Tag: relationships

Breakdown, Recovery and the Outdoors

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Bremicker, Christopher G. Breakdown, Recovery and the Outdoors. Running Wild Press, 2025.

Christopher Bremicker tells a believable story about Mike Reynolds, a Vietnam veteran struggling with schizo-affective disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder in equal measure. [As an aside, I met a veteran who refused to call PSTD a “disorder.” He said he was living with posttraumatic stress. Period. It was not a disorder. I have never forgotten his plea for normalcy.] Mike Reynold’s days are filled with self-medicating with alcohol and the outdoors. Alcohol numbed his feelings while homelessness staved off his claustrophobia. Hunting and fishing kept his demons at bay and his days normal. The emotions Mike experienced are so raw and believable that I was grateful for Bremicker’s disclaimer that he did not serve in Vietnam although I suspect there are elements of autobiography in Breakdown to make it so realistic: the relapse after five years of sobriety, for example. In Bremicker’s acknowledgements he mentions alcoholism and mental illness.
Short chapters move Mike’s story along at a fast pace even though it is a relatively simple story: hunting, recovery, relationships. You find yourself rooting for Mike, even if you don’t know him very well.
I noticed Breakdown was a little repetitious here and there (he mentions being proud to be a veteran but hated his appearance a few times).
Only annoyance: Andy, Alan, Anne, Bill Gillette, Bunk Knudson, Cinder, Corky Fowler, Dave, Dick “Smithy” Smith, Dick Anderson, Emma, Grace, Gunderson, Geiger, Gary Nicholson, Hagman, Jake, Jason, Jack, Jim, Jonas, Joanne, Jeff Huchinson, Lewis, Lou Johnson, Lucas, Muhammed, Myron Nelson, Nancy, Penny, Powers, Rob, Ryan, Sam, Santiago, Sheila, Steve, Sasha, Teller, Tim, Vicky, Weaver, Wetzel, Whitman, Willy, and Wade. Did I really need to know all these names? It was like a science fiction novel with a bunch of characters who mean nothing to the plot. Yet, at the same time who knew Mike had a brother named Tim? He didn’t factor into Mike’s recovery at all.

Author fact: the very first words of Breakdown, Recovery and the Outdoors are “I did not serve in Vietnam” (unpaged).

Book trivia: Loose pages make for difficult reading. They kept falling out so I ended up throwing them away after I read them.

Natalie connection: every time Mike or Vicky had a drink I thought of the 10,000 Maniacs song, “Don’t Talk,” a song about being in a relationship with an alcoholic.

Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine

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Campbell, Bebe Moore. Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine.

Reason read: Campbell died in the month of November. Read in her memory.

Who was the first person to say the truth hurts? Never is this more true than within the pages of Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine. The premise of Campbell’s 1950s story could have been ripped from the headlines of yesteryear or buried in the back pages of yesterday’s online paper. Armstrong Todd is a smart fifteen year old who knows a little French. Being from Chicago, he does not realize life in rural Mississippi is racially divided and prejudicial hate runs deep. One slip of the tongue in the direction of a white woman ends up costing him his life. Never mind that it was an accident; the teen was not speaking to Lily. Never mind that the white woman did not understand what Armstrong had actually said in her direction. Suddenly, justice for a black teenager in southern Mississippi becomes a political fire starter around the topic of desegregating schools. Campbell doesn’t contain the perspective to just one side of the color story. Lily, the “offended” (and extremely ignorant) white woman, is a poor young mother with an abusive husband. She only understands debilitating poverty, a screaming newborn, a whiney toddler, and the urgent need to keep on her husband’s good side. She desperately walks a fine line of taking care of her starving family while scrambling for the little pleasures in life like a new tube of ruby red lipstick.
Beyond civil rights Campbell makes interesting connections between the lines of color. Women can be abused, regardless of race. A fist can bruise or split open any color of skin. Along those same lines, Campbell points out that women of any color use sex as a weapon to get what they want. Lila and Delotha are no different when it comes to using their bodies to manipulate their men.
Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine spans generations. Moore guides the pace through political and pop culture cues like which president is in office and what songs are playing on the radio. Occasionally, a historical event will make an appearance like the Kent State University shootings.

Line I liked, “She never danced when her husband was at home” (p 70). I have said it before and I will say it again, domestic abuse is color bland. Abuse is abuse is abuse.

