Various titles, nonfiction and fiction:
Lowboy by John Wray allows entrance to the world of a fictional young person afflicted with the disease of schizophrenia. William Heller, aka “Lowboy” rejects medication and spends time riding the N.Y.C. subways or existing in tunnels underneath the city. His mother, Violet, and a detective, Lateef, seem to join forces to lure him back to reality. Language is key to this book, which draws you into a different mindset and a dark world.
Callisto by Torsten Krol is a book you can’t forget. The main character’s name, Odell Deefus, makes you laugh. His misbegotten life makes you laugh. What happens to him as a victim of post-911 America does not make you laugh. But his dumb luck prevails. The book begins with Odell just trying to join the Army but ending up a victim of circumstances — an accidental killer who becomes a terrorist suspect. The book is kind of a cross between Confederacy of Dunces and Fargo. Torsten Krol is an Australian author, but the name is pseudonymous. Nothing is known about him except that he is sarcastic.
Like all of his books, War Dances by Sherman Alexie is extraordinary — humorous until the end when he jumps out and says, “But wait, it also rings true, and therefore it’s sort of tragic too.” This collection of short stories and poems will start you laughing and end you thinking, which is what all good literature does. “The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless,” and “Fearful Symmetry,” are two of the collection that are especially good. Reminiscent of John Cheever, I think.
Are you a fan of the TV program “House?” If so, the book, Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders, M.D., will interest you. As the technical director to the program, she has a lot to say about the medical field besides reporting case studies with off-the-wall symptoms. She believes that doctors today should pay more heed to the physical exam, especially in cardiac diseases. She doesn’t believe in “chronic Lyme disease,” and Google isn’t perfect for finding health information, but it can be successful sometimes.
Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver lives up to the standards of her other tour de force, the Poisonwood Bible. Lacuna is an insightful side trip into pre- and post-World War II history told through the journals of the fictional character, Harrison Shepherd. He and his mother flee Virginia to live in her native Mexico. Harrison settles into a somewhat disappointing alternative to academic life: first as an assistant to the artist, Diego Rivera, and secondly as a stenographer for the Communist, Lev Trotsky, and as a friend to Trotsky’s wife, the artist Frida Kahlo. These real-life people seem more human to us when described in the context of Harrison’s world. When Harrison must return to the states, he is acclaimed as a novelist of a series of books based on Aztec history. But things fall apart for him and his woman companion and assistant when Harrison makes McCarthy’s Un-American list. As with Kingsolver’s other novels, the langugage is crisp, beautiful, well-crafted. Harrison evolves from boy to manhood fully able to conquer his fears and demons. Don’t miss the latest of one of America’s best authors, period.
The Four Corners of the Sky is just a great read by an entertaining author, Michael Malone. A Navy woman test pilot, Annie Peregrine, is trying to divorce her cheating husband when her long-gone scam-artist father, Jack Peregrine, returns to her life and claims he is dying from cancer. Is he? Or is it just another fraud in his long resume of cons? I predict this will be a movie someday. I hope I’m right.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, is one of those American classics a person keeps meaning to read. Don’t put it off; it’s a wonderful story with one of the best characters in literature — Francie Nolan, a young woman blossoming from a poor Irish girl from Brooklyn to a college student going to a university away from her home city. Along the way, she learns important lessons of life: the best being to love with all your heart but be true to yourself. The book on CD is a great way to enjoy this coming-of-age marvel. All young women should read this book. Though first published in 1943, it probably will never lose its power.
The English Major by Jim Harrison. If you don’t mind a little crankiness, this novel can be amusing. Cliff, the main character, just gave up being a farmer after his wife left him. To lick his wounds, he decides to take a cross country road trip. For entertainment, he decides to rename the fifty states and their birds. Also, he rather enjoys complaining about his girlfriend Mary Belle, who was one of his students when he taught high school English. He bemoans his ex-wife, Viv, who became a successful real estate agent and left him for a businessman. He makes fun of his gay son, Robert, who lives in San Francisco and prospers by arranging locations for movies. Nonetheless, the book on CD is entertaining and can get one to Cheyenne from Cody on its six discs.
Final Gifts by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley bestows comfort for people in hospice and their family and friends. It describes death as merely departing this life into the next. It helps loved ones interpret, without fear, the dying person’s experiences and needs . This classic of the hospice movement can be found in the Planetree Health Reference Center, which is a department near the Reference Area in the new Park County Library. The call number for this particular title is GV 200 C 1997.
