Book Report: Having Everything

Having Everything
by John L'Heureux

From Back:
Philip Tate is a man who has everything--youth, looks, a beautiful wife and perfect family, a distinguished deanship at Harvard. Having Everything is the story of a nighttime drive that leads Philip to jeopardize it all for a moment's flirtation with the forbidden. For on that drive he will collide with the Kizers--beautiful, troubled Dixie and brilliant, kinky Hal. By stepping, without knocking, into the Kizer's house and into the midst of their sad marriage, Philip sets in motion the near ruin--and perhaps the salvation--of his entire world.

First Paragraph:
Philip Tate was forty-five and he had everything--a distinguished career, a still-beautiful wife, two healthy kids in top schools--and now he had the Goldman Chair. Furthermore he was a good man, essentially.

Book Report: Saints of Big Harbor

Saints of Big Harbor
By Lynn Coady

Book Report: We Disappear

We Disappear
By Scott Heim

From Back:
The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna--a recent widow battling cancer--calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about 'disappeared' people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on--though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation.
But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, he must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens... and ultimately, to Scott himself.

First Paragraph:
The little girls who found the body of the missing boy were not angels, although that is how the newspaper described them, the following morning, beneath the headline. I saw the photo, after all, and the seven girls were only girls. They had no heavenly warmth or sweet, scarless faces kissed individually by God. What the girls did have were muddy pant-legs and boots; bright jackets buttoned against the wind of a Sunday hiking trip; name tags in crooked calligraphy made just that morning by their Lutheran youth-group sponsor. Teresa and Joy, Maura Kay, Mary Anne. Two Jennifers and a Missy. When I close my eyes, I picture the girls stepping back, a warped semicircle, as the body of the murdered boy, his bones and tattered flannels, alters their lives forever. Their hands folded clumsily for prayer. Their seven mouths a silent chorous of ohs.

Book Report: Scar Culture

Scar Culture
by Toni Davidson

From the back cover:
With the power of the spoken word and the authenticity of a research document, Scar Culture follows the lives of Click, Fright, and their dysfunctional therapist Sad. Using experimental techniques, Sad tries to bring Click and Fright out of the stupor to which they have succumbed from childhood abuse. Tempering the story with the darkest humor, Toni Davidson makes us confront the meaning of being human in this challenge to psychotherapy.


First Paragraph:

Click

I heard the groans first, 17 whistling, chest groans, the familiar rumble of my father's tones, seeping out the cracks in the wooden slats of the hut. I nursed my slight injuries from the fall--grazed skin on my arms and legs, a deeper bruise on my back where my t-shirt had been torn and inadvertently camouflaged and a throbbing head from numerous root thuds--but the grazes and bruises were nothing, I had the resilience of expectation, an incredible, believable shield that was such a strong armour.
Then.




This book is split into 5 parts: Click's story, Fright's story, Sad's story, then the planning and execution of Sad's controversial and experimental form of therapy. Each character's view point is vastly different and unique, which Davidson made excellent use of later on.

The first story is of Click, a boy living in a caravan with his sex-driven and obsessively-compulsively clean mother and his erratic-behaved father, who is suffering the end-phase of some sort of head tumor. Though neither parent is outwardly physically hurtful to Click, the environment itself along with their odd behaviors is certainly enough to screw up his childhood. Click has distanced himself by inventing a 'head camera', with which he takes pictures with his mind during climatic moments of his fear. And when his mother gets him his first and only gift--a real camera--both are used in capturing random moments of Click's life. His story ends after his mother, having enough of her husband's bizzare outbursts, leaves and soon thereafter, the child services agency arrives to separate Click and his father.

Fright's story is much less confusing and much more heartbreaking--the type of story you would expect when dealing with child abuse. Fright and his brother Jake live in an apartment with their mother and violent father. The boys' only source of kindness comes from their mother, and Fright's memories of her are strong. After she is killed by their father, his violence is unleashed and the boys can rely only on each other. Fright looks up to Jake as his older, smarter brother--but Jake's streak of rebellion and protectiveness make him the target for their father's abuse. Before long, the apartment is tranformed into a sort of refuge for drug addicts and perverts, and the boys are secluded to a small room behind a flowered curtain--which they are warned never to go through. After a particularly brutal beating, curiosity gets the best of Fright and with Jake unconscious, enters his father's dark domain. Rape is implied. Fright's story ends when his father drives both boys out to the country, beats them up, then leaves with Jake and Fright is abandoned.

With Sad's adult character comes an adult voice--which is a welcome but less emotional change after becoming accustomed to the boys' thoughts and speech. Sad is a somewhat pretentious therapist, who disdains his fellows at the 'hospital' he works for because they are afraid to break rules, afraid to think outside the box. He views the hospital as a sort of mill that receives damaged people, patches a band-aid over them, and kicks them out again without ever really helping people or getting to the route of their problems. But while his initial motives may be good, Sad is pretty messed up himself. Since childhood, he's been studying the sexual development of himself, his friends, his sister. He kept textbooks instead of porn, and has seen a few therapists himself but even at such a young age, manipulated them. It is slowly revealed that all through his childhood, he tormented his sister just short of actually assaulting her--but she apparently was a willing subject to his studies. And now, they live together and are, in fact, incestuous.

One day, a fellow specialist in 'inter-family sex' contacts Sad from abroad, with grand fantasies of turning the psychology field upside down. He has come in contact with a seemingly-mute boy and wants to do whatever necessary to 'correct' the boy. He urges Sad to follow in his footsteps, to make a name for himself, to stop droning away his life and career and make a difference. Soon thereafter, Sad is informed of two highly disturbed boys that have come into treatment at his hospital, but that no one can make any amount of headway with. These, Sad decides, are the oppurtunities he has been waiting for.

What follows is an ever-increasingly disturbing account of Sad's possession of Click and Fright, now each grown up and extremely unbalanced: Click has been bounced from shelter to shelter, mute and unresponsive to any sort of therapy, while Fright has just been literally scraped from his mattress in the apartment where he has been waiting years for Jake to return, covered in filth and nearly emaciated. Sad is granted access to an unused wing of the hospital, a large empty room where he divides the length into two rooms on either side of a hallway, and each boy--man--is kept in isolation and observed. Sad almost immediately discovers that inside of Click's only surviving childhood possession, a stuffed bear, are rolls of undeveloped film--further proof to Sad that all other therapists are worthless and uninterested. He gives Click a dark room, and before long, Click has hundreds of images stung about his room and is writing captions for each. Fright, on the other hand, constantly mumbles. He is given a tape recorder and Sad listens to the tapes, full of recounts of abuse and longing for Jake, and their mother. Sad does indeed make progress with each boy where no one could before, but the story takes a turn for the worse.

Sad decides to experiment on the men, by recreating their environments from childhood in hopes that the overwhelming shock of it will cause some big breakthrough. This sent a chill of foreboding down my spine and as the story neared climax, each page became harder to read then the last. Sad injects Click and Fright with a drug to keep them asleep while Sad and four other patients build a caravan around Click, and hang a flowered curtain around Fight. During this ever-increasing madness, Sad's sanity becomes even more questionable by his sister's doll-like presence, morphing in age before our very eyes. As Sad loses control, everything around him comes tumbling down as well.

The book is GOOD. It is disturbing and controversial and you'll find yourself forming opinions--strong opinions--and (hopefully) protesting. It is very visual--I felt like I'd just watched a movie. I don't think I've EVER been as involved in a story and concerned for the outcome of its characters. After being in the heads of those two boys, and then seeing what was being done to them, I can't imagine how any reader would not feel something. This book was not afraid to 'go there', and its courage is appluadable. Very strong writing, strong characters, and very real.

Just be warned--you'll be hesitant to visit the psychologist anytime soon.

Five stars out of five

Book Report: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski

From the Jacket
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections.

Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.


