Banville's The DROWNED-Detached Det. May Solve for What Maybe a Murder

John Banville (b. Ireleand 1945) is a highly honored author.  He's been bestowed prestigious, international literary awards: Booker Prize "The Sea" (19  ),  Princes of Astoria Award, Guinness Peat Aviation Award, and The Franz Kafka Award. In 2001, Banville relinquished the financial stipend asking it be given to a  more impoverished writer. His books vary in subject but all share his unique, literary prowess.  Banville's canon of work is not with mystery writing for the most part. However, in novel The DROWNED (2024), set in a coastal, rural town outside Dublin in the 1950s he delves into a missing person investigation. It's  more fitting of a character study or psychological procedural versus a clever who-done-it. It seems Banville has never traveled far from his oeuvre of creating compelling, complex characters. Furthermore, Banville's storytelling is from varying point of views which give us a keen insight into how the characters are likely to comport themselves. The DROWNED starts off serenely as a self-imposed loner, Denton Wymes, along with his beloved dog are returning from a day of fishing when he spots a fancy motor car left abandoned in a field. Against his better inclination, Wymes goes to investigate when he's hailed by a lanky, dapper stranger. The man introduces himself as Armitage who claims his wife ran off in the midst of their arguing. Armitage explains he's been trying to locate her fearing she may have fallen into the sea and drowned. Wymes submits to coming with Armitage up to the nearest home in order to phone the authorities. The nearest home is occupied by a wealthy couple, the Ruddicks and their young boy who rent the home during the summer. Wymes observes something awry between the gruff husband and Armitage. Armitage is only too happy to allow himself to become inebriated while awaiting the local police. When Armitage wife is not found (alive or otherwise) Detective Inspector St. John Strafford is called in to investigate. The investigation proceeds at a turgid pace. It becomes evident solving for the missing wife, who may or may not have taken off on her own accord, but as a means for the reader to become familiar with the cast of characters. Det. Strafford's character is unassuming and open minded.  He's also easily steered by his love interests. Strafford hooked up with his nemesis' only child, a much younger Penelope. She informs him she's pregnant which renders him speechless. Meanwhile Strafford is despondent over the failing health of his mentor and old friend. How does this all wrap up in the end? Rather circuitously than rapidly with the villain revealing his/her deeds and with more collateral damage befalling several of the characters. Rigid mystery lovers should abstain from the unsatisfying scenarios that pan out weakly but Banville continues to leave no doubt of his force as a teller of yarns yielding their own rewards. I recommend The DROWNED along with "The Sea, " The Book of Evidence" and "Shroud." 

Rachel Cusk's LIFE of M Maligns "Natalie Portman" Presumptuous PASS!

I've been a fan Rachel Cusk's literary works. I'm not the only one - Natalie Portman has promoted Cusk's books on her literary platforms and forged a familiarity with the author. Perhaps, the purported friendly recognition between Cusk and the Acad. Award winning actress was blown out of proportion and inflated by Cusk's already engorged ego. I may have fabricated that last opinion, nonetheless, Cusk is culpable of creating a work of "fiction" that analyzes character traits of celebrities and more egregiously of attributing these attributes in a thinly disguised intimation of Portman. The easily identifying marks include her child stardom, portraying a ballet dancer and living abroad in Paris with her young children. I cannot disregard Cusk's clever and engrossing style, however, this only makes her presumptions of the "anonymous" actor more devious. I admit to falling prey to the controversy surrounding a seemingly illicit representation of Portman in Cusk's most recent novel "Life of M."  It's factual that Portman and Cusk have met on numerous social occasions and garnered a familiar acknowledgment of one another. Praises be to both Portman and Cusk for being innovaters in their artistic venues. In "Life of M" (one letter off from N), Cusk merges auto-fiction with editorializing the exclusive and indulgent lifestyle of celebrities. The connections between fame and artifice drawn by Cusk is credible, calculating and for the most part, unflat-tering. A particularly harsh critique of M comes in a scene in an art gallery. M's artist friend has a showing of her paintings. "She {M} has always been gently supportive of her friend, admiring her for her artistic integrity. The same quality, integrity, is something M experiences as a kind of absence within herself. It is something she recognizes only in other people. It is like a vital organ that was removed from her early on and for which she is forever trying to find the replacement. She has had to teach herself how to life and behave with integrity." Cusk makes demeaning allegations of M as a neglectful parent; delegating most of her responsibilities and for becoming inured of her highly preferential treatment as a famous movie star. Towards the end of the novel "Life of M," M asks the author to her home to discuss her dismay with her portrayal which the author refutes. "I don't like the way you portray me, she said.  Actually, it's hurtful. But it isn't you, I said. It isn't anyone. She looked at me coldly. You've made it seem like I lack humanity, she said. You've made it seem like I'm unable to love." I agree with this ingenious critiquing by Cusk of the actor confronting her. I ineffectually denounce reading "Life of M" for the sham facade of Portman. Still, it's hard not to admire Cusk's prowess as an author, essayist and conniver. "Can it be true that work, in the end, has proved more lasting than love? or is it that work, without us realizing it, has somehow interfered with our capacity to love?"

