Non-Fiction "A Saint on Death Row" So Much Shame and Sorrow End Capitol Punishment by Tomorrow

"A Saint on Death Row" is the story of Dominique Green.  Dominique was 18 at the time of his arrest in a fatal armed robbery in TX.  Out of the 4 arrested in the robbery, only Dominique was given a death sentence.  (The white accomplice was released without being charged).  This bio is of a remarkable young black man caught up in a pervasive system of oppression, abuse and injustice.  A societal system   culpable of fostering a cycle of criminality that feeds into a corrupt and brutally punitive legal system.  Author Thomas Cahill's book is pronouncedly persuasive arguing against the barbaric enforcement of the death penalty and the torturous use of solitary confinement.  Dominique's story blazons with America's racist oppression and injustice meted out in our legal system.  Cahill's intimate encounters, coverage of his case and revelatory insight into Dominique's humanity is so affecting and shaming it should serve to purge our nation of travesties in our legal system by immediately banning executions, life sentences without parole and inhumane practices of solitary confinements.  It is absolutely imperative to terminate the sentencing of youths to life in prison without parole.  Our criminal justice system has flaws that are untenable and mendable.  The moving narrative of Dominique's 12 years in prison from 18 until his execution at 30 demonstrates remorse, redemption and the travesty of cruelly tossing away the lives of people incarcerated.  Dominique's moving story is one of many.  We are deeply stirred told in Dominique's tempered voice and with the sensitive testaments from those who came to know him, including the victim's family and Desmond Tutu.  This individual story has the power that does not allow for society to turn aside.  We cannot consider ourselves a civilized society that fosters racism and chooses to carry out inhumane & unjust executions.  Reading about Dominique's life, knowing his fated outcome carries a pall of despair.  It weighs heavily upon us noting morality unearthed.  It's shameful society's blatant indifference to the childhood's of poor & neglected children.  We must confront & address the injustices that have been committed and continue to fester and cannot be justified as benefitting society.  There is no morality in keeping prisoners in solitary confinement and no humanity in putting people to death.  We are all guilty of dehumanizing ourselves by permitting these atrocities.    

An AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones Is about Universal Love and Biased Miscarriage of Justice

"An American Marriage" is a tribute to love and relationships as told cleverly from the individual viewpoints of its star crossed young lovers Roy & Celestial.  The third party in a fraught love triangle is Andre, Celestial's childhood.  Andre, the boy next door to Celestial and college cohort of Roy becomes  Celestial's lover while Roy is serving out a 12 year sentence for rape; a crime he didn't commit.  I'm too far forward in the story and need to lay the groundwork on which to build this brilliantly structured tale of the pitfalls of love and the injustices befalling men of color in our country today.  Author Tayari Jones' (b Amer 1970) "An American Marriage" sifts through love, relationships and marriages with a sage and a tender look.  Simultaneously, Jones scrutinizes the stereotypes of African American life.  "She is a black woman and every body already thinks she got 50-11 babies with 50-11 daddies; that she got welfare checks coming in 50-11 people's names."  Jones also scrutinizes the tilted scales of justices weighted unjustly against men of color in society and court of law.  These serious issues are merged with the commitment and confines of marriage.  It is a "peculiar institution" and one that will flounder when it is not approached as a two way street or when there is a failure to perceive the other person's perception.  Even though one can never know the other's mind, it's imperative to acknowledge & be sensitive to one other's position.  Jones cleverly provides the reader exactly what each individual is thinking and experiencing.  A poignant epistolary portion are the letters to and from Roy while incarcerated.  This aligns us with empathy & appreciation for all the characters and their circumstances.  Roy and Celestial's endearing love story is drastically torn apart just a year into their marriage.  Roy is falsely accused of raping a white woman and sentenced to 12 years in prison.  "Just the wrong race and wrong time.  Police are shady as hell.  That's why everybody is locked up."  Roy sanguinely observes "That's your fate as a black man.  Carried by 6 or judged by 12."  The mass incarceration is a scorching social critique.  Regardless, once imprisoned, innocent or not, prison changes you and makes you into a convict.  Three years into Roy's incarceration, Celestial and Andre become a couple which is of no surprise to anyone.  Communication between Roy & Celestial had discontinued but divorce proceedings never commenced.  Roy is released 5 years into his 12 sentence an ventures to ascertain where he fits into Celestial's life, his legal wife even though he fears love can't be started over.  Oprah Winfrey selected "An American Marriage" as one of her book club selections.  This is a fictitious love story that doesn't run smoothly.  And this is an all too true depiction of social injustice and mass incarceration.  The harshness of prison and tenderness of love are both impregnable in this book I highly recommend.  A marriage is more than your heart.  It's your life.  And it needs to be continuous.  "Marriage is like grafting a limb onto a trunk."  Marriage is a fragile growth too easily torn apart.  Mass incarceration is an intolerable enemy of justice and destructor of families.  Still, "Love is the enemy of sound judgement, occasionally this is in the service of the good."

