FREAKONOMICS -- Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

FREAKONOMICS: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
William Morrow -- hc
New York -- 2005 -- 242pp
ISBN: 0-06-073132-X

The simple, logical answers to economics may not always be correct. Levitt and Dubner explore some complex issues behind some mighty big questions.

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I'd heard quite a bit about this book and was looking forward to giving it a read. I wasn't necessarily disappointed, but I wasn't tremendously impressed, either.

What Levitt and Dubner have done seems all too obvious to me. That some of these issues haven't been researched in the way that Levitt has dug into them, is what seems more astonishing. To me, this is a 'common sense' book. Nothing seems 'far out there' but rather it seems logical.

I can, however, see where this line of thinking is ground-breaking. If Levitt weren't so 'decorated' with degrees and laurels, his ideas would be summarily dismissed by the academic world, and this book would never have seen the light of day. Fortunately this book is out there and popular, and common sense can regain its place.

An interesting, recommended book.

THE LAST YANKEE & BROKEN GLASS -- Arthur Miller

THE LAST YANKEE
With a new essay
About Theatre language
and
BROKEN GLASS
The Fireside Theatre -- hc
New York -- 1994 -- 180pp
ISBN: 1-56865-104-X

Two short plays with doctors and pschosomatic illnesses and an essay.

THE LAST YANKEE (2m, 3f)
BROKEN GLASS (3m, 3f, cellist)

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Two interesting plays that I was not particularly familiar with. The Last Yankee is a play which explores the illness of depression and how often we ignore this, particularly men if the woman is depressed. There is, of course, more going on here, but ultimately the men in the play don't seem to understand or appreciate their wives' conditions.

Similarly, Broken Glass is more of a mystery, following a woman who suddenly collapses and no longer has the use of her legs, despite the fact that doctors can find no physical reason for the affliction. A clue to the mystery is her obsession with photos of humiliated Jews in Germany (the play takes place circa 1939).

Both plays are quite well written and, being shorter (long one-acts), don't become the soporific, nearly didactic plays that I have sometimes felt Miller's play become.

It's too bad that both don't have more life, but I suspect that being one-acts, there is less desire for them.

The essay was interesting at the time of reading, but otherwise forgettable.

YOU KNOW I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHEN THE WATER'S RUNNING -- Robert Anderson

Random House -- hc
New York -- 1967 -- 92pp
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-22664

Four one-act plays:

The Shock of Recognition (3m, 1f)
The Footsteps of Doves (2m, 2f)
I'll Be Home For Christmas (1m, 2f)
I'm Herbert (1m, 1f)


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Is it possible that I've never actually read these plays before? An old professor of mine used to talk about this so much, I felt as though I knew the plays, but once I began reading, I was hooked, and very aware that they were quite new to me.

All four of these short plays are extremely well written and would be incredibly fun to see staged. Though quite humorous, each seems to have an adult edge, making them not quite viable for the high school crowd.

Of the four, I laughed quite a bit while reading "I'm Herbert" and would like very much to see and/or direct this play.

Highly recommended reading.

THE MYSTERIOUS EDGE OF THE HEROIC WORLD -- E. L. Konigsburg

Atheneum Books For Young Readers -- hc
New York -- ©2007 -- 244pp
ISBN-10: 1-4169-4972-0

An unlikely friendship develops between two precocious sixth graders as they unite to sort through the belongings of an eccentric, pretentious, and intriguing neighbor. Through old letters, parts of a memoir,the introduction to an art exhibit, and thumbnail biographies of the artists deemed unfit by the Nazis, readers are educated about this aspect of Nazi repression. Dramatic revelations about the victimization of homosexuals and other figures during the Holocaust also become part of the story. In spite of these necessary intrusions, readers will be eager to discover the truth about the Zenders and the suspicious art treasure. (edited from School Library Journal)

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I admire Konigsburg's writing and plotting, and her willingness to attack unlikely and even uncomfortable issues, but perhaps she's attempted too much with this book.

The art mystery here is intriguing (and much better than that from Chasing Vermeer), and Konigsburg does a wonderful job bringing together the storylines from many different directions. The idea of art stolen by Nazis and recently being rediscovered seems very topical. However, I felt that bringing together two families, from two different sides of the stolen art saga, was not only incredibly coincidental, but maybe had a theme ringing a little deeper than could be handled in even a mature YA book.

One drawback to having won two Newbery Medals is the perceived need to follow up with something, better, stronger, deeper. Yet perhaps rather than focusing on the issues, more attention could be paid to the characters and situations.

Not my favorite Konigsburg book, and not a recommended book.

DOUBT, a parable -- John Patrick Shanley

Theatre Communications Group -- tpb
New York -- ©2005 -- 58pp
ISBN: 1-55936-276-6
A one act play

2005 Pulitzer Prize Winner


A priest and a nun with doubts about the others' sincerity and motives.