James McBride's The GOOD LORD BIRD-Historic Fiction at Its Finest

James McBride is among the elite authors who've received literary awards for both fiction and non-fiction. The GOOD LORD BIRD received the Nat'l Book Award for Fiction in 2013. This work of historic fiction tells the story of the misguided abolitionist John Brown from the voice of a young enslaved boy who is taken under the protective wing of John Brown in the years just prior to the civil war and months before the his raid on the federal armory in Harpers Ferry '1889. Our protagonist, Henry Shackleford, dubbed "Little Onion" by Brown after Henry's father is killed in a shoot-out involving Brown. Brown mistakenly sees Henry as male so Henry dressed and assumes a female role along with the name Onion to remain under Brown's protection. Told in retrospect from a much older, free man, in the dialect of a southern black person with a keen eye. Henry neither glorifies nor disavow's Brown character or actions. McBrides novel is a thrilling and terrifying odyssey of survival as a slave seeking his opportunity to be free. Onion's path alongside Brown's camping, gun-slinging, and foraging travels as an abolitionist into both slave and free states is an unforgettable tale made exciting by the bizarre circumstances and sheer tenacity for self-preservation. Henry arouses tender feelings for the young boy, posing as a girl left on his own, dependent  on the kindness of Brown, and his assembled abolitionist army. The retrospective telling is told with tenderness and wisdom. Early on Henry had an understanding of how Brown operated. When first taken up by Brown, Henry noted, "Whatever he believed, he believed It didn't matter to him whether it was really true or not. He just changed the truth till it fit him. He was a real white man." Life on the run with Brown and his men was extremely harsh. "It's one thing to say you're an abolitionist, but riding for weeks on the plains in winter, with no spare victuals, you weeding a bad hoe for satisfaction to test a man's principles that way. Some of the Old Man's men was turned toward slavery by the time winter was over." Henry met major historic figures Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman on his journeys. And, much of what he witnessed was jaw dropping. "Even the colored in Philadelphia didn't seem to care about their slave brothers. I seen a few of them strolling about, sporting pocket watches, walking canes, great pins and finger rings just like white folks." The terror, bravery and major fiasco that unfolded at Harper Ferry which led to Brown's capture is memorable in Henry's telling. "Captain {Brown} brung hisself back to Harpers Ferry knowing he was done in. He knowed he was gonna lose fighting for the Negro, on account of the Negro, and he brung hisself to it anyways." The most profound epiphany Henry had was in retrospect.  "Nobody asked the Negro what he thunk about the whole business, by the way, nor the Indian, when I think of it, for neither of their thoughts didn't count, even though most of the squabbling was about them on the outside, for at bottom the whole business was about land and money. something nobody who was squabbling seemed to ever get enough of." The GOOD LORD BIRD is a brilliant, entertaining and truly significant work of historic fiction. It makes history come alive. This should be included in reading lists for all our public schools. 

D Stuart's JOHN of JOHN-Gay Love Runs in Families

Douglas Stuart (b. Scotland 1976) is Booker Prize winning author of "Shuggie Bain". I was surprised me with Stuart's toned down depiction of the stringent life in a small rural village in Scotland. While the harsh life and cruel treatment Shuggie received was abhorrent, his story felt credible and aroused empathy. In JOHN of JOHN (2026) our young male protagonist, Cal, is from a small rural island off Scotland's coast. All  similarities, struggles and sympathies diverge from there. Cal (short for John-Callum) is the son of the local vicar John and recently graduated from University with an arts degree. Cal has been floundering around the mainland searching for gainful employment. When his father calls him home to help care for his elderly grandmother, Ella, Cal packs his few belongings and returns home. Despite never intending to go back to the island, he reveres his grandmother who raised him and fears his dad. Cal's mother, Ella's daughter, left him and started a new family with his dad's brother. The reason Grace left gets revealed nearly a year later. Meanwhile Cal has worked arduously caring for the sheep and the family's farmland. The island is shrouded in secrecy amongst its motley cast of inhabitants who harbor grudges and distrust. The story is laconically paced which contributes to the ambiance of a sparsely populated island with nothing to do except toil on the land or sea, attend Sunday services presided over by Cal's dad and drink by the fire. Homosexual proclivities are kept hidden to avoid heretical scandal. Readers glean early  of Cal's homosexuality and of his father's long-time affair with his male lover.  Cal and John both keep being gay guarded from each other. The hypocrisy and self-righteous condemnation of those who have commit sins such as pre-marital or homosexual sex is egregious, especially coming from John who proselytizes mandates. The cruelty from church leaders by ostracizing an unwed mother was deplorable. The duplicity of father/son both being gay and being attracted to the same man was preposterous. Ella noted to John, "It seemed to be such an unfunny joke that you {John}would be the way you are, and he would be yon way too. It was too weird to think of." Despite the narrow minded, homogenous consensus against homosexuality of the islanders, the community would also pull together in caring for one another. The descriptions of the landscape's natural beauty along the shoreline and meandering open fields were lush and inviting. To reiterate, JOHN of JOHN is a novel of duplicity, subterfuge and self-abasement that continued to fester which prevented Cal and his father from being at peace with themselves and each other. Ella advised secrecy. "Whatever he {Cal} is, whatever he is not. Let him keep it to himself, Islands within islands." The burden of senseless shame was omnipotent and isolating.  John realized, "he had decided years ago that he would never speak to his son about Cal's sexuality. To raise the subject would be to cast light onto it and it should be left in the murk where it belonged." 

