POPULATION: 485 -- Michael Perry

Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren At A Time
HarperCollins -- hc
New York -- ©2002 -- 234pp
ISBN: 0-06-019852

After twelve years away, a man returns to his home town (a small, rural town) and joins the fire department, and writes about his experiences.

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A memoir, with distracted focus between life in rural America, working on a small town's volunteer fire department, bachelorhood, and death.

The book lacks a focus. Even a memoir has some kind of focus but this tried to do too much. The humor was strained. Things that I thought ought to be laugh-out-loud funny were only slightly amusing. He didn't seem to know how to set up his jokes efficiently and humorously.

Mostly I found this a bit depressing. So many of the experiences that he writes about seemed to end in death. It sure makes me want to steer clear of New Avalon, Wisconsin.

There are some nice reflections on small town life and death and volunteer work, but it was work. It was not an effortless read. I am not impressed with Michael Perry's writing and won't seek out his other work based on this.

THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2005 -- Susan Orlean, editor

Houghton Mifflin Company -- tpb
Boston -- ©2005 -- 278pp
ISBN-10:0-618-35713-0
series editor: Robert Atwan

A collection of essays gathered from the previous year's magazines.

Forward -- Robert Atwan
Introduction -- Susan Orlean
"La Vie en Rose" -- Roger Angell
"The Sea of Information" -- Andrea Barrett
"Storm Country" -- Paul Crenshaw
"Joyas Voladoras" -- Brian Doyle
"Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog" -- Kitty Burns Florey
"The Comfort Zone" -- Jonathan Franzen
"If Memory Doesn't Serve" -- Ian Frazier
"Against Exercise" -- Mark Greif
"Small Silences" -- Edward Hoagland
"Small Rooms in Time" -- Ted Kooser
"Speak, Hoyt-Schermerhorn" -- Jonathan Lethem
"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" -- E.J. Levy
"Contributor's Note" -- Michael Martone
"My Friend Lodovico" -- David Masello
"Living Will" -- Danielle Ofri
"Dog Days" -- Sam Pickering
"Speed" -- Oliver Sacks
"Dog Trouble" -- Cathleen Schine
"Old Faithful" -- David Sedaris
"Six Seconds" -- Paula Speck
"Skill Display in Birding Groups" -- Bert O. States
"The Prince of Possibility" -- Robert Stone
"Dining With Robots" -- Ellen Ullman
"Consider the Lobster" -- David Foster Wallace
"Satin Worship" -- Holly Welker
Biographical Notes
Notable Essays of 2004

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Once again I find that I enjoy these collections of essays much more than I have the collections of short fiction.

Of the collection, only a couple essays were skim-worthy. Most were quite enjoyable, and a few stood out as quite captivating. Notable were: "If Memory Doesn't Serve" (which had me grinning from ear to ear in familiarity); "Contributor's Note" (which I greatly enjoyed as being particularly clever); "My Friend Lodovico" (for it's passion for an inanimate object); "Speed" (which rang so true to me, having had my own forrays into this phenomenon); and "Satin Worship" (this didn't strike me, based on its subject, but it spoke well to a person's passion for something, and it was that passion to which I identified).

This series is, so far, highly recommended.

RED THUNDER -- John Varley

Ace Books -- pb
New York -- ©2003 -- 411pp
ISBN: 0-441-01162-4

An alcoholic ex-astronaut and four kids put together a rocket and using new technology discovered by the astronauts "idiot" nephew, they attempt to become the first humans to walk on Mars, beating the Chinese (who've been in space for weeks and are already in a Mars braking-orbiting pattern) by a matter or days.

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Shortly before starting this book, I had looked through my Book Journal Blog here and wondered when, exactly was the last time i read a really good book that was really engaging and fun to read. The answer is that it has been much, much too long. I have read many good books, but nothing that has drawn me back so strongly that we consider it a book that you "can't put down."

This is one of those books.

John Varley has long been a favorite of mine, ever since I read his Ophiuchi Hotline when I was in high school. I often rate my favorite writers as those whose books I will buy in hardcover as soon as they are available. Varley narrowly missed the cut. I think that this was a result, not so much of his writing, but his lack of production for a time. Especially after having such a rollicking good time with this novel, I will eagerly look forward to any new Varley book.

Part of what makes a Varley book so good is that the science is believeable, and accessible to a non-science-type such as myself. (Perhaps, as a non-science-type, I'm wrong about the "believable" part to those who know more sceince.)

He also manages to create characters who are very believable -- humans full of flaws who overcome obstacles to be heroic in spite of their circumstances.

This novel engaged me from beginning to end. A weak moment here and there only had me reading faster to get to "the good stuff."

Highly recommended.

THIS IMMORTAL -- Roger Zelazny

The Easton Press -- leather bound
Norwalk, CT -- ©1966,2000 -- 220pp
illustrations by Vincent DiFate
introduction by Robert Silverberg

"Conrad," who has a history that goes back further than anyone can trace, is currently the Commissioner of Arts, Monuments, and Archives for a planet Earth that isn't quite what it used to be. He plays bodyguard, as well as host, to a Vegan who has plans for the planet.

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This book seemed new to me again, it had been so long since I last read it.

Zelazny most definitely has a distinctive "style," though I'm hard-pressed to define just what that is. In part, his descriptions are short, and concise. He uses dry wit to get some points across. his characters are always fallible -- even the infallible ones.

Here, "Conrad" has a history that goes back further than anyone can really trace. He has the strength that others can only imagine, and he is very subtle about all of this. He is assigned to guide and protect a Vegan who wants to visit the historical sites of Earth. A friend/acquaintance of Conrad's, Hasan, is assigned to assasinate the Vegan to protect Earth's interests. Conrad also wants to protect Eearth's interests, and believes that the Vegan must be protected to do so.

This sounds rather simplistic, and the truth is, Zelazny weaves a tale full of sub-plots better than most. He also isn't afraid to dump you into a story without giving you and history, letting the reader discover the history by reading what's current. It's masterful!

I highly recommend this book, and nearly all books by Roger Zelazny.

GENERATION KILL -- Evan Wright

GENERATION KILL: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the new face of American war
G.P. Putnam's Sons -- hc
New York -- ©2004 -- 354pp
ISBN: 0-399-15193-1

A reporter imbedded with the Marine First Recon team, is among the first American's into Iraq at the outset of the Iraq war.

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I'm not quite sure why I picked this book up in the first place, and am not sure what to make of it.

it is well written, making it a quick read. i did lose track of who some of the people were. So many names of soldiers and officers, I had trouble keeping them straight, and a reference list of who's who and their rank, and their charge 9which division, which command, etc) would have been incredibly useful.

The book is billed as a look at the new generation of soldiers and their attitude toward killing. I was expecting more of an association with the violent video games and movies and so forth, but I didn't get any of that. There was a brief mention in the beginning about how many of the soldiers who died during the Invasion of Normandy hadn't even fired their guns, but that in the battles in Iraq, that was not a question or concern. But there the association seemed to end.

What I got from the book was that the ranking officers in charge of the invasion of Iraq were mostly incompetent. Poor decisions were constantly being made (when made at all) -- starting with the fact that the first team into Iraq was the Marine First Recon team. First Recon is a highly trained marine group, akin to the Navy Seals. They are trained for MANY kinds of battle situations. What they are NOT trained for is riding in humvees in open territory. What they were asked to do was ride in humvees in open areas. Oddly enough, there IS a group of military personnel trained for riding in humvees inopen territory -- a division of the Rangers. They did NOT do this in Iraq. And of course it goes downhill from there.