First Sentence:
A Handful of Leaves
In the year 1919, Edgar's grandfather, who was born with an extra share of whimsy, bought their land and all the buildings on it from a man he'd never met, a man named Schultz, who in his turn had walked away from a logging team half a decade earlier after seeing the chains on a fully loaded timber sled let go. Twenty tons of rolling maple buried a man where Schultz had stood the moment before.


Edgar Sawtelle... where do I begin??

This book is 566 pages of dare-I-say life changing fiction. After months in the top five best-sellers list, I'm sure there are a plethora of reviews out there, better and more efficient than anything I could write. So instead, I'll focus on my impressions.

I'll admit, the size of this hard-cover edition is intimidating. This is a monster of a book and I'm reminded of the movie 'Wonder Boys', in which, near the end, Micheal Douglas's author character Grady Tripp confesses that his novel exceeded one thousand pages because he 'just couldn't stop'. In the beginning, I felt that like Grady Tripp, Wroblewski also meandered excessively, included more than was necessary regarding the history of the land and the in-depth exploration of Edgar's parents and grandparents. Edgar isn't even born until page 30. Still more chapters as he grows and learns to communicate. And all of it is lovely, stunning, moving prose.

But Edgar's father doesn't die until page 122 and a full 200 pages later, he sets out on his own. To shrink this story down to a one line summary of: "After his father's death, a mute boy runs into the woods to live with three dogs"--the blurb accompanying the title in the best-seller charts--is setting some readers up for failure. There is much, MUCH more to this story. This is a book to sink your teeth in, to become immersed in, to savor and enjoy and get lost with. The characters speak to you, the landscapes leap off the pages.

And the dogs.

Wroblewski claimed he wrote the book he wanted to read, a story about a boy and his dog. This is the book I want to write, and loved reading. The kennel of Sawtelle dogs is perhaps the heart of this entire story. These dogs have been crafted with care and respect and honesty and romance, at the same time being both just dogs and so much more.

Perfection is this:

This will be his earliest memory.

Red lights, morning light. High ceiling canted overhead. Lazy click of toenails on wood. Between the honey-colored slats of the crib a whiskery muzzle slides forward until its cheeks pull back and a row of dainty front teeth bare themselves in a ridiculous grin.
The nose quivers. The velvet snout dimples.
All the house is quiet. Be still. Stay still.
Fine, dark muzzle fur. Black nose, leather of lacework creases, comma of nostrils flexing with each breath. A breeze sushes up the field and pillows the curtains inward. The apple tree near the kitchen window caresses the house with a tick-tickety-tick-tick. As slowly as he can, he exhales, feigning sleep, but despite himself his breath hitches. At once, the muzzle knows he is awake. It snorts. Angles left and right. Withdraws. Outside the crib, Almondine's forequarters appear. Her head is reared back, her ears cocked forward.
A cherry-brindled eye peers back at him.
Whoosh of her tail.
Be still. Stay still.
The muzzle comes hunting again, tunnels beneath his blanket, below the farmers and pigs and chicks and cows dyed into that cotton world. His hand rises on fingers and spider-walks across the surprised farmyard residents to challenge the intruder. It becomes a bird, hovering before their eyes. Thumb and index fingers squeeze the crinkled black nose. The pink of her tongue darts out but the bird flies away before Almondine can lick it. Her tail is switching harder now. Her body sways, her breath envelopes him. He tugs the blackest whisker on her chin and this time her tongue catches the palm of his hand ever so slightly. He pitches to his side, rubs his hand across the blanket, blows a breath in her face. Her ears flick back. She stomps a foot. He blows again and she withdraws and bows and woofs, low in her chest, quiet and deep, the boom of an uncontainable heartbeat. Hearing it, he forgets and presses his face against the rails to see her, all of her, take her inside him with his eyes, and before he can move, she smears her tongue across his nose and forehead! He claps a hand to her face but it's too late--she's away, spinning, biting her tail, dancing in the moted sunlight that spills through the window glass.

My heart hurts when I read this passage, hurts with fondness and love and echoes of my own childhood memories, growing up in a family where dogs were integral and natural. Words cannot describe the power of this book... the total immersion as the words draw you in and swirl around you, the images that are so real you'll swear you've watched a movie. But better. Way better.

Edgar Sawtelle is an experience. It wouldn't surprise me if a movie follows, and while I will probably watch it, I know right now that it won't measure up. There is no way to capture all the subtleties, and to try--to bludgeon these nuances into obviousness, or to try and hack away the backstory or filler scenes--would destroy the very essence of Edgar Sawtelle. This book is a masterpiece, a complete world that will linger long after the cover is closed.

(And all that stuff I said before, about the seemingly needless and excessive backstory? Without it, the later events wouldn't be nearly as powerful.)

Five strong stars out of five

Book Report: Electric God

Electric God
by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Book Description:
Hayden Reese once had it all: a wife he loved completely, a daughter he adored, and a son on the way. And then, little by little, his life came undone.
When his son died at birth, the anger Hayden had been supressing ever since the accidental death of his brother could no longer be contained. Little by little, the rage against life and God cost him his marriage, his family and his freedom.
As Electric God begins, Hayden, newly released from jail, is living a marginal life in a remote California town. He has just buried his dog--the thing he loved most in the world--and now finds that he is losing Laurel, the only person with whom he's had a relationship in years. It seems that God is not quite through with him.
But when a figure from his past turns up, Hayden is forced to re-visit and re-evaluate his life. Perhaps at last he might reach an understanding as to why he has been tested so harshly by this seemingly cavalier God.

First paragraph:
Hayden Resse picked his way on foot in the dark, straight uphill into national forest territory, his Jenny dangling heavy on his right shoulder. Still supple she felt, and almost warm. His only little bit of comfort.
In his left hand, the shovel.


This story opens in present-day and introduces Hayden Reese, a quiet cowboy-type man of 50 who is living in a tiny shack on the outskirts of a small town. But despite his normally tame demeanor, Hayden is a man struggling to contain violent outbursts and unreconciled childhood pain. His girlfriend, Laurel, has just gone back to her husband and in typical male fashion, the two men butt heads (fight) when they're brought together. But when Laurel's daughter disappears with her teenaged boyfriend, it is Hayden that Laurel runs to to bring her back. In true chivalrousness, Hayden drives a great distance to retrieve Peg and once he finds her, gets tied up in a rescue operation more dangerous than any of them imagined. Violence once again escapes him, only this time to his advantage. He and Peg return safely but now Peg has developed a case of hero worship and becomes delusional about their relationship. When Laurel's husband discovers the goings on between Hayden and the rest of his family, he puts a stop to it all with a shotgun.

The middle third of this book takes the reader back in time, to Hayden's childhood. It's backstory that reveals the boy behind the stoic facade. Hayden and his little brother Daniel are growing up in a small town, under the emotionally-distant and somewhat cruel disciplinary methods of their father.

"Where's Daniel?"
"I don't know, sir. I haven't seen him since Bible studies."
"You don't know."
"No sir."
"I ask you where your brother is and you just don't know."
"No sir. Sorry."
Hayden stood on the boards of the front porch, eyes trained down to the faded brown paint. His father stood in the doorway, blocking him, one massive shoulder leaning on the door frame. Unrolling a pack of Camels from the short sleeve of his crisply starched white shirt, he shook one filterless cigarette out, lit it slowly with a cardboard match, cupping his hands around the flame. He towered above Hayden while he waited.

Daniel is their father's favorite, and Hayden never can seem to measure up. He is in charge of monitoring Daniel, making sure the younger boy stays out of trouble--to a degree that interferes with Hayden's own personal life. When he gets a shot at a real date, Hayden decides that just this once, Daniel will be okay on his own--a fatal mistake that ruins both their lives. The guilt festers inside of Hayden as he ages, even indirectly affecting his marriage many years later. When Hayden finds his teenage daughter abandoned in the city by her boyfriend after she denied him sex, Hayden snaps. He tracks the boy down at school and the ensuing attack lands him in jail.