R Russo's UNDER the FALLS is Underwhelming, Unlike His Previous Novels

American novelist, short-story writer and screenwriter, Richard Russo, received a Pulitzer for "Empire Falls" (2001) and has had several movies and TV series developed from his works.  His sharp and facetious writing inn his earlier books, "Nobody's Fool", "Everybody's Fool" and "Somebody's Fool" will have you scratching head with his most recent work "Under the Falls" asking yourself, what kind of fool does Russo think I am if he think's this underdeveloped story passes for anything on par with his past classics. The similarity begins and ends with a similar, setting in a small, upstate NY town that has seen better days. Intended as a literary thriller it fails to deliver an intriguing plot or scholarly writing that Russo is known for.  Returning home to the scene of his childhood is celebrity, rock-star Tyler to give a benefit concert for his childhood friend, Doc. Doc was left a paraplegic following an accident resulting from Tyler and Doc jumping into the local watering-hole. Also left behind are Tyler's ex-best friend, Curt "pinkie-swear forever") and Freddie, the beautiful girl the two both loved (and perhaps, still do.)  Curt has been married to Freddie with whom he shares 18 year old son, Freddie Jr. and is the local chief of police. These childhood friends blends into a love triangle that turns tragic with a twist that's hard to miss miles away. Nothing seems cleverly hidden or construed. The novel reads like an outline for a limited TV series. In fact, the acknowledgements at the end reads "Under the Falls began not as a novel but as a TV pilot script." Russo explains that during the WGA writers strike the pilot script didn't survive. Nonetheless, I confess UNDER the FALLS could succeed as a melodramatic miniseries that would be more pleasing with an attractive cast. But alas, UNDER the FALLS falls way below the esteemed standards of literary fiction Russo has written in the past. PASS on this watered-down novel that fails to rise to the level we expect Russo to pull together. 

Japanese Novel BUTTER Blends Murder Manipulation and Mouthwatering Meals

The Japanese novel BUTTER by Asako Yuzuki is a phenomenal best-seller in Japan that is starting to gain traction here in the states as it should. Yuzuki's distinctively Japanese tale is a tangy mix of a true female serial killer, Kajii, whose male victims fall prey to her cunning wiles and culinary skills. The salacious details of the relationship are tempered by the simmering reveal of details uncovered by a female journalist, Raki, whose tenacious investigation gets her embroiled in Kajii's menacing manipulation and enmeshed in Kajii's love of haute cuisine. Kajii's obsession with good food blends into Raki's obsession while trying to cull a murder confession. The novel is stuffed with salivating descriptions of delicious meals and their preparations. The sordid details of the deaths of three of Kajii's lovers are slowly revealed. As in many recipes, the key to success is not to hurry and allow things to simmer. The languid pacing allows each character to become rich and multilayered. Raki's nascent career as a journalist is elevated when she becomes the only one who managed to secure an interview with the notorious and obscure Kajii. Kajii is waiting a retrial after being convicted of three murders. There are multiple ingredients that go into this devilishly delicious investigative, psychological thriller. As Raki warms her way into Kajii's confidence, Kaji's influence over Raki proves perilous. The shifting power in relationships is a main trope along with double standards set for men and women regarding physical appearance. Rika's growing appreciation for fine dining led her to add gain extra kilos and an epiphany about societal views on women's physique and stature. Rika conceded "...even if she were to lose a few kilos, she still wouldn't pass. However beautiful she became, however well she did at work, even if she got married and had children, society didn't let women off that easily. The standards were getting high, and assessments harsher." Getting inside Raki's life as a single-working women in contemporary society was an insightful look into the typical grueling work demands, cramped living conditions and prevalent feelings of isolation was eye-opening and fascinating as getting inside the mind of Kajii, a master manipulator and likely sociopath. Rika came to the final realization that Kajii isn't alone in bending the truth to suit her needs. "What's the truth, though really? What is a lie? There's such a small discrepancy between the two. Given that, what's so wrong about choosing whichever path seems more appealing to you? What's so wrong about coating barren, flavorless reality in oodles of melted butter and seasoning it with condiments and spices? That's my way of getting by in life, which has come about quite naturally."  Butter is a scrumptious, unforgettable novel from soup to nuts. 

 

HOW to Not DIE in PRISON: A Survivor GUIDE-If You don't Need This- Don't Punish Yourself by Reading

Tom Nelson spent 17 years in medium and maximum security prison from an early age. Taylor Sheridan, an aspiring actor turned successful TV series creator ("Yellowstone") became acquainted and formed a friendship in his early days while working out a gym in LA.  Nelson, finding himself in desperate financial situation turned to his friend Sheridan for a friendly loan which Sheridan said is never the case but delivered invaluable, pragmatic advice and a starting point to write about his own life. Both discovered Sheridan's natural talent for writing and an in demand niche. As Nelson puts it, "So, you fucked up. Can't talk your way out of it, buy your way out of it, or beg your way out of it. You are going to prison." This self-help, auto-bio on prison life is de riguer; essential coaching on maintaining your safety serving your debt to society. Some sound advice: "You Should be ready to jump if a guard orders you to do something." And trust your instincts, "If you really get the sense that something is about to go down either shipyard time or stay close to the towers-you'll be safe there, since convicts tend to avoid them if they're trying to do something shady.." While I maintain there is a dangerous and irredeemable population that should never walk among free society. the concept of people in chains, living in cages is anathema and inhuman. It also remains a mystery to me what life would be like serving hard time. Nelson noted that having alone time is vital to keeping you sanity "Having just a couple of hours to yourself once a week can be a big part of keeping your shit together." My curiosity did get the better of me and Nelson's candor, cogent prose with a somewhat humorous light makes the this survival guide worthwhile until it becomes too oppressive for those with a more sensitive deposition to the atrocities that occur on a a regular basis and the barbaric living conditions. I was enlightened beyond what I naively envisioned inside prison and chose to close down my kindle. If you don't need this survival guide my advice is to keep your nose clean, stay out of prison and keep your nose in prose of life outside the penitentiary. 