Humorously (sadly) the driver of the lead humvee doesn't even have a license for driving a humvee, and during a battle jokes about whether or not he's got enough driving hours now to get his license.

This book simply pointed out to me, in a finer detail, how ill-prepared we were to start this ill-advised war.

THE ROAD -- Cormac McCarthy

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2006 -- 241pp
ISBN: 0-307-26543-9

A man and his son wander along the road in search of ... anything ... in a bleak apocalyptic world.

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This was an incredibly depressing novel.

Set in the not-too-distant future, with the earth (as far as we know) covered by a cloud of ash (presumably from destructive nuclear bombs), a man and his son wander, seeking merely to exist.

Cannibalism among the few survivors we meet, is rampant, with people eating their newly born children.

The boy .. about eight to ten years old ... is constantly seeking reminder that they are the good people, in search of other good people. His father assures him that is the case, but by the end of the book, the boy begins to see that his father's own distrust of anyone and everyone around has put them in a position somewhere between the good and the bad people.

The boy never loses hope or his identity of being good, and that is the ONLY aspect of this novel that offers any sense of goodness or promise. Unfortunately, it is not enough, and it comes too late. My sense of unease and disgust had already taken over.

The storytelling itself was crisp and sharp and kept me reading, even when I felt filthy and disgusted at what I was reading.

Perhaps it's because I am a father, with boys that age, that I could put myself there. I could understand everything the father said and did. And although the father comes off, finally, as perhaps too distrustful, he was acting the only way a father could act in that situation.

And just what the hell is up with books that seem to bear "literary merit" (let's not get me started on that discussion again) that they don't feel the need to follow the rules of punctuation anymore?! More and more I find that books are often considered to have "literary" merit when they break convention. Frankly, I think it's bullshit. Capitalize the first letters at the beginnings of sentences! Use quotation marks when someone is speaking! It's the right thing to do!

I could not read this book at night because it left me feeling so uncomfortable. Certainly the author's ability to move me so thoroughly speaks highly of his talent, but I did not enjoy being moved in this way.

I just can't recommend this novel.

THE FACTS BEHIND THE HELSINKI ROCCAMATIOS -- Yann Martel

Harcourt, Inc. -- ©1993 -- tpb
Orlando, FL -- 208pp
ISBN: 0-7394-5531-1

A collection of four short stories.

Author's Note
"The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios"
"The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American Composer John Morton"
"Manners of Dying"
"The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come"

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I wasn't particularly crazy about Life of Pi, but I really enjoyed the works in this book. Each was very different from any of the others, and very different from the novel I'd read.

"...Helsinki..." might be my least favorite of these four offerings, though I enjoyed the writing "game" that the main characters were engaged in.

"...String Concerto..." was the most "typical" piece of fiction, but it struck me as the sort of work that I might write myself. I really liked everything about it.

"Manners of Dying" was an interesting work and I didn't quite appreciate it. It lacked purpose other than to reflect on the manners of dying (hence title), but the way it reflected was more than confusing. Were we to choose? Was the warden trying to choose? Are they stock letters? Just didn't click. However, the writing of each manner had me reading carefully.

"...Mirror..." started off losing me and my attention -- as it was supposed to! I got caught off guard, just as the main character did.

A fun collection. Worth reading.

CATALYST -- Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak, an Imprint of Penguin Group -- ©2002 -- tpb
New York -- 233pp
ISBN: 0-14-240001-7

A graduating high schooler anxiously awaits news from her college of choice, MIT, while the female school bully moves into her home after a fire decimates the bully's residence.

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This is very typical "Young Adult" fare, with every emotion and act being handled with high drama. Everything could lead to the end of the world in this girl's mind.

I don't enjoy this kind of book, but I understand its place in juvenile literature. It feeds a certain kind of reader.

That aside, I didn't care for much of this book. The premise was slippery at best. A girl smart enough to think she can get in to MIT but doesn't apply to any other schools. A girl that smart, but who lies about applying to other schools. A girl that smart, athletic, and strong enough of nerve to mouth off to a bully who takes on the entire football team, but doesn't apply to more than one college ... and lies about it. Hmm. Doesn't fit for me.

The aspect of the girl being a runner and one who often runs as a way to spend time thinking, was never explored properly or used efficiently.

I liked being surprised that the little boy was actually the son (not the brother that we expected) of the female bully. And the son by the bully's father! A great twist and character defining opportunity.

Having the boy die seemed totally unnecessary, even to create high drama for a YA book.

I wouldn't recommned this, even to those who like YA books.

GHOST LIGHT -- Frank Rich

Random House -- ©2000 -- hc
New York -- 315pp
ISBN: 0-679-45299-0

A memoir by New York Times theatre critic.

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This was well written (one would expect no less from a New York Times writer) but I constantly asked myself, "Who cares?"

And that would be the one problem with this memoir. Why is anyone interested in the memoir of a theatre critic? Has he made a name for himself in any other way?

I did find the development of his theatre interest quite interesting, but his family life less so. He managed to know many of the important figures of Broadway during his early days, but the book NEVER tells us how he went on to become a theatre critic. Why not a playwright? An actor? A stage manager? A theatre manager? How was it that he became a reviewer? This memoir leaves us wondering, and instead, knowing a little too much about his interest in girls as a teenaged boy (does he think he's different than 90% of male youth?).

An interesting read, but not really worth the trip.

SAGA OF THE VOLSUNGS: THE NORSE EPIC OF SIGURD THE DRAGON SLAYER -- Jesse L. Byock, translator

University of California Press -- ©1990 -- tpb
Berkeley, CA -- 145pp
ISBN: 0-520-23285-2

A translation of the ancient Norse legend of Sigurd, the Dragon Slayer.

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This was a fairly simple retelling of this Norse epic. The translation was easy to read. I did find some of the narrative rather annoying (often the text TOLD what would happen next and then skipped to the next part of the saga).

I was not familiar with the legends, though the similarities to such as the King Arthur stories and Wagner's Ring stories, are obvious to see.

Worth reading.

ECOTOPIA -- Ernest Callenbach

Bantam Books -- pb
Toronto -- ©1975 -- 213pp
ISBN: 0-553-23471-4

In the future, after the Pacific Northwest of the United States has seceded from the US, a reporter from Washington imbeds himself with the Ecotopians to learn what life is really like in the new country.

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I first learned of this book through something I had read by Kim Stanley Robinson, who refered to this as science fiction with a "green" theme. It piqued my interest and I was delighted when I could find this.

The book is written in two sections -- first, the reporter's actual reports that he has submitted to his newspaper, and then his private journals. At first, I really enjoyed the book. The ways and means of carrying out an eco-friendly lifestyle seemed very well thought-out and I often found myself nodding and grinning at the ideas.

Some aspects of the Ecotopian lifestyle seemed to be hold-overs from the 1960's lifestyle. Specifically, the free-love aspects. That the citizens of Ecotopia would often leave gatherings to have sex and then return, or that they had multiple partners, and that many places were clothing optional, seems a look back to the past rather than a view of the future. That this was written before the pestilence of AIDS is obvious. Even a nurse in an Ecotopian hospital adds sex to her healing methods.

By the end of the book I no longer felt as if this was a great look at how we could possibly live in an environmentally friendly way, but rather a 60's manifesto disguised as a sci-fi book. It becomes obvious, early on, that the plot is so thin that the only thing going for it is it's cleverness and uniqueness, but this becomes too flimsy to enjoy.

Of interest, from a plot stand-point were the hints of a war with the U.S. that destroyed thousands of U.S. helicopters and took many soldiers' lives, but which the U.S. never acknowledged. The imbedded reporter considers this, believes it's true (the reporter was a personal associate of the U.S. President), but lets the matter rest until another time. This doesn't sound like any reporter that I know. And it takes us right away from what could possibly have been the most interesting part of the book.

Unfortunately I don't recommend the book, as a book, but would suggest reading the first half of it for some thought-provoking suggestions on an environmentally friendly way of life.

THE IDES OF TOMORROW: ORIGINAL SCIENCE FICTION TALES OF HORROR -- Terry Carr, editor

Little, Brown and Company -- hc
Boston -- ©1976 -- 229pp
ISBN: 0-316-12970-4

A collection of short stories.

Introduction -- Terry Carr
"Seeing" -- Harlan Ellison
"The Dark Soul of the Night" -- Brian W. Aldiss
"In the House of the Worm" -- George R.R. Martin
"When I Was Ming the Merciless" -- Gene Wolf
"Predators" -- Steven Utley
"The Remittance Man" -- Cherry Wilder
"The Head" -- Robert Bloch
"Jamie's Smile" -- Alan Brennert
"The Eeriest Ruined Dawn World" -- Fritz Leiber

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This was a completely forgettable collection of stories by people who should write a heck of a lot better than this. None of these stories stood out, with the exception of Gene Wolf's, and even that wasn't particularly good. just well written, though I knew what was coming after about the first paragraph.

Don't bother seeking this collection out.

BOOTS AND THE SEVEN LEAGUERS: A ROCK-AND-TROLL NOVEL -- Jane Yolen

Magic Carpet Books -- tpb
Orlando, FL -- ©2000 -- 159pp
ISBN: 0-15-205083-3

A couple of teenage trolls want to attend a rock concert. Using magic beyond their means, they find themselves in a great deal of trouble.

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This was a very disappointing read from an author whose reputation suggests that this would be a top-notch book.

It is hard to describe just what the book is about, which is the main problem ... the book lacks focus. The story seems to try too hard to relate the fantsy world of trolls to the human world, showing that teenagers all have problems no matter what kind of creature that teenager is. It doesn't work, however, when one adds the element of magic. Rather than drawing the reader in by trying to point out similarities, the story puts up a wall to the reader, letting us view the story from the outside.

Not recommended.

RANDOLPH CALDECOTT: AN ILLUSTRATED LIFE -- Claudette Hegel

Avisson Press -- tpb
Greensboro, NC -- ©2004 -- 176pp
ISBN: 1-888105-68-2
personalized autograph by Claudette Hegel

A biography of artist/illustrator Randolph Caldecott, with a fair number of his drawings.

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I know Claudette, which is why I have this book. I might have picked this up at a library, or used even if I didn't know the author because I have been interested in knowing more about the man for whom a popular children's book award is named.

I definitely learned a few things about Caldecott, but I was not impressed with the book itself.

At first I had the feeling that the author was talking down to me. It did occur to me that perhaps this book was written for a young reader, but I wasn't certain then, and still am not.

I was also not particularly pleased with the set-up for this book. The chapters were not sequential with his life, but rather chapters touched on a particular aspect of the artists life/career (ie, one chapter about his health, one about his work life before he illustrated full time, one about his hobbies and interests, etc). The result of this kind of set up was that when one chapter ended i was expecting the next one to pick up there, but instead it would back-track, sometimes a great deal. I never quitre got used to this, and in some cases I felt that I heard about a particular incident more than once.

Probably not a lot of books available about this artist, and for that it's worth the read, but it probably holds interest to a very limited number of readers.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO YOU: A NOVEL IN CONFESSIONS -- Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill -- hc
Chapel Hill, NC -- ©2006 -- 300pp
ISBN-13: 978-1-56512-443-1
Autographed by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott

Meeting at a wedding and nearly completing a sexual encounter in a coat-check room, a man and a woman decide to correspond by mail and confess their loves and sexual past to each other before they make love.

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I'm a tremendous fan of Almond's writing and really looked forward to this new book ... bumping it up my reading list just so I could devour it, but I found it sadly lacking. It is the fault, I believe, of the format of this book.

A series of letters detailing one biased perspective of a lost love and/or sexual encounter, is hard to build excitement and climactic moments.

In the beginning, I felt that it was nothing more than some short stories that were loosely converted for the book, and by the end, I felt that there was nothing new in any of them, and quite frankly, I didn't care if these two people ever got together. (And if you don't care about your "heroes" then what's the point of reading about them?)

This could slip Steve Almond's popularity back a notch a two and he's really going to have to come up with some great short works to over-come this.

Go read My Life in Heavy Metal instead.

MY TEACHER GLOWS IN THE DARK -- Bruce Coville

A Minstrel Book -- tpb
New York -- ©1991 -- 137pp
ISBN: 0-671-72709-5
illustrated by John Pierard

After discovering that his teacher is an alien, a young boy begs to be taken aboard an intergalactic space ship, where he becomes Earth's last chance at survival.

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Although I really like Bruce Coville books, I had put off reading this because I thought, from the title, that it was going to be one of his silly books. Instead, it was some pretty serious, youthful, sci-fi, and I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. The book actually deals with a young boy's perceptions of loneliness, friendship, and girls all within the environment of space, aliens, and the end of the world.

I'm sorry, now, that I didn't read the other two books in the series first.

Recommended.

THE CEMENT GARDEN -- Ian McEwan

Anchor Books -- tpb
New York -- ©1978 -- 153pp
ISBN: 0-679-75018-5

First their father died, and then their mother passes away in the bedroom, and four children are suddenly free of all restraints and free to explore life as only orphans alone can.

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I feel so unclean.

The writing is so strong in this short novel that I felt as though I could smell the filth of the characters and their house.

I was caught up in the story, even though I didn't really want to visit this place. I would read, hoping for the best, but not expecting it.

Strong writing, but a story that made my flesh crawl in all the worst ways (not horror, but revulsion). I'd certainly like to read some other works by McEwan.

EAST, WEST -- Salman Rushdie

Vintage International -- tpb
New York -- 1994 -- 211pp
ISBN: 0-679-43965-x

A collection of short stories.

East
"Good Advice is Rarer Than Rubies"
"The Free Radio"
"The Prophet's Hair"

West
"Yorick"
"At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers"
"Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship (Santa Fe, AD 1492)"

East, West
"The Harmony of the Spheres"
"Chekov and Zulu"
"The Courter"

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This is my first crack at reading Salman Rushdie and I am left feeling somewhat ambivilent. There was nothing wrong with any of these stories. In fact, as I look a the titles I can recall each of the stories rather clearly, but not one of them touched me. I never connected with any of the characters. I couldn't relate; I never felt drawn in to the stories -- even "Chekov and Zulu" which is Star Trek themed!

The closest I came to 'enjoying' a story was "The Prophet's Hair" in which I could understand the father's panic at not wanting to own, but not wanting to give back, a religious relic. The response of his children seemed extreme and removed me from the story.

Not a great collection, but I am willing to give Rushdie another try. Any recommendations, anyone?

THE ICE SOLDIER -- Paul Watkins

Henry Holt and Company -- hc
New York -- ©2006 -- 341pp
ISBN-10: 0-8050-7867-3

After a tragic experience in World War II, a mountain climber has settled in to his life in academia until another tragic event forces him and a close friend in to making a treacherous climb.

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I think that Paul Watkins is one of the finest writers of today. His writing brings to mind the style of Hemingway, and his characters have the same kind of inner machismo, though without boasting of it.