Author fact: I am the same age as Campbell when she died. Can you imagine the stories she would be telling had she lived on?

Book trivia: this could have been a movie.

Setlist: B.B. King, Beatles’ “Yesterday,” Blind Jake’s “Sharpen My Pencil,” the Dells, Dianna Ross, Dinah Washington, Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog,” Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams, James Brown’s “Please, Please, Please,” Loretta Lynn, Louis Jordan, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Muddy Waters, “No Good Man Blues,” “Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep,” Patsy Cline’s “Blue,” “Rock of Ages,” Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, “We Shall Overcome,” Willie Nelson, and Willie Horton.

Miss Merchant connection: Natalie taught her fans the hymn “Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep” back in 2000. Hard to believe that was twenty five years ago.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African American Fiction: She Say” (p 12).

Ellington Boulevard

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Langer, Adam. Ellington Boulevard: a Novel in A-Flat. Spiegel and Grau, 2008.

Reason read: September is when the New York Gypsy Festival usually happens.

Ike Ambrose Morphy has been away from his beloved Manhattan for seven months while he cared for his dying mother in Chicago. In that short time, the New York he knew has changed dramatically. The off-limits parts of Central Park he used to frequent with his dog, Herbie Mann, are now patrolled by police. Right away you know Ike is headed for trouble. The hole in a particular fence he used to sneak through is no longer there so he has to cut a new hole. His carrying a tool for that? That’s new. The cop who caught him gives him a hard time about trespassing. That is also new. Even more disturbing, there are people in his apartment when he finally arrives back home; the place where he has never needed a lease or contract. It is no longer his apartment just as it is no longer his New York. Welcome to Ellington Boulevard. But Ellington Boulevard isn’t just Ike’s story. Readers will meet the buyer, her husband, the real estate agent (an out of work actor playing the part of a real estate salesperson even though his heart isn’t really in it), the broker and a bunch of other interesting characters. Readers will also get a few lessons in music history (like the inventor of the B-flat clarinet, Iwan Muller).
My initial complaint? Some of the characters in Ellington Boulevard were very cliché: stereotypical descriptions of the haves and have-nots. Mark Masler is a good example of that. My only other complaint about Ellington Boulevard? In a city as vast as the Big Apple is, I was surprised Herbie Mann’s world was so small. What are the chances that his current owner and previous owner would run in the same circles?

As an aside, I love any author that slips in a little Dr. Seuss (who remembers Gertrude McFuzz?).

Author fact: I am only reading two books by Adam Langer. I finished Crossing California earlier in the Challenge.

Book trivia: Ellington Boulevard uses real N.Y.C. locations like the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and the Untermyer Fountain to name a couple.

Setlist: 50 Cent, “Air Algiers” by Country Joe McDonald, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, Barry Manilow, Busta Rhymes, Beethoven, Beatles, Buddy Holly, Benny Goodman, Bob Dylan’s “Hard Times in New York Town,” “Conquering the City,” Cole Porter’s “I Happen To Like New York,” the Damage Manual’s “Sunset Gun,” Dave Matthews, Dokken, Easy-E, Eric Dolphy, the Game, Gil Scott-Heron’s “Blue Collar,” “Angola, Louisiana,” and “Winter in America,” “Hava Nagilah,” Hendrix, Herbie Mann, “Here I Go Again On My Own,” Ice Cube, ” (I Believe) I Can Fly,” “(I Wanna) Soar,” “(I’m a) Love Man,” “In the Court of the Crimson Kings,” John Mayer, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Keith Moon, King Crimson, Kurt Cobain, Kool & the Gang, Leonard Bernstein’s “Conquering the City,” Lake & Palmer, “A Little Night Music,” LL Cool J, Lou Reed’s “NYC Man,” “A Love Supreme,” Mozart, Mahavishnu Orchestra, “Merrily We Roll Along,” Moby, Mongo Santamaria, Nirvana, Nas, N.W.A., “Our time,” Ornette Coleman, Patti Smith, Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton, Peggy Lee, the Pogues, Procul Harem, the Prodigy, “Raisins and Almonds,” “Rough Boy,” Rovner!, Snoop Dogg, “Straight Outta Compton,” Sun Ra, Sidney Bechet, “Sunride, Sunset,” “(To Dream) The Impossible Dream,” Tupac’s “Resurrection,” U2’s “Yahweh,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and “Crumbs From Your Table,” “Winds of Change,” “Wheels On the Bus (Go Round and Round),” “I’ve Seen All Good People” by Yes, “(You Are the) Wings Beneath My Wings,”

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “New York City: a Taste of the Big Apple” (p 151).

