THE LIGHT of the WORLD a memoir by Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander is a prof.,  author & poet.  Her American Sublime book of poetry was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  She composed & recited "Praise Song for the Day," at Pres. Obama's '09 Inauguration.  Her memoir THE LIGHT of the WORLD is a tribute to her beloved husband Ficre who passed away suddenly days after his 50th birthday.  Alexander shares the threads that miraculous intertwined their 2 lives and the unbreakable bonds their love sowed.  This beautifully written book is a pastiche of personal histories, poetry, mourning and recipies that combined to pay tribute to art, life & love.  Alexander candidly shares the shocking & life altering ordeal of loss and grief.  Her memoir is a poignant testament to the richness that abounds in life that give rise to celebration.   Melancholy permeates from the love she cherished & the recognition of what will be forever missed in her life meant to be shared.  This memoir shines throughout as a compelling narrative of loss, life & gratitude.  Alexander tells us "I don't want to be a nostalgist. Yet I feed on memory, need it to make poems, the art that is made of the stuff I have:  my life and the world around me." "We must be gleaners from what life has set before us."          

THE BALANCE PROJECT by Susie Schnall-Women Wanting it All

THE BALANCE PROJECT written by Susie Schnall, whose debut novel ON GRACE won the Kirkus Best Indie Award ('14) quivers the trope "women having it all." Hanging in the balance of self-discovery & life ephiphanies are Lucy, admin. asst. to Katherine, co-founder & figure head for a successful enterprise promulgating healthy living and the mantra women are omnipotent; able to successfully allocate themselves, to family, career and their own physical/mental well being.  Watching Lucy's obsequious dedication to Katherine while it threatens everything that should matter is a rollicking saga of self-implosion.  Lucy turns down the proposal of the man she professes to love. Her career goals are put on a back burner.  Ultimately, her frustrations drive her towards a vindictive vendetta.  Katherine, the poster girl of keeping all the balls up in the air, drops her facade with calamitous fallout.  The deception & deviousness help drive this enjoyable read along at a fast clip. Having it all is not the only topical, debatable issue?  Loyalty, honesty, revenge & redemption are all hotly pursued with humor that create morsels of watercooler tidbits.  The daily quotes posted by Katherine's friend add extra zing.  Women will continue to contest having it all.  Here's the thing: 1st time you're asked, take the ring.  

N/F Citizens of London by Lynne Olson- Amer. MIA in WWII while England Fought Alone

The Citzens of London is a reminder of the atrocities Londeners endured for years during WWII while the ravages of war were a hallow whimper on Amerian shores.  The subcaption for the book reads "The Americans Who Stood With Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hours."  A more appropro heading would be, Americans were dawdling & debating while the Brits were waiting & being raided.  Olson is an Amer. journalist & best selling history & biography writer.  There were dedicated American journalists and envoys with clarion voices calling for our country's immediate military & financial support that feel on mainly deaf ears while Britain's very existence hung in the balance during Germany's relentless bombing attacks.  Britian & the U.S. experienced the ravages of war in profoundly different ways, " …one counrtry on the front line, suffering deprivation and hardship; the other thousands of miles away from the battle, its citizens more prosperous than ever."  In addition to an isolationist, laissez faire attitude, "Suspicions, strains, prejudices, and rivalries threatened to derail this new and unparralleled confederation before it took hold."   The images of commraderie between Churchill & Roosevelt leading to the united defeat of the Nazi regime are sovereign.  What has become obtuse are the death & destruction England endured for years before the U.S. entered WWII after Pearl Harbor.  CITIZENS of LONDON pays tribute to the staunch upper lip of the Brits and examines the sad military state of the U.S. in the early forties and its lack of empathy for Europe in the years before we entered WWII.

Poems ONCE in the West by Christian Wiman

Poetry has an ephemeral essence that is deeply moving and mystifying.  The voice that comes through is a mirepoix of the writer & the reader.  Christian Wiman (Nat'l Book Critic Circle Award for Poetry '14) uses words the way a sculptor molds clay or the way a dancer moves in space.  The poems in ONCE IN THE WEST leave an intangible imprint on one's inner being.  The placement of the words on the page form beautiful compositions; nuanced with subtlety & impact.  Perhaps best read aloud to enhance their eloquence, each poem possesses its own radiance.  Many of the topics confront religion & faith.  Some may consider them sacrosanct.  I found candor & courage in Wiman's grappling with these issues.  Winman confronts death & his own mortality. And, by doing so, finds affirmation in life.
                         Love is the living heart of dread  
      Love I love you unto the very edge of being
                                                                   Dead
Many of the poems have a melancholy overtone.  Some are whimsical.  A stanza from "Razing a Tower," stirred my soul.
   Vanish the dancer and the dance remains
    a time, an agile absence on the air.
    I cannot say what, or why, or even when it was.
    I only know it happened, and I was there.