It is very easy to get caught up in the prose and the characters that Watkins brings to life, but this book leaves something to be desired with its plot. While I fully understood the main character's lonesomeness and even later understood why, I never believed his desire for a certain young lady was anything but a mere physical attraction that would (or even should) develop into something more.

Too, one of the main protagonists was well set up as being the object of conflict, but we never see him again in the last 140 pages of the book. There, the conflict is the final climb and the mountain itself. In this sense, the book is as uneven as the terrain on which "Auntie" and Stanley make their journey

Still, I would much rather read a book by Paul Watkins that is lacking in some story, than most books by other authors.

An author worth reading, but not necessarily this particuar book until you've read a few of his others.

MOONGOBBLE AND ME #3: THE EVIL ELVES -- Bruce Coville

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers -- hc
New York -- ©2004 -- 71pp
ISBN: 0-689-85756-x
Illustrated by Katherine Coville

With the help of his friends Edward, Urk, Fireball, the Rusty Knight, and Arfur, Moongobble the Magician must complete his Third Might Task ... retrieve the Queen's Belly button.

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As always, Bruce Coville writes an entertaining yarn for young readers. My 9 year old son loved the series as much as I did.

Highly recommended.

THE TURQUOISE RING -- Grace Tiffany

Berkley Books -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 358pp
ISBN: 0-425-20248-8

In 1568, twenty-one-year-old Shiloh ben Gozán flees the Spanish Inquisition to live openly as a Jew in Venice. He brings with him a baby daughter and an oddly made turquoise ring, given to him by a woman he cannot forget. The ring also becomes entangled in the fortunes of five women: Leah, Shiloh's first love; Jessica, his rebellious daughter; Nerissa, a maidservant; Portia, an outrageously rich and alarmingly intelligent heiress; and lastly Xanthe, a Spanish refugee who alone can unlock the secret of his past.

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This book did not quite reach to me, as I had hoped it would. The book is supposedly "about" Shiloh (aka Shylock) and a specific ring, but as it's told through the story of five women, the focus is muddy. Two of the women's stories' are intriguing, one is incredibly dull, and the others rather bland.

They read more like romance novels rather than passionate drama as one might expect from a tale told of Shakespeare (with the one exception).

Sadly, not recommended.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL -- Arthur Tofte

Scholastic Book Services -- pb
New York -- ©1976(by Roger Elwood) -- 156pp
includes photos from the film
"A full-length version of the short story upon which the world-famous film was based."

An alien and his robot land on earth to deliver a message or warning and advice.

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And so, this is not the original story, nor is it a novelization of the film, but something in between.

It is strange, is what it is.

It bears almost no resemblance to the film (though I can see where, if this were a short story, one might get the idea for the film) and so it seems like lying to have it bear the same title and include photos from the picture.

What it makes me think of the most, is someone (Elwood?) capitalizing on the renewed (in the mid-1970's) interest in the film.

Don't bother searching out this hackneyed tripe.

SERENITY: THOSE LEFT BEHIND -- Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews

Graphic Novel
Dark Horse Books -- tpb
Milwaukie, OR -- ©2006 -- 104pp
ISBN: 1-59307-449-2
art: Will Conrad
colors: Laura Martin
letters: Michael Heisler
front cover art: Adam Hughes

The ragtag crew of Serenity take on a scavenger mission with the hopes of earning enough dough to disappear for a while. Only too late do they realize the whole gig is orchestrated by an old enemy eager remake their acquaintance with the help of some covert-operatives known only as the Blue Gloves.

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Having greatly enjoyed the short-lived television series, and having somewhat enjoyed the movie, I was looking forward to another adventure of the Serenity crew, particularly since it was written by the creator and series author, Joss Whedon. Unfortunately, the story is stale and not at all rivetting.

The art is decent, but I was sure expecting much more story and/or character development.

JOHN DILLINGER SLEPT HERE -- Paul Maccabee

Minnesota Historical Society Press -- tpb
St. Paul -- ©1995 -- 362pp
ISBN: 0-87351-316-9

This book is based on more than 100,000 pages of FBI files and wiretaps, prison and police records, and mob confessions. Interviews with 250 crime victims, policemen, gun molls, and family members of criminals bring these public enemies to life. Crime historian Paul Maccabee takes you inside the bank robberies, gangland assassinations, and police intrigue of St. Paul's 1920s and 1930s gangster era. You'll also find Crooks' Tour maps and more than 130 rare FBI, police, and family photographs.

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Loaned to me by my uncle, this is not the kind of book that I would ordinarily pick up to read on my own. However, I did find it rather interesting to learn that the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were havens for some of the most notorious underworld figures in history.

I felt that the book was trying hard to find a new angle on reoprting of Minnesota's ganster past, but because of that, it lacked a cohesion that might have kept my interest a little better. Just as I was finding a narrative interesting, it seemed to zoom to the end and then on to another criminal. The "selling point" to the book is the listing of the addresses where certain crimes occurred with the intent that those interested would walk/drive around the Twin Cities to see these locations.

Interesting, but not engaging.

THE SCARECROW AND HIS SERVANT -- Philip Pullman

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2004 -- 229pp
ISBN: 0-375-81531-7
illustrated by Peter Bailey
jacket illustration by Kevin Hawkes

After being struck by lightning, a scarecrow, with a turnip for a head, comes alive and proceeds on many fabulous adventures, with an orphaned boy, Jack, as his servant.

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This really is a wonderful fairy tale. It has all the good qualities of a classic fairy tale -- imaginative, journeys, adventures, colorful characters, and bad-guys who are obviously bad.

The young boy, Jack, has sense enough to know that everything is quite odd -- what with his master being a turnip-headed scarecrow -- but has the youthful imagination to go along with it.

If there is a down-side to this book, it's that it did get to be a little long. Perhaps one too many adventures for the scarecrow. Did he really need to become a Captain in an army? Did it serve any purpose to the rest of the story, or was it just a further adventure. If anything, I thought the army portion of the story was the least effective, particularly when both the scarecrow and the boy had had negative experiences with soldiers earlier in the book.

Still, not many authors are writing wonderful tales of this sort, and it definitely adds to my respect for Pullman, the author.

A fun romp, worth the read.

THE HISTORIAN -- Elizabeth Kostova

Little, Brown and Company -- ©2005 -- hc
New York -- 642pp
ISBN: 0-316-01177-0
Signed by Elizabeth Kostova

A long history, using academic historians as the principle protagonists, in search of Vlad Dracula and his actual burial place.

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The book could have used some trimming or serious editing!

I was engaged with the story in the beginning, and I was caught up again as I approached the last 100+ pages, but the 300+ pages in the middle became a morass of verbiage which did little to nothing to advance the plot, nor did it set mood or location.

Something I've seen only one other reviewer mention is the confusion over who is narrating any particular chapter. Imagine my surprise after a hundred pages, thinking my narrator was a woman (and I'm sure it was when I started), and to suddenly have someone refer to the narrator as "Paul."

I've long enjoyed the Dracula mythology and looked forward to this book. I struggled to stay interested in it, and I'm not sure that my valiance paid off in the end.

This is one book that may actually be served well to have a Reader's Digest Condensed Version.

COLD COMFORT: LIFE AT THE TOP OF THE MAP -- Barton Sutter

University of Minnesota Press -- ©1998 -- hc
Minneapolis, MN -- 210pp
ISBN: 0-8166-3259-6
Signed by Barton Sutter

A collection of essays.