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First, I will clearly state that I've never been a fan of John Patrick Shanley. That said, I enjoyed this play. Surprisingly so.

Although the sunject matter of homosexuality and the Catholic church don't particularly pique my interest, the writing on this was crisp.

What I liked the most was that this script seemed to be the archetype script as described in the first chapter of Jeffery Sweet's Solving Your Script ... "The Power of the Unsaid Word." Although not mentioned by name, the audience clearly understands what the older nun is referring to when discussing possible inappropriate meetings between a priest and a young boy. But by not actually saying the words, we are drawn in, waiting for someone to come right out and say it. Very well executed.

Unfortunately, the ending is clearly no ending. And while I've read some discussion about this, I feel cheated at not having a conclusion. I don't feel it's "clever" or "realistic" ... I feel it's a cop-out.

I AM MY OWN WIFE -- Doug Wright

Faber and Faber, Inc. -- tpb
New York -- 2004 -- 80pp
ISBN: 0-571-21174-7
2004 Pulitzer Prize Winner
2004 Tony Award Best Play

Two Act Play
1 actor

A two-act, one person play about the (in)famous German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived the Nazi regime and the Communist dictatorship of Germany.

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A very interesting play. The research was incredible and the style in which this is written is moderately unique for a popular play (to have a one-person play, but with multiple roles).

The subject is wonderfully dramatic. A transvestite. A transvestite who collects "things." In Nazi Germany.

But then comes the conflict and drama. It is suggested that she actually worked with the Nazis as an informer. Or did she? Ultimately, Charlotte's life becomes more of an enigma rather than less, the more the author gets to know her.

Despire the hollowness of the ending, it rings true, perhaps disappointing the audience.

A very interesting script.

THE UBU PLAYS -- Alfred Jarry

Grove Press, Inc. -- tpb
New York -- ©1969 -- 148pp
ISBN: 0-394-17485-2
Translated from the French by Cyril Connolly and Simon Watson Taylor

Three plays:
UBU REX
UBU CUCKOLDED
UBU ENCHAINED

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I'm doing a little Ubu research and decided to read through these plays again. I don't think I've done so since my college days.

Still off-beat an dunusual, I can better understand now, though, why this is considered to be a pre-cursor to the Theatre of the Aburd, rather than the beginning of the Absurdist movement. There are elements here that perhaps more strongly resemble the commediea del'arte theatre than the absurdist theatre.

I was struck, this time, by the high sense of political mockery here. I see this same type of theatre today.

Worth reading (or even re-reading) to those theatre lovers out there.

THE LAST KINGDOM -- Bernard Cornwell

HarperCollins Publishers -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 333pp
ISBN: 0-06-053051-0


With most of Britain conquered by the pagan Danes, only Alfred the Great can save his country.

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Although this book is ostensibly about Alfred the Great, and his managing to save England from the Danes, this particular book (the first of a series) is actually about Uhtred, son of Uhtred (and also son of Ragnar [a Dane]), an English eldorman and inheritor of the city of Bebbanburg.

Captured by the Danes as a youth, Uhtred is taught the Danish ways, including how to fight. As a young man, Uhtred fights for Alfred against his very friends and Danish families.

Uhtred is a character of tremendous strength and cunning. He is not unlike Conan, only written in a best-selling book, rather than in a small-press fantasy series.

I enjoyed the book, as I often enjoy bestsellers for their ease and excitement in reading, but it lacks the meat which makes it "literature" and long remembered. Still, I'll probably read others in the series.

THE STORM -- Frederick Buechner

Harper SanFrancisco -- hc
New York -- ©1998 -- 199pp
ISBN: 0-06-061144-8

Shakespeare's The Tempest in a modern setting.

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I have enjoyed the works of Frederick Buechner, and looked forward to this retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, but actually found it to be rather dull and bland.

The set-up and history of Kenzie and Kia was interesting, and the characters throughout were interesting. Buechner writes his characters' idiosyncracies so well!

But the plot failed to interest me. Is it because I already knew what would happen? Or was it because he was trying so hard to stay true to the Shakespearean story? hard to say. Only that this didn't grab me at this time.

MONOPOLY: THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS GAME-AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY -- Philip E. Orbanes

Da Capo Press -- hc
Cambridge, MA -- ©2006 -- 262pp
ISBN-10: 0-306-81489-7

As described in the title, a history of the famous Monopoly® game.

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This was a fantastic book! Part history, part economics, part business, part game-playing. There was just the right amount of all of this that I felt I understood how the game developed and why it thrived.

The depth of research was incredible. And like so many things that have withstood the test of time, it is interesting to note that this game was rejected a number of times before it was finally given the opportunity to sit of the store shelves. It speaks to the creators' perseverence that it didn't fade away.