A THOUSAND PARDONS by Jonathan Dee-Sorry Shouldn't Cut It

The gripping & acerbic novel, A THOUSAND PARDONS is a story of a couple whose marriage has come undone in a major way.  The husband Ben, wants out of his mundane existence.  He's a successful lawyer with a wife and teenage daughter.  Ben & wife Helen have an adopted Chinese daughter, Sarah.  The family has been living outside Manhattan in an upscale neighborhood.  The couple seek marriage counseling to no avail.  Ben's attention turn on an attractive female intern who turns the tides & sues for sexual harassment.  Ben is fired from his firm, faces disbarment & prison and  his face gets busted by her boyfriend.  Helen is now faced with the ignominy of her husband's travails and faces financial ruin.  Amazingly, she lands a public relations (PR) job in NYC where  she is surprsingly adroit.  This job leads to a lucrative PR job with a prestigious firm.  She & her daughter gladly move into the city.  Jonathan Dee was Pulitz. Prize Finalist (Privileges) and proves himself a crafty storyteller with a flair for parody.  Dee lampoons the PR trope of apologizing & all is forgiven.  Just own it, apologize (regardless of sincerity) and you too shall receive redemption.  It appears all too easy which is the point.  It's not easy to lable PARDONS merely a family drama, a marriage saga, a tale of teen rebellion or a corrosive satire on our pathetic manuvering in a blameless & litigious society.  The  jest of this shrewd novel is all culpability can be spun away.  

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a Bibliophile's Reverie

Amer. writer Gabrielle Zevin is a writer of fiction, Y/A fiction & a screenwriter.  She's earned a Good Reads Choice Award for Best Fiction and an Indept. Spirit Award for Best 1st screenplay. Her novel The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry blends adult, Y/A & detective genres into a delightful read that is hard to put down.  There's a charming love story between Amelia, a book seller and A.J., the proprietor of a small book store.  A.J. recently widowed is drowning his grief in drink. His one pleasure is his prized possession of a rare Edgar Allen Poe book.  The book is stolen during a drunken stupor.  Shortly after, he discovers an abandoned toddler, Maya, left in his store with a note asking he assume responsibility for her.  Initially reluctant, he adopts her & raises her with love & devotion.  (An obvious nod to Silas Marner.)  This charming & irresistible novel has characters we care for as well.  It's also an homage to great literary works.  Our inherent need for reading is elucidated. "We read to know we're not alone.  We read because we are alone.  We read and we are not alone."  A.J., Maya, Amelia are all likable characters we're drawn to along with other supporting characters. The local police officer and A.J.'s sister-in-law are play crucial roles.  "Everyone needs back-up."  A.J. leaves a touching collection of notes with literary references for his beloved daughter as she is getting older.  This endearing story is brimming with friendship, wisdom, love and a profound love for reading.  

Tom Barbash's Short Stories STAY UP WITH ME-Had Me Transfixed

Amer. writer Tom Barbash is both a writer of fiction & nonfiction; known for his account of the 9/11 tragedy in "On Top of the World, Cantor Fitzgerald."  Barbash received a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford & the CA Book Award for Best 1st fiction.  This is a writer whose talent's are on par with Updike & Salinger.  Barbash packs an intensity in his short story collection that that is both unforgettable and representative of our era.  Many of the stories are strewn in Manhattan, upstate NY and CA.  His descriptions of locales and weather are blistering.  Some commonalities in topic deal with a death in a family, the ebbs and flows that constitute a family and parent/child relationship.  What makes his stories so intriguing is their voyeuristic nature.  In some, parents are guilty of stalking their children; pushing the boundaries of parental control.  Some have the opposite vantage; parents being scrutinized by their children.  Couples relationships are also examined where love blurs into obsession.  A mother feels an older restaurant hostess is not good enough for her son and the two women come to blows.  A college professor smothers his young lover to where she needs to distance herself.  I could empathize with more than one perspective.  Each story has its own vibrant fascination.  The mercurial, seismic shift in relationships is hard to pinpoint but the aftermath is felt in its fallout.  

BEING MORTAL by Dr. A. Gawande Prescribed Reading: What Matters in the End

Dr. Atul Gawande is a practicing surgeon, prof. at Harvard Med. & bestselling author.  His recent book BEING MORTAL is a compelling read for anyone who has an aging parent, family member diagnosed with a fatal disease and for those in the medical & health care profession.  In other words, this courageous and thoughtful book, is pertinent for everyone and intended to open dialogue to enhance our understanding of what needs to be considered to provide compassionate care and appropriate responsibility for people losing their independence or confronting their own mortality.  Dr. Gawande provides us actual cases of senior citizens who can no longer manage independently and cancer patients, including his own father.  The multitudes of confusing & vital information regarding a patient's options presented tends to be overwhelming.  Dr. Gawande is a pioneer in confronting the elephants in the room, aging & dying.  True, there are no cures for these inevitable stages.  Therefore, it is imperative for us to empathize & provide dignity & self-empowerment for those requiring special consideration at the end of their lives.  Listening, questioning, providing honest information and listening again are life lessons that should not be epiphanies, yet in many ways these are the barriers that need to be re-examined.  Dr. Gawande finds fault in the medical profession where doctors are dedicated to prolonging life but fail to be provide a candid prognosis or explanation of risks/affects of treatments.  The onus also lies with the individual and their family who must be willing to have a timely, serious dialogue as to their wishes & concerns and inform their care givers.  Dr. Gawande has written a book that helps us to navigate at a most difficult period in life; confronting mortality.  This is a powerful resource for opening a crucial & reciprocal discussions.