BEGINNING MIDDLE END-Blurs the Lines Between Fiction and NonFiction

Valerie Luiselli is a Mexican-American author. She has received numerous literary accolades including the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Dublin Literary Award and two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Her most recent novel, Luiselli delights and beguiles the reader with her inventive writing that mashes fiction and non-written to create a clever tale of mother-daughter-granddaughter relationships which weaves three generations. This meshing of forms creates a unique, new genre that contorts facts and fiction. Luiselli's protagonist is an established author on a book tour in Sicily with her teenage daughter. The narrator's clever daughter confronts her mother as to whether she is writing auto-fiction. In other words, is mom writing about them in her book she's working on. The narrator denies this but her daughter  reads aloud to her mom a passage that "...reproduced an entire monologue from the character of a girl in my novel, a little girl who in the novel is the daughter of the narrator."  The plot unhurriedly meanders as it traipse along on the mother/daughter road trip.  It's not the plot that drives this inventive work but rather the narrator's dissecting of what she is presently experiencing and then recording. The narrator explains her writing as "A novel about a mother and her daughter, a daughter and her mother traveling along the edge of somewhere, toward some other time frame. A novel in the middle, the middle of a novel. Or is it not a novel, but an essay? Perhaps the middle does not fit into the tighter architecture of a novel, the worst of plot."  The story commences in an apartment in Sicily on loaned from an abusive boyfriend.  When he returns, they flee from his brutal behavior. Their car trip on the island takes on ominous threats from fires and volcanic eruptions occurring nearby.  Throughout there is a haunting aura of deja vu, approaching doom and menacing mishaps taking place. Just prior to the mother and her daughter going abroad, the mom split from her husband, separating the daughter from a step-father and step-brother whom she had grown attached. While the mother is concerned for her daughter's feelings neither she is not forthcoming with any explanations. Neither is the daughter with her feelings regarding the familial split. Grandma's senility also poses dilemmas for her daughter and granddaughter which adds a comical lilt. The journey leads them to the home of the grandma's friend. Shortly after arriving, they need to escape quickly by boat as fires are now nearby. The ending our narrator/writer has been seeking to resolve concludes with a surprisingly delightful montage of photos the mother/daughter took on their travels. This mystical ending left me wanting to reread this captivating and deceptively ingenious story from the beginning, again. I recommend BEGINNING MIDDLE END for its magical flair and for revealing what may actually be there in the end. 

ENORMOUS WINGS-Septuagenarian Gets Pregnant and All Hell Breaks Loose

Laurie Frankel uses humor in her novel ENORMOUS WINGS to pontificate on a woman's right to choose which has been eradicated in our country. A septuagenarian, Pepper, is a senior with still a lot of spunk whose family decides it's time for her to stop driving and move into a senior living facility. What's funny or even preposterous is the premise that she finds love with her next door neighbor and becomes pregnant. It gets explained (but not credible) as a result of her special trial cancer treatment. Nevertheless, she wants to terminate the pregnancy for both her health and state of mind. There's a media circus surrounding Pepper and a myriad of protestors on both sides of the abortion issue. Making matters more complex is Pepper resides in TX which comes down hard on anyone wanting an abortion or abetting the patient. Pepper's family who all add their delightful two cents along with their support includes an ex-spouse living at the same senior center, two daughters, a son and four grandchildren. One 15 year old grandchild, Lola, is especially close with Pepper. Oops, coincidentally, Lola became pregnant at the same time as Pepper by her high school boyfriend. The light comedy at the onset after the first trimester in the pregnancy turns didactic.  Most all the fallouts of not having free choice whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy are presented heavy handedly. It can be argued that ENORMOUS WINGS is a palpable format for discussing the demise of Roe v Wade. I maintain that the novel just doesn't fly right. It's an enormous stretch as it becomes labored under a bloated, melodramatic soap opera plot. The bumps along the way include an elderly friend who passes away and a clandestine road trip to get Lola across state lines for an abortion. As well intentioned as Frankel may be in providing a sensationalized story of a septuagenarian conceiving, the delivery needed a lifeline to make it worth your time.  I much preferred Frankel's "This Is How It Always Is," Here Frankel delivers a sensitive and realistic depiction of a child transitioning within a family and its impact on all family members. 

The END of MY LIFE IS KILLING ME-A Gurwitch Finds Funniness with Stage 4 Lung Cancer