I found the history of the game during the way years to be quite fascinating.

Really a book worth reading!

FRANK WALSH'S KITCHEN AND OTHER STORIES -- Bonnie Flaig Prinsen, editor

Nine Dragon Press -- tpb
Preston, MN -- ©2005 -- 174pp
ISBN: 0-9746633-1-X
subtitled: The Story Project of Fillmore County, Minnesota

A collection of essays and memories of, by, and/or about Fillmore County and its residents.

Introduction - Bonnie Flaig Prinsen
Choosing This Place
"The Big Woods" - Dana Gardner
"This Place" - Nancy Overcott
"A Sense of Place" - Becky Stocker
"In Less Than An Hour" - P.J. Thompson
"Here On The beach" - Wayne Pike
"A View of the Prairie" - JoAnne Agrimson
"Beautiful Mountain" - John Torgrimson
Small Towns
"Village Lottery" - Donovan Ruesink
"A Sign of the Times" - Steve Befort
"Happiness at Christmas from Coast to Coast" - Beverly Lewis Crowson
"Rollerskating" - Marcelle Vrieze Shipton
"Lost and Found" - Marjorie Taylor Smith
"The Tawney Store" - Gary Stennes
The Natural World
"Tornado Watch" - Trudy Schommer
"Tick Removal" - Jeff Kamm
"Fish Out Of Water" - Wayne Pike
"The Raccoon" - Tom Driscoll
"A Skunk's Legacy" - Wayne Pike
"Ginseng Hunting" - John Torgrimson
Close Calls
"Welcome Back" - Laverne C. Paulson
"The Day the Boys Took Flight" - Peter Snyder
"Christmas Eve 2003" - Herb highum
"Missing the Bus" - Tim Gossman
"Hello, Central?" - Cheryl Serfling
"Adventures in Driving" - Erik Paulson
"Pride Goeth Before the Fall" - Jeff Kamm
"The Day the Lights Went Out at Mystery Cave" - Carol Thouin
Reminiscence
"Memories of an Indentured Farm Kid" - Al Mathison
"Hot Hay!" - Marjorie Taylor Smith
"Garden Genes" - Ann Marie Lemke
"A Mother's Fear" - Herb highum
"A Railroader's Daughter" - Marjorie Evenson Spelhaug
"Spring Banquet" - Carol Hahn Schmidt
"Feathered Friends" - Bonnie Heusinkveld
"The Wheelchair Ride" - Carol Hahn Schmidt
"A Tractor Story" - Richard Prinsen
Food
"Buying and Selling with Susie" - Anna Rae Nelson
"Great-Uncle Richard and the Oatmeal Cookies" - Rose Breitsprecher
"Broken Eggs" - Peter Snyder
"A Disapponting Watermelon" - Ida Mae Bacon
"Do-It-Yourself Groceries" - Kathleen Mulhern
Characters
"Starter Fluid" - Wallace Osland
"Almost Mud Time" - Mary Lewis
"Uncle Ingvald" - Signe Housker
"There he Is" - John Brink
"Reuben's House" - Nancy Overcott
"Frank Walsh's Kitchen" - Charles Capek
"Only One Life" - Craig Ostrem
Life's Lessons
"Snoose" - Wayne Pike
"Summer School (Psychology 101) on the Farm" - Elisabeth Olness Emerson
"The Fort Snelling School Bus" - Curtis A. Fox
"The Music Prodigy" - Margaret Boehmke
"Sports Car Fever" - Jon Laging
"Guilty" - Richard Holle
"My First Cigarette" - Mary Jo Dathe
"Baseball and Red Horsin'" - Gary Feine
Biographies

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This is a delightful collection or remembrances of small town life. It's the real stories of a Mayberry R.F.D.-like community. Not all of the writing is easily readable, but one can tell that it comes from the heart.

I like a beginning, middle, and an end when I read something, and many of these short pieces do not have that. It's just the middle, or maybe only a beginning, and sometimes just an ending. For this, it can be hard to read, but the pieces are so short that one can do it easily enough.

THE THIRD WITCH -- Rebecca Reisert

Washington Square Press -- hc
New York -- 2001 -- 307pp
ISBN: 0-7434-1771-2

Madness and revenge highlight this story of the third witch from Shakespeare's story of Macbeth.

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I'm never quite sure how to feel about a story that picks up on a minor character from a more famous work. Sometimes it can be done quite well (see Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) and other times be quite dull (see The Turquoise Ring).

This particular book does a great job of tying in many of the scenes from Shakespeare's Macbeth, and in that it is fun to watch the parallels ... to see what else might have been happening during some of the pivotal moments of the play, and then see how the two works come together in specific moments.

The "take" on this third witch is interesting, and there were times that I enjoyed the method in which she was portrayed. I did have some serious problems with the story, however. I felt it was just plain wrong to have this young woman be the daughter of Lady Macbeth (yes, I understand that this was the motivation for her revenge), long thought to have died.