Brass Dolphin

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Trollope, Joanna. Brass Dolphin. Viking, 1997.

Reason read: In September Malta celebrates their independence.

As a young woman, Lila Cunningham dreamed of running away. She had been saving for her escape from her widower father for years. Freedom seemed just around the corner until one day her father admits they are in debt so deep they are going to lose their house. How can Lila leave her father now? Financially ruined, he only has his art…and he is not that talented of a painter. Even Lila does not believe in his paintings. [As an aside, I found Lila’s father to be a very selfish man. He bartered Lila’s mother’s pearls for paints. But Lila has her immaturities as well.] Neighbors Mr. & Mrs. Perriam come up with a plan to send Lila and her father to the island of Malta where their second home needs looking after. The plan is perfect except for the timing. Hitler has appointed himself war minister of Germany. Lila is naïve to this and she goes to work as a secretary for Count Julius. The theme of naivety runs strong with Lila. She doesn’t realize the importance of Malta to Hitler’s war. She is naïve about Malta’s society. She doesn’t understand the proper decorum of the wealthy. She has never been in a relationship. Readers watch Lila mature as she is faced with difficult and life-altering situations.
As an aside, the first time readers meet a brass dolphin it is in the shape of a knocker, placed high up on an enormously tall door of the Tabia Palace, home of Count Julius. It becomes a symbol of hope for the future later in the book.

As an aside, Joanna Trollope introduced me to the plumbago plant. It is beautiful!

Author fact: Joanna Trollope also wrote under the name Caroline Harvey, probably to scape her famous novelist ancestor, Anthony Trollope.

Music: “Flat Foot Floogie,” and “Jeepers, Creepers.”

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Messing Around on Malta” (p 144).

Love’s Shadow: the Ottleys

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Leverson, Ada. The Ottleys: Love’s Shadow. Virago, 1908.

Reason read: August is Levenson’s birth month. Read in her memory.

All three novels contained in The Ottleys are portraits of marriage or deep friendships. The three novels, published four years apart follow the relationship of Edith and Bruce Ottley. In Love’s Shadow Edith acts as a punching bag for her husband’s criticism. She takes the blame for things she did not do. She is often ridiculed for not being smart. Occasionally, Edith with participate in verbal sparing with her husband – only her jabs fall short of making any lasting impact of Bruce. Confessional: I found Bruce Ottley to be a detestable creature. He is even worse when his hypochondria acts up. There are other romances in Love’s Shadow that are just as ridiculous as Edith and Bruce. Edith’s friend Hyacinth has eyes for Cecil, who in turn desires the older, widowed Eugenia.
Levenson is a master at delivering sly humor. The subject of aging, “all men are good for, at a certain age, is giving advice” (p 89). Levenson’s insults are pretty clever, too. “You’re full of faults, and delightfully ignorant and commonplace” (p 147).

Author fact: it is a well known fact that Ada Levenson was a good friend of Oscar Wilde. His nickname for her was Sphinx. It is a shame that she was better known for that unique friendship more than her novels.

Book trivia: Love’s Shadow is the first book in the Ottley trilogy. Tenterhooks and Love at Second Sight follow. Sally Beauman wrote the introduction to The Little Ottleys.

Music: Schumann’s “Merry Peasant,” Mendelssohn’s Wedding March,

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Viragos” (p 227).

Ultimate Prizes

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Howatch, Susan. Ultimate Prizes. Alfred A Knopf, 1989.

Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Easter.