Having listened to Annabelle Gurwitch's audio book "You Say Potato and I Say Shut Up" co-written with her husband, I was expecting a clever and comedic insight into the ravages of dealing with stage 4 lung cancer. Gurwitch and her husband bicker back and forth over the same scenario from their separate,  scintillating points of view. This had me laughing out loud to their annoyances in their marriage which were regrettably relatable in other relationships. Gurwitch is an articulate, no nonsense, no holds barred broad. Their bantering belied deeper resentment eventually leading to a divorce after nearly 2 decades of being together. Sadly, I learned of Gurwitch's latest memoir which is about being a divorced mother with a college age son while living with stage 4 lung cancer. At the start of Covid, while getting tested for it, she mentioned a persistent cough which led to the discovery of her lung cancer. Gurwitch handles her dismal diagnosis and debilitating illness with the same aplomb and wry wit as in "You Say..." but here the humor does not provide the same carapace of an omnipotent facade as the realities of her treatment, capabilities and prognosis are challenging both her physical and mental well being.  Still, for anyone who may have a terminal illness, knows of someone dealing with a fatal disease, this part bio, part guide book for dealing with cancer, it's helpful when dealing with fiduciary wrangling, searching for support networks and maintaining a positive outlook. Pervasive throughout is Gurwitch's candor and ability to be uplifting. She's  funny and vulnerable, resilient and overwhelemed. This was not breezy listening but neither was it a pathos picnic. There's much to be gained and even entertained by when listening to Gurwitch stalwart swagger and vivid descriptions. She depicts herself realistically at her weakest and most noxious. I wish her only the best.  I thank her for her bravado dealing with her devastating prognosis. In fact, in addition to lung cancer, Gurwitch also developed breast cancer.  This irrepressible, social commentator and cancer patient is still kicking up her heels, finding love, enjoying friends and family and living life with fervor.  But, unless cancer is close to home, do yourself a favor, listen to "You Say Potato and I Say Shut Up" instead.  

MARTYR-Dazzling Debut Novel-An Obsession with Dying that Makes Life Trying

Award winning Iranian/Amer poet Kaveh Akbar's debut novel, MARTYR is a Nat'l Book Award Finalist (2026). The protagonist/anti-hero, Cyrus Sham, is an infant when his mom gets on the infamous commercial flight in Iran to visit her brother which is short down by the US Govt. Akbar blends historical events, as with this fatal flight in 1988. Cyrus' dad wants to leave Iran. He finds an ad for work in Iowa at a chicken factory and decides to immigrate to give his son a better life as in many immigrant families.  In the states, Cyrus' dad has no life outside work except watching sports on TV and drinking gin nightly to fall asleep. Cyrus is an outsider at school but becomes a good student earning a scholarship to IA Univ. Totally abstemious until then, Cyrus finds his major outside poetry in drink, drugs and sex. This is a tale of queer man's search for sobriety, his place in the world and his families legacy. Dealing with AA meetings and his sponsor is as engaging as the amazing family saga that dazzles as it unravels. At odds with with no career, obsessed with his mother's senseless death and martyrdom, Cyrus learns of a performance artist, Okediah, who casts herself as an exhibit in the Brooklyn Art Museum to speak with visitors during her final days from cancer. The novel's macabre fascination with death is actually confronting the absurdities of living. "living happened till it didn't. There was no choice in it. To say no to a new day would be unthinkable. So each morning you said yes, then stepped into the consequence." Cyrus tells Okediah, "I've been wanting to write about how to make a death useful." Cyrus realizes, "the mortal sin of the martyr must be pride, the vanity, the hubris to believe not only that  your death could mean more than your living, but that your death could mean more than death itself-which because it is inevitable, means nothing." Through Akbar's skillful writing we garner the story of Cyrus' family.  His uncle rode the battle fields of fallen soldiers disguised as a martyr. We delve into tangents of Cyrus dreams with odd celebrity pairings in conversation. We also learn alongside Cyrus of his mother's startling life. The story weaves among the lives of Cyrus and family.  From his family we garner the hardships and degradations of life in Iran in the 80s. Throughout, Cyrus remains steadfast in his pursuit of art which proves somewhat futile. Cyrus realizes "He was not made for the world in which he lived, that art and writing had gotten him only trivially closer to compensating of that fundamental defective ness, the way standing on a roof gets on only trivially closer to grabbing the moon than standing in the dirt."  This is an astonishing novel that grapples with the search life's meaning written in a style that is unremitting and unforgettable. Make MARTYR a must read.

SHAMPOO EFFECT-Pleasant Palette Cleanser-Social Clique in a Small Coastal Town

Jenny Jackson's novel, SHAMPOO EFFECT is about a close group of young adults who've been friends since high school if not longer and no longer find the same things as amusing as they once did. Basically a light beach read with a setting on the idyllic, MA shore. It's easily digestible, forgettable but not much more. The central character is Caroline Nash, the daughter of a successful writer but not insightful mother, Caroline is left on her own to pursue her own literary aspirations. This brings her from a promising start to a writers' residency in a cozy cabin where she meets Val and his coven of close knit friends. Val is an environmentalist and the two hit off a lovely romance that brings Caroline into the fold where she's not exactly welcomed with open arms. In the group is the gorgeous Bailey. Val and Bailey have been together off and on since high school, "I love her but we're not together and I'm not in love with her," he assures Caroline. Except for one small detail, they recently slept together and Bailey is intending to keep the baby. Believing him, Caroline remains open minded and accepting of the situation hoping to maintain her relationship with Val without interloping in their family ties. Despite Caroline's best intentions on her part, Val breaks Caroline heart after his son is born by choosing Bailey and the baby over her. The dynamics in the group beside Val and Bailey include two other married couples with young kids, a gay couple wanting to have a child and all the shenanigans and stress that comes with couples learning to cope and communicate with each other. For some it's the fraternity like behaviors that drives one wife crazy, or the unknown dalliances and desires outside the marriage or the pressures from work and families. What works well here is Jackson's tackling of millennial's midlife crises in an intelligent and engaging manner. The novel explores the transitions from care free adults into responsible adults dealing with parenting, shifting priorities and commitments. The longterm relationships among the local clique offers a fun, social net which is enviable. Caroline was only an outsider looking in on the group but once shunted aside by Val, vengeance fuels her writer's fire and she writes an explosive tell-all about the group's private lives. Jackson is no Updike, still l like what she wrote. SHAMPOO EFFECT is a cleansing space between literary fiction in a refreshing style that makes it an enjoyable change of pace.  