Perhaps I could have accepted this convention if it weren't for the fact that this young woman, one of the three witches, was also instrumental in saving Prince Malcolm, Fleance, and causing Macbeth's delusions of seeing the dead Banquo (by placing Banquo's belongings on a chair where only Macbeth could see them). According to this book, it was also the third witch who warned the Macduff family of their impending doom, and she even tried to save the children but was trapped by the murderers and only by a bit of luck did she survive where all the others in the Macduff home were killed.

My main problem with this book, then, is that the author tried to weave just a few too many incidents into the work of one person. It might be fun for the reader familiar with the play to see these work together, but it does distract from the "reality" of the story.

And finally, I was frankly disappointed that the story had such an incredibly happy ending. it was contrary to everything else in the book, and contrary to the source for this story. It brought this story into the realm of fairy tale at the very last moment.

Not recommended except for those who might enjoy the Macbeth parallels.

TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE -- Victor Appleton II

The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures #2
Grosset & Dunlap -- hc
New York -- ©1954 -- 208pp

illustrated by Graham Kaye

Boy genius, Tom Swift, invents an atomic-powered submarine and faces a new bunch of baddies.

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My sons sure have enjoyed my reading these 1950's books aloud to them at bed time. Not everything holds their interest (strangely, both The Hobbit and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland [two of my absolute favorites] have had them bored, but perhaps it's time for me to try those again), so I find it interesting that these books, which I find a tad dull, are still capturing young boys' imaginations.

What I find most interesting about the Tom Swift books is that the science seems a bit behind the times now, yet totally plausible, and yet was certainly ahead of the curve in the mid-1950's. Certainly all the ramifications of using atomic energy were not clear, as evidenced by Tom's lackidaisical use of uranium and atomic energy.

The chapters move along quickly, with great amounts of time passing in a single sentence. Nearly every chapter ends in a cliff-hanger, whish always had my kids asking for the next chapter, even though it was well past bedtime. I can't help but groan, though, when one a chapter ends and it looks like complete ruin, danger, or death for Tom and his buddy, Bud Barclay, and the next chapter starts with the "genius" slapping his forehead and saying something akin to: "Sheesh, Bud, I forgot to flip this switch!" In this book, both boys are about to be crushed to death by a giant squid, deep in the ocean. They try to shoot it with a special Tom Swift underwater ray gun, and nothing happens! The next chapter actually begins with Tom realizing that the ray gun's safety was still on.

And aside from his intellect, Tom relied quite a bit on circumstance to get him out of harms way.

A fun read, and judging by my sons' reactions, still a recommended read as well.

DUTCHMAN'S FLAT -- Louis L'Amour

Bantam Books -- pb
Toronto -- ©1986 -- 241pp
ISBN: 0-553-26188-6
cover art: Frank McCarthy

A collection of short stories, each with a forward by the author.

"Dutchman's Flat"
"Keep Travelin', Rider"
"Trail to Pie Town"
"Mistakes Can Kill You"
"Big Medicine"
"Man From Battle Flat"
"West of the Tularosas"
"McQueen of the Tumbling K"
"The One for the Mohave Kid"
"The Lion Hunter and the Lady"
"A Gun for Kilkenny"

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The choice to read this book was based on the fact that I was heading out on vacation to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. It seemed appropriate, then, to read some western fiction, and of course when one thinks of westerns, one usually thinks of Louis L'Amour.

I've actually quite enjoyed the L'Amour books I've read in the past. I've described L'Amour as a very good story-teller. I still hold this to be true. Perhaps not a great writer, but he knows how to engage the reader in his particular genre.

The stories in this collection vary quite a bit. Most seem rather formulaic and all rely on a few favorable circumstances for the hero to succeed, rather than based on the hero's own good works.

Even so, the glimpses of good story-telling can be found in most of these stories. Still, I would recommend a Louis L'Amour novel before this collection of stories.

THE THIRD LIFE OF PER SMEVIK -- Ole Rolvaag

Harper & Row -- tpb
New York -- 1971 -- 136pp
ISBN: 0-06-097076-6
translated by Ella Valborg Tweet and Solveig Zempel

Just before the turn of the century, a Norwegian immigrant writes letters home to describe his experiences.

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This book, in the form of one-sided letters (all FROM Per Smevik) sets a nice tone for the Norwegian immigrant in the mid-to-late 1800's. His letters are written either to his father, or his brother.

Although one-sided, we get a good sense of what the family thinks of this man's journey to America; what they like and what they didn't like about his being here.

I expected this to be a bit dry, but found the style very conversational and easy to read. At only 136 pages, it moves quickly.

I recommend this as an interesting read for those who might enjoy history, Scandinavian literature, or just something a little different.