NATIVE TONGUE, by Carl Hiaasen

Native Tongue is a comic (more like wacky) story of environmental civil disobedience in south Florida. The protagonist, Joe Winder, works as a PR copy writer at "The Amazing Kingdom of Thrills", a kind of wannabe Disney clone theme park set up and headed by an ex-gangster turned informant who is on the Witness Protection Program. He's a greedy, low class and absurd villian who's easy to hate and laugh at. The plot has a number of convoluted twists, but is cleverly written, with lots of cutting satire and silly plot devices. Characters are mostly over-the-top stereotpes, like the pistol-packing little old lady environmentalist, steroid addicted/crazed head of security, yuppie/preppie PR head, etc. But there are also some more interesting figures, such as Winder himself, his love interest, and the mysterious activist/domestic environmental terrorist "Skink." Hiaasen sometimes goes back to the same characters to tell other stories, as he did in Stormy Weather, set in the post-hurricane Andrew chaos of south Florida. In that book, the mysterious "skink" is fleshed out more. All-in-all, Native Tongue a fun book that held my interest and had a number of laugh-out-loud moments.

Click here for a review of the book from Pele Publications: http://www.pelepubs.com/bookreview.shtml?id=46

Reread of Interest: IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME (aka Remembrance of Things Past) by Marcel Proust

Rereading a treasured and beloved book is a somewhat risky undertaking. It doesn't always work the second time around. I found that out trying to reread many books (Durrell's Alexandria Quartet immediately comes to mind). But after 35 years, I did a reread of Marcel Proust's epic 7-volume work Remembrance of Things Past (as it was titled in the 1920s translation by Scott Moncrieff). I was particularly interested in doing it because I felt I had put enough time between my first and second readings to view it with new eyes. The first time I read it, I was a 20 year old undergrad in San Francisco in the early '70s. The level of nostalgia the book conjures up is massive. Now, reread as a mid-50s world citizen, I was fearful that I would ruin the sweet memory of those days, when I would discuss the books with my close friends over espresso in neighborhhood Sunset-district cafes long before the word or concept of Starbucks was invented.I was also excited about the new translation, edited by Christopher Prendergast.

In short, I found that I loved my rereading very much. It was like getting together with a long-lost friend, surely a metaphor for our Facebook-shrunken world. I found the new translation excellent and was swept up, as I was the first time, in the sheer beauty of the book. This time, most of my reading was done holding onto a strap while riding the subway in Singapore, rather than lying in the sun streaming in from the bay window in my rental Victorian flat. The fact that the books still had the same transportative power attests to the greatness of everyone's favorite recluse writer, Mr. Marcel Proust.

Click here for a review of the new translation of Proust's work from Penguin: http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/shared/WebDisplay/0,,175609_1_10,00.html

GIRL IN LANDSCAPE, by Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem has written a number of books which can be categorized as sci-fi or at least heavily sci-fi influenced. Among them are Amnesia Moon, As She Crawled onto the Table, and Girl In Landscape. All are enjoyable, but I found the latter to be particularly appealing because of the way he entertwines the genres of "coming of age novel" , "fish out of water" stories, Westerns, and sci-fi. The novel tells the story of a teenager, Pella Marsh, newly relocated to a distant planet to escape the pitiful last stages of environmentally ravaged Earth. The world is inhabited by a set of devoluted indigenous beings who are the descendents of a nobel race of civilized "arch builders". The current population is less than impressive. There are some mystical aspects of the place as well. As can be expected, the rag-tag bunch of Earth expatriates have conflicts with the locals as well as with themselves, and the girl finds herself situated in the middle, with the added problems of moving into adult womanhood to boot. The book is interesting and vivid, with the plots and subplots engaging even for non sci-fi fans.

Click here for a review of the book from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1035917

FEAST OF THE GOAT, by Mario Vargas Llosa

Nobel Prize winning Peruvian author Vargas Llosa's political side comes to the surface in this dark yet optimistic fictionalized true story of the assassination of the dictator Bautista in the Dominican Republic. It reads in parts like reportage, but has a vividness that is both moving and even shocking, as in the sections describing the torture of the conspirators. Ultimately, it is a story of courage, survival and justice, which, although solidly realistic, surely fuctions as an allegory for present-day struggles against injustice around the world. That the book is written by the same writer as the witty and fun Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter attests to the amazing range of his talents.

Click here for a review of the book by The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/apr/06/fiction.reviews

DESTINY AND DESIRE, by Carlos Fuentes

Destiny and Desire is a recent book by Carlos Fuentes, Mexico's most internationally renowned novelist. It's a sweeping tale of politics and passion, with plenty of magical realism. In fact, the story is narrated postumously by the severed head of the protagonist, Josue Nadal. The story relates the friendship between Josue and Jerico, which starts in middle school and proceeds in its own way. The friends separate take rather different paths in life and eventually reunite. Their friendship takes a radical turn, with serious consequences. I won't spoil the ending. It's heady, mystical, political, passionate, and all in all a very good book.

click here for a review of the book by http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/books/review/Wood-t.html?pagewanted=all

CHRONIC CITY, by Jonathan Lethem

Being a big fan of Lethem, I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It's an amazing journey through a kind of alternate New York. It's basically a buddy novel (as was Lethem's wonderful Fortress of Solitude), this time between a hard-boiled NY cultural critic, Perkus Tooth, and a washed-up 80's child sitcom actor, Chase Insteadman. The unlikely friendship between the two results in growth in both men. Surreal, postmodern chaos reigns in New York, the "chronic city" that provides the opportunity for Lethem to engage in some sophisticated and humorous cultural criticism of his own.

click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/books/review/Cowles-t.html

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT, by Mark Haddon

This enjoyable award-winning book, set in Swindon and London, is framed as a detective story narrated by 15 year old Christopher Boone, who is an autistic savant (sort of a "rain-man" type personality). He is a math wiz but has some unique social behaviors (e.g., doesn't like being touched, cannot easily process large amounts of new information, hates yellow and brown but likes red, etc.)  Because the story is told in his words from his unusual point of view, it has a surreal quality and is very engaging. Christopher's hunt for the killer of his neighbor's dog leads him to make a startling discovery about his troubled working class family. He embarks on a harrowing trip to London, and the story plays out. It's touching without being sentimental, often funny in a peculiar dead pan way.

click here for a review of the book from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/books/the-remains-of-the-dog.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm