Indexes to the authors and
titles are at the end of the text material
America the Broke; Gerald J. Swanson
NonF
There is a very long subtitle
which is “How the Reckless Spending of the White House and Congress is Bankrupting
Our Country and Destroying Our Children's Future” and that is what this very
scary book is about. Swanson is a Professor of Economic Education in the
Management School at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He co-authored
a book “Bankruptcy 1995” which predicted a coming economic disaster in 1995
- one started by Ronald Reagan’s debt casualness. That disaster never came,
because the Clinton years actually produced a surplus of government funds!
Now, under born-again George W. Bush, Swanson says that out current 9 trillion
dollars debt and the increases that occur, will wreck this country in a way
that has not been seen since the Great Depression. I shall not deal with
the details here. I went through the last half of the Depression, and he
seems right on to me. Please read it - but don’t expect to sleep well the
night that you do. This is not a “liberal” diatribe against Washington. It
is a calm look at a growing disaster. I’m convinced. And scared.
Swanson, G.J.; America the Broke; $24.95; 204pp; Doublrday; ISBN 0-385-51304
Blackbird House; Alice Hoffman
This small book
contains twelve short tales, many of which have been printed elsewhere. They
are separate stories, but there is a connecting link - the Blackbird House.
It is the house, on the outer edges of Cape Cod, that John Hadley built for
his family: his wife Coral, and his two sons Walter and Isaac. It was the
time of the British occupation of Massachusetts. And that is where the stories
start. Ten year old Isaac, acquired a tiny blackbird, and fed and nourished
it. The bird refused to leave, even after it was grown, and Isaac took the
bird with him when his father took him and Walter to sea. They were lost
at sea. Walter survived, was captured by the British, and did not return
to the Cape till he was grown. The blackbird flew off when Isaac drowned,
and seems to have appeared - this time snowy white - back at the house. The
stories continue, about the people who acquire the house, and their loves,
and hates, and lives. And a white blackbird remains in the lives of the inhabitants
of the house. The stories range up to modern times. The book is beautifully
written, and the reader is exposed to a variety of emotions, and can’t help
sharing some of them with the characters. I am not one who likes a compilation
of short stories, even if they are somehow related - as they are here. But
I must say I was struck by these tales, some of which made me feel a bit
uneasy. I recommend it.
Hoffman,A.; Blackbird House; $19.95; 225pp;Doubleday;NY;2004;ISBN 0-385-50761-5
Brought In Dead; Jack Higgins
(pb)
An interesting experience.
I enjoy Higgins’ storytelling, and I had not seen this title before. The
book cover notes: “First Time In Paperback,” but I didn’t remember seeing
it in hardback. Part way into the story - laid in England - I had the feeling
that something was awry, and I looked at the publishing data. First published
in 1967. Almost 40 years ago! Very different - but still a pretty good story.
He seems to have written several books in an English police series starring
detective Nick Miller, and this is one. Miller finds the floating body of
a young woman, a pregnant drug addict, who has drowned herself, but only
after removing anything that might identify her - except for a Roman Catholic
medal. After some research, he learns her name, and that she was well raised,
but forced into addiction and impregnated by a local entrepreneur with mobster
connections. Her father is a decorated, retired. Special Operations Lt. Colonel
(very tough chap), who simply decides to ruin, then kill the mobster. Miller
tries to head off the last part of that scenario. There is no mystery
in the story -- it is mainly a slim, police procedural, with emphasis on
the characters. I’m Irish enough to enjoy they “don’t get mad, get even”
approach, and I enjoyed watching the father (aided by his other daughter)
methodically and cheerfully destroy the villain’s income and reputation,
after which he plans to kill him. Miller seems unable to stop it. Different
in style from Higgins’ newer books, and I couldn’t quite determine the English
locale. In 1967 when we lived there, the English didn’t use the word “truck”
for a vehicle!
Higgins,J.; Brought In Dead;$7;307pp;Berkley Publishing; NY; 2004;
ISBN 0-425-19933-9
By Order of the President;
W.E.B. Griffith
This is Griffith’s 35th book about men in uniform. The
others are distributed among five series. I think this is the first of a
new series. As usual, there is a long list of characters, the time shifts
back and forth, and there are several substories. If you are not familiar
with Griffith’s extensive detail, and convoluted plots, be prepared. The
main story involves the theft of a 727 aircraft in Angola. The circumstances
arouse fear that the hijackers plan to use it for a terrorist attack on the
USA, and the Washington intelligence agencies as well as the Office
of Homeland Security start spinning wheels. The time is 2005. The CIA
and FBI as well as DIA keep up their territorial struggles, and the President
decides to find out what actions the various agencies have taken, and how
they have distributed their information, and what the truth is. Carlos
(Charley) Guillermo Castillo, an intelligence officer serving as a special
assistant to the Director of Homeland Security, is tasked with the job. Charlie
is the Nordic looking illegitimate son of a wealthy German mother, and a
Tex-Mex father who was killed in Vietnam, and awarded a medal of honor. When
his mother died, he was raised by his father’s parents. He is a Delta Force
Major, a veteran of Desert Storm, a very wealthy man, and the owner of several
newspapers! The main story is about his quest for information and the missing
727. The substories include his childhood, his military training, and lots
of other things. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I was a while learning the
characters! The Washington atmosphere seems right on.
Griffith,W.E.B.; By Order of the President;$26.95;528pp;G.P. Putnam’s
Sons;NY;2004;ISBN 0-399-15207-5
Compass; Alan Gurney
NF
The jacket says Gurney
was once a yacht designer and photographer. I presume this book grew out
of his yachting experience, because it is a history of the maritime
magnetic compass, which was used at sea for over a millennium. The
period covered is up to the invention and use of the liquid compass. The
story is of the Western development of the compass, with minor comments on
the much earlier use of the device in the Orient. The book is interesting,
and occasionally frustrating, and is actually more that I wanted to know
about the device! I learned some things I was unfamiliar with, and failed
to learn some things! For instance, he discusses a “binnacle” as though everyone
knows what it is, and never defines it. He talks about compass difficulties
caused by a ship “heeling”, but never says what heeling is. There is much
discussion about compass “dipping” and I was unable to find out what it means,
etc. There are notes and an index. Good luck. It could have been done better,
I think. And a non-sailing editor would have helped!
Gurney,A.; Compass;$22.95;320 pp.; W.W.Norton; NY and London; 2004:
ISBN 0-393-05073-4
1421: The Year China
Discovered America; Gavin Menzies
NF
Menzies is a former British submarine
commander who tells here of his long quest to prove his belief that the Chinese
landed on both coasts of North America, while enroute to most of the rest
of the world - a belief that most historians think is nonsense. Menzies is
a good raconteur, and the book is fun to read, although it is somewhat erratic
and rambling at times. And occasionally frustrating. The story follows his
quest in detail, and the book appears at first glance as a scholarly book.
It is not. In fact, most of Menzies’ facts are simply stated as such, with
little or no evidence to support them! At least one of his surmises is wrong,
and the appearance of many notes and references seems to be just padding
- and frustrating. I was taken aback by a comment that surprised me, and
when I looked up the note it said “see chapter 9.” I did - and chapter nine
had nothing to do with the subject. He devotes a fair amount of discussion
to the “Bimini Staircase” - a rock formation near Bimini that looks eerily
like an underwater paved road, and was believed to be one until it was shown
that in fact it is a formation called “beachrock”, and is found elsewhere
in the world. He quotes extensively from one of the early explorers of the
phenomenon, a man called Link, but never mentions that Link was a firm believer
in supernormal powers of a “prophet” called Cayce, and both were convinced
that the formation was in fact the entrance to the fabled Atlantis. Menzies
believes the “road” was constructed by the Chinese fleet as a place to reef
out and repair their 500 foot junks. He does note that some people don’t
believe the formation is artificial, but skips past it with that comment.
I note this in detail because it is the only “fact” that I really know something
about. I looked into it in detail a year ago. I believe that in fact the
Chinese did a great deal of overseas exploring (they seem to have got to
the Indian Ocean at least), and it is quite probable they got to the west
coast of North America. The “evidence” that Menzies cites is not, however,
very convincing. As I said: the story is really fun to read - just don’t
assume it is a scholarly treatise! And I’ll bet that 500 foot junks would
never have been able to stay at sea - if in fact that size was ever built.
Have fun.
NOTE: Contrast (and compare) this treatise with that of Nancy Yaw Davis
as told in her book: “The Zuni Enigma.” Her thesis is that the current
Zuni pueblo people, whose language is unique, are the result of Southwest
Indians assimilating Japanese seafarers during Indian migrations in the thirteenth
century. Davis’s story is that of her quest, and the “evidence” that she
has found to support her thesis. I find it just as fascinating as Menzies’
tale. But it IS a scholarly work. In fact, I am somewhat convinced!
Menzies,G.; 1421; $27.95;552 pp; William Morrow;NY; 2003; ISBN 0-06-053763-9
High Country Fall; Margaret Maron
Series
This is the tenth in the
series that Maron has been writing about Deborah Knott, currently a district
court judge in Colleton County, in eastern North Carolina. She is also engaged
to be married to a longtime friend from childhood: Deputy Sheriff Dwight
Bryant. Both have been married before. As the story opens, Deborah is getting
concerned about her upcoming marriage. Her family and friends think it is
a really great thing; she is wondering if friendship and good sex (she’s
been sleeping with Bryant) are adequate for marriage. When she is asked to
fill in for a judge in the mountains of western NC, she jumps at the chance
to get away for a bit. So she ends up as a temporary fill-in for a judge
in Cedar Gap, in the high country, near Florida, in the season of brilliant
fall colors - and tourists. Cedar Gap is becoming a developer’s dream, and
Deborah’s cousin Beverly owns a condo there. She offered it to Deborah as
temporary quarters while she is in the area and Deborah accepted. Beverly’s
twin daughters are living there while they attend school at a small nearby
college campus, and they are fixing up the condo. We follow Deborah as she
attends court, meets locals, finds her nieces are not really attending college,
and gets involved in and out of court with the murders of two prominent local
developers. It is a good story as usual. It is one in which the voice changes
back and forth from first person to third person, and that I do not like
in a story, but I put up with it here. At the end, Deborah discovers key
elements about the murders, and about her forthcoming marriage.
NOTE: In the story, Deborah notes that Cedar Gap is undergoing the
“Cary Syndrome.” Cary was a somewhat rundown, small place near Raleigh, NC.,
when it began to undergo a “revitalization.” Developers quietly bought
large amounts of land, and began building costly places, and advertising
them. The thing caught on, and the entire complex became “the” place to live.
My brother had bought an older place there, about the time the development
began. It was truly amazing to watch. He moved to a retirement community
in Cary before much of the change occurred, but it was interesting to watch
over the years.