Susan Howatch has struck gold with a literary formula that works: someone has a spiritual crisis and a member of the Church of England comes to the rescue with intense conversations and guidance. Most of the time, these crises involve sexual hang-ups and rocky marital relations usually brought on by long suffering family traumas. In Glittering Images Charles Asgood sought the spiritual consultation of Jonathan Darrow. In Glamorous Powers Jonathan Darrow conducts intense interviews with his superior. In Ultimate Prizes is it Neville Aysgarth’s turn to take young and beautiful Dido Tallent under his wing as she seeks a religious education. After Tallent destroys Neville’s psyche, he in turn needs rescue and finds it in Jonathan Darrow and Aidan Lucas.
The “ultimate prize” meant having the perfect spouse, the perfect family, the perfect career.
Neville Aysgarth is a mere forty-one years old; really too young to be an archdeacon. His spiritual philosophy and religious career was based on Charles Earle Raven, a Dean of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Raven had a unique perspective, believing that science and theology belonged together. Aysgarth’s game changes when he becomes a widower. His ultimate prize because an obsession. He loved the chase but not the win. It was this pursuit that ultimately demolished friendships, both political and personal.
As an aside, it is interesting to see another character’s take on a previous character. Jonathan Darrow is disliked by Neville, but it is Darrow who introduces him to Aidan Lucas when Neville needed spiritual guidance. Additionally, Howatch cleverly reveals secrets about characters from previous stories so that more than once readers have that ah-ha moment. The title of the next book in the series usually pops up by the end of the book.

Quote I liked, “A hangover combined with horror, guilt, and self-loathing is hell on earth” (p 136). Confessional: I couldn’t help but think of the Dave Matthews Band when I read the line, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” (p 44).
Second confessional: Even though I knew “ringing down the curtain” meant repentance, I grew weary of how many times Neville Aysgarth made reference to his curtains – going up or coming down.

Author fact: In 2012, Howatch was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hope College.

Book trivia: Ultimate Prizes continues the theme of intense spiritual guidance. Like Glittering Images and Glamorous Powers, Ultimate Prizes contains deep spiritual conversations.

Music: “Lili Marlene”

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: the Family of the Clergy” (p 86).

Civil to Strangers

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Pym, Barbara. Civil to Strangers: and Other Writings. Edited by Hazel Holt. E.P. Dutton, 1987.

Reason read: Pym was born in the month of June. Read in her honor.

We owe the publication of Civil to Strangers to the loving family and friends of Barbara Pym. As literary executor Pym’s sister made sure Pym’s words lived on. It is a good thing because Pym was a master at showcasing the true sense of small community. The silent dislikes and quiet jealousies; a society full of disappointed and disappointing people. No one wants to be taken for granted and yet they are, repeatedly. These are the stories of a microcosm of flawed people. In the main story, Civil to Strangers, Cassandra March-Gibbon wants her husband of five years to pay more attention to her. As a writer, Adam is terribly preoccupied. Cassandra thinks by pretending to have feelings a new stranger from Budapest she will force Adam to be more demonstrative of his love for her. The plan backfires when Adam encourages the relationship with Stefan Tilos. The situation goes from bad to worse when Tilos develops feelings for Cassandra (as one is apt to do when someone is lavishing unprovoked attention on them). Tilos in turn needs to make Cassandra jealous when she does not show any sign of wanting to commit to a relationship. Cassandra is not making Adam jealous. Tilos is not winning over the girl. Nobody is getting exactly what they want. By taking separate holidays, Adam and Cassandra allow themselves to take stock of their marital situation.

Other writings in Civil to Strangers include:

Gervase and Flora
“Home Front Novel”
So Very Sweet
“So, Some Tempestuous Morn”
“The Christmas Visit”
“Goodbye Balkan Captain”
Across a Crowded Room
“Finding a Voice” – a radio transcript.

Quotes to quote, “…but now, since her marriage, she had felt less tempted to break out” (p 17).

Author fact: Pym was twenty-three when she wrote Civil to Strangers. It was her second novel.

Book trivia: Civil to Strangers was unpublished at the time of Pym’s death. It and several other writings were publishing posthumously. The working title was Adam and Cassandra. Seems simple enough.

Music: Haydn’s Creation. That’s it.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Pym’s Cup Runneth Over” (p 195).

The Temple

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Spender, Stephen. The Temple. Harper and Row Publishers, 1987.

Reason read: June is Pride month. Read in honor of love, no matter how you find it.

To know that The Temple is a semi-autobiographical fiction gives weight to Spender’s words. Most everything that happens to the main character, poet Paul Schoner, in The Temple is something that happened to Spender in and around 1929. He thinly disguises his relationship with other writers (most significantly W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood) as he travels to Hamburg from Oxford. It is important to remember that in the 1920s censorship was prevalent in England. As a homosexual, Spender needed to live his life in lies. His true identity was hidden like a secret. Germany in 1929, while more forgiving about lifestyles, was also going through its own dark period. Spender includes the growing sense of foreboding as Hitler comes to power. Though fascists and Nazis Spender paints a picture of a society that foregoes the history of friendship for the sake of power. It’s violent ending is a sign of dark days ahead.

