Lorrie Moore's "If This Is Not My Home Then I'm Homeless" Grieving is Hopefulness

I maintain that every war novel or film is an anti-war protest.  I also attest all stories about death and grieving to be life affirming.  Lorrie Moore is a distinguished writer of literary novels and short stories. With her newest novel, "If This Is Not My Home Then I'm Homeless" she takes on a journey with the protagonist and his estranged lover.  During their mystical, twilight road trip, the couple rehash what they mean to each other and how they've let the other down. The main character, Finn is a flailing h.s. history-teacher recently suspended for questionable, ethical behavior.  Finn heads to the bedside of his beloved, older brother Max whose in hospice care.  Finn feels remorse for not having been closer with his brother.  He fleetingly tries to bridge a bond that while never broken, was never as Finn would have hoped.  Max has led a more settled life with his wife and career.  Max encourages Finn to reconsider his relationship with his estranged girlfriend Lily.  Beautiful, vivacious Lily has been battling clinical depression.  She was hospitalized several times after attempting to end her life.  Finn is a bombastic intellectual who lives to be argumentative and without ever having committed fully to anything or anyone.  While Finn and Max are watching a World Series game, Finn receives a call regarding Lily and told it's imperative he come for her immediately.  Finn leaves his brother's bedside and takes off despite the fact he and Lily had separated and recently she became involved with another man.  When Finn arrives, he's stunned to learn Lily had killed herself and the burial had already taken place.  Finn rushes to the cemetery and seems nonplussed upon finding Lily waiting for him alongside her graveside.  Finn and the incandescent Lily convene while on a meandering car ride with no clear destination.  Finn implores Lily, "I've changed my mind.  It's not too late for you to change yours.  I know you can do it."  With Moore's deft writing she's able to convince readers Finn and Lily are in their own  purgatory from which they could both emerge nascent and fully cognizant of what they desire in life.  "Perhaps he and Lily had moved out of controlled hallucination into random reality shards."  Finn's narrative is interwoven with an epistolatory, chronicle of a 19th C boarding house matron who relieves her daily trials and tribulations in correspondences to her cherished sister.  The enigma of how these two unrelated stories will merge is another tribute to Moore's gift for engaging readers and expanding their realms of imagination.  Her writing dissects multitiered layers of regret.  "When people died it was the vanishing that was so hard."  And, we're reminded, "Memory. Passage.  Nothing in the world was ever truly over."  I strongly recommend this haunting and indelible novel. 

NF QUIETLY HOSTILE-NF Stands for Not Funny in this Sophomoric Essay/Commentary

I now have reason to be leery of future recommendations from NPR's FRESH AIR.  I intend to be more vigilant when Terry Gross, the consummate host, isn't there.  Samantha Irby spoke with NPR's Tonya Mosley about her new book of essays, "Quietly Hostile" this past May.  Mosley mostly fawned over Irby who was disarming and clever.  Never again, however, will I be susceptible to buying into a plug surreptitiously under the guise of an interview.  At best, it's an opportunity for the listener to ascertain their interest in whether to buy whatever the guest is selling.  And lest we forget, the station must acquiesce to their guests so as to maintain a constant flux of celebrities.  Irby's comic writing career has mostly been with TV's "Sex and the City" which she referenced often on NPR and in her book.  Irby has published several comedic observational essay collections.  Her 2013 memoir "Meaty" is being adapted into a series on FX.  Irby's self-deprecating banter and sardonic wit pitted against Mosley was chuckle worthy and a glimmer of levity felt imminent in her latest book, "Quietly Hostile."  I'm overtly irritated I gravitated to buying this inane collection which was saturated with potty humor and intention of normalizing of bodily functions on TV.  "Pooping in other people's bathroom presents such a conundrum.  Especially when you have to come out and talk to them as the stench of your waste permeates the air.  I don't want to make brunch plans when you just listened to me evacuating my bowels."  Irby offered somewhat helpful advice for minor first world problems.  For example, "Let's say there are three stalls in the restroom and the third one is occupied.  Which should you choose?  This is not a real question, unless you are a monster.  Come on man, do your number two in number one."  The inside scoop writing for "Sex in the City" was literally shitty.  As Irby informs us, "My singular agenda, and yes, I absolutely will! Not! Rest! Until we normalize beautiful people shitting on TV, so of course I would go back and put poop in this {Sex and the City} show."  Perhaps Mosley wisely kept the lid down on toilet topics.  If this last anecdote I'm going to share from "Quietly Hostile" doesn't deter you from reading this putrid piece of writing, then dive right in as you've been forewarned.  "Have you ever had to reach into the toilet to break up a turd?  It's a horrifying feeling.  What about fishing around in murky piss-water to loosen a wad of toilet paper you mistakenly thought would swoosh right through to wherever poop goes?"  It seems Tonya took a gross one for the home-team and left Terry to interview more elevated guests. 