Paul Auster's "4, 3, 2, 1" Took FORrever to Finish and I Advise Thee TO Put it Aside

For readers with tenacity, THEE may find Paul Auster's "4, 3, 2, 1" TOO WONderful to put aside and find immense pleasure in the writing & storytelling that seems TO go on FORever in four different scenarios.  The clever, albeit not unique path not taken plot is too plodding. It needed condensing &  editing.  Archibald Ferguson born 3/07/1947 to Rose and Stanley Ferguson is an absorbing young boy who comes of age during the 60s; a very tumultuous epoch in US history.  Ferguson is born to the same mother & father in all 4 tangential lives possessing identical DNA.  His analytical & curious mind, along with his genuine kindness & creativity make for a very likable and intriguing character study; four times over.   There are people in Ferguson's lives who remain constant but in divergent relationships.  Auster is a masterful writer whose dense & complex writing is reminiscent of Ellison & Bellow.  All 3 are phenomenal writers, but I wouldn't choose to re-read their novels.  The awards bestowed Auster (b Amer 1947) include the PEN/Faulkner Award and "4, 3, 2, 1" was shortlisted (how ironic) for the Nat'l Book Award ('17).  In 2003 Auster was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Science.  Ferguson, in the same body lives four different lives; each with their own unique set of circumstances.  Note:  Auster was born in 1947 in Philadelphia and chose a writing career.   Being a writer is a common thread besides the DNA strand for the 4 Fergusons.  The unflappable Ferguson only seemed to take great umbrage when his writing was edited.  (This would appear to be the case with Auster's writings.)  Nonetheless, the novel is a profound & penetrating examination of a decade dense with conflict; the war in Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the growth of the counterculture, revolutionary developments in art, music, literature and film.  The decade is embodied by prominent figures and horrendous atrocities & assassinations; violent & deadly protests, Malcolm X, George Wallace, MLK, JFK, RFK, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin.  I fault Ferguson for reiterating his many literary and legendary heroes (il est troh).  The brilliance of the book lay in part to the parallel conundrums, fraught histories filled with opportunities and perils, with great beauty and the worst of humanity.   But then, who in their right mind would contend life made sense?  I admire Auster's writing and myself for finishing this marathon manuscript.  His skill at storytelling & effusive historical reporting makes this a novel that is likely to become required reading in literary courses.  But if not required, think twice beFORE beginning.  The novel's narrator notes "the book was about the passions and contradictions of the human soul."  Auster is quoted "Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever".

Non-F "Chasing Aphrodite" by Jason Felch and Ralph Rammolino Reads Like a Fast Fiction Crime Caper