Maron,M.; High Country Fall; $24;303pp;Time Warner Book Group;NY;2004;ISBN
0-89296-808-7
Irish Boston: A
Lively Look at Boston’s Colorful Irish Past; Michael P. Quinlin
(pb) NF
My mother’s maiden name
was Callaghan, so in a sense I’m half Irish. I say “in a sense” because it
has always seemed to me that there really isn’t a true “half Irish”
category. You either are or you aren’t. At any rate, my Irish genes attracted
me to the book. I thought I’d skim through to get a feeling for the subject,
and I got taken by it. So I read the book. It is really very interesting,
and I was continually surprised. The author follows the story chronologically,
and covers very well the feelings and problems of the immigrants, and notes
that the Irish wholeheartedly became US citizens, and carried out all the
things that could be expected of citizens - including, for example, volunteering
for the US army in the Civil War. I was surprised to find how many gifted
and famous writers, composers, performers, and artists are numbered among
the Boston Irish, as well as athletes, politicians, etc. I also had not realized
how virulent were the attacks on the Irish by non-Catholics, and by “patriots”
who hated the “foreigners.” And I was surprised to find that, in turn,
the Irish had little use for Negroes! And I was especially surprised by how
many illegal Irish immigrants poured into this country in the eighties! Over
2000 per month, for years. It is a very interesting recounting. Part II is
a comprehensive “Visitor’s Guide to Irish Boston.” There is also an index
- which could have been a lot better. For instance, the Irish Troubles are
not referenced - although two different Troubles are discussed in several
places
Quinlan,M.P.; Irish Boston; $?;The Globe Pequot Press; Guilford, Conn.;
2004; ISBN 0-7627-2901-5
Irish Cream; Andrew M. Greeley
Series
The latest Nuala
Anne McGrail novel. She is an Irish lass, famous singer, fey, and married
to Dermot Michael Coyne. They have three children, the youngest of whom is
two, a one-time preemie, and a small dickens. They have two wolfhounds. Followers
of the series will find familiar elements, familiar characterization, good
story telling, fewer Irishisms than in the last tale of these characters,
and a familiar duality in mysteries. There is a here and now mystery that
involves the quest for the real killer of a business mogul. A young man,
Damian Sullivan, was set up by his family to take the fall for the crime,
but it appears that he could not have done it. Nuala and Dermot hire Damian
to help take care of their dogs, get to like him, and set out to clear his
name. That crosses the path of Damian’s almost psychopathic father, who doesn’t
want Damian cleared, and wants to make him fail in every way. Then there
is a another of the “old time” mysteries that appears every few chapters
as narration from a journal kept by an Irish priest who recounts his activities
in Ireland as the efforts to generate an independent Ireland begin to take
form. The mystery is who shot (and wounded) the important English landlord
in the parish. Greeley’s excellence in story telling carries out the two
tales, and finds the answers - or rather, Nuala does. And of course, the
book is fully of the steamy sex between the two main protagonists. Best for
followers of the series, but very readable for anyone.
NOTE: There is a page and a half that contains the homily that Greeley
puts in the mouth of the character of “the little priest” - actually
a Bishop, Blackie. It concerns Memorial Day, and since that occurred as I
was reading the book, it struck me specially. Those pages make a touching,
and perceptive reading - would that it could get wider recognition.
Greeley, A.M.; Irish Cream; $24.95; 318pp; Tom Dougherty Associates;
NY; 2005; ISBN 0-765-30335-6
Map of Bones; James Rollins
Series
I have read no other
books by this author, who is a veterinarian, a caver, and a scuba diver,
and whose name might really be Jim Czajkowski - the name on the copyright.
This combination of action and puzzle is an apt reflection of this novel.
It is another of the “very old secret societies trying to take over the Catholic
Church and the rest of the world”, while stalwart, unkillable, secret government
action groups (and others) try to solve ancient mysteries and stop them.
It is a science fantasy, the Da Vinci code with ten times the number of ancient
cryptic codes to be solved, the travels to everywhere, and nonstop, shoot-em-up,
action scenes. I like all of these themes, but this one was too much for
me. I read it - fairly rapidly because the continual mystery solutions were
far too much - and I was impressed with how many times the good guys were
absolutely on the verge of being killed, but managed to escape in some way
after killing zillions of the enemies. It is almost a parody of such stories!
The characterization leaves a lot to be desired, but perhaps it is because
I have read no others in the series. I think the author had a great time
writing it. I suspect that there will not be many who will thoroughly enjoy
reading it, although I have a friend who thinks it is “wonderful!” I was
tempted to examine some of the material mentioned in the Author’s Note at
the end, but I decided not to. Good luck if you decide to try it. Hold onto
your seat.
Rollins,J.; Map of Bones;$24.95; 434pp; Harper Collins; NY; 2005; ISBN
0-06-076387-6
Memories From The Attic;The
Story of Family Treasures Lost and Found;Helen. K. Polaski,ed
NF
This is the second book
in a series that the editor calls The Rocking Chair Reader. It is a collection
of 69 short (3-4 page) first person recountings of the memories suddenly
evoked by encountering some item from the past. The writers are mainly women,
and all involve small towns. There are inserted nine, two-page statements
about the small town mentioned in the immediately preceding story. The book
is not one for reading steadily. One should pick it up, read several of the
narratives, then put it down and cast back to one’s own sudden recollections.
It will strike chords with every reader - who of us have not had many similar
experiences when encountering something in the attic, or in our children’s
homes. The items here range from Grandma’s ring, to a carved wooden penguin.
Almost all are emotionally touching; they certainly touched me vicariously!
When I encountered the first discussion of a small town I was disconcerted;
I don’t like such abrupt insertions. Then, to my surprise, I found I really
enjoyed them- and learned some things! I grew up in
a relatively small Pennsylvania town - fewer that 10,000 people - and recognized
many similarities here and there, but that is not a requirement for enjoyment
of the book. I guarantee you will be enchanted. And in fact, you may feel
like writing a similar experience of your own: the editor invites your submission
for the next book she puts together. I am really tempted ....
Polaski,H.K. (ed.); Memories From the Attic; $?; 271pp; Adams Media;
Avon, Mass.; 2005; ISBN 1-59337-270-1
Metro Girl; Janet Evanovich
Thirty year old Alexandra
Barnaby is an expert on repairing cars - and on driving cars; she learned
in her father’s garage in Baltimore. Her younger brother, “Wild” Bill, is
casual about life, and out for a good time. He had moved to Miami to have
fun. As the story starts, Alex gets a call from him, and he tells her he’s
leaving Miami for a bit, and the call is interrupted as a woman screams.
She can’t reach Bill, so she heads for Miami. Bill’s apartment has been ransacked.