Homing: An Introduction
"Dull and Out of It"
" 'A Citty upon a Hill' "
"The Bridge"
"God"
"Park Point"
"Sister City"
"April Fools"
"Tisher Creek"
"Ghost of a Good Bad Man"
"Barber Poles"
"Existentil Basebal"
"Hawk Ridge"
"The Cider Man"
"The Season of Death"
"Disorganizzed Hockey"
"The History of Snow"
"Hibernation"
"Jangle Bells"
"A Christmas Card"
"Afterthoughts on Christmas Trees"
"Finlandia at Fourteen Below"
"Cross-Country"
"The Overcoat"
"Map Fishing"
"God's Own Ice Rink"
"Boundary Waters Canoe Park"
"Dream Canoe"
"The Next Best Thing to Nobody"
"Falcon, Eagle, Snake"
"The Shrink-Wrapped Campfire"
"Dieback"
"Family Car Camping"
"The Duluth behind Duluth"
"Emil's Place"
"Blueberry Country"
"Eating the Landscape"
"I Am Not a Duck Hunter"
"Lake Addiction"
"Epilogue: The Backroad to Ely"

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This was a quick read, but I enjoyed most of it. I'm not sure how much it would appeal to those who aren't already familiar with Northern Minnesota, but Sutter captures the feel of the community quite well.

I would agree with the reviewers on the dust jacket who say that his attempt at being curmudgeonly doesn't seem totally accurate, but he is forgiven for this with his reflections on nature, the seasons, and the people who endure both.

Sutter will never reach the popularity of Sigurd Olson, but his book is worthy of sitting on the shelves of all those who enjoy nature writing, essays, or books about Minnesota.

REFUGEES FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY -- Darrell Schweitzer

W. Paul Ganley, Publisher/Owslwick Press -- hc
Buffalo, NY/King of Prussia, PA -- ©1999 -- 232pp
ISBN: 0-932445-64-0
Illustrated by Stephen E. Fabian
Bookplate signed by Darrell Schweitzer and Stephen E. Fabian
Dust Jacket illo: Stephen E. Fabian

A collection of Darrell Schweitzer's short stories.

"Savages"
"On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead"
"The Outside Man"
"Minotauress"
"Malevendra's Pool"
"Angry Man"
"The Sorcerer Evoragdou"
"The Strange Rider from the Far, Dark Land"
"The Mysteries of the Faceless King"
"Runaway"
"The Knight of the Pale Countenance"
"One of the Secret Masters"
"Climbing"
"The Death of Falstaff"
"King Yvorian's Wager"
"Going to the Mountain"
"The Last Dangerous Lunacy"
"Last Things"
"Refugees from an Imaginary Country"

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This is where Darrell Schweitzer shines -- the short story. The novels that I've read and reported on in this blog did not hold my interest, but these short stories were completely engrossing, and reminded me why I enjoy the genre.

I don't think it would come as a surprise to anyone to report that Schweitzer writes more for tone, or feeling, than he does for character or plot, but he does it well enough that you can forgive him for it. So many of these stories were memorable, even if the endings were anticipated. "Minotauress," "The Sorcerer Evoragdou," "The Mysteries of the Faceless King," "The Knight of the Pale Countenance," "The Death of Falstaff," "Refugees ..." all have stuck with me, and I recall them fondly, even if , in some cases, I knew exactly how it was going to end. (And some ended in surprising ways.)

I had some mixed feelings, going in to this collection, having read the two novels not so long ago, but this was a welcome return to the "weird" genre, and reminds me why I recalled Schweitzer's name as fondly as I did.

Recommended for anyone looking to read something that was representative of magazines such as Weird Tales.

THOR'S WEDDING DAY -- Bruce Coville

full title:
Thor's Wedding Day: by Thialfi, the Goat Boy, as told to and translated by Bruce Coville
Harcourt, Inc -- hc
Orlando, FL -- ©2005 -- 137pp
ISBN-10: 0-15-201455-1
Illustrations by Matthew Cogswell

Thor's magical hammer, Mjolnir, has been stolen by the giants of Jotunheim, and Thor, his brother Loki, and Thialfi (the human) must use trickery to get it back.

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Bruce Coville is an incredibly talented writer, and one of my favorite authors. He writes for kids, which is good for kids, but not so great for adults who are missing out on his works.

This book can easily be read in an afternoon, but that doesn't mean it isn't good -- just brief. Because of it's shorter nature, there are some questions I have -- mainly, what was Loki's purpose in the story. He is set up as being quite the trickster, we are set to wondering why he insists on attending Thor on his journey, we learn that the dwarfs who actually stole the hammer have a grudge against Loki ... and that's the end of it. Ir definitely had the feel as if something more important was intended to happen, but never did.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this read. Perhaps it's just "kismet" that I happen to be reading other Scandinavian tales (Saga of the Volsung) at this time as well, but the setting, characters, and mood sit very well with me.

A highly recommended read.

NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND ... -- Ted Thompson, ed

full title:
NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND SOME OTHER THINGS THAT AREN"T AS SCARY, MAYBE, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT LOST LANDS, STRAY CELLPHONES, CREATURES FROM THE SKY, PARENTS WHO DISAPPEAR IN PERU, A MAN NAMED LARS FARF, AND ONE OTHER STORY WE COULDN'T QUITE FINISH, SO MAYBE YOU COULD HELP US OUT
edited by Ted Thompson, with Eli Horowitz
McSweeney's Books -- hc
San Francisco -- ©2005 -- 207pp
ISBN: 1-932416-35-8

An odd collection of stories, maybe aimed at younger readers, and then again, maybe not.

Introduction -- Lemony Snicket
-- Illustrated by Brett Helquist
"Small Country" -- Nick Hornby
-- Illustrated by David Heatley
"Lars Farf, Excessively Fearful Father and Husband" -- George Saunders
-- Illustrated by Juliette Borda
"Monster" -- Kelly Link
-- Illustrated by Shelley Dick
"The Contest at Cowlick" -- Richard Kennedy
-- Illustrated by Jan Van Der Veken
"Each Sold Separately" -- Jon Scieszka
-- Illustrated by Lane Smith
"Seymour's Last Wish" -- Sam Swope
-- Illustrated by Heinrich Drescher
"Grimble" -- Clement Freud
-- Illustrated by Marcel Dzama
"Spoony-E & Spandy-3 vs. The Purple Hordes" -- James Kochalka
"Sunbird" -- Neil Gaiman
-- Illustrated by Peter de Seve
"The ACES Phone" -- Jeanne DuPrau
-- Illustrated by Rachell Sumpter
"The Sixth Borough" -- Jonathan Safran Foer
-- Illustrated by Barry Blitt
Crossword Puzzle -- David Levinson Wilk
dust jacket story starter -- Lemony Snicket

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This is how a book should be put together! The actual, physical property of this book is beautiful. The binding is strong and firmer than most hardcovers. The cover (not the dust jacket) itself is an illustrated work. Lavishly illustrated in full color! All books should aspire to this kind of quality.

The stories themselves are rather uneven. As one might suspect, the stories by Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman are among the best, but the others vary in quality. "Spoony-E & Spandy-3..." is a cartoon/comic which is so strange that I get the feeling that I'm not part of the inside joke. The Scieszka "story" feels as though it was a little something he had hanging around that he couldn't sell anywhere else.

"The ACES Phone" was quite interesting and unlike anything I'd ever read, and "Grimble" was interesting as well.

I'd like to support McSweeney's Books based solely on the physical properties of this book, but it wouldn't hurt if the inside contents were a tad more consistent.

