Danny Rubin: How To Write Groundhog Day
Regular readers know I am a sucker for all things groundhog. Still, above and beyond my fan-boy inclinations, this is a great book by a talented author, which provides insight into both the movie and the process of writing it. I literally couldn't put it down. I wrote my second-ever Amazon review to praise it. Run, don't walk to buy a copy. (*****)
Christopher Moore: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
This book, recommended by Fr. Larry at St. Stephen's Orinda, is a rollicking read of an historical novel. It speculates about the oft-speculated question, "What did Jesus do between the ages of 12 and 32," a period the gospels do not cover. Like my maternal grandfather, Moore apparently believes Jesus went to India. The writing is brilliant, and the history is not bad either. (*****)
Tom Perrotta: The Leftovers
I heard Tom Perrotta on NPR's Fresh Air and on the New York Times Book Review podcast. He was great, and the book sounded fascinating. I love comic authors (although I was not familiar with his previous work), and the concept: the after effects of a "sort of" rapture, sounded captivating. I bought the e-book the first day it was available. I read through high spots (many) and low spots (few), only to find out that, in the end, the book didn't finish, it just ended. Now I know art doesn't wrap an ending in a bow for you, with a neon sign flashing "author's message," but I just didn't find this novel satisfying. (***)
Anne Lamott: Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
She is an amazing writer, with an amazing story that she tells amazingly well. I enjoyed reading it. The book includes a vivid description of her Christian faith, stories of her work as a single mother of a son, and a story of assisted suicide that is chilling. For some reason, I always think of her and Adair Lara as similar; I guess it's because they are both women, both from Marin County and both write about themselves. Well worth reading. (*****)
Tom Rachman (Author): The Imperfectionists: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle) [Paperback]
Another "oops, the newspaper is dead" novel, this time set in Rome, written by a former employee of the International Herald Tribune. Whereas the vaguely comparable Pete Hamill novel "Tabloid City" is a traditional linear narrative, this story is told via non-linear vignettes featuring various members of the staff. So, more is made of the people qua people, but there is still a very satisfying amount of newspaper inside baseball, for people like me who like that sort of thing. (*****)
Pete Hamill: Tabloid City: A Novel
Alas, newspaper novels these day all need to have a "the paper is being shut down" subplot because that's what's really happening. Pete Hamill, a long time newspaperman and tabloid editor in New York, does an excellent job of describing his archetypal characters and making you care about a newspaper that sort of but never really existed, as it disappears forever. By the end, you feel you've worked for a NYC tabloid! (*****)
Steve Martin: An Object of Beauty: A Novel
To start, please note that I love everything Steve Martin has written since he stopped doing standup, and that I loved his standup (30 years ago) as well. This novel of the art world is fascinating and well-written, at least to me (other reviews have been less generous). I feel I can hear his voice and opinions in those of the narrator and the main character. Martin is an accomplished collector and clearly has strong opinions about many art issues. I like his love scenes, and enjoyed the story of the fictional Lacey Yeager's rise and fall from the 90s to 2008. A great read and a first class piece of work. (*****)
David Eagleman: Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives (Vintage)
Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Baylor. I ran across him on a BBC program, where he was bright and witty, and where the other panelists plugged this book. It sounded fascinating, so I purchased it. It is only 109 pages, so it goes by quickly. But unlike fast foot or beach reading, there is much here that sticks to your intellectual ribs. It is brilliantly written and highly thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed it. In spirit, it reminds me of my mother's aphorism, "The two things I know about God is that she's black." (*****)
Christopher Buckley: Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir
Christopher Buckley is a fantastic writer. I have praised all his novels to the roof because they deserve praise. I feel certain his grocery lists are witty, entertaining and engaging. In this book, he turns his hand to non-fiction, a chronicle of the annus horribilis in which he lost first his mother and then his father. We don't learn much about either of his famous parents, except that they were both difficult and spent about 30% of the time not talking to each other. Any insight we gain is insight into Buckley, and the process of becoming an "orphan" in your 50s... a fate which awaits many of us boomers. (*****)