Bill had worked on a corporate boat, so she heads for the Marina, where she
encounters Sam Hooker. She recognizes Hooker, who is a NASCAR driver. It
seems that Bill has stolen Hooker’s boat, so Hooker is also anxious to find
her brother. As the story progresses, it seems that Bill met a young woman
whose father seems to have got out of Cuba with a fortune in gold, and that
the gold is buried in a place that is indicated on a map. One needs a boat
to get there however, and so Bill takes a boat - Hooker’s. Later it appears
that there is, along with the gold, a small atomic bomb. The latter is of
interest to a number of organizations. Alex and Hooker take off to find her
brother and the gold and bomb. It is a romp all the way.
Evanovich, J.; Metro Girl;$26.95;304pp; Harper Collins; NY; 2004; ISBN
0-06058-400-9
Monday Mourning; Kathy Reichs
Reichs is a professional
forensic anthropologist, who writes thriller novels starring a woman who
is a professional anthropologist: Temperance Brennan. Reichs is, professionally,
associated with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina,
as well as a similar organization in the province of Quebec, where this story
is laid. So is her star, Brennan. And the cases that Brennan handles, are
versions of ones that Reichs handles! And this is the seventh book that combines
these two. Reichs tells a tale well, although she is a devotee of one line
paragraphs, but I did not enjoy this book as well as earlier ones. This is
about finding the serial murderer who for years has been abducting, torturing,
and mutilating young women, who are later disposed of. The tale also involves
Brennan’s personal life, and her romantic involvement with a detective. At
the end, the murderer escapes. Not to my liking; neither subject nor ending.
Reichs,K.; Monday Mourning;$25; 303pp; Scribner; NY; 2004; ISBN 0-7432-3347-6
More Unsolved Mysteries
of American History; Paul Aron
NF
This is Aron’s third
book on the general subject of unsolved historical mysteries, and the second
one to cover American history. He talks about thirty mysteries that have
fascinated historians, and presents a summary of the situation, and the problems
that exist. He ranges from the Civil War to Vietnam and the Gulf War, and
from St. Brendan, the sailor, to the Lusitania, and devotes about seven pages
to each subject. Many of the subjects are fascinating, and some left me cold.
There are suggested follow up readings associated with each topic, and there
is a good index. It is a lot of fun to read, and it is easily picked up and
put down, with no disruption. Of course the mysteries remain unsolved - including:
who killed Jimmy Hoffa? was O.J. Simpson guilty? was Burr a traitor?
etc. I enjoyed it a great deal.
Aron,P.; More Unsolved Mysteries of American History;$24.95; 231pp;
John Wiley & Sons; Hoboken,N.J.; 2004; ISBN 0-471-26705-8
Pathways to Bliss: Mythology
and Personal Transformation; Joseph Campbell, edited by David Kudler
NF
Campbell spent his life thinking
about, and studying mythology, and has written much, and talked a great deal
about it. And he does it very well. He died in 1987, and the Joseph Campbell
Foundation has been printing, and reorganizing his published and unpublished
works and thoughts. This book is one in that effort. It centers on Campbell’s
idea that mythology can be a “tool for ...
understanding the psychological growth of the individual...,” and is
in three sections. The first traces the historical development of mythology
as a factor in the growth of societies by looking at it in the growth of
individuals. The second section studies the psychology of myth, and the third
explores the premise that myth is a tool for looking at ones life. Although
Campbell has a somewhat casual style, the subject is a bit abstruse, and
takes careful reading. It is worth it, especially in the first two sections.
I learned a lot about the differences in myth and values between the nomadic
cultures, and the land based cultures. The male-based nomadic culture for
example, simply took over the female oriented, land tilling worlds, and goddesses
vanished, replaced by male gods. Note the anti-femininity of the Catholic
Church for example. Campbell also notes the vast difference in the eastern
concepts and the western concepts. The reader might consider these in light
of some of the problems we have in the world today. The impact on the individual
is less clear that I would like, and seems to me to be a bit vague at times.
There are very interesting comments on the problems that religions run into
if they start to insist that their myths are actually historical. I
would urge any one to try this book. You will certainly find things that
will interest you, and probably surprise you, and perhaps irritate you. It
has notes, a bibliography, and a useful index.
NOTE: Perhaps the seminal opus of Campbell is his “Hero With
A Thousand Faces.” It details the ubiquitous, mythical, quest-journey of
the Hero, and the traditional mythical items about the journey. There is
a wonderful contemporary version of the Hero’s journey - complete with all
the mythological adjuncts updated - in Michael Malone’s Handling Sin. Be
sure to read it whether you care about myth or not!
Campbell,J.; Pathways to Bliss (ed. David Kudler);$20;194pp;New World
Library; Novato,CA; 2004; ISBN 1-57731-471-9
Portuguese Irregular Verbs;
Alexander McCall Smith
(pb) Series
This is the first of three (currently) in the series that stars Herr Professor
Doktor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, of the German Institute of Romance Philology,
and distinguished author of the seminal work: Portuguese Irregular
Verbs. This first book is a set of eight stories about the peregrinations
of von Igelfeld and two of his fellow professors, who are SORT OF his friends.
The other two books are essentially the same, although the stories are fewer
and longer. von Igelfeld is totally unconnected to the real world, and that
is to provide the humor in the stories. His world is a tiny, specific piece
of academia, and outside of that he is simply at sea. And he has a very simplified
mind set - his world is in good shape, but everything and everybody else
is probably askew - and wrong. He considers that what he has accomplished
in his publication about Portuguese Irregular Verbs has opened the eyes of
the world. I did not enjoy the books, and I would not recommend them to anyone
else. They are a vast contrast to the Ladies Detective Agency series which
entranced me. In this series, the protagonist is not a likable person - as
far as I am concerned - and the real reason for the series is to poke fun
at academe. Smith has wasted his time.