ARTHUR & GEORGE -- Julian Barnes

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 388pp
ISBN: 0-307-26310-x

Arthur Conan Doyle puts his Sherlock Holmes hat on, and works to overturn a miscarriage of justice against barrister, George Edalji.

This book was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize (which was won by John Banville's The Sea). It is, in my opinion, a much better and more readable book than Banville's winner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, always anxious about what was going to happen next. I often thought that it read like a Sherlock Holmes story, with more information provided.

I will grumble a bit over the ending (**WARNING** Possible Spoiler Alert In This Paragraph!!), which concluded the story -- sort of -- with an almost notation, rather than a revelation. And even at that, we have no knowledge of the culprit.

Still, this is most definitely a recommended book.

THE EVIL B.B. CHOW AND OTHER STORIES -- Steve Almond

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill -- hc
Chapel Hill, NC -- ©2005 -- 233pp
ISBN-10: 1-56512-422-7

A collection of short stories.

"The Evil B.B. Chow"
"The Soul Molecule"
"Appropriate Sex"
"I Am As I Am"
"A Happy Dream"
"Lincoln, Arisen"
"The Idea Of Michael Jackson's Dick"
"The Problem Of Human Consumption"
"Wired For Life"
"Summer, As In Love"
"Larsen's Novel"
"Skull"

Ah...another Steve Almond collection.

I really do enjoy this man's writing, though I don't think this collection was a strong as his earlier, My Life In Heavy Metal, collection. Still, it was nice to read some short stories that were intelligently written, and not ponderous.

It's hard to pick a favorite, though the title story is quite good. "Summer, As In Love" was good, but I wanted more resolution.

"Lincoln, Arisen," did not work for me. Frankly, I didn't understand what Almond was going for here.

I will continue to look for new works by Mr. Steve Almond.

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: 1599 -- James Shapiro

Harper Collins -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 394pp
ISBN-10: 0-06-008873-7

In 1599, William Shakespeare wrote four of his most popular and best-received plays: Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet. This book examines the society and events of the time which most certainly influenced the master playwright.

This is an absolutely fascinating read! It is NOT a biography of Shakespeare -- those are abundant, despite the meager information available about the man -- but rather a study of the significant events which most certainly influenced the writer.

While some of the information grew a little tedious for me (specifically the long chapter on Essex's battle with Tyrone of Ireland), I found much of the examination quite remarkable.

Most certainly I learned some things about Shakespeare and about his writing. I learned about why some things might have been much more interesting or humorous to the play-goer of 1599 but is lost on today's audiences.

Not exactly a "light" read, but not a work targeted solely to scholars, either.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in history, theatre, and/or Shakespeare.

THE ULTIMATE X-MEN VOLUME 11: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME -- Brian K. Vaughn

Graphic Novel
Pencils: Stuart Immonen Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Marvel Comics -- tpb
New York -- ©2005
ISBN: 0-7851-1659-1

On a privately owned island, a reality television show is being filmed in which mutants are hunted and killed.

Although it's been awhile since I've visited the world of mutants and X-Men, and there are a few new characters gracing the pages of this book, I really enjoyed this story. There are definitely some interesting relationships going on among the X-Men, and not just personal. This definitely made me want to read a little more (although the price on a graphic novel just seems outrageous to me [yes, I know that it's probably cheaper than the price of the individual comics, but then those seem even more outrageous]).

I really appreciated the story-line, which was NOT a "bigger, badder, more powerful than anything we've seen before"-foe kind of story, but story of ethics, justice, and international cooperation, mixed in with superheroes. Very cool.

The art was good, and had me wrapped up in the story.

A recommended graphic novel.

THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2004 -- Lorrie Moore, editor

Houghton Mifflin Company -- tpb
Boston -- ©2004 -- 462pp
ISBN: 0-618-19735-4
Series Editor: Katrina Kenison

A collection of short stories.

Foreward
Introduction -- Lorrie Moore
"What you Pawn I Will Redeem" -- Sherman Alexie
"Tooth and Claw" -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
"Written in Stone" -- Catherine Brady
"Accomplice" -- Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
"Screenwriter" -- Charles D'Ambrosio
"Breasts" -- Stuart Dybek
"Some Other, Better Otto" -- Deborah Eisenberg
"Grace" -- Paula Fox
"The Tutor" -- Nell Freudenberger
"A Rich Man" -- Edward P. Jones
"Limestone Diner" -- Trudy Lewis
"Intervention" -- Jill McCorkle
"Gallatin Canyon" -- Thomas McGuane
"Runaway" -- Alice Munro
"All Saints Day" -- Angela Pneuman
"What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick?" -- Annie Proulx
"Docent" -- R.T. Smith
"The Walk With Elizanne" -- John Updike
"Mirror Studies" -- Mary Yukari Waters
"What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over in Silence" -- John Edgar Wideman
Contributor's Notes
100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2003
Editorial Addresses of American and Canadian Magazines Publishing Short Stories

I enjoyed this collection moreso than the collection of essays of the same year. Some of these stories I even enjoyed quite a bit. However, even in this, none of the stories sits with me as I reflect back a month or more to when I read them. Once or twice I tried to take note of the author's name because I liked a piece, but I haven't yet found myself interested enough to seek out new works by any of these writers.

In one or two cases, I found the works to be rather pretentious -- writing more to a style for the age, rather than crafting an interesting story.

This was a good book to have on hand for the occassion when I was looking for a short work that I could read in one sitting, but not one that I will refer to time and again.

My local library will enjoy the donation.

THE COLONEL'S PHOTOGRAPH -- Eugene Ionesco

Grove Press -- hc
New York -- ©1967 -- 177pp
Library of Congress catalog number: 67-20347
originally published in France as La Photo du Colonel
translated by Jean Stewart (except "Stoller in the Air," translated by John Russell)

A collection of short stories by absurdist playwright, Ionesco.

"Oriflamme"
"The Colonel's Photograph"
"The Stroller in the Air"
"A Victim of Duty"
"Rhinoceros"
"The Slough"
"Spring 1939"

It was very interesting to read these stories, most of which are also plays by the author. It is not clear if the stories were written before the plays or afterwards, but according to the inside flap of the dust cover, Ionesco prefers writing fiction to drama. There is certainly a sense of wonder, in his characters, over the events that happen in these absurdist pieces, and the playfulness, particularly in "Stoller" comes through nicely. A work such as "Oriflamme" or "Rhinoceros" might work better on stage because of the shock value of actually seeing a growing corpse or people turning in to rhinoceroses.

"Spring 1939" was interesting. I'm not sure if it's actual fragments of a journal or a story to come off that way. It grew a little tedious, which makes me think it's truly a journal.

For me this was a real pleasure. There isn't much Ionesco that I haven't already read (in English), so to find something like this, which is new to me is an absolute prize.

I can't imagine too many people liking this as I did, so it doesn't get recommended, but it does get "thumbs up."

HIGH COUNTRY -- Nevada Barr

Recorded Books -- CD
unabridged -- 2004 -- 8 CDs
ISBN: 1402573669

National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon goes undercover as a waitress to try and learn the reasons behind the disappearance of four young people from Yosemite National Park.

I've said it before, and I'll repeat it here, I'm generally not a fan of the mystery fiction genre. I've read a few of the Nevada Barr/Anna Pigeon mysteries simply because I am a fan of our National Parks, and I liked the idea of using the Parks for literary series'. The fact that Nevada Barr is also a true National Park Ranger has made it more interesting.