Pamela Mayer's N/F LIESPOTTING-Obvious Tips You've Already Gotten

"If you ask a question and someone repeats it back to you, she may be stalling to buy time to think about how she wants to reply."  This is just one of many tidbits that any idiot would've concluded before being deluded into buying Mayer's unenlightening.   Dare I say it, insipid and anything but revelatory book that supposedly shook the business world with a seismic tool to size up potential employees.  Now, for the mere price of $15 on kindle, which is only overly priced by $15, it will alert you via garrulous means of what you already discerned by living with your nose outside a book.  Mayer's techniques which took the world by storm (according to her) was a tsunami of incidental examples of "possible" deceitful tells that well frankly, is of value for those who have a social cues disorder.  Sadly, many who "suffer" from social communication disorders also have difficulty processing language as well as comprehending social cues.  For the vast majority of people who already do what Mayer needlessly encourages, "trust your intuition."  It's worth noting Mayer's motivation to better access when a person is being deceitful stem from her personal hiring fiasco of an assistant she thought was a wunderkind until she discovered she swindled by.  I too feel swindled as I spent money having kindled LIESPOTTING.  Mayer advised ad nauseam, "Trust yourself?  Lie detection and intuition have a reciprocal relationship."  Or as the well-known platitude toes - if it's too good to be true, it probably is.  There's nothing worthing noting in LIESPOTTING.  Much information is parried pertaining to why it's worthwhile to discern when you're being lied to as if you already weren't aware.  For example, "Detecting deception is a crucial skill that offers countless financial psychological, and even emotional benefits."   There's nothing worth noting in LIESPOTTING because you already know it. Trust me -  don't blow your dough on it. 

Steven Rowley's novel LILY and the Octopus-Man's Deep Love for His Dog

I feel a little bait switch on the mood this book seemed to offer.  I anticipated a joyful, light read led by the unwavering love between a man and his dog.  In many ways, the book delivers on the immeasurable and unconditional devotion that forms between people and "people's best friends;" dogs.  But in this hard to put down story, Ted, a single, gay writer's love for his dog Lily does not extend inward.  Ted's affection and care for Lily, a 12 year old dachshund is endearing but Ted's emotional well being is unstable and his touch on reality are way out of sync.  Yet, there is much comic relief and heart proffered from Ted's sessions with his therapist and his weekly social activities revolve around his evenings spent solely with Lily.  These scheduled events include ordering pizza, playing monopoly and movie night.  The ongoing banter between Ted and Lily feels all too real and lively stemming from both.  Credit Rowley's crafty writing for being so convincing as to concede Ted and Lily have truly mastered telepathic communication and for considering the "octopus" on Lily's head possesses animate traits with a malicious vendetta against Lily.  We hold equal admiration for Ted's doting concern along with growing alarm at his encroaching dottiness.   Ted considers, "I too am suffering from the presence of the octopus, seizures in reason.  My thoughts of late have resembled those of a small child more than the thinking of a grown man."  One of the most beguiling and surreal sequences in the book takes place aboard a sea vessel Ted rented with the intent to confront and annihilate the octopus whose been sucking the life out of Lily.  Comparisons to the tear jerker, "Racing in the Rain" with an all-knowing and beloved family dog with dog's sevenfold shortened life expectancy.  Rowley pulls our heartstrings with grief shrouding the story and then digs deeper by underlying a decision many dog owners eventually face.  The bare bones uncovered from what transpires with living and loving one's dog are priceless gems.  Ted said, "I am thankful for Lily, who, since she entered my life, has taught me everything I know about patience and kindness and meeting adversity with quiet dignity and grace."  LILY and the OCTOPUS is a book of magical thinking plus a profound reflection on grief and lessons gleaned from dogs. "People describe grief in different ways.  I'd say it's a temporary derangement."  "Grief is a pathological condition.  It's just that so many of us go through it in life that we never think to treat it as such."  Ted is cognizant of dogs' boundless capacity for living and loving.  "Dogs live in the present.  Because dogs don't hold grudges.  Because dogs let go of all their anger daily, hourly, and never let it fester.  They absolve and forgive with each passing minute."  LILY and the OCTOPUS is highly recommended reading knowing you'll uncover much wisdom and in much wisdom comes much sorrow.  