Smith,A.M.; Portuguese Irregular Verbs; $9.95; 128pp; Anchor Books;
NY; 2005; ISBN 1-4000-7708-7
Skeleton Man; Tony Hillerman
Series
This is the latest in a
very long run of stories about The Navajo Tribal Police, and two individuals:
Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, and Sergeant Jim Chee. Leaphorn is now officially
retired, but gets involved in various ways in police cases. Chee is now engaged
to marry Bernie Manuelito, who was once in the tribal police, but is now
in the Border Patrol - on leave as this story takes place. The story centers
around diamonds and bones, and attempts to find both in the Grand canyon.
They got there because of the famous (real) 1956, midair collision, over
the Canyon, of a TWA Constellation, and a UAL DC-7. The story starts with
a somewhat simple minded young Indian, who is charged with theft and homicide
at a Zuni jewelry store. Several days after the robbery and killing, the
young man tried to pawn, for twenty dollars, a diamond that was worth many
thousands. The young man says he got the diamond from an old man at the bottom
of the Canyon, and Chee is asked to help find the old man. The story gets
out, and is heard By Joanna Craig. She believes that the diamond came from
a case that her father had attached to his wrist, when he was killed in the
midair collision. If she can find the old man, she might find her father’s
wrist or arm bones, and they would supply DNA to prove that she was his daughter.
Her mother was pregnant with her, and her father was flying to marry her
mother when he was killed. If she can prove that the man was her father she
will inherit a great deal of money, and she has been advertising for any
information that might help her find the bones. This is her first good lead.
The money that should have been hers, is held by a man who is just as anxious
that the bones NOT be found, and he hires people to see that the bones are
not found. That is the background for the story, which follows both sides
as well as the activities of Chee, Manuelito, and Leaphorn who are also trying
to find the diamonds. Good story, as always.
NOTE: Three friends of mine had reserved seats on the UAL plane. They
were coming from the South Pacific, and stopped on the coast. Their
baggage was checked through to Washington. However when they went to check
in, the airline could not find the reservation for one of them, and the flight
was filled. On the spur of the moment, the other two decided to cancel their
reservations, and get a flight the next day. All three checked into a local
hotel, and the flight they did not take crashed. One told me that a month
later UAL delivered a battered and scorched suitcase to him. It had been
on the plane. He said he never opened it.
Hillerman,T.; Skeleton Man; $25.95;241pp;Harper Collins;NY;2004; ISBN
0-06-056344-3
St. Dale; Sharon McCrumb
St. Dale
in this novel is Dale Earnhardt, the race car driver who was killed in a
race. In an interesting after word, McCrumb explains that Earnhardt deserved
a book, and that she had always been interested in secular sainthood; and
that Earnhardt had rapidly become such a saint. She decided to write a “Canterbury
Tales” with a modern saint. She writes of a group who sign up for a NASCAR
trip: the Dale Earnhardt Memorial Pilgrimage. None had met Earnhardt, but
all were touched by him in some way, and are touched again on the trip. Earnhardt’s
ghost appears from time to time - to help someone, of course. The reader
is taken, in excruciating detail, through every bit of the NASCAR world,
past and present, and most Earnhardt details too. I quit early on. I am uninterested
in car racing, and totally uninterested in Earnhardt - Saint or not. Incidentally,
nowhere (that I saw) does it indicate what the name NASCAR means! For aficionados,
the book is probably great. Not for me. I picked it up because of the author.
Next time I’ll settle for reading the jacket!
McCrumb,S.; St. Dale;$25; 311pp.; Kensington Books; NY; 2005; ISBN
0-7582-0776-X
The Egyptologist; Arthur Phillips
This is the third of three unreadable (by me) books that
I brought home from the library in one day. I am very interested in Ancient
Egypt, and with quest stories, and the jacket noted this was a quest story:
an Egyptologist obsessed with finding the tomb of an apocryphal king. I noted
there are many interesting looking sketches and diagrams. I suppose it is
a quest story, but I couldn’t finish it. I didn’t even get to page 100. It
is told in many voices, in many eras, includes copies of letters, etc. I
couldn’t keep track of the time or the people, so I quit. I have no idea
whether the man found anything. My luck with books seems to have entered
a down phase. I shall have to look at them more carefully before bringing
them home.
Philips,A.; The Egyptologist; $24.95;383pp;Random House; NY; 2004;
ISBN 1-4000-250-0
The Full Cupboard of Life;
Alexander McCall Smith
Series
This is the fifth in the wonderful series that Smith has
been writing about Precious Ramotswe, her Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana,
her friends and acquaintances, her clients, and her fiancé - Mr. J.L.B.
Matekoni, owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, an auto repair shop.
Mma Ramotswe is still not sure when she will be married - Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni
has not mentioned the matter. However, she has detective business to take
care of, and her new client is a wealthy woman who wishes Precious to check
out her several suitors to determine if they are after her for her money.
Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni gets conned into agreeing to make a parachute jump as
the highlight of a fund raising feast that the local orphanage is planning,
and Mma Ramotswe has to get him out of that. Also appearing, of course,
is Mma Makutsi, Secretary to Precious, and also a Detective in the agency,
as well as an assistant Manager in Speedy Motors. The reader will again enjoy
the leisurely pace , the asides, the thoughts of the characters, and their
kindness, shrewdness, and love -and the wonderful writing of Smith.
Smith,A.M.; The Full Cupboard of Life; $19.95; 198pp; Pantheon Books;NY;
2003; ISBN 0-375-42218-8
The Last Dark Place; Stuart M. Kaminsky
Series
The prolific writer Kaminsky has so far written 60 books, and this is the
eighth in his police procedural series about veteran Chicago detective,
Al Lieberman. I discovered, a while back, that it didn’t matter which of
Kaminskky’s books I picked up - it was a really good read. This is no exception.