I am also not in the habit of listening to a book rather than reading one, but because I knew I was going to be driving a good distance several days in a row, I quickly rushed to my library to look for a book on CD that I thought I might enjoy.

This has been my least favorite of the books I have "read" by Barr. I immediately sensed the "red herrings" and was sure I knew who was behind the trouble (I was right). The fact that drugs played a key role in the plot was a real disappointment. Didn't drugs figure in to another of her books? I believe so.

I guess, all in all, it really just seemed too easy. I didn't have to work much as a reader, and I didn't feel she had to work too hard as a writer -- stock characters and plot, and a wonderful setting that never really figured in to the story.

Not recommended.

THE SEA -- John Banville

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 195pp
ISBN: 0-307-26311-8
Man Booker Prize Winner

A man returns to a sea-side home to reflect on life, death, and love after the death of his wife.

I enjoyed this novel more than Banville's The Eclipse, but a little Banville goes a long way for me. The melancholy of Banville's writing and themes wears thin, and I find myslef emotionly exhausted simply from trying to stay energized while reading his work.

The weaving of the reflections the narrator recreates, is well done and much easier to follow than it was in the previous novel I read. But when a narrator tells a story by way of a thread which ultimately leads back his reflections after the death of his wife, even the most exciting of times (a young boy's glance up the skirt of his heart's desire [the mother of a friend]) comes across painfully reflective and curious rather than dangerous and exciting. This is that melancholy that becomes the mood throughout.

I won't be venturing in to Banville territory anytime too soon. I need more than reflection in the books I read.

I hesitantly recommend this book. It is well written and offers some nice insights to a life, but it does seem to be paced in a very monotonous way.

ECLIPSE -- John Banville

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2000 -- 212pp
ISBN: 0-375-41129-1

An aging actor believes he is encountering ghosts at his childhood home, where he has retreated to in order to reflect on his life and career.

Banville's writing is very lyrical, and one can enjoy the simplest of descriptions. Sometimes, however, the descriptions get in the way of the progress of the story. Any time I encounter writing in which paragraphs run longer than two pages, I begin to wonder if the paragraph is filled with description or advancing story. The best writing, I believe, should be an appropriate balance between the two.

This book was difficult to follow at times, though I've come to see that it is set up as a five-act drama, with each "act" containing specific aspects of the story/life of the narrator. Knowing this helps to put some focus in to the reading of the book. Though I suppose, with my theatre background, I should have been able to figure that out, there is nothing at the beginning of the book to indicate that the story is put together in five parts.

The title of the book is perhaps prophetic as this book seems to have been eclipsed by Banville's The Untouchable (which was published immediately before this), and his most recent, Man Booker Prize winning, The Sea.

Not recommended as a first foray into the books of John Banville.

BEST ONE-ACT PLAYS 1947-1948 -- ed. Margaret Mayorga

Dodd, Mead & Company -- hc
New York -- ©1948 -- 278pp

A collection of one-act plays.

Introduction -- Margaret Mayorga
"On This Green Bank" -- Sylvan Karchmer
"The Sunny Side of the Atom" -- Carl Beier and Ruth Ashton
"Suffer the Little Children" -- Nicholas Bela
"Who Are the Weavers" -- Joseph Shore and Scott Graham Williamson
"A Woman's Privilege" -- Marrijane and Joseph Hayes
"Frankie and Albert (A Play with Music)" -- Elizabeth Wilson Hughes
"Easter Eve" -- Anna F. Trevisan
"Through a Glass Darkly" -- Stanley Richards
"The Meadow" -- Ray Bradbury
"Before the Bullfight" -- Theodore Apstein
Bibliographies
Selected Plays of the Year
New Collections of One-Act Plays

A mostly forgettable, unremarkable collection. Assuming that these were indeed the best from 47-48, then they just don't stand the test of time. Only "A Woman's Privilege" stands out as being very Pinter-esque, before Pinter had made a name for himself. Almost theatre of the absurd, just before Ionesco revolutionized/created the genre.

No real gems here, sadly.

THE SILENCE OF THE LOONS -- "The Minnesota Crime Wave"

Nodin Press -- tpb
Minneapolis, MN -- ©2005 -- 224pp
ISBN: 1-932472-36-3
Introduction by R.D. Zimmerman

A collection of short, mystery stories selected by a regional fiction, crime-writing group. A list of eight items were given to each author, and each story had to contain at least three of those items as part of the mystery. As reader's, our mystery was to see if we could identify what those eight items were. Stories included in the anthology are:

Introduction -- R.D. Zimmerman
"Holiday Murder at Harmony Lake" -- M.D. Lake
"Loon Lodge" -- Mary Logue
"Before Swine" -- William Kent Krueger
"The Gates" -- Judith Guest
"Root of the Matter" -- Monica Ferris
"Mickey's Last Mark" -- K.J. Erickson
"Norwegian Noir" -- Ellen Hart
"A Winter's Tale" -- Carl Brookins
"Take Me Out" -- Lori Lake
"Waltz of the Loons" -- Deborah Woodworth
"Confidential Sources" -- Kerri Miller
"A Domestic Matter" -- David Housewright
"Jake" -- Pat Dennis

I'm not a big reader of mystery fiction, but this intrigued me because of it's origins and it's Minnesota roots. Over-all, I really enjoyed this collection...much more than I thought that I might (made me think that I ought to try my hand at some mystery fiction). In fact, only one story struck me as NOT being good, and oddly enough, that was the story by the biggest "name" (to me, anyway) -- Judith Guest. It seemed to me that she either misunderstood the rules or was trying to be smart and included all eight items in her very briefest of stories.

A fun collection, well-worth reading.

THE DEVIL'S STORYBOOK -- Natalie Babbitt

Farrar Strauss Giroux -- hc
New York -- ©1974 -- 101pp
ISBN: 0-374-31770-4
illustrations by the author

A collection of short stories -- fables -- featuring the Devil.

"Wishes"
"The Very Pretty Lady"
"The Harps of Heaven"
"The Imp in the Basket"
"Nuts"
A Palindrome"
"Ashes"
"Perfection"
"The Rose and the Minor Demon"
"The Power of Speech"

These very brief stories were actually a delight to read. The come across as fables, each with a short moral. My daugher had requested the book from the library because she wanted to read as much Natalie Babbitt as she could, after watching Tuck Everlasting on television. My daughter, too, enjoyed these stories. It only takes about an hour to read through the entire book, but the writing flows nicely and most of the stories were quite enjoyable to read.

A LONG WAY DOWN -- Nick Hornby

Riverhead Books -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 333pp
ISBN: 1-57322-302-6
signed by Nick Hornby

Four people's lives become entwined when they meet on New Year's Eve, each with the intention of committing suicide.

I enjoyed this book, though I did feel that it had difficulty maintaining the story once we got to know each of the people involved (which happened fairly quickly -- at least by the end of the first third of the book).

The book is written from the point of view of each of the four people who had intended to kill themselves. For the most part, they were fairly interchangeable (they all seemed to react the same way towards each other) with the exception of the sheltered woman who has spent her life taking care of her whp os, for the most part, a vegetable.

The four people involved seem to be stock characters. Who you think they are at the beginning of the book is pretty much who they are at the end of the book, though perhaps a tad wiser in one or two cases.

I think that the American, "JJ" sums it up well:

"I had wanted to kill myself, not because I hated living, but because I loved it. ...We were up on the roof because we couldn't find a way back into life..."

I've read that many critics do not feel that this is Hornby at his best, and I'll likely read more of his work.