The third section of this book returns us to the present day, when Hayden awakes from a coma against the odds, and begins a long journey of recovery. His daughter has returned while he was unconscious, and with her all the old unhealed issues from the past.

The writing is pretty and vivid, (The Arabians ran like they'd just been waiting for an excuse. They threw their heads high and raised their tails into flags, and now and then the broke gait, down into a long, extended trot that covered a remarkable amount of ground.) and displays the flat states and small towns in all their bleak glory. Hayden's personal growth does not come easy, but neither does he come off as helpless or feminine--which pleased me greatly as the story is written by a woman author. Hayden is a ruff and rugged hero, full of inner torment, physical pain, and very strong moral codes.

"There are two different kinds of leaders, my friend. Two different ways to lead. Nobody really knows which kind they are until they're in battle and pinned down, and it's clear there will be losses. Say you're in battle and you have five men under you. And you care for them all. You want that no one should be lost. But you find you have to sacrifice one of your men."
"No good leader sacrifices one of his men."
"That might not be true. Without that sacrifice maybe everyone will die. That man and the others as well. Then what?"
"Nobody should be sacrificed."

He struggles to accept change, and is stubborn, and is at once both the protector and in need of protecting. I enjoyed his character and the moral issues that were presented and worked through--having to use brains instead of brawn, and learning to trust and share himself.

"It's such a mess."
"What is?"
"My chest. I don't even like to look at it myself."
"Can I see?"
"No."
"I didn't think so. You always wanted to keep things from me. Anything you thought I wouldn't like about you. You always wanted to spare me your messes. But it's part of what always kept us apart from each other, I think."
"We weren't always apart from each other."
"In some ways we were."

And the biggest lesson of all:

"Think you can ever forgive me for that?"
"I know I couldn't have at the time. But we're a lot older now. We've had a lot of time to think."
"I'm not sure you can think your way through forgiveness."

Four out of five stars for characterization, transformation, emotion and tone

Book Report: Midget

Midget
By Tim Bowler

Book Description:
A unique and unnerving story about Midget - fifteen years old, three feet tall, and target of his older brother's bullying and cruelty. Midget dreams of buying a boat and sailing away, but people say it'll take a miracle for that to happen. Midget knows miracles can happen, but sometimes they hurt people who get in the way . . .

First paragraph:

The voice hissed into his ear.
"So you managed to sneak out again. And have another little look at what you know you can't have. What a pointless exercise."
There was no need to turn to know who it was. No need to try and run.
No point in running.


On my paperback copy of Midget, there is no book description, only two reviews. The first is from The Horn Book: 'The writing is piercingly direct in this psychological thriller about a physically handicapped boy who, after years of stealth and sadistic abuse by his older brother, finally wreaks his revenge...'

Those four hints had me tossing onto my pile immediately, without further question. After I got it home, I looked at the filing categories and it is listed under: 1. Physically handicapped--fiction. 2. Brothers--fiction. 3. Emotional problems--fiction.

Score.

Midget is indeed about an undersized teenager, though his problems go far beyond his height. Midget (a derogatory nickname that he no longer bothers to deny) also cannot talk, and suffers from some type of seizure and blackout, most often brought on by the presence of his older brother, Seb. Seb is perhaps Midget's biggest problem, with stealthy night attacks and physical abuse and relentless, utterly cruel taunting. The boy's father is unaware of Seb's dark side--a blind optimistic who only sees a devoted, loving older brother and a moody, angry handicapped timebomb. Midget and Seb's mother died giving birth to Midget, and this is a great source of hatred for Seb, who openly vows to get 'revenge' on Midget. The only joy Midget has in his life is the local marina, where he goes to sit and look at the boats and watch the water.

When Midget starts pining for a small sailboat that appears to have been abandoned, half-finished, Seb uses it as fodder for his teasing. However, the foreman of the boatyard notices, and after a time invites Midget for a closer look. The boat has not been abandoned, but is being built by Old Joesph, a rambling old man with a severe heart problem, not long for this world. Joesph has just been released from the hospital and is alive for just enough time to finish the boat and have a conversation with Midget--talking to Midget in a way no one else will, as if he is just a normal boy. Entranced by this crazy old man, Midget quickly forms a bond with the man, and takes his words to heart.

"Oh, I know." The old man held up a gnarled finger, splotched with yellow paint. "You're thinkin' miracles 'as got to be on the outside. Well, they is, eventually. But they start inside. You build 'em in your boatyard--" He tapped his head again. "You see 'em good, want 'em good, believe in 'em good." The ancient face seemed to light up. "Then you launch your miracle boats down the slipway an' they sail into your life."

It is through this advice that Midget discovers something within himself--the power to make things happen. With concentration, he forms a picture in his mind and concentrates on every detail, and when it is complete, it plays out in real life. They are his miracles, and they are the start of something big.

However, the next day, Midget goes to visit Joesph and arrives just in time for some final words and a last breath. Midget feels the loss profoundly.

But Old Joesph, perhaps not as crazy as everyone thought he was, leaves Midget the boat in his hastily-written will. It is a miracle--what Midget has been praying for--and finally, he has a bit of freedom. They are a family of boaters, and no longer will Seb be the golden child of the marina. Together with the Miracle Man (perhaps the only 'male' boat), Midget proves himself an even better boater than his brother.

Between the increasing hostility from Seb, and the increasing power of his mental power, things only get worse for Midget and the climax is tense and cliffy, as there is no easy way out for Midget. And shouldn't all protags be pushed to the limits?

"Remember, some folk are real good at miracles. They can make 'em happen right away." The eyes darkened like wind over the sea. "But there's good miracles an' bad miracles. So make sure the Skipper's 'appy with what you want."

Midget stared down, trying not to believe what was happening. But the voice was growing weaker and he knew it would not be long.
"If you want a bad miracle... 'an you see it good... 'an you believe in it good--then you'll get it. Only somethin' else comes with it."
The old man took a long, slow breath.
"Evil comes with it."

Three and a half stars out of Five

Book Report: The Good Thief

The Good Thief
By Hannah Tinti

Book Description:
Twelve-year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony's Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world.
But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuade the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he's lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.


First paragraph:
The man arrived after morning prayers. Word spread quickly that someone had come, and the boys of Saint Anthony's orphanage elbowed each other and strained to catch a glimpse as he unhitched his horse and led it to the trough for drinking. The man's face was hard to make out, his hat pulled so far down that the brim nearly touched his nose. He tied the reins to a post and then stood there, patting the horse's neck as it drank. The man waited, and the boys watched, and when the mare finally lifted her head, they saw the man lean forward, stroke the animal's nose, and kiss her. Then he wiped his lips with the back of his hand, removed his hat, and made his way across the yard to the monastery.


I saw this book 'blogged' in the Kansas City Star and mentioned to mom that it sounded good. Couple weeks later, it showed up in the mail. *grin*

For so long, I've *avoided* female authors because I thought 'they' all only wrote about female protags. Even if a title sounded good, I wouldn't even pick it up if a woman was the author. This book taught me a lesson. Hannah Tinti is a wonderful writer and an entrancing story-teller. I loved every bit of this crazy-charactered, completely unique story.

First off, I will remember this book for its characters. The protag is Ren, a one-handed twelve year old orphan with a bit of a temper, and a narrow mind. While his overall arch is to go from lonely and wanting to independent and confident, the road there is paved with richness and imagery. His progression is very nicely illustrated through relationships with others, and making his own hard decisions. He comes to terms with himself slowly and naturally, and things don't work out perfectly. The story stays organic to itself.

But Ren is certainly not the only memorable character. Each person in this story is unique and lovable for (or despite) their flaws. Benjamin--while not the pure-intentioned 'big brother' he presents himself as--is heart-stealing. He's a thief, but good-hearted. His cleverness is his undoing, always trying to 'get ahead' with less-than-moral schemes while maintaining a genuine caring for those around him. Despite his disappointment at the lies, Ren quickly takes to Benjamin--as did I.