Lieberman encounters Connie Gower in his synagogue, when Gower comes to kill
him. Instead, Lieberman, then in uniform, captures him. 33 years later, Lieberman
picks up Gower, now a mob enforcer, in Arizona for deportation. Gower is
killed while in Lieberman’s custody. Lieberman sets out to find out who was
responsible for the murder - and in the meantime arrange his grandson’s bar
mitzvah. Meanwhile, his regular partner, Bill Hanrahan, has to find the man
who raped a fellow policeman’s wife , and find him before the policeman can
find him and kill him. Hanrahan, who is stuck with a temporary partner who
is also Irishman but a racist, sexist, anti-Semite to boot, has his own set
of problems centering around his new oriental wife, whose oriental acquaintances
don’t like the marriage. And there is a young man who dreams of, and plans
to kill a famous singer in order to become famous. As usual, Kapinsky weaves
all these disparate themes into an intriguing story by emphasizing the characters.
And there is a very startling, almost throw away item at the end. An item
that will be a key thing in the next book in the series.
Kaminsky,S.M.; The Last Dark Place;$23.95; Tom Dougherty Associates;
NY; 2004; ISBN 0-765-30463-5
The Palace Tiger; Barbara Cleverly
Series
Cleverly is writing an interesting
series, laid in the British Raj, in India. The series seems to be progressing
in time, and this one is laid in the early 1920s. The protagonist is Detective
Joe Sandilands, who is a Commander of Scotland Yard, and temporarily assigned
the India. In this story, he is sent to the Princely State of Ranipur to
accompany a big game hunter, Edgar Troop, who has been requested by the Maharaja.
There is a man-eating tiger on the loose, but the governor of Bengal really
wants Joe to keep an eye on things, because the Maharaja is dying of cancer,
and there are some questions about the successor to the throne. The oldest
son was killed by a panther, in what was clearly a pre-rigged murder. There
are two more sons, but when Troop and Sandilands get to Ranipur, the second
son is killed in a plane crash. And Sandilands finds that the small plane’s
control cables had been weakened, and failed, causing the crash. There is
a convoluted series of events, with it gradually appearing definite that
someone has been plotting to kill off all the heirs. The third young heir
is killed during the tiger hunt to kill the man-eater, and at first glance
it seems that he was killed by the tiger, but it is discovered that someone
has been using a stuffed tiger claw. The title is clever - when you
see how the story turns out. The plot is interesting, if very complicated,
but the real interest - to me - is the detailed look at the Raj society and
British activities during that period. There is a lot of information about
both east and west; an interesting look at the society of the time. That
was also true of the other book that I have read in this series.
Cleverly,B.; The Palace Tiger;$23.95; 304pp; Carroll & Graf; NY;
2005; ISBN 0-7865-1572-3
The Search For Nefertiti:The
True Story of an Amazing Discovery; Dr. Joann Fletcher (NF)
As readers here
know, I am a sucker for a quest story. And when the quest involves Ancient
Egypt, several thousand years B.C., at the turbulent time of Akhenaten, I
am really thrilled. That period has fascinated me for years. The quest is
Fletcher’s, and the goal is to show that an ancient, discarded mummy, is
in fact that of Nefertiti. The book is actually a sort of an illustrated,
partial autobiography of red haired, nose-pierced, feminist Joann Fletcher
who is, at the moment, 34 years old. She decided at the age of 8 that she
would be an Egyptologist, and she tells us of her efforts to that end, and
her first trip to Egypt at age 15. And she tells of her developing
career, her trips to Egypt, her specialization in hair, wigs, and jewelry,
and later her efforts with mummies in various parts of the world, but especially
Egypt. She notes briefly some of her TV efforts, and other media involvements.
She is a dandy story teller, with a sense of humor, and clever throwaway
lines here and there. There is a great deal of history about the people,
places, and events of ancient history, and the reader may be somewhat overwhelmed
by the large number of such things. There are many line drawings in the text,
and three sections of color prints. The history is redundant at times, and
very unfortunately there is no history timeline printed. Most of the activity
centers around Armana, and Karnak, and ultimately Fletcher sees a picture
of three mummies that have been left in a walled up anteroom of one of the
tombs. To her, one face looks like Nefertiti, and she sets out to find out
if she can determine if that is true. Before she gets to that task however,
she provides, among many other things, descriptions of the world of
Egyptology , and the crucial role that women have played in the science -
in fact I was surprised; somehow little of that had been in my reading! And
she spends time pointing out the importance of female pharaohs, beyond the
legendary Hapshepsut. She imagines many scenes from the past, and many parts
of the story are rife with phrases like “it is probable”, most likely”, “it
would seem”, etc. She points out the evidence that leads her to these imaginations,
and some of it is good, and some is a shaky. But it is all told well. The
index drove me bats at times - but the thing that really threw me comes at
the very end. She and colleagues took zillions of x-rays of the one mummy
that Fletcher believes to be Nefertiti, and the plates were given to a first
class forensic group, and the group was asked to reconstruct the face and
head. They were told nothing of the situation - Fletcher says ( but I’ll
bet they had some clues, at least!) And she notes that when she looked at
the reconstructed head, it was a wonderful match for the busts of Nefertiti.
And she is satisfied that she has found Nefertiti. What blew my mind is:
THAT PICTURE IS NOT PRESENTED! It should be noted that there are quite a
few experts who think Fletcher is off her trolley. I shall not note my opinions
here. Try to read the book if the general subject interests you; it is a
really dandy story, if you don’t get overwhelmed.
Fletcher,J.; The Search for Nefertiti;$25.95;452pp; William Morrow;
NY; 2004; ISBN 0-06-058556-0
The Serpent on the Crown; Elizabeth
Peters
Series
This is in the Egyptology
series that Peters writes about Amanda Peabody and her clan, which includes
her irascible husband and renowned Egyptologist, Radcliffe, their son Ramses,
his wife Nefrit, their two young, twin grandchildren, Radcliffe’s brother,
etc. It is the seventeenth book, I think, and is laid in Egypt in 1922.