Walter Mosley Mostly Pleases But Pass on "Ghalen: A Romance in Black"

I've been a fan of Walter Mosley's writing in the crime fiction genre. He's received numerous literary awards including the Nat'l Book Fdtrn. Medal, and Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Assoc. It's a sheer mystery to me what Mosley had in mind when writing his most recent novel, "Ghalen: A Romance in Black." I don't recognize any of Mosley's writing in this novel which is a confusing coming of age novel. The novel begins with a serendipitous spark between Robert and Jamilah who share an umbrella which leads to romance. Their idyllic love affair is only marred by a Jamilah's misaligned mother who finds Robert "retarded". Jamilah is studying medicine and Robert is learning to be a chef in a vegan restaurant. They're married and have a son Ghalen. Ghalen is only 10 when his mother dies and steadfast Robert raises his son with the help of friends he's made at the restaurant. Ghalen is incredibly bright and ready to head to Berkley college at 16. This is the last vestige of a cohesive plot which turns to black and becomes muddled in a plot filled with potholes. Numerous people come in and out of Ghalen's life and his sense of obligation to them is unclear. Because he's been a childhood friend of Bruno and slept with Lovely, Bruno's girl (also Ghalen's childhood love) he takes a bullet to the head from him and the fall for a drug conviction by not turning Bruno to the police. It makes no sense going forward, including that he survived being shot in the head at short range. The plotting becomes deranged. Robert's mother is imprisoned in a psyche ward for killing his father. Jamilah's father Night comes back from the dead (Viet Nam) after 20 years and takes his place in the family. The year and a day Ghalen spent in prison is a hellish tale of sexual abuse and mayhem from which Ghalen comes out as if a class valedictorian with a prison graduation.  Only Mosley must know what he intended the reader to glean from this story unconventional of a non-conventional hero who flounders but finds support from his dad, his dad's cohorts and seems to land on his feet. Ghalen: A Romance in Black" was too rambling, too convoluted and too dark for me to recommend.  

TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE by Shuang-zi Yang-Narrow Niche for Foodies

This year's US National Book Award for Translated Fiction went to TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE. The complicated, twisty rediscovery of this historic novel gives the story an introductory intrigue. The payoff goes to those who love exotic, indigenous food that is hidden from tourists or foreigners. Our heroine Chizuko is a celebrated writer who is brought from Japan to Taiwan to speak about her lauded book. Chizuoko, gargantuous in size has an even larger appetite for food - especially that which is not readily available. So goes this culinary quest that is abetted by Chizuoko's Taiwanese interpreter, Mishima, turned confidant, close friend and indigent mentor.  Despite their bond, Chizuoko's impervious behaviors and expectations are put into perspective by Mishima. "There is nothing in the world more difficult to refuse than self-righteous goodwill." Yet, it's hard not to like Chizuko exuberance as she enters each new providence with her proverbial "Is there something good to eat around here?" The social parody of cultural insensitivity and oppressive colonization is an under current that is basted over in a pastiche of cultural differences and cuisine that will appeal to curious food lovers. I appreciated the intent of the novel to bring some historical lore but at its core is food, and more food. For me, I lost my appetite after my first bite in TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE. For others, it may induce salivations for ingesting this Taiwanese food to table tale.

Maggie O'Farrell's LAND A Sweeping Epic that Lost Me

Maggie O'Farrell's LAND has been heralded as a sweeping epic of Ireland in the 19th C. O'Farrell's ambitious storytelling mixes in Celtic fables, coming of age story, love story and historic fiction that turned the novel into a blight for me. The coming of age story. where an orphaned boy makes good against all odds by learning the skill of map making and falls for a girl amidst their harsh working conditions in the same orphanage came off as predictable and trite.  The Celtic lores became a bore. Add, the love story between the two would make an addicting PBS series. But, seriously there was too many diverting plots that you get lost.  The historic fiction could have dealt more with the British colonization into their lands and the devastating years of the famine. O'Farrell proclaimed often on the power of maps.  "Maps can be read for many things-geography both natural and man-made-and Tomas made sure that the Great Hunger was inscribed on his drafts, and in his name books, that it was recorded, in symbols and writing, that its effects and scars would be seen, its evidence and testimony unmissable, for all times." O'Farrell should have steered closer to her point instead of veering all over the map making it into a convoluted novel that loses its way.  I hope that PBS does pick up this novel making it into a mini-series.  I'm sure they'll do an  excellent job of editing and producing a lush epic tale that would be appealing to watch.  Wait for the series and pass on the book. 