Benjamin Nab put his hands on his hips and surveyed the land as if it all belonged to him. Then he turned back to the boy. "Let's have another look at you."
Ren stood perfectly still as the man walked around him. Benjamin Nab crouched down, then lifted the boy's arm and examined the end of the wrist where the skin was sewn over. Ren waited for the usual signs of discomfort or shock. But Benjamin Nab's face held none of these things. He raised his eyebrows.
"Well," he said, "you have another one, don't you?"

Benjamin has a side-kick, the somewhat shady ex-schoolteacher, Tom, who spends his free time and money in a bottle. Benjamin and Tom are long-time friends, and this relationship is portrayed naturally with nick-names and bickering and concern for one another. As long as the two are together, they will be okay--exploiting Ren's 'misfortunes'--and for the first time Ren feels like part of something.

After having exhausted all their schemes and tricks, the three move to a new town in a stolen wagon (drawn by the mare from the first paragraph, also stolen, of course). It is here that the brass, spunky, nearly-deaf Mrs. Sands is introduced.

They knocked for some time before a woman came to answer. She was taller than Benjamin by at least a head and had broad shoulders, thick arms, and a very long, thin neck. Her face was middle-aged, with bright, quick eyes and a nose with one nostril larger than the other. Her hair was tucked away into a cap and she wore a coarse apron covering a brown dress. A ring of keys was tied to a thick leather belt around her waist.
"WHAT ARE YOU KNOCKING FOR?" she shouted.
"We're looking for a room," said Benjamin.
"I DON'T OPEN THE PLACE TO STRANGERS."
"My name is Benjamin Nab." He held out his hand, using his smile. "There, you see, I'm no longer a stranger."

She rents the three a room and cooks meals for them, and Ren takes to her and her motherly (albeit quirky) ways quickly. He discovers her brother, a midget who lives on the roof and comes down the chimney at night for dinner. He meets the four mouse-trap girls, four teenagers who work at the nearby mouse-trap factory and who stop by each morning for something to eat. And during a grave-robbing mission with Benjamin and Tom, Ren meets Dolly:

The horse began to shuffle. She gave a small kick with her legs that banged against the wood, and Ren suddenly found his voice again. Tom stumbled out of the churchyard and clapped his hand over the boy's mouth, but Ren continued screaming straight through Tom's fingers.
"It's alright," said Benjamin. "Don't move," he said.
In the wagon was a dead man, sitting up with his eyes open. The burlap hung like a hood around his shoulders. His head was square and short and dirty. He was bald.
"I'm hungry," said the dead man. There was mud on his lips.

The Good Thief is a magical story, rich with humor and originality and new people. Hanna walks the line between fantasy and real-world strangeness, and takes the third act to an even higher level with the introduction of some truly nasty antagonists. This story is a wild ride and thoroughly enjoyable and vivid. I will remember this story, and its characters, forever.

Five out of five stars!

Book Report: Timbuktu

Timbuktu
By Paul Auster

Book Description:
Meet Mr. Bones, the canine hero of Paul Auster's remarkable new novel, Timbuktu. Mr. Bones is the sidekick and confidant of Willy G. Christmas, the brilliant, troubled, and altogether original poet-saint from Brooklyn. Like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza before them, they sally forth on a last great adventure, heading for Baltimore, Maryland in search of Willy's high school teacher, Bea Swanson. Years have passed since Willy last saw his beloved mentor, who knew him in his previous incarnation as William Gurevitch, the son of Polish war refugees. But is Mrs. Swanson still alive? And if she isn't, what will prevent Willy from vanishing into that other world known as Timbuktu?

Mr. Bones is our witness. Although he walks on four legs and cannot speak, he can think, and out of his thoughts Auster has spun one of the richest, most compelling tales in recent American fiction. By turns comic, poignant, and tragic, Timbuktu is above all a love story. Written with a scintillating verbal energy, it takes us into the heart of a singularly pure and passionate character, an unforgettable dog who has much to teach us about our own humanity.

First sentences:
Mr. Bones knew Willy wasn't long for this world. The cough had been inside him for over six months, and by now there wasn't a chance in hell that he would ever get rid of it. Slowly and inexorably, without once taking a turn for the better, the thing had assumed a life of its own, advancing from a faint, phlegm-filled rattle in the lungs on February third to the wheezy sputum-jigs and gobby convulsions of high summer.


Timbuktu is a relatively short story that, while taking a bit of time to get started, leaves a fairly deep impression after it's over. While the story is told through a dog's point of view, don't be fooled into thinking this is a simple-minded story. Mr. Bones is (perhaps as all dogs) insightful and intuitive and proves to be a compassionate and honest narrator. He loves his owner deeply and much of the first third of this book is getting to know Willy, the self-appointed Saint of Brooklyn. Mr. Bones tells us what he knows of Willy through memories, both his own and the stories of Willy's mother that date back to Willy's childhood. And while Willy unfolds into a well-intentioned character the reader can certainly feel sympathy for, I felt as if too much time was devoted to a character who dies so soon.

But Willy was all that Mr. Bones had ever known, and the sick man's passing is a profound event. Alone for the first time ever, Mr. Bones must now fend for himself. He heads off in an unknown direction and quickly becomes hungry and weary. After misjudging a group of violent teenaged boys, Mr. Bones befriends the one good-hearted boy from the lot. Henry is an outcast himself, and sneaks Mr. Bones home to live in a cardboard box behind his home. With unfailing devotion, Henry sneaks past his father to deliver food to Mr. Bones, and the two spend much time together in the last days of summer.

Then as all good things must, it comes to an end. Henry's father discovers the dog and becomes infuriated and violent. Henry must send Mr. Bones on his way.

Mr. Bones had only the dimmest idea of what Henry was talking about. The boy was sobbing too hard for his words to be understood, but as the rush of chopped-off sllyables and stuttered phrases continued, it became increasingly clear that this outburst was more than just a passing mood. Something was wrong, and while Mr. Bones could scarcely imagine what that thing was Henry's sadness was beginning to have an effect on him, and within a matter of minutes he had taken on the boy's sadness as his own. Such is the way with dogs.

Once more, Mr. Bones is on his own. He travels north, simply because it feels right, and soon the city turns to fields and Mr. Bones stumbles across a house, where he finds two small children playing outside as their mother tends the plants. Having learned that most people are hostile toward stray dogs, Mr. Bones announces himself delicately and with a sort of knowing calmness.

"My buddy," Tiger said, tightening his grip even more, and although Mr. Bones was gratified to discover that he wasn't about to be devoured by a wild beast, the pressure on his throat was becoming severe enough to make him squirm now. The boy might not have been a real tiger, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. In his own little way, he was more of an animal than Mr. Bones was.
Fortunately, the woman arrived just then and grabbed hold of the boy's arm, pulling him off Mr. Bones before more damage could be done. "Careful, Tiger," she said. "We don't know if he's a nice dog or not."
"Oh, he's nice," the girl said, gently patting Mr. Bones on his crown. "All you have to do is look into his eyes. He's real nice, Mama. I'd say he's about the nicest dog I've ever seen."

Mr. Bones slowly adjusts to this new life--a proper life, some would say--of living on a chain, sleeping in a well-kept dog house, keeping watch over the yard and its wildlife, and stealing in the house when Polly, wife and mother, would sneak him in during her days alone while the kids were at school and her husband at work. Mr. Bones becomes part of the family, survives neutering, and shares a special part of Polly's life.

But then Christmas rolls around and the family leaves Mr. Bones at a kennel before going on vacation. Mr. Bones does not understand, does not eat, and quickly becomes sick. With the last of his strength, he escapes from the kennel as the owners are loading him up to take him to the vet, and Mr. Bones sets out once again--this time to find his family.