The story is of the mysteries that surround a small gold statue of a Pharaoh,
one that is missing the Serpent that adorns the crowns of the ancient Egyptian
rulers. It is given to Radcliffe by a woman author who says it is cursed,
and has brought her trouble. The first mystery is where the statue had been
found, and that is followed by a murder, several attempted murders, and surrounding
all these is interesting commentary about the state of archaeological research
in Egypt during the period. The story is told both in the first person by
Amelia, and in third person alternating chapters. It follows the many characters
through to the end of the mysteries. I read this out of curiosity. I Think
that Peters should have dropped the series after about the fifth book or
so. The initial books were all narrated by Amelia, and Peters wanted to keep
that, but had to add the third person to take care of Ramses as an adult.
It is a reasonable story that will probably appeal to most followers of the
series. I keep telling myself that I WON’T read any more - but I do, Sigh
...
Peters,E.; The Serpent on the Crown;$25.95;350pp;William Morrow;NY;2005;
ISBN 0-06-059178-1
The Tree Bride; Bharati Mukherjee
Series
I think I picked up the
book because of the unusual title. What I found was an unusual book. The
author is Indian, a Brahmin I suspect, a professor of English at The University
of California, Berkeley, and has written seven novels, two non fiction books,
and two collections of short stories of which one won a National Book Critics
Circle Award. This book appears to continue an earlier book, a fact not made
clear at the beginning, and which had this reader a little baffled. But it
all worked out. The story is told in different voices, and tenses, and is
really four stories that weave back and forth in the tale. And the
number of characters - many with Indian names - is tremendous. It is therefore
difficult to follow, and requires a lot of careful attention. Give it the
attention. The writing is luminous, description is vivid, and the foreign
environments shimmer. First class writing. It is only barely possible to
outline the story here. Initially we meet the story teller, Indian born Tara
Chattergee, an inhabitant of two worlds: the here and now world of California,
in which she is well known, and the ancient Bengali world of her native India.
She and her husband, Bish, were once billionaires - he made the money in
the infotech world before it collapsed. But the financial tide turned, and
their house was bombed, leaving him wheelchair bound, and they lost their
fortune. And they are divorced, but Tara is taking care of Bish. Tara finds
she is pregnant (she has a grown son), goes to an obstetrician, and the story
starts. The obstetrician reveals that her family, and Tara’s Indian family,
had connections in the past, and that she has a lot of old documents. Tara
begins to look into the history of several people. One is of her great, great
aunt Tara, who at the age of five, was married - legally - to a tree. The
reason, the reader will see, is eminently sensible! In the course of this
she delves into the complicated history of three other people, and their
interaction with the British Raj, and the post Raj. There are spectacular
descriptions of the actions and attitudes of the British, and those who served
in British India. Included is a vivid and telling description of the older
years of one of the Brits. And all around the stories of the past is the
story of the current Tara and her family, and someone who wants Tara
dead! Whew! It is quite an experience for only 300 pages. The ending suggests
that there is another book to come.
Mukherjee,B.; The Tree Bride;$23.95; 293pp;Hyperion;NY; 2004; ISBN
1-4013-0048-8
Torture and Truth:
America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror; Mark Danner
NF (pb)
This is a collection of several items that the author published about his
experiences in Iraq, including attempts to find out details of the infamous
Abu Ghraib “interrogations.” That takes 71 pages, and is very revealing and
distressing. He then appends about 500 pages of official inquiry reports,
Red Cross reports, debriefing reports, and any thing else “official.” And
he includes all the terrible photos. I recommend the author’s articles. I
simply could not plow my way through the Appendices. And the photos are horrible.
The reader will find - as she already knows - that the whole thing has been
carefully underplayed and concealed by the Administration, and that no one
in power seems to be responsible. Who, me? I was particularly
intrigued by an “official” who, when asked if he was doing anything about
the negative Red Cross reports, said yes - he was limiting their access to
the prison!
Danner,M.; Torture and Truth;$?;580pp;New York Review of Books; NY;
2004; ISBN 1-59017-152-7
Valley of the Bones; Michael Gruber
For years Gruber has
been ghost writing enjoyable books that carry Tanenbaum as the author. A
year or so ago he decided to write under his own name, and this is his second
story. It is a strange, convoluted tale, which is ostensibly a police procedural
murder mystery, but ends up very different. A young beat-cop, Titi Morales,
sees a man come off a tall hotel building, and get impaled on a fence. Detective
Jimmy Paz arrives to take the case. Paz is well known in the area. In the
dead man’s suite they find a woman in a prayer like state, who faints
when they touch her. She is Emmylou Dideroff, who explains she had been communicating
with Saint Catherine! She had followed the man to the hotel - she knew he
was a murderer, and couldn’t believe he was walking around, but she never
got to see him. They also find a bloody piston rod, and they book the woman
for murder. She says she wants to write her confession, and starts to do
so in a series of notebooks. The woman’s past included a stay in the
unusual Catholic order of nuns: Society of Nursing Sisters of the Blood of
Christ. The book involves three separate items. One is a series of one page,
continuous accounts of the history of that order. Another is the continuing
account of the suspect’s confession - really the story of her life. And the
third is the world of Miami, and the police, and Lorna Wise, a psychologist
who visits Dideroff in custody, and who is asked by Paz to help determine
whether Dideroff is really guilty. The story hinges around the fact that
Dideroff once lived in Africa, in Nigeria, and found out that in the remote
poverty stricken area where she was, there was a tremendous, untapped, oil
reservoir. To exploit it would demolish the tribal civilization in the area.
No one else knows where it is, but it is known that Dideroff knows, and it
happens that is the driving force behind the whole story. Oil interests,
the CIA, one or two secret US operative agencies, the FBI, and others play
a part. Gradually Paz, Morales, and Wise get the thing unraveled. Through
it, they are never quite sure about who - or what - Dideroff really is. She
feels she is a messenger and activist for God, and she has a number of persona.
It is, as I said, a strange book, with a religious shimmer to it. All in
all, I don’t think I liked it very much.
NOTE: For some reason I seem to have got into a pattern of bringing
home stories that, at the end, I don’t like! Or perhaps it is associated
with changes in my reading habits. I’ll watch and see.
