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.