Author fact: Spender was the first non-American to serve as Consultant in Poetry in English to the Library of Congress.

Book trivia: The Temple could be a movie.

Setlist: Cole Porter’s “Let’s Fall in Love”, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, Wagner’s Ring cycle, Beethoven, and Schubert.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Oxford” (p 170). As an aside, I am not sure I would have included this in the Oxford chapter. I would have thought it more appropriate it a chapter on Germany or homosexuality.

Orange Fish

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Shields, Carol. The Orange Fish. The Fourth Estate, 2004.

Reason read: June is short story month.

  • Orange Fish – a couple finds their marriage saved by a lithograph of a fish.
  • Chemistry – a group of people join the YMCA Winter Enrichment Program to learn the recorder.
  • Hazel – after her philandering husband dies of a heart attack, Hazel learns to live again. As an aside, my father was the same age as Brian when he died, at fifty-five.
  • Today is the Day – the planting of the blisterlily.
  • Hinterland – Meg and Roy Sloan of Milwaukie, Missouri travel to France.
  • Block Out – Meershank has writers block so travels to Portugal with his wife, looking for inspiration.
  • Collision – Marta is waiting for Malcolm Brownstone, the Recreation and Resort Consultant, to arrive.
  • Good Manners – Georgia Willow oversees instructing people on Canadian manners.
  • Times of Sickness and Health – Kay is surrounded by people always telling her what to do.
  • Family Secrets – when family secrets are all that you have, you tend to protect them.
  • Fuel for the Fire – a daughter lets her aging and widower father burn anything he can find in her glorious fireplace.
  • Milk Bread Beer Ice – Barbara and Peter Cormin are a sad couple with nothing to say after thirty-plus years of marriage.

Author fact: I found a Carol Shields Literary Trust website here. Really cool site.

Book trivia: Orange Fish is comprised of twelve short stories about friendships and relationships and won the Marian Engel Award in 1990.

Quote to quote, “How was he to know she would mistake a random disruption for lasting attachment?” (p 136).

Confessional: I just lost my Papa-in-law last week. When the protagonist of Orange Fish confessed that he wanted to run a dude ranch, I thought of Papa. He, too, had cowboy fantasies.

Setlist: Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Chopin, Handel, and Vivaldi.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Carol Shields: Too Good To Miss” (p 197).

Children’s Bach

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Garner, Helen. The Children’s Bach. Pantheon Book, 1984.

Reason read: May is music month but there is not much in the way of music in this book.

Within less than two hundred pages Helen Garner has managed to condense a complete picture of the institution of marriage. Dexter and Athena Fox had a steady, quiet relationship. They went for long walks and coexisted in relative peace. That is, until along came Elizabeth, a former friend of Dexter’s from college. They hadn’t seen each other in years, but without warning Elizabeth started shaking up their lives with her rock musician boyfriend and his teenage daughter in tow. Suddenly, Athena was seeing the world through a different lens and started to wonder if she made the right choices early in life. Her marriage. Her lifestyle. Her future. It as if Athena experienced a mid-life crisis of epic proportions.

Quotes I had to acknowledge, “In this frame of mind, savage with homesickness and loneliness, she roamed the city, daring it to tackle her” (p 36). So beautiful. And this was, that made me laugh, “He was chucking a mental” (p 130).

Confessional: Gaps in the dialogue make the action jumpy. When did Dexter agree to give Elizabeth and Vicky a ride? One minute they are in the airport, the next they are traveling in a car.

Author fact: Garner published many of her journals. She also wrote Monkey Grip which is on my challenge list.

Book trivia: the foreword forewarned of the numerous characters. Indeed. Athena. Dexter. Arthur. Billy. Elizabeth. Vicky. Philip. Poppy. The fact that the book made Rumaan Alam want to go for a run is intriguing. Supposedly she hates to run.

Setlist: Ravel’s Bolero, La Traviata, Haydn, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”, “The Wild Colonial Boy”, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, Steve Winwood, Elvis Presley, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Mary Ford and Les Paul’s “How High the Moon”, Don Giovanni, “The Vicar of Bray”, “Jerusalem”, Mikrokosmos by Bela Bartok, Bach’s Small Preludes, Kabelevsky, and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.

Nancy said: Pearl admitted that The Children’s Bach was old and hard to get a copy of.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Australia, the Land of Oz: Fiction (p 26).