GROUCHO MARX, SECRET AGENT -- Ron Goulart

Thomas Dunne Books -- hc
New York -- ©2002 -- 210pp
ISBN: 0-312-28005-X

Groucho Marx joins forces with screenwriter Frank Denby to solve a murder case, which involves the FBI, Nazis, and plenty of bad puns.

I picked up this book on a whim. I've long been a fan of the Marx Brothers films, and as a teenager, I often enjoyed the humorous sci-fi novels of Ron Goulart, so I thought that this might be a fun, quick ride.

The book isn't bad, but it's certainly no literary masterpiece. Mostly we have a lot of Groucho-like witticisms and a bare, weak plot involving Nazis (before America is thrown in to the War).

This appears to be the fifth in a series of Groucho mysteries, and other reviews suggest it is the weakest of them. If I happen to be wandering through a library and come across one of the other titles in the series, I may check it out for a quick read.

Not recommended.

WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN -- Kimberly Willis Holt

Dell Yearling -- tpb
New York -- ©1999 -- 227pp
ISBN: 0-440-22904-9
National Book Award gold medal winner

One summer, young Toby learns that interesting things can happen, even in Antler, Texas -- his mother leaves to try to make it as a country singer in Nashville, his best-friend's brother dies in Vietnam, and he befriends "The World's Fattest Boy."

The writing of this was crisp and clear, and easy to read, and seemed like an enjoyable novel. However, as I think on it now, there are too many loose ends and sub-plots that don't go anywhere (the whole idea of Toby trying to gain the favor of a certain young girl, and then fixing her up again with her ex-boyfriend seems pointless in retrospect).

Some lofty themes and dealing with issues such as death and divorce make it easy to see why this is an award winner, but it is not a book that I would recommend to students or for study.

OUR SIMPLE GIFTS: CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS TALES -- Owen Parry

William Morrow -- hc
New York -- ©2002 -- 149pp
ISBN: 0-06-001378-8

A short collection of Christmas stories set during the Civil War.

"Star of Wonder"
"Tannenbaum"
"Nothing But A Kindness"
"Christmas Gift"
A Christmas Request to the Reader

I am always on the look-out for short Christmas-related stories, and I liked the idea of these being set in the Civil War time, but only the first story struck a chord with me, and even at that, it was quite predictable.

Not a collection to recommend.

THE STAGGERFORD FLOOD -- Jon Hassler

Plume -- tpb
New York -- ©2002 -- 197pp
ISBN: 0-452-28462-7

As the Badbattle River overflows it's banks, a reunion, of sorts, takes place at Agatha McGee's house.

This book did not hold nearly the charm that the first Staggerford book held. It could be that the first book definitely seemed to have a driving purpose, but the only purpose for this book seemed to be to get some characters from previous books together. And while it does this, there seems to be nothing happening once they are together.

Except...the only thing that actually happens (other than the flood) is that Agatha tells a whopper of a lie (for good reason, of course). This seems totally out of character, and while Hassler does have Agatha dwell over it, it never sits right -- not the Agatha that he established in early Staggerford books!

It certainly wouldn't have hurt if I had missed this book.

STORMY WEATHER/TOURIST SEASON/STRIP TEASE -- Carl Hiaasen

Random House Audio Books
6 Audio Cassettes
Stormy Weather ©1995; Tourist Season ©1986; Strip Tease ©1993
Read by Ed Asner

Three books by Carl Hiaasen on six (abridged?) cassettes.

I have enjoyed the children's/YA books by Hiaasen, and so I was looking for a crash course in his adult novels. While the library packaging for these books does not indicate whether or this set is abridged, I would suspect that it is.

STORMY WEATHER was probably the most enjoyable with the various plots and sub-plots coming together. TOURIST SEASON seemed less busy, but also less cohesive. I recognized STRIP TEASE almost immediately as the basis for the Demi Moore movie by the same name.

WHat I don't like about Hiaasen is very casual dismissal (usually by means of a grisly death) of major characters as almost a footnote. In Strip Tease, "the most poweful man in Florida politics" ends up a corpse in a fish locker on a yacht, and I feel that we are told that much only because as readers we demand to know. The loser, drug-addict, ex-husband of the female lead in the book, winds up chopped in to tiny bits in a sugar cane factory. We are told this by taking us out of the immediate action and sending us in to the future -- being told what will happen.

I won't be eagerly seeking out any of Hiaasen's adult novels in the future.

THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2004 -- Louis Menand, Editor

Series Editor, Robert Atwan
Houghton Mifflin Company -- tpb
Boston -- ©2004 -- 323pp
ISBN: 0-618-35709-2

A collection of essays selected from those which were printed in magazines between January 2003 and January 2004.

Forward -- Robert Atwan
Introduction -- Louis Menand
"America, Look at Your Shame!" -- James Agee
"Envy" -- Kathryn Chetkovich
"The Last Americans" - Jared Diamond
"The Arctic Hedonist" -- Anne Fadiman
"Caught" -- Jonathan Franzen
"The Unreal Thing" -- Adam Gopnik
"A Sudden Illness" -- Laura Hillenbrand
"Passover in Baghdad" -- Tim Judah
"My '80s" -- Wayne Koestenbaum
"My Yiddish" -- Leonard Michaels
"Bix and Flannery" -- Ben Miller
"Against Cool" -- Rick Moody
"Yarn" -- Kyoko Mori
"Lifelike" -- Susan Orlean
"Rock 101" -- Alex Ross
"The Mind's Eye" -- Oliver Sacks
"My Lost City" -- Luc Sante
"Arrow and Wound" -- Mark Slouka
"My Father is a Book" -- Janna Malamud Smith
"Bullet in My Neck" -- Gerald Stern
"Amor Perdida" -- Tennessee Williams
"An Enlarged Heart" -- Cynthia Zarin
Biographical Notes
Notable Essays of 2003

I found that most of these were indeed quite notable and enjoyable to read. I found "A Sudden Illness," ""My '80s," "Bix and Flannery," "Against Cool," "My Father is a Book," and "An Enlarged Heart" to be of the most interest and/or best written. Some ("Passover in Baghdad," "Rock 101," "Arrow and Wound") didn't reach me at all. The others were just sort of "there" and interesting to read, but leave no real lasting memories.

I look forward to the next in the series, now available.

ROGER ZELAZNY'S THE DAWN OF AMBER -- John Gregory Betancourt

Book One of the New Amber Trilogy
ibooks, inc -- hc
New York -- ©2002 -- 299pp
ISBN: 0-7434-5240-2

A prequel to Roger Zelazny's Amber series, following Lord Oberon and his introduction to his family, and their first fight against hell-creatures.

The very first thing that strikes me as I read this is that this is NOT Roger Zelazny writing. In fact, if it were not for the fact that I recognize Betancourt's name, I would wonder if this was even a professional writer -- the opening chapter came across as very amateurish. Lot's of telling, and no "showing" -- no making us feel a part of the action.

While that sense of "low" writing never entirely vanished, I did become more engrossed in the story itself. Even there, however, I knew that I wasn't reading Zelazny. Zelazny could weave a story with intricate threads of characters and sub-plots and story lines. And if Zelazny was a master weaver, producing a solitary fine work of excellent quality, Betancourt is a machine producing a cheap replica that might satisfy those who can't tell the difference.

In general, I also dislike any series which requires one to purchase multiple books to get a sense of the story. Each book should be able to stand on it's own as a book. I don't believe this one accomplishes that.

I may read the others in the trilogy, but only because I'm curious about the story. I will most certainly seek out library books or used copies.