The ending is anything but happy.

I felt cheated, and a bit confused, and of course sad. Was this really the only possible ending? Was Mr. Bones's doom spelled out all along, and I missed it? Had he really survived everything before in vain? Maybe it's because the protag is a dog, but this book as hit a sore spot and leaves an ache. Too bad such an endearing character is brought to such an end.

Three out of five stars for 'getting dogs', eliciting reader emotion, and detail

Book Report: An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England

An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England
By Brock Clarke

Book Description:
As a teenager, it was never Sam Pulsifer's intention to torch an American landmark, and he certainly never planned to kill two people in the blaze. To this day, he still wonders why that young couple was upstairs in bed in the Emily Dickinson House after hours.

After serving ten years in prison for his crime, Sam is determined to put the past behind him. He finishes college, begins a career, falls in love, gets married, has two adorable kids, and buys a home. His low-profile life is chugging along quite nicely until the past comes crashing through his front door.

As the homes of Robert Frost, Edith Wharton, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and even a replica of Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond, go up in smoke, Sam becomes the number one suspect. Finding the real culprit is the only way to clear his name—but sometimes there's a terrible price to pay for the truth.

First sentence:
I, Sam Pulsifer, am the man who accidentally burned down the Emily Dickinson house in Amherst, Massachusetts, and who in the process killed two people, for which I spent ten years in prison and, as letters from scholars of American literature tell me, for which I will continue to pay a high price long into the not-so-sweet hereafter.


Obviously, this is book you'd have trouble reading half-asleep. Long, witty sentences dominate much of the narrative, and if you can keep up, you'll enjoy the humor. Even the title is an attention-grabber--be prepared to do some explaining if reading this in public. Clarke is an expert at sarcasm and far-fetched situations, and this odd little story turned out fairly well.

The protag is a pretty normal guy, who is just trying to get his life back on track after a huge detour. Fate, however, has sniffed him out and seems determined to send poor Sam straight back to jail. Not long after completing his sentence for the Emily Dickinson fiasco, the homes of other authors start to burn down. Suspicions rise, and Sam is desperate to clear his name. His parents have disowned him, but he crashes their house anyway after the son of the two that died in the Dickinson fire shows up on Sam's front step, wanting revenge. Soon Sam's father shares a secret--a box of letters that were addressed to Sam while he was in jail, letters of support, letters of request that he burn down other author's homes, even sighting the reasons (motives). While his wife slips away to another man and his parent's nighttime antics continue to confuse him, Sam begins his own hunt for the real New England arsonist.

Sam is the deepest of all the characters, and has a few endearing, insightful moments--that unfortunately, kicked me right out of the story as the words echoed in my head.

"What are you thinking?" Anne Marie said finally. There was a weary, sighing quality to her voice, which I took for simple human fatigue, but which might have been resignation. I wish I'd paid more attention to Anne Marie back then, but I didn't. Oh, why didn't I? Why don't we listen to the people we love? Is it because we have only so much listening in us, and so many very important things to tell ourselves?

**

When I was a boy, I would read those postcards and know exactly why my father was doing what he was doing: he was taking a stab at greatness, that is, if greatness is simply another word for doing something different from what you were already doing--or maybe greatness is the thing we want to have to that other people will want to have us, or maybe greatness is merely the grail for our unhappy, striving selves, the thing we think we need but don't and can't get anyway.


Good writing, but is lacking that intangible 'heartbeat' that makes this a truly wonderful story.
Two out of five stars

Book Report: Setting the Lawn On Fire

Setting the Lawn On Fire
By Mack Friedman

Book Description:
Setting the Lawn on Fire, the first novel by critically acclaimed writer Mack Friedman, trails its narrator through his obsessions with sex, drugs, art, and poison. Ivan, a young Jewish boy from Milwaukee, embarks on a journey of sexual discovery that leads him from Wisconsin to Alaska, Philadelphia, and Mexico through stints as a fishery worker, artist, and finally a hustler who learns to provide the blank canvas for other people’s dreams. The result is a new kind of coming-of-age story that sees passion from every angle because its protagonist is every kind of lover: the seducer and the seduced, the pornographer and the model, the hunter and the prey, the trick and the john. In the end, Setting the Lawn on Fire is also something rare—a fully realized, contemporary romance that illuminates the power of desire and the rituals of the body, the brain, and the heart that attempt to contain our passions.

First paragraph:
It's the first day of school, third grade. Where are you? Are you there? Do you remember the leaves starting to change, the breeze cooling hips under shorts? Were you looking down at your new shoes? I looked up on my way to the bus, saw a boy.

I bought this book because I thought the premise looked promising. I usually love solo-journeys of a man's self-discovery, and this looked quite interesting.

However, a month after having read it, I can not remember what it was about.

Ivan, the protag, summarizes his childhood with moments of sexual awkwardness, hinting to his future blossoming as a homosexual. His mother is physically absent (dying shortly in), and his dad is the absent mentally. Ivan deals with his confusing puberty by secretly nurturing his inappropriate fascinations: he sneaks into local libraries late at night and ferrets out reference books on male adolescence, then cuts out the pictures for his own private collection.

Then, the summer he turns twenty, Ivan moves to Alaska to work as a fisherman. He lives in a tent with a few other guys, working grueling, laborious jobs for minimum wage, often times going without work and just barely keeping themselves fed. The writing is fresh and descriptive, and the sights and smells were not hard to imagine.

But the events of this story are somewhat disjointed--or at least time has corroded my memory. Ivan's secret fetish is growing worse, and after he returns home he uses the gym locker room to pick up older men--and fails. Frustrated, he eventually places an add in the paper's back page, and is quickly contacted by a homosexual pimp, who immediately puts Ivan to work. But instead of living out his fantasies, Ivan's self-torment is only compounded and soon drugs enter the picture. The ending provides a quiet, heartbreaking moment of truth and realization in unexpected form, bringing this somewhat reckless and grandiose journey to a gentle close.

I wasn't expecting what I got, I'll say that much. This book is very liberal and unafraid, delving into one character's most private acts and thoughts, and then running with them to the end. But the writing is good--really good--and I have to admit the events on these pages are unique. Setting the Lawn On Fire is short and a quick read--which works really well for this particular story. A lot is crammed in between the covers, and, once I refreshed myself, I remembered exactly who Ivan was, the images I'd formed came trickling back one by one.

That's gotta say something.

Two and a half stars out of five

Book Report: The Night Buffalo

The Night Buffalo
By Guillermo Arriaga
(Translated by Alan Page)

Book Description

Award-winning, internationally acclaimed writer Guillermo Arriaga weaves a luminous, insightful story of love and friendship, passion and betrayal, lunacy and mental illness. Set in Mexico City, The Night Buffalo revolves around the mysterious suicide of Gregorio, a charismatic but troubled young man who was betrayed by the two people he trusted most.

First Paragraph:

I decided to visit Gregorio on a Saturday afternoon, three weeks after his most recent release from the hospital. It wasn't easy for me to seek him out. I thought it over for months. I was afraid of meeting him again, almost as if I were anticipating an ambush. That afternoon I walked around the block several times not daring to knock on his door. When I finally did, I was nervous, restless, and--why not say it--feeling a little cowardly.

I rescued this book from Cargo Largo, intrigued by the premise and the author's film work. Guillermo Arriaga is the screenwriter for 21 Grams and Babel, two movies which I know were very popular when they released. I've seen neither. But when reviews for a book include words like 'haunting' and 'poetic' and 'mental illness' and 'troubled young man', I'll bite every time.

Manuel, a college student in Mexico City, is this story's protag, and a guilty one at that. Within pages, Manuel's friend Gregorio kills himself and Manuel finds the gruesome body. But Gregorio's story is far from over. A dark, somewhat demented, 'troubled' character, he continues to haunt Manuel even after his demise, in the form of having a fellow patient from the mental hospital send Manuel threatening, cryptic letters. Gregorio knew that Manuel was sleeping with his girlfriend, Tania, and is rightfully not happy about it. But if that weren't enough, Manuel was also sleeping with Gergorio's sister, Margarita.