Stagehand

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Aretsky, David H. Stagehand: a Backstage Pass to My Life Stories. BookBaby, 2024.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I occasionally get to review pretty interesting books. This is one of them (set to be published on April 4th, 2025).

Shame on me for judging a book by it’s title. I seriously thought this would be a peek behind the stage curtain of a career in music. No-name songwriters or big time musicians, I did not care which. Aretsky did not need to kiss and tell or name names (although for a bunch of stories, he does). I just wanted to hear about a life in the music industry from backstage. I know someone in the industry so I know how hard it is. In truth, there are a few chapters here and there about his career in entertainment, more towards the end, but for the most part, Stagehand is one man’s lament over losing the love of his life. Aretsky has been in the entertainment industry for over forty years, but it is about the eighteen year relationship with his Ex that he really wants to talk about. In truth, the stories are great. Aretsky is a natural storyteller, but the timeline is chaotic and the stories pinball around the various chapters. 1982 snuggles up to 2001 then jumps to 2019 and back to the 1990s again. It was hard to follow at times. In addition to the stories bouncing from decade to decade, they go from roommate to roommate, relationship to relationship, exotic adventure to exotic adventure. At various times I wanted to draw a timeline, just so I could make sense of what Aretsky wanted to say about his life thus far. My takeaways were: he enjoys going to the gym and staying physical fit; he has a myriad of female friends, and he moved around a lot in his younger years. And then there was the Ex…

Confessional: when David said he could write a book about his time with “Larry” I thought to myself that is the book I thought Stagehand would be. He mentioned wanting to write another book. My only advice would be to organize the stories a little more.

Setlist: As to be expected, there is a great deal of music mentioned! AC/DC, Alabama, Annie Lennox, Art Garfunkel, B-52s, “Back to the Cave”, Bad Religion, Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Beauty School Dropout”, Bette Midler, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Blue Oyster Cult, Bobby Brown, Bonnie Raitt, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”, Bret Michaels, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, Captain & Tennille, Celine Dion, “Chances Are”, Cheap Trick, Cher, Chaka Khan, Chicago, Chick Corea, Chubby Checker, “Chuck E.’s in Love”, Clint Black, Cole Porter, “Cryin'”, the Crystals’ “Da Do Ron Ron”, Crystal Gayle, Dale Kristien, Darlene Love, Devo, Dionne Warwick, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”, Dolly Parton, Donna Summer, “Don’t Be Cruel”, Dred Zeppelin, Edgar Winter, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Emmy Lou Harris, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Eurythmics’ “Let’s Go”, “When Tomorrow Comes”, and “Missionary Man”, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, “Everything Your Heart Desires”, “Forever in My Life”, Foreigner, Four Italian Tenors, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Avalon, GBH, Gene Simmons, “Sugar Magnolia” by the Grateful Dead, “Girls and Boys”, Gladys Knight, Guns N’ Roses, GWAR, Hall & Oates, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ “the Twist”, “Housequake”, Harry Belafonte, “He Has a Headlock on My Heart”, “Heaven Knows”, “I Want to Take You Higher”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, Iggy Pop, “I’ll Take You There”, Itzhak Perlman, “Irresistible Bitch”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, Jackie Evancho, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire”, , Joan Jett, Jody Watley, John Entwistle, Johnny Cash, Johnny Mathis, Judy Garland, Kiss, “Last Time I Felt Like This”, “Love and Happiness”, Lea Salonga, Led Zeppelin, Linda Ronstadt, Lita Ford’s “Close My eyes Forever”, “Love Will Keep Us Together”, Madame X, Mariachi La Reyna de Los Angeles, Mariachi Sol de Mexico, Megadeth, Melissa Manchester, the Mentors”, Merle Haggard, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Miles Davis, “Misty”, “Mother Popcorn”, Motorhead, Mr. Big, “My Prerogative”, Natalie Cole, Neil Sedaka, New Edition, “O Sole Mio”, Oleta Adams, “On the Edge of a Broken Heart”, “Only Women Bleed”, “Out of Touch”, Ozzy Osbourne, Pat Travers, Paul Anka, Pebo Bryson, Peter, Paul and Mary, Phantom, Rocker & Slick’s “Men Without Shame”, “Piece of Me”, the Plasmatics, Poison, the Police’s “Roxanne”, Preservation Hall Jazz Band”, Prince, Quiet Riot, the Ramones, Randy Newman, Randy Rhoads, Ratt, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regina Bell, Rickie Lee Jones, Robert Plant, the Ramones, Robin Trower, the Rolling Stones, Ronnie James Dio, Rubin Studdard, the Runaways, Sam Kinison, Sammy Davis Jr., “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, Sebastian Bach, Sex Pistols, “Sex of It”, “Shake for the Sheik”, Sheila E., “Ship of Fools”, Skid Row, Slayer, Smokey Robinson, Social Distortion, “Star-Spangled Banner”, Stevie Wonder, Stryper, “Sweet Thing”, “Tall Cool One”, Temptations, “That’s What Friends are For”, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, Tony Orlando, the Troggs’ “Wild Thing”, the Tubes, UFO, Vixen, Warrant, Was (Not Was)’s “Are You Okay?”, Wayne Newton, White Snake, Whitney Houston, the Who, “Whole New World”, “Wild, Wild West”, Winger, Wynonna, Wynton Marsalis, Yanni, and Ziggy Marley.