Gruber,M.; Valley of the Bones; $24.95; 436pp; Harper Collins;NY;2005;
ISBN 0-06-057766-5
White Thunder; Aimée & David
Thurlo
Ah, the latest Ella
Clah novel. Readers of these annotations know that I am a fan of the Thurlos
- at least with regard to the Ella Clah Novels. Not the vampire ones! Readers
will also know that Clah is a Navaho, formerly with the FBI, and now an investigator
with the Navajo tribal police. The stories take place on the Navajo reservation,
and are essentially police procedurals, but with involved and good plots,
much tribal lore and convention - and problems, and first class story telling.
This one involves the vanishing of a new, young, FBI agent who went to find
a wanted man at a tribal ceremony - not realizing that his appearance would
be a severe violation of Navajo custom. The simple sounding case begins to
take on all sorts of turns, and ultimately involves a clever scheme for swindling
the U.S. Government. Good story - as always.
Thurlo,A.&D.; White Thunder; $23.95; 253pp; Tom Doherty Assoc.;
NY; 2005; ISBN 0-765-31174-7
Who Murdered Chaucer?:
A Medieval Mystery; Terry Jones, Robert Yeager, Alan Fletcher, Juliette
Dor, Terry Dolan
NF
This is a really scrumptious
book, and heavy! It is of heavy glossy paper, with many, many striking illustrations.
And it is fascinating. Jones, who was once a member of the British Monty
Python Show (!), has written several books about the Middle Ages, and he
has written part of this one. His co-writers have filled it out in their
areas of expertise, and Jones compiled and edited the final version. Geoffrey
Chaucer - he of the Canterbury Tales and other works - simply vanished from
history in 1400. There are no records of his death, there are no records
that reveal anything about him after a certain date. The writers here make
a case for considering that Chaucer was, in fact, murdered, because he was
at cross purposes with the crown, and right in the political middle. The
tale is a fascinating exposition of the great tensions between Church and
State, and in the State, in Britain, during the last decade of Chaucer’s
life, and how Chaucer’s writing was essentially subversive. And that, it
is argued, could provide a reason for someone to murder him. The writers
compile anecdote after anecdote, and examine writings and records of the
times, and as far as I am concerned, make a good case for a possible murder.
Mind you they do not say he was murdered - no one can know that - they simply
argue that it is a very possible scenario. This is one of the best analyses
that I have ever seen of that particular time in British history, and it
is a very readable, if at times irreverent, bit of story telling. It is a
great view of the world of Chaucer, the writings of Chaucer, and what we
know about Chaucer. I recommend it highly - if history is of interest to
you. It is quite a scholarly book, with references, notes, and a bibliography.
Jones,T. (editor); Who Murdered Chaucer?;$29.95; 406pp; Thomas Dunne
Books;NY; 2003; ISBN 0-312-33587-3
AUTHORS
Aron,P.; More Unsolved Mysteries of American History, 6
Campbell,J.; Pathways to Bliss, 6
Cleverly,B.; The Palace Tiger, 8
Danner,M.; Torture and Truth, 10
Evanovich, J.; Metro Girl, 5
Fletcher,J.; The Search for Nefertiti, 9
Greeley, A.M.; Irish Cream, 4
Griffith, W.E.B.; By Order of the President, 2
Gruber,M.; Valley of the Bones, 11
Gurney,A.; Compass, 2
Higgins,K.; Brought In Dead, 1
Hillerman,T.; Skeleton Man, 7
Hoffman,A.; Blackbird House, 1
Jones,T. (editor); Who Murdered Chaucer?, 11
Kaminsky,S.M.; The Last Dark Place, 8
Maron,M.; High Country Fall, 3
McCrumb,S.; St. Dale, 7
Menzies,G.; 1421, 2
Mukherjee,B.; The Tree Bride, 10
Peters,E.; The Serpent on the Crown, 9
Phillips.A.; The Egyptologist, 8
Polaski,H.K. (ed.); Memories From the Attic, 5
Quinlan,M.P.; Irish Boston, 3
Reichs,K.; Monday Mourning, 5
Rollins,J.; Map of Bones, 4
Smith,A.M.; Portuguese Irregular Verbs, 6
Smith,A.M.; The Full Cupboard of Life, 8
Swanson,G.J.; America the Broke, 1
Thurlo,A.&D.; White Thunder, 11
TITLES
America the Broke; Gerald J. Swanson, 1
Blackbird House; Alice Hoffman, 1
Brought In Dead; Jack Higgins, 1
By Order of the President; W.E.B. Griffith, 2
Compass; Alan Gurney, 2
1421: The Year China Discovered America; Gavin Menzies, 2
High Country Fall; Margaret Maron, 3
Irish Boston; Michael P. Quinlan, 3
Irish Cream; Andrew M. Greeley, 4
Map of Bones; James Rollins, 4
Memories From The Attic; Helen. K. Polaski (ed.), 5
Metro Girl; Janet Evanovich, 5
Monday Mourning; Kathy Reichs, 5
More Unsolved Mysteries of American History; Paul Aron, 6
Pathways to Bliss; Joseph Campbell, 6
Portuguese Irregular Verbs; Alexander McCall Smith, 6
Skeleton Man; Tony Hillerman, 7
St. Dale; Sharon McCrumb, 7
The Egyptologist; Arthur Phillips, 8
The Full Cupboard of Life; Alexander McCall Smith, 8
The Last Dark Place; Stuart M. Kaminsky, 8
The Palace Tiger; Barbara Cleverly, 8
The Search for Nefertiti; Dr. Joann Fletcher, 9
The Serpent on the Crown; Elizabeth Peters, 9
The Tree Bride; Bharati Mukherjee, 10
Torture and Truth; Mark Danner, 10
Valley of the Bones; Michael Gruber, 11
White Thunder; Aimée & David Thurlo, 11
Who Murdered Chaucer?; Terry Jones, Robert Yeager,
Alan Fletcher, Juliette Dor, Terry Dolan, 11