The lust and sex is unneeded, as the female characters come off as shallow and needy and stereotyped. The real story is Manuel's slow unravel, as his guilt and fear cause inner torment and conflict--the stuff of real storytelling. Gregorio--both in life and death--has affected everyone he knew and the guilty suffer.

This is a fast moving story, broken into flashes with breaks between every few paragraphs and written with light, entrancing dialogue. I personally enjoy these kinds of stories, and this one was no exception. The writing is good, but it seems as though too much work was put into trying to make this plot smart and clever, and because of it, the characters feel shallow. One of my favorite characters was actually a minor one, a detective that enters near the climax and doesn't stay long, but his realism left a bigger impression than most other characters. Perhaps this story would be better suited as a screenplay--and in turn, another creepy!good film.

Night Buffalo certainly has its moments, with several outstanding passages. Not poetic, but rhythmic and easy to read. Lingering.

I sat on the bed. I could make out the faint outline of her body on the comforter. I touched it to see if her warmth was still there, but the fabric had grown cold. I breathed in between the pillows and picked up hint of her scent. I grabbed the book. On the page at which it had been left open, Tania had underlined a phrase with a blue marker--"Before being humans, we're animals"--and on the margin, she had written in her uneven handwriting: "and before that we're demons."


Two stars out of five

Book Report: The Zookeeper

The Zookeeper
By Alex MacLennan

Book Description

Sam Metcalfe has it all. Well, that's not exactly true. He's got a great job at the local DC zoo, but he can't seem to realize his goals. He's got amazing friends and family, including the troubled Lauren, but they seem to be running off in every direction but home. He's even found himself a brand new boyfriend, the apparently perfect Dean, except there seem to be cracks in the very foundation of their relationship. Now, opportunity is coming Sam's way. He has a chance to finally discover not only his true calling, but his true self. Will the zoo that is his life allow the freedom to chase after his long-desired dreams?

First sentence:

With no one in the darkened hallway to hear him, Sam explained to the monkeys that it was one whole year now that he'd been alone.

I let the reviews on the back cover persuade me into buying this. Carolyn Parkhurst wrote that 'Alex MacLennan explores the uncomfortable choices we make when we trade solitude for companionship, the freedom of wilderness for the comfort of civilization. MacLennan never lets us forget that we are, all of us, animals.'

This is a story about a guy. Straight away, I was able to identify with Sam's quiet, somewhat shy and self-conscious personality. In charge of the howler monkey exhibit at the San Fransisco zoo, Sam enjoys his job and the moments where he can interact privately with the animals. The first page sees him scrubbing vomit from the floor, a task which he preforms with patience and pride. He is secure with his animals, and even confident in his knowledge; he goes before the zoo committee to propose his idea for a new exhibit (not the first attempt, either) but is politely turned down. Sam feels indignant.

That night, he joins his best friend at her restaurant, where she is celebrating with friends over a recent critique that should boost business. At this party he meets Dean, a local weather forecaster who has been picked by Sam's friends as the next prospective relationship.

Sam and Dean (I did not realize this story was about a 'Sam and Dean' until page 143, believe it or not. What sort of Supernatural fan am I?) quickly hit it off and the next several chapters establish a peaceful, just-fallen-in-love world. At the zoo, a new budget sees Sam paired up with Jack, the 'King of Lion Island'. Sam is to shadow the elderly big-cat carer, with unspoken intentions that he might take over when Jack retires. Meanwhile, Dean is struggling to become a prime-time news reporter, and his outgoing nature is trying for Sam but they still find passion in the bedroom.

Meanwhile, Laurel, the restaurant owner, is contacted by her sister and told their mother has Alzheimer's. A chapter at a time, Laurel's story unfolds as she at first refuses to give up her successful business, but slowly--and painfully--realizes that that is indeed what she should do.

A few chapters are presented as backstory, typed in italics and written from Sam's mother or father's POV. While these snippets to little to propel the story, they lend insight and richness.

This story is not really exciting. But it is one of the most beautifully detailed stories I've read. I could smell the food cooking in Laurel's restaurant, I could see the lights at the parties Sam would attend, I could hear the roar of the lions and tigers at the zoo. And the insight-fullness into Sam's character is amazing. MacLennan knows people, understands why we do the things we do, understands emotions and reasoning and heartache. Many times, I was impressed by the clarity of Sam's pysche. By the end of the book, I was even able to understand myself a little bit better. Care has been given to each of the characters, and many of them are unique and tender. Sam's character arc is complete and satisfying, as he learns (or is forced to) stop putting everyone else before himself.

Alex MacLennan is a master of subtlety, and I would be very interested in seeing what he comes up with next.
Four out of five stars for description, characterization, balance and transformation

Book Report: Miracle Man

Miracle Man
By Ben Schrank

From the jacket:
In Ben Schrank's vividly realized debut novel, Martin Kelly Minter yearns for a meaningful relationship with his beautiful Puerto Rican neighbor, Luz, and a place in history as a modern-day Robin Hood. A college dropout, self-exiled from his middle-class family, he works as a moving man in Manhattan. When Kelly decides that the wealthy New Yorkers he moves don't appreciate what they have, he steals from them and plots to give to the poor. And on a cold winter day he bakes bread, counting on its warmth to seduce Luz. Kelly tries to do right, but when he gets the chance to make big-time money as a big-time thief, he calls this his destiny.

First paragraph:
We'd just finished a job, and I leaned against the side of the International. Our truck was old and pretty busted up. It was covered with a hippie-style painting of a massive pale hand (God's) bursting through fat white clouds with a glowing cardboard box in its palm. The rest of the truck was sky blue. The painting was old, and it was peeling and torn in places where Teddy and the other drivers had knocked the truck against cars, buses, trees, buildings, and other trucks.



The element of this book that I most enjoyed was the main character's Robin Hood complex. When I read that in the description, it sold me the book. I'm a sucker for guys with a strict moral code, I guess.

This story is very straight forward. In the beginning, Kelly is in a low spot in his life: living in a crappy apartment, working as a moving guy, just broken up with his girlfriend, seperated from his family. His best friend (and blood brother) Felix works for the same company and shares the same moral beliefs. Kelly is more comfortable with Felix even though Felix is married and with child, than Kelly is with his own biological brother, Kevin. Kevin is a doctor to the rich people, the people whom Kelly so dispises, and he represents everything Kelly frowns upon.

All Kelly wants is for people to be equals (and, for his actions to please people). He despises rich people in overpriced clothes, living in overpriced apartments, being catered to hand and foot while so many people are poor or homeless. Kelly has his heart in the right place: he always buys extra food so he can hand it out on the walk home, he hands out all the bills in his wallet, will even give someone the shirt off his back--but he wants to make a real difference. He steals from the clients he helps move, earings or money or statues, and gives it all away. But when the oppurtunity arises for him to make some serious cash, Kelly eagerly accepts and starts to brainstorm on how he can make a difference with the money.

One thing leads to another and as predicted, Kelly soon becomes the very thing he hates: a rich person in rich clothes living in a huge apartment. While his intention was that by making such a move he'd have the perfect cover for even more stealing, Kelly realizes that he actually likes being able to buy more than he needs. He's torn: he knows that he's breaking his own code, but not until his life starts to fall apart does he try to right all that's gone wrong.

I did not particularly love this book. It was not what I thought it would be, and the story was very simple and predictable. The dialect was heavy at times, and none of the supporting characters (save Felix) seemed to have the depth that Kelly did. There was not much action--much of the story consisted of Kelly waiting for orders. I could not manage as much sympathy for him as I would have liked to. The story seemed a little... flat.