As an aside, my apologies to GNR. In Stagehand the name of the band was spelled “Guns and Roses.” Their name must have gone through some kind of autocorrect.

Last Bongo Sunset

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Plesko, Les. Last Bongo Sunset. Simon & Schuster, 1995..

Reason read: Read in honor of Kerouac’s birth month. He was born on March 12th, 1922. I don’t know if this is some kind of sign, but no library in my area had a physical copy of Last Bongo Sunset. I had to read it online. Not entirely horrible.

Within two days of quitting school in Boston, and arriving in Venice Beach, a protagonist only known as “College” has met and befriended pimp Gary, and his girlfriend/prostitute, Cassandra. Gary has Cassandra hanging out of College’s window by her ankles. No idea how or why they got into his apartment, but three hours later, though, College is sharing the needle and popping his heroine cherry with them. His lily white track-free arms will never be the same. A little while later along comes barely twelve year old Maria to join the fun. Maria, on the run herself, is recruited to earn money for the group. The days blur together in a never-ending cycle of hustling for cash, indulging in meaningless sex, and sinking into a drug filled oblivion. Despite College getting bored with the cycle there is a sticky sheen of hopelessness which no one can wipe clean. The book ends with a glimmer of hope as empty as a sunny day in Venice Beach.
There was a level of intimacy with not only the drugs, but the act of using. Every aspect of shooting meth is explained with enough detail (like the rolling of veins that make it difficult for the needle to hit) to make me squirm.

There were moments of brilliant writing: “smeared his relief” – an action and a feeling. I don’t think I need to spell out the action or the subsequent feeling.

Dated marketing that helps orientate the reader to the era: Brylcreem, Ford Fairlane, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Apollo 15,

Author fact: Plesko has written a few books but I am only reading Last Bongo Sunset for the Challenge.

Book trivia: cover art for Last Bongo Sunset is a bit weird. On the left hand side is a photograph of a tattoo. The tattoo is of a skeleton wearing a mohawk with blood dripping from it’s jaw. It might have a forked tongue? The right hand side is a photograph of a palm tree with some clouds in an oval.

Music: Led Zeppelin, Bobby Sherman, Schumann, Beatles, Sinatra, Tammy Wynette, Chopin’s Barcarolle, “Dead Flowers”, “Maggie May”, Grateful Dead, Mel Torme, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Connie Francis, Judy Garland, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”, “Clare de Lune”, “Stairway to Heaven”, and Lucia di Lammermoor.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “California Here We Come” (p 50).

Hatwearer’s Lesson

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Joe, Yolanda. The Hatwearer’s Lesson. Plume, 2004.

Reason read: Yolanda Joe was born in March. Read in her honor.

When Grandmother Ollie speaks, her granddaughter, Terri, best sit up straight and listen with both ears wide open. Ms. Ollie knows a thing or two about life, love, and loss. When she couldn’t write Terri’s fiancé’s name (Derek) in her Bible she knew trouble was brewing. Terri might be a successful Chicago lawyer and one half of a gorgeous power couple soon to be married, but what is she to do when Grandmother says there is bad luck coming? Derek is wealthy, sexy, and smart. Terri, only thinking about image, cannot afford to lose Derek so she does what any practical woman would do. She ignores the mystical warnings. Terri thinks she has it all with her career and Derek, but her luck goes from bad to worse when first, she discovers her hunk of a boyfriend has been stepping out on her with a rival. Then her grandmother suffers a fall that lands Ollie in the hospital and in need of an operation. This health scare couldn’t come at a better time. Going back home to Alabama to care for Ollie gives Terri the much needed time away to clear her head. Except. What about her professional legal career? Will her absence jeopardize her place in the firm? She does have rivals sniffing around her clients. And what about her heart? Will she ever be able to trust Derek again? She has rivals sniffing around her man, too. Life becomes even more confusing when she meets an Alabama country boy who wears his heart on his sleeve and trustworthy honesty on his tongue.