"Chasing Aphrodite" ('11) is a non-fiction work by investigative reporter Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, reporter for the LA TIMES.  Together, Felch & Frammolino were finalists for outstanding reporting of looted antiquities and other felonious & foul dealings by the J. Paul Getty Museum.  The booked garnered the CA Book Award & the ARCA Award for Art Crime Scholarship  (a mystery to me).  Needless, this incredulous tale is too titillating and tawdry to seem true.  But, believe it!  Zeus was reigning down lightning bolts and earthquakes for the audacious looting of antiquities, fraudulent tax write-offs and extravagant expenses incurred by Getty directors, curators and art dealers.  The art world is shrouded in dirty laundry & business dealings that the investigative reporters dug up & present on a silver platter that makes reading about the art world delicious, palatable and then, deplorable.  Shame, shame, shame...there is plenty of blame, collusion & illusion going on in the art trade.  The art world is built on a business model of alchemy.  This is apparent in "Chasing Aphrodite." Less we forget, art lovers will devour this book while former haughty high end art dealers are cringing with culpability (or at least they should be).  Interesting but flimsy arguments in defense of turning a blind eye from illicit art trafficking was suggested.  The art would receive professional care & benefit millions more people to be able to view the art.  Malarky, what was done was stealing & dirty dealings by the Getty's Museum Staff,  Trustees and patrons.  The Getty along with other major art museums became known as multi-million-dollar showcases for stolen property.  The Italian investigation brought the Getty's Dir. Marianne True in 2005 into the Italian courts.  She was detained for years and then released.  The drawn out process exceeded the statute of limitations.  For decades, the practice of the world's leading museums (the Louvre, the Nat'l Museums in Berlin & the MET, etc.) engaged in purchasing items of dubious lineage; turning a blind's eye knowing they were paying for looted antiquities from clandestine, criminal sources in violation of American and int'l laws.  These items irrefutably purchased illicitly were major defining masterpieces of historical epochs.  These priceless works with their intrinsic beauty & archeological significance have been tarnished by greed, self-promotion and criminal activity.   I enjoy reading this captivating & clear book.  It illustrates the underbelly of the art world that caused a house of cards to fall in the early years of the 21st C.  I will now view major museum acquisitions with suspicions.  Feld & Rammolino concluded little has really changed behind the scenes  in museums' business practices or with many  art collectors, dealers and wealthy patrons.  I couldn't read "Chasing Aphrodite" fast enough.

Nat'l Book Award Novelist Amy Bloom Discusses Her Novel WHITE HOUSES with Blanche W. Cook

This month is Women's History Month at Roosevelt House and it commenced with a stellar evening of discussion with 2 great writers: Amy Bloom ("Away", "Come to Me") and historian Blanche Cook ("Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1,2 &3").   Ms. Cook was a Co-Founder & Co-Chair of the Freedom of Information & Access Com. of the Org. of Amer. Historians.  The gist of the talk from both Bloom's novel & Cook's biography of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (ER) was the lesbian relationship between  ER & her longtime companion, Lorena Hickok. (LH).  The heart of these 2 great historic women, ER as FDR's active advisor & continual social advocate.  LH was a maverick in journalist circles covering war stories, historical events and interviews.  Their books focused on their love and drew outward on their amazing accomplishments.  Cook, a renown historian focused mostly on wartime was militant in her assertions there were denials & cover-ups pertaining to ER & LH maintaining a lesbian relationship.  Cook spoke of having read the many written correspondences between the women that corroborated their love and the varying stages of their relationship.  "My writing is based on facts that can be documented" Cook claimed.  Bloom also read the letters as research for her novel written from curiosity about the two women's alliance.  Bloom said,"{It} was a pleasure to write about their love affair.  What doesn't look beautiful is beautiful".  I found her candor refreshing.  She admitted having slept through history in school.  I was also intrigued with her confessed struggles in finding the narrative voice for the novel.  "It was not going to be ER voice narrating the novel."  The women discussed the pendulum of acceptance of homosexuality that sprang from a homophobic period in the 30s & 40s.  But, as Bloom stated, "The arch bends slowly.  I was interested in writing a rhapsody of homosexuality which is of interest to me as both as novelist & a queer woman.  These were great complex people and their's a great love story".   Both women writers' approaches to writing varied.  Cook relied solely on documentation & facts.  Bloom said all her novels play with time and memory allowing the reader to enter into the world of the story and enabling the reader to be present.  As a novelist Bloom eloquently her intent was "to hold facts up to the light creating a relationship with an understanding from the inner and outer exploration of their world and love."  

Paul Auster in Conversation 4,3,2,1 with Reading by Michael Sthulbarg - Phenomenal Author Event!

