack to Alanis Morrissette, Bob Marley, Chopin, Copland, “Convoy”, Duran Duran, Elvis, Phish, Sinatra, and Tracy Chapman.

Nancy said: Pearl called Poker Face fascinating.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Me, Me, Me: Autobiographies and Memoirs” (p 162).

Walk of Ages

gr4c5Leave a comment

Andersen, Withanee with Jim Andersen. Walk of Ages: a Generational Journey from Mt. Whitney to Death Valley. University of Nevada Press, 2024.

Jim Andersen made the journey from Mt. Whitney to Death Valley with three friends in 1974, back when he was thirty years old. They called themselves the Sandwalkers. Now, forty-three years later (in 2017) daughter Withanee wants to honor her father by retracing his footsteps across Death Valley as she turns thirty. She enlists the help of a coworker, her brother, and her boyfriend to accompany her on this epic journey.
With Walk of Ages only being 177 pages, and with a generous amount of photographs, the whole story can be read in one sitting. I definitely thought Withanee could have made it longer. There was so much potential for more. The landscapes are barely described in any detail. I wanted to know about their experiences besides a bum knee, blisters and beer. The different perspective of the same walk with memories from dad was interesting, but it would have been fun to have more narratives from others like Val or Shawn. What went through your mind when you kept making wrong turns and getting lost? What was it like to know you were going to propose to Withanee on this trip?
Confessional: I also want to know how many cases of beer the Sandwalkers Second Edition consumed on their journey. There seemed to be a never-ending supply on ice and I lost count of how many times they said they were motivated and/or powered by India Pale Ale! The craft beer scene has exploded since 2017. I am sure Withanee and Shawn have new favorites.
My only secret letdown was that Withenee and crew didn’t follow the original trip as faithfully as they could have. Withanee talks about walking in her father’s footsteps and while that was virtually impossible in some places, the Sandwalkers Second Edition took shortcuts to shave off miles wherever they could.

As an aside, as someone who participated in a three-day, sixty-mile cancer charity walk, I know all about the blister on blister phenomenon. The trick a series of treatments: Vaseline, moleskin, duct tape, double layer socks (Wright socks were my favorite) and cross trainers (Asics have always been my go-to shoe)…in that order. After that first year I never had another blister or hot spot.

Playlist: “Lookin’ for a Reason” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (their theme song), “Dem Bones”, and the National Anthem.

Book trivia: the title of the book is a play on the hymn Rock of Ages.

Last Resort

gr4c5Leave a comment

Rogers, Douglas. The Last Resort: a Memoir of Zimbabwe. Harmony Books, 2009.

Reason read: Zimbabwe’s independence was won in April of 1980.

When President Robert Mugabe announced his plans reclaim Zimbabwe land from white farmers, it was not an idle threat. All across the landscape, white-owned properties and farms were first taken by decree then by force. People were arrested or even murdered and lives systematically destroyed, piece by piece and acre by acre. Douglas Rogers was born and raised in the Zimbabwe countryside with vibrant and industrious parents. His father had been a lawyer and his mother raised four children while writing a cookbook called “Recipes for Disaster.” Together they ran a game farm and tourist lodge called Drifters. By the time Mugabe was in office Ros and Lin’s children had grown and moved away. Douglas was a journalist in Europe. When Mugabe’s people threatened their property Douglas urged his parents to leave and when that didn’t work, he realized their struggle would make for a good memoir. By documenting the political strife on an extremely personal level, he would reach a wider audience and shed more light on the corrupt situation in his homeland. As the country slid into uncontrolled bankruptcy, Rogers’ parents struggle to keep their lives as normal as possible. Even when their resort was taken over as a brothel, their fields turned to pot (literally), and diamond dealers camped in their lodges. With shotgun in hand, they made light of the growing danger on their doorstep. How long can they keep their land?

As an aside, in my gluttonous life, I cannot imagine not being able to afford stamps and envelopes. I also couldn’t imagine bombs landing all around my house in the middle of the night and then to be expected to concentrate at school the next day.
As another aside, the resort Rogers’s family owned had a Friday night pizza bake. So did the show “Million Little Things.” So do I.

Playlist: 50 Cent’s “In Da Club”, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Eminem, “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”, Hanli Slabbert, Jay-Z, Kanye West’s “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”, Kris Kristofferson, Macy Gray, Mos Def, Neil Diamond’s “Cracklin’ Rosie”, Puff Daddy, R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”, Snoop Dogg, Supergrass, Thomas Mapfumo, and “Yellow Submarine”. As an aside, “Yellow Submarine” has come up in two different books this month. Cool.

Author fact: Rogers has his own website (mentioned at the end of The Last Resort). Unfortunately, it does not have the photographs or video promised. Even the links to the podcast and ethics of visiting Zimbabwe are no longer available. I would have at least liked to see the frog that lived in the coffee pot. There is one video that still works and of course it is a promotion for the book.

Book trivia: There are no photographs in The Last Resort. Not even one of the frog. I was disappointed because at the end of The Last Resort Rogers gives the url for his website and promises photographs, a short film, and an update on his parents’ farm. Yes, the information would be old (Rogers finished The Last Resort in May of 2009), but I was hoping for at least photos.

Nancy said: Pearl called The Last Resort engrossing.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the very last chapter called “Zipping Through Zimbabwe/Roaming Rhodesia” (p 268).