However, I could not stop reading it, and I can't name the element that kept me hooked. Schrank attended the New York graduate program for Creative Writing, and I say that whatever he learned there is what prevented this from being a total loss. The structure was solid, the pacing steady... the story is true to mold. And maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it completely--it was too fill-in-the-blanks. Miracle Man is Schrank's first novel after years of non-fiction writing for Seventeen magazine, and I'm betting that his next novel will be much better, once he's allowed the story to have its own heartbeat. Combine Schrank's talents with a more colorful, engaging plot and he will be unstopable.

Two out of Five stars

Book Report: Good Omens

Good Omens
By Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman



From the back:
According to 'The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Anges Nutter, Witch' (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.
So the armies of Good and Evil are ammassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon--both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle--are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.
And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist...

First paragraphs:
It was a nice day.
All the days had been nice. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But clouds massing east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on its way, and it was going to be a big one.


This chunky little paperback was the only book I bought that day from Cargo Largo. Terry Pratchett's name on the spine caught my eye and I grabbed it, not entirely sold on the premise, but trusting it would be good nonetheless. I haven't read a Terry Pratchett book in a long time, but I know I love his stories. Plus, I was still reading 'The Messiah of Morris Avenue' at the time, which dealt heavily with religion, and I figured I'd learned enough from that book to be able to follow this one.

Page 14 sees Terry's first trademark footnote, and it made me happy to see it. For a book written by two people, I can't tell where one started and the other ended. I've not read Neil Gaiman's book, but if his sense of humor is that similar to Terry's, I look forward to reading.

Two of the main players in this story are Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon. They've known each other since the start of time, and both have taken a liking to the world as it is today. But when Crowley recieves orders to 'plant' an infant Antichrist in a maternity ward, he must act. Unbeknownst to him, though, there is a mix-up between three identical babies. The Antichrist is sent home with an unsuspecting family, while all eyes are on a simple 'mortal' baby.

Aziraphale and Crowley make for a great pair: opposite values and morals, but getting along anyway as old friends do. They watch the child grow up (years pass in days), keenly observant and watching for any trait of the Antichrist to appear. However, the boy appears frighteningly normal. And on the day a Hell Hound is scheduled to appear as the boy's faithfull servant--and never shows up--they realize that the real Antichrist is somewhere else, and severe punishment is certain if they can't find him.

Meanwhile, the real Antichrist--named Adam, of course!--grows up with a normal childhood. He has three friends and The Them, as they're called, are known as trouble makers. Indeed, Adam's Hell Hound arrives, a huge, red-eyed, black dog that, once Adam names 'Dog', transforms into a loyal little terrier. In his new body, Dog finds himself enjoying this new cat-chasing, hole-digging life. The group is mostly inactive, mostly talking about how the world could be a better place if people would just stop killing whales and cutting down rainforests.

And all around the world, strange things start to happen. The weather goes berserk. Electricty fizzles out. Four seperate strangers start to gather power.

The final key player is Newt, the last Witchhunter in a long line of Witchhunters, sent on one final mission. He must find out why one town--Adam's town--is remaining so utterly normal when all this chaos is going on everywhere else. He eventually meets Anathema, a decendant of Anges Nutter. The two of them form a relationship--despite the fact that generations before, Newt's relative burned Anges at the stake--and they work on deciphering the prophecies with the intention of saving the world.

Terry and Neil took their time with this story, giving everyone a unique personality and backstory. As the story unfolds, all the seperate threads start to come together in comedic and interesting ways. Nothing goes right as each character must overcome their own odds. For such a large cast, I had no problem visualizing it all.

Mostly I enjoyed the relationship between the angel and the demon, the way they acted with such a comfortable friendship and even showed concern for each other, despite being 'enemies'. They debate on whether or not Adam, growing up with neither heavenly influences or demonic, can still mature into the Antichrist. Is evil nature or nurture? Can good overcome bad in the end?

For such a hearty, tongue-in-cheek Apocalypse story, there are some real messages here. The final showdown is huge and dazzling, containing all the major players and even some surprise ones. I enjoyed this book immensely and am marking it a favorite.

Five out of five stars for imagery, humor, characterization, management of subplots, and of course, Death's cameo. ;)

Book Report: The Messiah of Morris Avenue

The Messiah of Morris Avenue
By Tony Hendra

Book Description

Hendra is back with a novel set in a very reverent future where church and state walk hand in hand. Fade-in as Johnny Greco -- a fallen journalist who nurses a few grudges along with his cocktails -- stumbles onto the story of a young man named Jay who's driving around New Jersey preaching radical notions (kindness, generosity) and tossing off miracles. How better, Johnny schemes, to stick it to the Reverend Sabbath, Americas #1 Holy Warrior, than to write a headline-making story announcing Jay as the Second Coming? Then something strange happens. Died-in-the-wool skeptic Johnny actually finds his own life being transformed by the new messiah. Alternately hilarious and genuinely moving, The Messiah of Morris Avenue brings to life a savior who reminds the world of what Jesus actually taught and wittily skewers all sorts of sanctimoniousness on both sides of the political spectrum. Writing with heart, a sharp eye, and a passionate frustration with those who feel they hold a monopoly on God, Tony Hendra has created a delightful entertainment that reminds us of the unfailing power of genuine faith.

First paragraph (prologue):
Fort Oswald, Texas. An early summer storm roils the sky. Lightning crackles between fat thunderheads. They lurch over the flat plain, roly-poly gun-metal-gray giants, thousands of feet tall, occasionally spitting thin streams of dazzling light at the ground.

This is a book I bought mostly based on the cover. The description sounded pretty close to something I'd enjoy, but I could imagine it going either way. For a dollar, I decided to gamble.

The only other 'Christian' book I've read is 'Monster' by Frank Peretti, and I didn't even realize it was classified as such while I was reading it. This book, however, is very in-depth about the workings of religion and as I am not familiar with such, I was easily lost and skimming ahead. This story takes place in the future where Christianity has taken over the world to the most extreme; it's become a parody of itself as everything, from school systems to television award shows, have been reworked to accommodate this new breed of Christianity. Governing it all is Reverend Sabbath, who is enjoying his time in the limelight and the severe degree of importance he carries.

Having just watched the movie, 'Resurrecting the Champ', I likened the story to that film as nearly-outdated journalist Johnny Greco struggles to make regular postings to a sleazy Internet newspaper, let alone find any *real* story. He's frequently pursued regular stories of self-proclaimed messiahs and miracle workers, and, disappointed by all, has developed a distaste for them all. That is until a certain story catches his attention, a mysterious young man in the heart of the bronx, who appears long enough to preform an act of goodness and then vanishes again. He is without a name, seemingly only appearing to the people he saves, seemingly uninterested in fame and fortune--a fact that confuses and intrigues Johnny. So he sets out to find this 'Messiah of Morris Avenue', and find out what sort of corruption or evil plan is to come from him.

But the more time Johnny spends with Jay (whose real name is Jose Francisco and is of Guatemalan descent), the more Johnny finds himself believing in Jay's quiet, patient preachings. Chapter 11 stands out as one of the most moving parts: an intense but peaceful interview between Johnny and Jay taking place in a dingy motel room.

I asked him why he or his parents allowed evil to flourish.
"Evil is caused by selfishness, by people acting out of the belief that they and their needs are paramount. And just because our first and only commandment is love, the diametric opposite of selfishness, doesn't mean that we're going to save people from the consequences of their selfishness. If you force the vast majority of people to live in squalor so you can live in splendor, you'll bring on the Black Death. If you allow the rise of a homicidal maniac like Hitler because you see him as a way to beat down those who want equality and social justice, he'll start killing people. Don't blame God."
"What about AIDS? What have we done to deserve that?"
"AIDS has fundamental environmental causes that a team of scientists led by a young woman will soon isolate."
"Who's the young woman?"
"Can't tell you. You might track her down and in some way obstruct her. She's a second-year medical student in a sub-Sarharan country, and she'll soon win a graduate scholarship to a medical school in Italy."
"When will she cure AIDS?"
"You don't need to know."
"The public has a need to know."
"No, they don't. That's journalists masturbating. The public has no right or need to know the future."
"Will she become rich and famous?"
"No, she's truly a selfless person. But she'll be venerated as the savior of Africa--which will become the savior of the planet."
"Not the U.S.?"
"Dream on."


