Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim

What if you could write about whatever you wanted? What if no topics were off limits, no person's feelings or privacy taken into consideration, no personal flaws purposely left unmentioned in order to be protected from ridicule?

You would probably write exactly like David Sedaris.

To actually write like David Sedaris, however, you'd also have to be intelligent, impeccably attentive to details and most importantly - uncommonly funny. With that winning combination, Sedaris's unencumbered writing creates a truly fascinating look into his life and way of thinking.

Take, for instance, a neighborhood family that supposedly doesn't watch any television. You've know them, or at least heard about them. But have you hidden yourself in bushes outside their house watching them at night? Sedaris spied on this family with fascination, watching them interact at the dinner table during the evenings and feeling sorry for the absence of television in their lives. After watching one of their children at school being left out of a joke that made reference to a TV show, Sedaris writes, "It occurred to me that they needed a guide, someone who could point out all the things they were unable to understand. I could have done it on weekends, but friendship would have taken away their mystery and interfered with the good feeling I got from pitying them. So I kept my distance."

Then, when this same family showed up for Trick-Or-Treating the day after Halloween, Sedaris expresses what must be universally believed: "Asking for candy on Halloween was called trick-or-treating, but asking for candy on November first was called begging, and it made people uncomfortable. This was one of the things you were supposed to learn simply by being alive, and it angered me that the Tomkeys did not understand it."

The subject matter varies wildly from chapter to chapter, but each contains Sedaris's hilarious spin on what would probably appear to most outsiders, nothing to write home about. Although there are several uncomfortable chapters that touch on situations involving his homosexuality, his willingness to expose himself, and, I suppose his willingness to expose his loved ones, give his writing an important and appreciated perspective. It's so enjoyably honest! I mean, he writes about going through the Anne Frank House while simultaneous apartment hunting and wanting to live there because it's "cute." Totally irreverent. But when he talks about ripping out the wood stove so that the fireplace would be the focal point and thinking the attic, with its charming dormer windows, could be his office...it ends up being really funny.

The best chapter for me was called Six To Eight Black Men when he describes in laugh-out-loud detail the Christmas traditions in the Netherlands. Of course he begins the chapter by pointing out some of the more unusual local gun laws in various states of the USA, mentioning as an interesting fact that in Michigan - blind people are allowed to hunt...alone. As the chapter nears its end, and you wonder what the two stories have to do with each other, he finishes by sharing his thoughts while sitting in a Dutch train station. "I couldn't help but feel second-rate. Yes, the Netherlands was a small country, but it had six to eight black men and a really good bedtime story. Being a fairly competitive person, I felt jealous, then bitter. I was edging toward hostile when I remembered the blind hunter tramping off alone into the Michigan forest. He may bag a deer, or he may happily shoot a camper in the stomach. He may find his way back to the car, or he may wander around for a week or two before stumbling through your back door. We don't know for sure, but in pinning that license to his chest, he inspires the sort of narrative that ultimately makes me proud to be an American."

Funny, funny stuff.

Don't You Marry The Mormon Boys

The book jacket's summary of Janet Jensen's debut novel, Don't You Marry The Mormon Boys, describes a story about two people from different backgrounds and belief systems (Andy is mainstream LDS and Louisa was raised in a polygamous fundamentalist community) who fall in love at medical school but face overwhelming obstacles in an effort to be together.

That was the story I was expecting and found myself disappointed with the story I was actually given. Andy and Louisa do, in fact, face these obstacles, but it is never the focus of the story. In fact, were it not for a few flashbacks to medical school, there is no mention of these two main characters together in the same chapter, much less the same plot for the first 200 pages. Andy does his rural, family practice medical thing in Kentucky, which seems a completely unnecessary setting to me (unless the far fetched and wholly irrelevant ending was somehow important to the story of Andy and Louisa's journey....which it is not), and Louisa returns to her polygamous community to realize that her eyes have been changed to the situation around her after eight years of living away from it.

Sure there are a few wistful thoughts, memories and even dreams about the other, but the reason for their attraction, or friendship, is never explained. Andy thought she was beautiful, in spite of her plain, long ankle length dress, and crowning glory long hair, but apparently pursued a relationship with her because she was so smart and he wanted to study with her. (????) The reader is never given any information about Louisa's feelings towards Andy. There is simply an assumption that because she spent time with him, she fell in love with him. The hows and the whys are not worth mentioning, I suppose. Without that development of their relationship for the readers to hold onto, I didn't yearn for these two to be together. As their individual stories don't actually intersect until page 197, a little yearning would have been nice. But, that doesn't seem to be the point of the book.