The epic novel by Paul Auster "4,3,2,1" was shortlisted for the Man Booker Award ('17).  The novel can be described as exceptional, inventive, thought provoking but not short.  The gargantuan book was the butt of jokes for being so heavy.  Auster was grateful for the paperback release which will mitigate injurious accidents from the hardcover version dropped on one's toes.  Auster (b Amer 1947) was illuminating, humorous, self-deprecating and a phenomenal guest as part of the Thalia Book Club at Symphony Space.  The evening began with a reading by actor Michael Stuhlbarg ("Call Me by Your Name," "The Shape of Water" & "The Post").  Stuhlbarg's reading was a master class in acting scripted by Auster's extraordinary writing.   Stuhlbarg read from 1 of the 4 incarnations of Archie Ferguson, the main character presented in 4 varying life trajectories.  All 4 Archies have identical DNA & possess similar pensive approaches to people, problems & methods to process personal & significant social/political events.  Auster's brilliance radiates throughout his luminescent novel that views life through a distorted lens of opposing impulses; the inherent nature to control and  take risks.  Todd Gitlin ("The Sixties: Years of Hope") moderated the discussion. Auster masterfully   steered the discussion with candor, humility and insight into being a writer with esteem for the work of many great writers.  His novel enumerates  repeatedly on those he most admired: Tolstoy, Kafka and Beckett were a few.  Auster said he had committed to writing a novel with 4 versions of the same adolescent coming of age during the turbulent 60's.  Gitlin asked (what an ass) "Did you achieve success with your novel?"  Auster answered by saying, "It's not for me to say.  I was drawing from 1 phrase to another, 96% improvised with no plan, not knowing where the story was going or how to end it until I was two 3rds the way through.  This was an exhaustive process; raking, revising."  He compared his process to a "sprinting elephant."  Auster noted his novel was all narrative with little dialogue.  He was surprised with his own storytelling & unable to explain it.  Auster spoke a little about his personal life; a time when his first marriage was crumbling, he wasn't making money & was  depressed.  At the time he was writing & translating poetry, & submitting articles.  He never intended to write prose but after watching a "sublime" dance performance the choreographer struggled to find words to equate the beauty of the dancing.  He felt inspired to find words that were adequately descriptive and his writing began to flourish.  He met Beckett, one of his literary heroes.  Beckett criticized his own work but Auster told how much he admired it.  Beckett asked "You really liked it?"  "Writers are the last to judge". PA

George Saunders Man Booker Prize-winning LINCOLN in the BARDO in Conversation with Radhika Jones

George Saunders (b Amer 1958) is one of our most distinguished writers of short stories.  TENTH of DECEMBER won the Story Prize ('13) and the inaugural Folio Prize ('14).  LINCOLN in the BARDO, Sanders first novel received the Man Booker Prize ('17).   A writing prof. at Syracuse Univ. for 2 decades, Saunders revealed he only started his writing career at age 30 working 7 years on his first collection before being published.  It's hard to conceive of this inventive & surprisingly  optimistic writer (despite his macabre memes) to have been a late bloomer.  Saunders sense of humor & compassion was evident in his conversation with Radhika Jones, Editor-in-Chief  at Vanity Fair.  Before the two sat for a  comfortable tete-a-tete at Symphony Space there was a performance reading from his novel which included himself along with Emmy winner Jane Kaczmarek who gave Saunders a warm hug and actors Emmy winner Denis O'Hare & Russel Jones (Sea Oak).  This reading was very poignant.  They enacted the various voices in the book of compelling spirits whose lives and after-lives are beautifully crafted into this brilliant & stirring novel.  Saunders read historic footnotes from his novel which anchors the story during & around the Civil War.  The other actors haunting readings were from the entities encrypted in the same cemetery where Pres. Lincoln's son has just been buried.  Saunders said he first heard of Lincoln having returned to his son's grave several times after his burial to mourn for his beloved son.   Saunders expounded on the dissimilarities between purgatory, a state of being tiered between life & the afterlife.  Bardo, Saunders explained has more of a Buddhist philosophy of participating & registering one's transitory phase between life & the perception of thereafter.  Jones wisely pointed out his novel deals which deals with the grief of a parent for their  child was overflowing with compassion.  "Grief, is what love gives off when life is truncated," replied Saunders.  The novel revolved around Pres. Lincoln but his voice was mostly absent.  Saunders said he "ventriloquized the voices of his characters and Lincoln's voice {he} found boring and switched to the other characters" who are anchored in time & space with Lincoln's son contemplating  their life & death and the many earthly wonders too precious to forego.  Saunders' novel is a masterpiece.  It captures the anguish of Pres. Lincoln aware of the thousands of lives & families who will suffer the anguish of loss from the battlefields he is responsible for commanding to necessitate the saving of our Union.  This literary event was extremely moving & entertaining.  Mr. Saunders recommends reading the great Russian writers: Chekov, Dostoevsky and American author Toni Morrison.   Mr. Saunders' Man Booker Prize-winning novel deserves a Nobel Prize in Lit.