THE CHILEAN POET-Perceptive Take on Poets' Personas by A. Zambra

Poems, short stories and novels are very different literary genres.  Reading poetry or reading fiction is approached and appreciated in different manners.  Alejandro Zambra (b. Chilie 1975) was selected as one of the best "Bogota39" (the best Latin American writers under 39) '2010.  Zambra is highly regarded as a poet, short story writer and novelist.  With keen insight and clever writing, Zambra turns poetry into a central character in "The Chilean Poet."  He wittingly adopts metafiction; the writing about writing in his novels.   Zambra instills an observational narrator who reports on events from the perspectives of several main characters in addition to Gonzalo, an inspiring poet, Carla his young lover whom he reconnects with as an adult, Carla's son Vicente and Prudence 'Pru', an American journalist traveling through Chile interviewing various poets for an American publication.  It can be said (and it was several times in the novel), poetry is Chile's national sport.  Numerous poets were name dropped with no recognition on my part and perhaps for most readers outside S. America, if not Chile.  Gonzalo and Vicente, whom Gonzalo regards more as a son than stepson, both write and read poetry.  There are numerous poems interspersed throughout written by both.  And, they critique other's poetry.  Much of the poetry included is feeble.  Perhaps, intentionally to let other poems resonate more fully with pathos and beauty.  Interestingly,  poetry's value is bantered and challenged.  One of the poets Pru interviewed commented, "Poetry is subversive because it exposes you, tears you apart.  You dare to distrust yourself.  You dare to disobey."  This poet also explained why his poetry is worth publishing.  "I don't know if they're good, but they deserve to live. A lot of people say that poetry is useless. They're afraid of useless things. Everything has to have a purpose.  They hate pure creation, they're in love with corporations. They're afraid of solitude.  They don't know how to be alone."  Diligence is required of the reader to digest the auto-fictional trajectories and the ubiquitous poets, journalists and poetry. However, there are unexpected and refreshing  the pursuit of surgery for Vicente's beloved cat Midnight.  The political background in Chile under communism when Gonzalo was growing up are background fodder laying a foundation for the resurgence of flourishing artistic voices.  I found Zambra's strident voice possessed a pacifying aesthetic and a unique cadence.  Despite being perplexed at times while reading THE CHILEAN POET, I feel rewarded having persisted.  Zambra proffers his simple but cogent thoughts on what happiness is with which I agree. "...happiness is-when you don't feel like you should be somewhere else, or be someone else."  This novel is unlike anything else I've read.  I recommend it highly. 

PAGEBOY-Elliot Page's Autobiography that's a Page Turner and A Turn Off

Elliot Page tells us early on in his candid and forthright prose, "{I am} a trans person and a public one, the sensation is that I'm always pleading for people to believe me, which I imagine most trans people relate to."  In reading Page's book, I wanted a first hand examination of being trans.  Mainly, I hoped to empathize with the mindset and emotional toll intrinsic to identifying with being trans.  Furthermore, I  wanted to learn from Elliot how this impacted his psyche, his various relationships as well as his professional career.  As a celebrity and accomplished TV/movie actor, I was curious about his personal history; childhood, adolescent years and celebrity connections.  But more importantly, what he experienced by coming out as gay, then as trans.   How he feels now, post surgery and living life as Elliot Page.  Furthermore, I want to know how Elliot perceives how gays and trans people are regarded by most people.  Elliot's parents divorced when he was six and growing up in rural Canada.  Ellen (as he was identified then) was shuttled between his mom's home as an only child, to his dad's home.  At his dad's home he idolized an older stepbrother and stepsister but was treated cruelly by his stepmom and made to feel unwanted.  Elliots dad, whom he adored, made him feel loved except when other family members were present.  Then Elliot was relegated second class and unworthy of protection.  Elliot looks back on his younger self and attributes being brought up at his dad's for having "..paved the way for my future relationship dynamics. I would throw the feelings aside, worried I'd get in trouble for having them, remaining in situations a lot longer than I should have."  This sentiment is echoed throughout with deep regrets for not haven spoken out, coming out earlier or confronting what was always incessant much early with the understanding of being male despite being born with female anatomy.  I responded to PAGEBOY on a very personal front.  I was awash with sympathy and sorrow for the miasma of self-doubt, suffering and depression that was oppressive in his life.  A prevailing ache for Elliot in his 20s was, "'Why do I feel this way?' I'd plead. 'What is this feeling that never goes away?  How can I be desperately uncomfortable all the time?  How can I have this life and be in such pain'"  Elliot writes in a non-sequential time order with flashbacks to present times.  Regardless, the writing is powerful and lucid.  But, I personally question the lascivious details of sexual liaisons and assaults revealed which are titillating and the star name dropping.  Yet, I found this to be often very off-putting.  PAGEBOY serves as a sound reasoning board and outcry for acceptance in today's society that tends to condemn rather than accept; to shun rather than take in.  Despite what may seem my prudish objections, I strongly recommend PAGEBOY for everybody; particularly those struggling with their own gender dysphoria and those intending to support and understand those pursuing their true identities.