The thing I liked most about this novel was Jensen's humanistic portrayal of polygamous families. It's always troubled me that the media, pop culture and even the mainstream LDS church portray them as crazy, mindless followers without any thought or choice about their lifestyle. Jensen shows a side of their families and individuals who honestly believe what they practice, and that they do it for the same reason a lot of us do whatever it is we do - because we think it's what God has commanded us to do. I also appreciated the look inside their culture...from the need to protect themselves from outsiders to the organizations of their households. Considering the current events going on in Texas, it adds a deeper understanding to the story. But, that doesn't seem to be the point of the book either.

It isn't all sunshine, however, and as Louisa's eyes are opened to the real problems of their community (abuse, incest, birth defects, depression) she becomes a target of opposition to the community - particularly to the Council of Brethren, who seem like old, scary, mean men without a compassionate bone in their bodies. Again, this black and white portrayal of the community's leadership seems too clean and villainous to be true. Surely, there are some members who are able to be something other than completely dogmatic. It doesn't matter, though, because, once again, this conflict with Louisa does not seem to be the point of the book.

In the end, I'm not sure what the point is, or was supposed to be. Andy and Louisa seem more like conduits for the author to expound on the quirks and habits of rural Kentucky and polygamy than actual characters. The part of the story where they are actually together and communicating and conflicting only warrants 40 or so pages. Then the story jumps tracks and heads off in an entirely new direction - one I won't mention because it will seem like I am reviewing another book. I felt like it was a different book.

I guess I feel mostly disappointed because I didn't get the story I was promised. I didn't get Andy and Louisa's story. Not really.

The Double Bind

While this book was cleverly written and startled me by its end, (hey...I did have it figured out about 7/8ths of the way through. Yes...I'm quite the sleuth.) I was left unsatisfied by the big reveal and don't believe it brought the book the resolution it needed.

The Double Bind weaves the classic The Great Gatsby into the tragic story of a girl trying to recover mentally and physically after she was brutally attacked by two men while on a bicycle ride through a forest in Vermont. When a homeless man dies at the shelter she works at and leaves a box of photographs of the rich and famous from earlier decades, she becomes obsessed with figuring out the mystery of who he was, especially as some of the photographs have links to her own childhood and one mysteriously of the day of her attack.

As she loses herself in this homeless man's mental illness and history, she starts to lose her own frail grasp of reality in her tightly controlled world of work, love and friendship.

I wish I had the energy to go back and see if the author is really consistent with his story. My memory doubts that he could be, and I have lots of "but what about"s rolling around in my head. But, I have to hand it to him, he got me.

This reminded me of The Thirteenth Tale in its rhythmic uncovering of the past and surprise ending, but it's much more brutal and much less polished. I loved rediscovering the classic Gatsby and this book made me want to read Fitzgerald's masterpiece all over again.

This is a very suitable choice for a spirited book club discussion.

Deal Breaker

Yuck. I kind of liked the other Harlan Coben book I read last year, Tell No One. This one has a totally different feel, which, I suppose, is kind of a compliment to Coben.

Dealbreaker is the story of Myron Bolitar, a college basketball superstar, NBA bust (injury), former FBI working, wisecracking, handsome 30ish year-old man turned sports agent.

Truthfully, I found Myron to be...annoying. You know those funny guys who just can't be anything but? Yes, he gets in some great one-liners. It's that dry, sarcastic wit that authors love to use and abuse and Coben WAY overdoes it with Bolitar. Everything uttered from his lips, it seems, has to have us softly chuckling - from his comeback lines, his name calling, to his smooth replies when someone from the mafia holds a gun to his head.

It didn't help that this novel is about the seediest lifestyles possible. One of Bolitar's big clients, rookie quarterback Christian Steele, is spooked when his former fiancee's picture shows up in an adult magazine after she had been supposedly murdered a year before. Bolitar uses his former investigation skills to solve the crime which drags the story through the ugliness of professional sports, the mafia, the porn industry and the lifestyles of the rich and elite. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Didn't like it. Apparently, Coben plans to write a bunch of novels for this new protagonist of his. No thanks. Dealbreaker was a dealbreaker for me.

Drums of Autumn

Yes - yet another book in the Diana Galbaldon series. They are addicting. But I'm going to take a little break for now because I have all these other books piling up and I know if I go and check out the next one, somehow it will get read before all these other worthy books. Series are like that. Especially good ones.

This is the fourth book in the time-traveling saga about super couple Jamie and Claire Fraser. While Claire stayed in the 18th century the entire story, her and Jamie's daughter, Brianna, became an integral part of the story and it was her adventures this time that crossed the time boundaries. Jamie and Claire's group make their way in the colonies of the new world. New dangers and challenges await them as they struggle with their feelings about slavery and Native Americans (still called Indians here) and the need to survive the political and natural climate of North Carolina. When their daughter, Brianna, comes across and old newspaper clipping reporting their deaths, she decides to travel back into time to meet the father she never knew and possibly to see if she can, indeed, change the past.