I really enjoyed Jay's character and his gentleness, what he stood for and how people interacted with him. This character is by far my favorite part of the book. Who knew the second coming of Jesus would appeal to me so much? To read the ending and the tragedy that unfolds was extremely painful, but a brutal illustration of the realities surrounding us today. While heartbreaking and morally wrong, it's impossible to miss the point Hendra was trying to make. And it is a message that resonates long after the book is closed.

While the set-up and exploration of a world gone Christianity-crazy was written with humor and detail, it pales in comparison to the compassion and depth of Jay's story. However without this eccentric background, the story wouldn't stand as strongly. In a universe where God has become so heavily commercialized, Jay's words of love and mercy ring honest and true--but most are too self-absorbed to hear, which is the biggest tragedy of all.

Four out of five stars for characterization, preaching without 'preaching', superb dialogue and crafting one of the most painful tragedies I've ever seen.

Book Report: Into The Wild

Into the Wild
By Jon Krakauer

Description:
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.



In the book I read just prior to this, Brendan Wolf, the protag had a 'thing' for Into The Wild and often spoke fondly of Chris McCandless, often times fantasizing about a life in which they lived together in the Alaskan Wilderness. I learned the basics of the Into the Wild plot through Brendan Wolf, and decided that I should try to rent the movie.
Not long after, I was in the video store, looking for a movie to rent when I was (as I always am) suckered into their 'buy two get two free' deal on the previously-veiwed DVDs. Into the Wild was actually my second choice; the previews had always sort-of interested me but I just wasn't interested in enough to actually watch it. So I came home with my four new(old) movies and Into the Wild was the first one I watched.
I immediately fell in love.
I was fascinted by the story and character of Chris McCandless. The film is incredibly well done. It is long and ping-pongs between Chris's final days in the bus, and his ventures that led him to be in this current situation. The movie starts as Chris graduates college. He turns down his parents offer to bestow him with a new car, then later in his room cuts up his credit cards and social security card and then takes to the road in his faithful old Datsun. Chris in infatuated with the grandiosity and freedom of nature, and without a map or provisions, drives until he can drive no further and then continues his internally-driven quest by foot. He meets a variety of people and experiences a variety of landscapes, occasionally taking the odd job only to earn enough money for items necessary to continue his travels. This is wanderlust at its finest. Anyone who has ever dreamed of blindly picking a spot on the map and escaping it ALL will be indulged with this movie.

I was blindsided by the tragic ending--Brendan Wolf never mentioned Chris's heartbreaking demise. Tragedy is really the only word to describe it.

So in love was I with this story that I wanted to read the book. I had imagined it to be a novel--I knew Chris's story was true, but I still thought I was going to read a written mirror of the story I'd just watched.

What I got instead was what I would classify as a companion to the movie. Jon Krakauer is an excellent researcher and magazine writer, and out of years of work and interviews and travels to retrace Chris's journey, he put together this insightful biography of Chris's life. There are answers here that the movie couldn't quite acheive, and insight into the McCandless's lives, and even research about other young men who undertook similar journies as Chris's.

Although not what I expected, I appreciated this deeper look into a life I had become so instantly fascinated with. Honestly though, this may be the one time I would recommend watching the movie before reading the book. The movie entertains, while the book probes deeper and therefore looses its 'story' effect.

Into the Wild is a story I will never forget. Chris McCandless and his alter ego, Alexander Supertramp, seem to have won over many hearts despite some controversey over his death. Was he just a stupid kid who had no business being in the Alaskan wilderness? Did he get what he deserved? Or was Chris a slave to his inner self, simply trying to put his demons to rest?

Incredible work by Krakauer for this story. Told with respect and personal insight, sympathy and fairness, Krakauer has turned Chris McCandless into a legend--and rightfully so, in my opinion.
Five out of five stars

Book Report: Brendan Wolf

Brendan Wolf
by Brian Malloy

Description:
Who is Brendan Wolf? It all depends on who you ask.

* To the staff of a Minneapolis nursing home, he's the devoted partner of a much older man who's recently suffered a debilitating stroke.

* To the women of a conservative, Christian pro-life organization, he's the tireless volunteer grieving over the recent loss of his wife and their unborn child.

* To one gay activist, he's the unaffectedly charming, yet directionless and unemployed man that he's fallen hopelessly in love with

* To his brother and his brother's wife, he's the lynchpin of a scam that will net them enough money to start their lives over somewhere new.

* To the general public, he's an armed and dangerous fugitive

All of these people - and yet none of them - Brendan Wolf is an ambivalent lover, reluctant conspirator, counterfeit Christian, and, most of all, an unemployed daydreamer obsessed with a dead man.




First sentence:
Brendan is in the park on what those assembled are calling a glorious day: the sky is clear blue without even the wisp of a cloud, the temperature is hot but not oppressive, and there is a soft breeze that gently sways the branches of the trees overhead, creating an agreeable rustling sound.

This story is very much a character journey, a sort of coming-of-(middle)aged story as Brendan Wolf (a pseudonym chose for himself inspired by Chris McCandless's 'Alexander Supertramp') finds the meaning of love amidst the mess that his life is quickly becoming. Dangerously close to losing yet another mimimum-wage job, Brendan is about to become homeless. Chapter one sees him riding the bus to visit his brother, an inmate soon to be released after surving time for swindling the elderly out of their savings. Ian, aware of Brendan's predicament, gives Brendan the address of an elderly man with a hunger for young men, pampering them in return for relations. Although turned off by the proposition, Brendan soon has no choice. He arrives on the old man's front step, single suitcase (filled mostly with well-loved books) and proposes to act as the man's servant (sans the sex) in exchange for a room. When Marv insists on that one small detail, things turn sour. Brendan tries to blackmail Marv, threatening to tell the cops of the old man's deeds. Marv relents, barely, and when Brendan returns home from work one day, he finds the locks have been changed and Marv has burned all of Brendan's treasured books. Enraged, the two get into an arguement. But before they can come to blows, Marv drops from a stroke.

At first guilt keeps Brendan at Marv's side. He lets the hospital staff mistake him for Marv's 'next of kin'--the inmate now locked up with Brendan's brother. Marv cannot talk to tell the truth, and in fact can't do much of anything. Brendan has time to figure things out.

Meanwhile, Brendan's brother Ian is released from jail and he and his wife are cooking up a scheme to steal pledge money from a pro-life group on the day of their big marathon. To pull off this intricately designed job, they need Brendan's help. Soon Brendan finds himself volunteering at the organization, stuffing envelopes under the sad alibi of a recently-widowed man who lost his beautiful wife during childbirth. He is quickly taken under the wings of the 'gals' who volunteer, and one of them even tries to set Brendan up with her daughter, unknowing that Brendan is really gay.

Lies and deceit are a common motiff in this story, as Brendan develops many different names and stories to suit his purposes. He's longing for love, still hurting after the recent break-up, and finds solace in books--constantly referring to Chris McCandless, or Brian's idealized version of him. These lies ultimately bring about his demise, as it becomes impossible to keep each thread of his life from tangling. For all his efforts to protect himself, in the end Brendan still 'gets what was coming to him'--only by this time, he is ready to change, to accept love and give honesty, tragically after the curtain has fallen.

My only complaint would be that at times, this story seemed a little long. But because of this book I discovered 'Into the Wild', and for that, I am most appreciative.

Four out of five stars for characterization, simple and relaxing prose, an eye for detail and writing the ending that needed to be written.