The book jacket aptly describes Downtown Owl, a novel by Chuck Klosterman, as “darkly comedic,” but you don’t realize the darkest part until the bitter end. Let this serve you as a warning, but please don’t miss the wry sarcasm and humorous portrayals of three characters in the mythical town of Owl, North Dakota: Julia, a new high school history teacher; Mitch, a football player and high school student; and Horace, a widower who values the truth but won’t share his own secret. There are some very clever inner dialogues in this book and lots of occasions with which the reader can share laughs and empathize.
Against Medical Advice, by James Patterson and Hal Friedman, will appeal to all who enjoy true-life stories about medical conditions. This one, Tourette’s Syndrome, plagues the co-author’s son, Cory, from the age of five until eighteen. The boy’s tics, inappropriate cursing, and self-medication with alcohol, try the patience of his parents. Interestingly, the authors tell this story in Cory’s voice. The book takes on the character of one of Patterson’s thriller novels. This one, thankfully, has a happy ending, but not without variations of horror.
Polygamy is a subject that haunts Mormons even today. David Ebershoff capitalizes on this lingering scar in his novel The 19th Wife. He weaves into the tale the historical character of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham’s 19th wife who after being expelled from the church, crusaded against polygamy. Eberhoff interchanges his fictional embellishment of Eliza’s writings with the story of Jordan Scott who unwillingly returns to Utah to help defend his mother. She is accused of killing the “Prophet,” a charismatic leader of a modern polygamist sect who convinced her to kick Jordan out of his home when he was only fourteen. The author’s note and bibliography of sources at the end of the book are interesting too.
The rich, sparse prose of The Legend of Colter H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller entertains the reader with vivid, taut description. Such phrasing belongs to master authors. Her words serve as framework for lives familiar to Wyoming residents. The characters’ down-to-earth practicality joins passion for family, friends, and the rugged geography of their home. The author notes her book is nonfiction with which she takes liberties. The combination results in the portrait of a young father, husband, cowboy, oilfield worker, the kind you have met and mourn the loss of when tragedy strikes. Don’t miss this memorable book.
Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote. Yes, it has some sad moments at the end, but don’t all dog stories? Most of the time it’s an adventure story of Merle (whose name derives from a French word for excrement). Merle, the cross between a golden lab, golden retriever and who knows, loves to “hunt” elk but not birds, loves to ski on powder, and is the “mayor” of Kelly near Jackson, Wyo. The author intermingles some research on dog intelligence and behavior with his love for his dog. Definitely worth the time for reading or listening pleasure.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is a fictional companion piece to Merle’s Door. Enzo the dog narrates the story of his relationship with the race car driver who loses his wife to illness and is threatened with the loss of custody of their daughter, Zoe. Enzo is a Buddhist at heart and tries to bring together his family with compassion and patience. When facing his own mortality, he hopes for reincarnation as a man. Yes, bring tissues for the last chapters. We have this in compact disc book form too.
Who has guts enough to go to Afghanistan and set up a beauty school? Deborah Rodriguez, author of Kabul Beauty School, a nonfictional account of a woman from Holland, Michigan, gives up her chaotic but comfortable existence in the states to help women discover their own strength during the upheaval of war in the Middle East. Co-written by Kristin Ohlson, this book doesn’t focus solely on the brave deed of one woman. It includes indepth portrayals of the Afghan women who are the real heroes of the story. They learn to promote beauty in the midst of devastation, to improve their own lives financially, and to boost their own status as people, not just female servants. Highly recommended in book or CD book form.
By reason of insanity by Randy Singer. Classify this as Christian Legal Suspense. Cover says “every bit as enjoyable as John Grisham.” Take one female reporter traumatized by a college rape who sees visions, is imprisoned for protecting a source and then is accused of murder; a prosecuting attorney who on the surface seems obliviously doing his job; a defense attorney who tries to save his sister accused of murdering her husband; and a serial killer named “Avenger of Blood” who quotes Bible verses. You get a neat package of suspense that has an ethical bent. Don’t believe it? Try it.
Breathing the Fire by Kimberly Dozier. If you want to know what a victim of a car bombing in Iraq experiences, this upfront look by a CBS news foreign correspondent will open your eyes. Fortunately, her employer helped her get the medical attention she needed. She is sympathetic and communicative with servicemen and women, but the book spares no details of the horrors of war.
Hello to all That : a Memoir of War, Zoloft, and Peace by John Falk. A reporter battles his own depression while learning to be a foreign correspondent in Sarajevo during the conflict of the 1990s. He deals with his own demons but learns to be true to himself and to the people about whom he writes.
