THEY LIVE, by Jonathan Lethem

I typically read and review fiction exclusively, but I saw this piece of film criticism by Jonathan Lethem, one of my fav writers, so I thought I'd give it a try. I found it extremely entertaining, well written and cleverly put together. In the book, Lethem walks the reader through the often tacky and certifiably weird B movie "They Live" directed by John Carpenter. The movie is presented not exactly frame-by-frame, but sequentially in time. The film's political subtext is explored, as the artifice of the x-ray like specs that reveal a paranoid view of social control by unnamed aliens/ghouls in a Ronald Reaganized reactionary consumer culture. Lethem's treatment of the movie is intelligent, entertaining and very readable. His witty and insightful commentary is a lively treat, even if you are not a B-movie fan.

For a review of the book by popmatters, click here:  http://www.popmatters.com/review/134687-they-live-deep-focus-by-jonathan-lethem/

SERVANTS OF THE MAP, by Andrea Barrett

Servants of the Map is an interesting collection of stories that share the theme of 19th century scientific inquiry. I find the stories uneven - my favorite is the first story, about a cartographer mapping the Himalayas. Several of the stories are interconnected as they share characters. The stories are well-written and the best ones sustain interest and open up a window onto 19th century mindset. In this sense, the stories ring true. The writing is vivid at its best and a bit flat at worst. The book was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2003.


For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/11/books/books-of-the-times-scientists-plumb-life-s-mysteries-with-minds-and-hearts.html?smid=pl-share

THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION, by Michael Chabon

The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a creative and engaging novel by gifted writer Michael Chabon, based on a strange scenario in which the nation of Israel was crushed a few months after its establishment, in the first Arab-Israeli War, and the Jewish refugees were relocated to an area around Sika, Alaska as their new 'promised land."  The story is a detective tale in which the protagonist, Meyer Landsman, a rather down-and-out hard-boiled "yiddish cop" tries to find out who killed a mysterious young man who turns out to have interesting connections to local heavies. I can't go into the plot too deeply without spoiling the story. The book is warmly and humorously written, although the plot gets a bit convoluted in the last half of the book. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and some remarkable metaphors and imagery. Sub-plots revolving around Landsman's relationship with his ex-wife and his half-native American, half-Jewish partner give some depth. It takes some time to figure out the features of the parallel universe portrayed in the book, but this uncertainty does keep the reader interested.

For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here:http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/10/fiction.features3

MIDDLESEX, by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex is a very entertaining "dark comedy" about hermaphoditism, of all things. I say "dark" only in the sense of the psychological pain that this abnormality causes the narrator - Calliope/Cal. But actually, the story of three generations of Greek-Americans is a colorful and lively one, with much depth. At least 75% of the book deals with this Greek - immigrant epic. Coming from a somewhat parallel Italian-American experience, much of it looked familiar. In  particular, Cal's family settled in Detroit, while my ancestors went to Cleveland, another rust-belt catastrophe. Cal's brother, a few years older than she, was exactly my age and shared many coming of age experiences (such as participating in the Draft Lottery in 1972, and being drawn to the 60's/70's counter-culture). The descriptions of the folks from the old country rang true and reminded me of my old Sicilian "aunties" and "uncles", many of whom were  not really related. Calliope even had an old family friend doctor, Dr. Phil, similar to mine when I was growing up. Other readers will find that the hermaphrodite element, which is indeed central to the plot, is handled very interestingly and with frankness but delicacy and humor. It's a very appealing book and worth the read. In fact, it won the Pulizer Prize for fiction in 2003.

For a review of the book by The NY Times, click here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/15/books/my-big-fat-greek-gender-identity-crisis.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
 

EMPIRE FALLS, by Richard Russo

Empire Falls is an engaging book about the decline of the American Dream in a small town in Maine. It won the 2002 Pulizer Prize for fiction, perhaps partially because of the theme. The writing is solid, but not amazingly good. There is a soap opera-like feel to the book, probably because of the very small cast of characters set in a tiny town...sort of a Peyton Place environment, only post-industrial. The social stratification there has historic roots, back to the boom days of the early 20th Century, but everything has been going downhill for decades. Despite the dark theme, the atmosphere of the book is not all that dark - it even has humorous elements. The narrow plot line revolves around one Miles Roby, manager of the Empire Grill, an old diner owned by the town's de facto matriarch, Ms. Whiting. Miles is in the midst of a divorce he does not want, which affects his relationship with his precious daughter Tick as well as his disabled brother David and deadbeat dad Max. Mom is long dead, but haunts the story considerably.  It's a story worth reading.

For a review of the book from NY TImes, click here:  http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/06/24/reviews/010624.24scottt.html

Empire Falls was made into a 2-part miniseries and played on HBO in 2005. Paul Newman played Max. For a review of that production, click here:  http://www.wordandfilm.com/2013/01/from-the-vault-empire-falls-by-richard-russo-starring-ed-harris-paul-newman-and-helen-hunt/

MIDDLE C - by William H. Gass

Middle C, published in 2013, is a hugely entertaining book by a writer I greatly admire for his verbal dexterity and broad, ironic humor. The novel is a sort of bio-piece about a family,  that starts out shortly before WWII in Austria and fakes Jewish ethnicity in order to be able to migrate to England. The father of the family continues his shape shifting and eventually disappears, supposedly to America, after the war. The mother and son follow sometime thereafter, although with no contact from the disappeared father, ending up in small-town Ohio. The story centers on the life of the son, Joey Skizzen, whose childhood and adolescence we trace, and who eventually becomes a professor of music by means of his own version of his father's reinvention strategy. He also ends up to be a great pessimist and, well, fake. The story is told with wonderful humor and vividly inventive language that often had me laughing out loud. Gass is an extremely gifted and meticulous writer, with a great verbal fluency and a wonderful gift for producing the perfect turn of phrase.

For a review of the book by The Telegraph, click here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/10146231/Middle-C-by-William-H-Gass-review.html

 

THE WATERWORKS, by E. L. Doctorow

The Waterworks is a strong effort in a genre familiar to readers of Doctorow. Set in New York, in the post-Civil War era of "robber barrons", the story is a thriller that leads readers through the piecing together of a bizarre set of circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a freelance jounalist and the mysterious "resurrrection"  of a dead captain of industry. The story is almost Hawthorne-like in its gothic qualities and in the narrator's language style; "The Birthmark" comes to mind as sharing the theme. The two most interesting aspects of the novel are the narration and the setting. The story is narrated as a retrospective tale told by a retired, hard-edged New York journalist with an interesting personality including a believable set of flaws. The 1870s New York setting is  vividly portrayed, but it is not a pretty sight. The reader has the feeling that the city, and particularly, the era,  is a major character in the story. For those who like Doctorow's style of historical fiction, done so beautifully in novels such as World's Fair, Loon Lake or Ragtime, Waterworks will not disappoint.

For a review of the book by  NY Times, click here: http://www.symbaloo.com/?sethomepage=1&t=1372381700562#