Head scratcher: correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think you need to block your number when calling from a cell phone. No one will know if you are standing in your own bathroom or at the North Pole when you make a call from a cell.

Author fact: I am reading four Joe books for the Challenge. I finished Bebe’s By Golly Wow. Still to go are He Say, She Say and This Just In.

Book trivia: According to Joe, hat wearer is one word: hatwearer. My spell checker hates me right now.

Playlist: Gladys Knight, James Brown, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, and Luther Vandross.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African American Fiction: She Say” (p 12).

August

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Rossner, Judith. August. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.

Reason read: February is Psychology month. Maybe that is because so many people want to know what happened to their commitment to new year resolutions?

Two women: Dawn Henley is a patient with obsessive tendencies, latching onto daddy types as lovers. Her mother committed suicide when Dawn was only six months old. Her father drowned soon thereafter. She was raised by Vera and Tony, a lesbian couple. Do any of these early tragedies have anything to do with her current neurotic behavior of dependency? Like any person raised without really knowing their birth parents, Dawn is on a journey to find herself. Her identity is tied to people she doesn’t remember.
Lulu is Dawn’s therapist. The telling of her side of the story mostly happens in August, when she is on vacation and away from being a therapist. While on holiday, she can be a mother to two young sons and try to rebuild a relationship with her estranged adult daughter, who resurfaces after seven years. Lulu is also trying to justify a romantic relationship with a married man. She knows it isn’t right, but she can’t help herself. Lulu’s character reminded me of Brenda Leigh Johnson, the main character on the television show, The Closer. Brenda’s professional life hid a very chaotic personal life. Both women are great at their jobs, but behind the scenes, they were a mess.

As an aside, I tried really hard to not think Don Henley when reading about Dawn.

Author fact: I think I remember seeing Looking for Mr. Goodbar on my parent’s bookshelf when I was a kid. I am only reading Nine Months in the Life of an Old Maid for the Challenge (after August, of course).

Book trivia: August details the plot of an actual movie called “Seconds.” I put it on the list because I think it sounds interesting. Will I actually watch it? Who knows.

Music: Gershwin, and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221).

Nine Year Cycle

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Jones, Trevor. Nine Year Cycle: a Memoir. Self Published, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review program for LibraryThing, I get to review amazing books. This is one such book.

If I had to give Nine-Year Cycle a one word review it would be Grace with a capital G. Grace and civility, if I were to add another word to the mix. Trevor Jones writes about a theme everyone can relate to: love or rather the desire to be loved. At face value, Nine-Year Cycle is about Trevor Jones and his two great love affairs, each lasting nine years. Digging deeper, Nine-Year Cycle is a commentary on what it meant to be a gay man at the very start of the AIDS epidemic and later, the unpredictability of online dating. These are two very dangerous ventures for homosexuals.
Jones lost his first great love to AIDS. He handled the tragedy with a considerable about of grace. Thirteen years went by before he tried to find love a second time, this time on the internet. His second relationship was far more complicated, involving immigration and religion. I don’t think it is a spoiler alert to say I was nervous for him when he first met “Angelo”. The entire time I was worried it would be a scam; that Angelo had an ulterior motive. [As an aside, I watched a documentary on a serial killer who preyed on gay men by posing as a potential lover on internet dating sites. Scary stuff.]
Readers who want a happy ending will have to make their own judgement about Nine Year Cycle. Jones is far more forgiving than I could ever be.

Author fact: Jones is known for his theater work, but he has also done movies and television appearances.

Book trivia: because I had the e-book version that I was reading on my phone, I could not see the cover design.

Playlist: Jose Carreras, the Beatles, Duran Duran, Spandeau Ballet, George Michael, Mozart’s Alleluia from Exsultate Jubilate, and Stacey Kent’s “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket”.