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In Bed with the Phantom: more book news by Diannek |
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I’m a big fan of Barbara Ehrenreich, who wrote the best seller, Nickel and Dimed. She’s at it again with Bait and Switch: the (futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. This time she goes undercover as an unemployed executive on the hunt for a new job. She tries all the professional “in transition” schemes, from coaching classes, job fairs, book camps, to networking events and more. As with Nickel and Dimed, she dives into the research with every intention of success. It’s a fascinating tale of frustration and insight. This is must reading for every middle management person you know. Sue Grafton is now up to: T is for Trespass. Grafton writes this one from a slightly different perspective. Grafton’s mysteries are usually the first person narratives of private detective Kinsey Millhone. This time Grafton adds the voice of her antagonist to the story. Solana Rojas is a chilling character, much darker and more evil than Kinsey’s usual suspects. We follow Solana as she steals a co-worker’s identity and uses it to prey on the elderly who need home care. It’s a darker version of the usual Grafton work, very entertaining and chilling because this one sounds like it actually could happen, and probably does happen with regularity. Silicon Valley is reading the distant land of my father, by Bo Caldwell (2001). It’s a novel that reads like a memoir, the reminiscences of Anna, recalling her father’s life in 1930s Shanghai. The book’s tone is curiously standoffish, probably because of its structure. We are asked to believe that Anna, at the age of six, can recall her life in Shanghai with her dad, a Shanghai businessman, most likely involved in shady dealings, while making millions of dollars in the process. She recalls special days spent with her father in great detail. One example, he helped her to memorize the names of all the buildings in Shanghai’s “Bund”, a district of western enterprise. As World War II looms, life in Shanghai takes a serious turn for the worse. Western people like Anna and her family are caught up in the War. Anna was still very young when she and her mother finally leave Shanghai, at the time of the Japanese invasion. The father stays on, believing that no harm can come to him. He’s wrong, of course. Our passionless narrator is able to recreate what happens to him because at his death many years later she comes across journals that he has written that detail his ordeal. However, most of the history of the time is glossed over, and the passionless tone continues throughout the story as Anna grows up with her mother, estranged from her father but nevertheless yearning for his return. I am waiting with great anticipation for the “official” Silicon Valley book talk on this particular choice. It seems like an odd one to me, with only a slender connection to our lives here. Hopefully, the person who chose the book will give us some clue about why it was chosen, other than the fact that its author is a Bay Area resident. Another reading group selection: Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. The difference between this novel and the one above (distant land), couldn't be more startling. It's a novel built on the "true life" love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney. Horan brings to life the passion, intrigue and scandalous nature of this remarkable relationship in a beautifully crafted novel. This somewhat overlooked novel deserves our attention. My daughters and I read together sometimes so I bought some used books for us to have a go at. One is God in Concord, by Jane Langton (1992). Langton writes “cozy” mysteries, those are the ones where even if something awful happens, it just doesn’t seem all that bad. I chose this book for three reasons, first, one of my daughters cannot read scary stuff, second, there were quotes from Thoreau’s Walden and references to his works throughout the book and three, it has several murders and an environmental twist. It’s pabulum, of course, but nevertheless an interesting way to spend a few hours. If you’re looking for a grimier mystery, try Susan Hill’s, The Various Haunts of Men. Hill is a British mystery writer (yummy!) and this book’s American publication is due in April (but you could get hold of a used UK edition from amazon, of course). Hill is very popular in England and now I know why. She’s on a par with the best of them. This is one of those creepy serial killer stories that the UK seems famous for. And things don’t always turn out for the best. And now for the unfinished business. Our book club read Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson last month. After about a cup and a half I’d had enough, thank you. It’s not a bad book, especially if you like to read about another person’s frustration. This is Greg’s true story of how he eventually built at least 40 schools in the outback of Pakistan, schools mostly for girls, a tremendous achievement, very inspiring, very frustrating. Also unfinished and put on the shelf: An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, by Brock Clarke. After about 125 pages I had simply had it with the little jerk at the center of this piece of fiction. Same with Michael Chabon's Yiddish Policemen's Union. It's off to the used book store. And the last book that I probably will not finish is the latest Elizabeth George, which is sort of a one-off called What Came Before He Shot Her. It’s the backstory of the person who shot one of the characters in the previous novel. It details a very grimy part of life in the UK, well sorted out, but difficult to read. I like her regular formula mysteries with her familiar characters at the center of the action much better. It’s past time for bed now! Click off that light! Oh, you wanna find out what the Phantom was reading last year? Really? Click here then.
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