 

E Stout's The THINGS WE NEVER SAY-Has Lots to Say on Lack of Communication

In "The Things We Never Say" Elizabeth Strout expands the theme of human isolation and the improbability of honest, open communication. Artie is a high school history teacher who cares about his family, his students and the state of the world. The story takes place under Trump's first administration. Yes, Artie's a kind, thoughtful man who is loved by those who know him. But the question remains, how well can we really now someone. "His {Artie} study of history, he learned about the leaders, and the various groups involved, but he had somehow missed this fact about every single person that they held within themselves a vast, unknowable universe." The political tension that has polarized our country is a backdrop that magnifies secrets being kept to sustain a status quo and prevent turbulent relationships. Artie's greatest pleasure comes from his weekend sail where he steers himself through turbulent waters. If only he could maneuver himself freely and share with his wife of 30 years, Evie, what is weighing on his mind. Evie became a therapist after a girl was killed in car accident in which their son was driving. Her career highlights the hypocrisy of keeping major secrets from both spouses."Artie was aware for the first time how much people lied to one another." Strout is very direct in her condemnation of Trump. Artie and his new"best friend" Kevin who rescued him from drowning formed a friendship in which he felt at peace. With Kevin he was able to share his feelings and felt heard (as long as they didn't discuss politics.) The story becomes somewhat muddled among the layers of clandestine behaviors (shoplifting), various affairs and careers (espionage). Strout makes the point that when communication is open and trust is built, people can positively impact other's lives. Artie influence on two of his students' lives is heralded ad nauseam. However, the futility and rarity of open dialogue is rare. "Why don't people ever say anything real? Ands now he knew why. Because to say anything real was to say things that nobody wanted to know." The overall melancholia and suicidal ideations makes this a bleak novel. One can argue that Strout made her hero likable enough to engage the reader. One can argue, as Artie pondered, there is no free. So why should we care? The delicate balance between personal agency and outside forces is examined. So too is the inability to truly communicate which is truly depressing. "So blind we humans are-so blind. To each other and to ourselves moving through life as through shadows, putting out a hand in the dark and thinking we have touched someone...grasping only the smallest details of one another's selves, including our own. Thinking all the while that we can see." 

Anne Patchett's WHISTLER-Cheers for this Blissful Family Drama

The award winning author, Anne Patchett has written another novel about family ties over time and generational divides. Her latest novel, WHISTLER, explores the the connections between Daphne and her mother Abigail's second husband Eddie Triplett. Though the marriage lasted only two short years, the impact the relationship made on both their lives was lasting. The novel begins in the NY Metropolitan Museum where Daphne, now a Lit teacher in a private girls school is spending the day with her husband, Jonathan. It's Jonathan who notes an older dapper. man who seems to be tailing them.  When confronted by Jonathan, the gentleman reveals his identity hoping that Daphne will remember him. The serendipitous reunion invokes a torrent of tears from Daphne. "Why did I cry when I realized Eddie was Eddie? Why was I so close to crying again now? Because I had loved him and I had ruined his life" Daphne tells us which draws us into this beguiling novel. Eddie and Daphne reminisce about the years in which he was stepdad to her and her younger sister, Leda. So reignites a bond that was forged between Eddie, so kind and caring at a time when the sisters and their mom were unsettled and struggling following their mom's divorce from their father. It doesn't take long for Daphne to find herself enraptured by the erudite and charming editor. As Eddie brings Daphne into his social whirl and work place, he proudly introduces her as his daughter to her own delight. Leda, now a family therapist is married with a family on the UWS. The girls mother has been remarried to her third husband for decades with two grown sons. The end of the marriage between Eddie and the girls mother ended abruptly following an enigmatic accident which looms over the story. The remarkable details of the cataclysmic car accident involving Daphne and Eddie are revealed towards the end of this irresistible novel as Eddie hosts a brunch in his Chelsea apartment for the sisters, their spouses and their mother. So too is the story of a horse named Whistler revealed as told by Eddie to nine year old Daphne as a distraction from their dire situation. Patchett uses her adroit skills for conjuring up fully fleshed characters whose lives we're eager to embrace. From most characters there exudes compassion and kindness bestowing the novel in a feeling of benevolence. There's a story of Eddie's repressed love due to the social norms of homosexuality in his earlier years. Nonetheless, the pervasive memes of WHISTLER are acts of human kindness and intriguing familial ties told within an ingratiating novel that is impossible to put aside. Leda gives Daphne her professional and personal assessment of their upbringing. " Our parents, Leda said, did not depend on us for their sense of identity. They had their lives and we had ours. Bless them." 

Ben Lerner's Transcription-Transporting Tale at Time of Covid

Ben Lerner's slender novel, "Transcription" packs in a lot of punch in a short time that transports the reader through various topics including anorexia, academic life, the COVID pandemic in an intricate style that is irresistible and hard to put down. The novel begins with an unnamed narrator who's on his way to interview Thomas, a famous, favorite professor/film maker. Getting organized in the bathroom just prior to his schedule meeting mayhem ensues when his cellphone gets dropped into the sink and goes on the blink. When there's not enough time to get to an Apple Store he goes to meet his professor and tries to coax him into a casual conversation and put the actual interview off until the following day when he will have time to get a new phone for recording. The octogenarian nevertheless is formidable and draws the man into his office eager to ensue the interview. Unfortunately, the elaborate meandering conversation which is  engrossing is not recorded for posterity. Our narrator assures Thomas, his interviewee, that he is being recorded knowing this is not true. What's true is this slender, original work of fiction provides plenty of clever depictions of character's, the COVID nightmare, parental struggles, failed love affairs and journalist integrity. Our narrator does get his comeuppance at a future gather where his interview is discredited upon his own admission of embellishment. The surprising connection between our nameless narrator and his best friend from college, Max, after going through their separate journeys is revelatory if not credible. But everything else is captured in crisp clarity to illicit strong feelings of past Covid phobias, parental nightmares with a child who refuses to eat, utter reliance on technology and life altering heartbreak. At the end there's a final farewell from Max to his father who is flailing via phone where nothings left unsaid. The father recuperates and the chance to redress matters is passed. Thomas diverts conversation into arcane tutorials which are little jewels throughout despite his failure to register the significance of what was being said to him. For example, "Your brain adds the voice to the tones based on what it believes is there from listening to the first file. You see, we all hear phantom voices. It is a question of the right conditions. Or the wrong ones. Unconscious inference, our brain guessing." "Transcription" is teaming with insights not unlike all his other books. Anything Lerner transcribes I'm reading. 