I have to admit that I'm saddened with the aging of Claire and Jamie. It was hard for me to make the mental leap that was necessary to put them into the role of grandparents. All of a sudden, I had to imagine wrinkles and grey hair and I didn't like it! Brianna and Roger take over as the hot young couple with the steamy romance but it isn't the same.

The difference between Gabaldon's writing of her male and female characters was very apparent to me throughout this book. Most of the males are either very good or very bad while the females live more in the grey. Of course, there are exceptions but I thought she romanticized the males a bit more and the females were annoyingly truer to life. For instance, Claire and her moral dilemma over abortion and the struggle between being everything to everyone. Jamie, Roger and even the stubbornly homosexual Lord Grey are allowed to always try do the right thing and when they don't, the error of their ways almost immediately come to haunt them. My overall feeling is that her males are more likable because they behave less bratty. Maybe it was just this particular story though, which wasn't my favorite. I liked the story better in Europe but realize the need for fresh material. Putting them in this historical context gives the author what she needs to continue her epic.

Dragonfly In Amber

The second book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I enjoyed this book immensely. It's true...the series is addicting. At 743 pages, I finished wanting more and immediately reserved the next book at the library.

It doesn't have all of the Jaimie/Claire drama that the first one did. In fact, it almost felt like a "building up to" book. Not that it was boring. I learned a lot about the Scotland uprising and the tangled web between countries and royalty. It is good historical fiction. There is still the love/drama/intrigue novel that makes it fun to read but I can honestly say that I learned about a part of history that I know very little about in an interesting way.

I'm no longer a critic. I'm jumpin' on the fan bandwagon.

Dancing At The Rascal Fair

The spine of this book and its companions in Ivan Doig's Montana trilogy have been staring at me in my parent's living room for years. I'd seen the books, have been told many times how good they are and how much I'd enjoy them, but still I never followed the advice.

While scrolling around amazon.com looking for books to read, I came across the review for English Creek by Ivan Doig. Rave reviews - so I decided to take the plunge and check it out. About a quarter way into it, I came across another review that suggested reading the second book in the trilogy (Dancing at the Rascal Fair) first because it is actually written earlier chronologically (a prequel). I returned English Creek and started Dancing at the Rascal Fair. The advisors were right on, this is a wonderful book. It's set in my absolutely favorite corner of the earth, the land around Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The time frame is the late 1800s until about 1920. The narrator is Angus McCaskill, a Scottish immigrant, who comes to America and Montana to homestead. He is joined by his best friend, Rob Barclay, who has an uncle in Montana that they are sure will be the key to their success. When they finally connect with Lucas Barclay, the uncle, their saga with Montana weather, women, rivalry, economics, war and school house dances begins.

This is much along the same vein as Angle of Repose, Christy, These Is My Words except more masculine. But the story's theme is about enduring as it seems many of the great ones are.

I am very much looking forward to continuing on with English Creek and Ride With Me Mariah, Montana after that. Ivan Doig has a new fan.

Devil In The White City

Finished. Done. Finally. This book was too easy to put down. I had such hopes. He writes in such a way that you feel completely absorbed in his narrative. It seems so interesting, until you realize, he just wrote about landscaping or concrete foundations for five pages and then I felt so betrayed that I'd put the book down. It was false advertising. I wanted to read about how this psychopath wove himself into the 1893 World Fair in Chicago (dubbed the White City because all of the buildings built for the fair were painted white) but it never happened. Larson takes certain liberties and places H.H. Holmes (the devil in the title) at the fair with two women he murdered for a couple of days but it's the only time he ever connects the two stories. He wrote an interesting history of the development of the fair and a descent portrayal of Holmes and his frightening existence, but how he decided to throw them together into one book and title it so that the two seem related is too much of a stretch. They both happened in Chicago in roughly the same time frame but it's like writing about the Washington D.C sniper murders like it had anything to do with building the World War II memorial on the National Mall. They just aren't related. Some happened in the same city during the same time...but some didn't and I don't think one really had anything to do with the other. Well, it's not quite as random as that...but almost.

I did learn a lot about architecture, and about the impact the fair had on America's history. That was fascinating. It brought about the design of the Ferris Wheel (although the first one was frightening - like 52 cars that could fit a hundred people in each one - no thanks), shredded wheat and other product icons. I probably would never check out a book on the 1893Chicago World's Fair so if that was his intention...he succeeded. It's just too bad his talent for making even rose bed designs sound compelling couldn't produce the story he promised to tell.

Drowning Ruth

This book grabbed my attention in a book store because it was among a group of books under the heading "Our Favorites". I felt a bit uneasy writing the title down due to the Oprah branding but the jacket summary intrigued me. Oprah got this one right. It is a great book! A mystery without real suspense, you know you're going to discover a secret just through the writing. The story unfolds very gently, all the while the reader gets to know the characters intimately. I highly recommend this book and won't say much else in case anyone takes that suggestion.