Anne Enright's "the wren, the wren"-Famous Irish Poet; Bad Dad and Family left Behind

The plot of Anne Enright's novel, "the wren, the wren" can be easily outlined as a three generational story stemming from a famous Irish poet, who leaves his wife and two daughters to fend for themselves. What follows in the wake of an all too common scenario though, leaves much to marvel written with verve and artistry by an uncommonly gifted writer.  Enright (b. Ireland, 1962) is the first Irish Laureate of Fiction and Man Booker Prize winner. In the wren, Enright gives us glimpses of patriarchal poet, Phil McDaragh, whose ascertain of his own consummate talent is above that of all the critics who extol his poems. Phil's self-absorption gives him license to rewrite history and absolve himself of any wrong doing or fallout to his wife Terry, and his two daughters. His admittedly favored daughter, Carmel. Nonetheless he abandons Carmel, her sister and mother without regret after marrying a young, American ingenue except to send a few brief letters. Carmel has a daughter Nell, from a short, loveless relationship. It is mainly through Nell's eyes, the granddaughter whom he never knew, that we get a picture of the man, his poetry and chicanery. As an inspiring writer, Nell finds herself drawn to uncovering Phil's poems and persona. The disparity between the beauty of the Phil's love poems comes in stark contrast to the coldhearted detachment he had for his wife and girls when Terry became terminally ill. Phil's writing has a penchant for restating events to best suit him. However, the collateral damage left behind by Phil is manifested in Carmel who chooses single motherhood rather than experience her mother's abandonment and later dismisses a boyfriend who becomes too needy. Yet, growing up under Phil was overshadowing to his offsprings. "Her father was bigger than the world and a lot less wonderful." Nell is diametrically different in her relationships from her mother. She completely gives herself over to her lovers. First, to the fickle Felim. And then to a man she meets on her travels and brings home to mother. "Everything speaks to me of his safety, his proximity-time is a mechanism to measure how long we are apart. It's not that I think about him constantly, he is my way of thinking. His mind is my compass, his eye my only mirror."  The expanding generations branch off into their differing and despairing life choices but find an inherent connection that circuitously unites them. Considering her grandfather's poems and interviews Nell concedes, "more than a strand of DNA, it is a rope thrown from the past, a far twisted rope, full of blood. Intertwining the lives in the novel are poems, an errant letter, a single childhood memory of Phils and all these elements add deeper meaning and melancholia to the vividly drawn characters. "The wren, the wren"' is a work to return to and admire again, and again.  

Lena Dunham's Memoir FAMESICK-Sickness Torment Overshadow Fame

While fame came early on for Lena Dunham with her first independent film TINY FURNITURE (2010) which lead to being noticed. Judd Apatow thought wow, this girl's got talent and entrusted her to draft a TV series to pitch. The pitch's promising premise of a 20 something, present day SEX and the CITY was picked up and made into the HBO hit show GIRLS (2012-2017). Dunham wrote, stared and directed in this series which earned her two Golden Globes and several Emmy nominations. Despite never having watched the show, I was not oblivious to the phenomenon and notoriety it created. I was curious as to the creative ingenuity inherent talent for developing and maintaining this masterful conception. This compelling and often times off-putting bio left me with key takeaways. Firstly, I was disappointed there was little to glean from inventive process. Perhaps Lena was limited in dissecting her innovative mind. Still, writing is definitely her labor of love, her calling, her passion. But she drones on about writing alone in bed. Granted, her ability to imagine and draw out stories is a solitary endeavor. Getting GIRLS up and running was not and the gravitas for susstaining the quality and functioning of the show was not loss on Lena. She grasped the magnitude of people reliant upon her which was anxiety producing. Secondly, she did have a partner and bestie, Jenni Konner; the conduit for keeping the show on track. Konner kept Lena grounded until their relationship fell apart.  Lena laments relentlessly on the loss of their friendship. She had Konner agree to therapy to see if they could reignite their chemistry.  Thirdly, Lena's shared her lurid sexual encounters with TMI. Perhaps this was on par with GIRLS. Putting it out there was never meant to be filtered but felt of morose. Overall, the major focus of this candid and deftly written bio were the litanies of debilitating, excruciating maladies having to do with her uterus and endometriosis crises. It doesn't seem feasible for Lena to have had time between her hospitalizations and chronic ministrations to accomplish any work.  Recuperating and mainly ministered to by her parents, who were preternaturally supportive, their familial bond was stringent. Lena tells her mother her reason for writing FAMESICK. "I want to write this book, I told her. Everything I've been through. How random it was but how all of it needed to happen." Her mom replies, "Oh, Lena, she moaned. It just sounds so sad." Mom knows best. Lena's life felt like an unrelenting state of anxiety, depression and pain. Lena admits the only connection left with Jack, her former long time love, "the biggest thing we now had in common was the shared sense that neither of deserved to be happy." This memoir is an introspection of depression. Fame in all its glory is not Lean's whole story. It's mired in mental health issues and sickness.