Title of Book: The Dead Zone
Author: Stephen King
Pages: 402
Grade: C+
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned, but gave away in a book drive
Review: Ahhh another book for pop lit down, another day. The thing about Stephen King books, and many of the same genre, is they fail to really challenge the reader other than to try and retain certain clues and hints as to what might happen in the future of the plot. Why are we being introduced to a lightning rod salesman? Why do we see a blue and yellow filter in a vision? What is the significance of the main character's interest in meeting politicians?
Well for the most part, the big hints were pretty easy to pick up on in this wide-sprawling tale of a man who has a 'gift' for predicting the future when he touches someone. The gift remains dormant for most of his life until a near-fatal car crash puts him into a coma for four and a half years. When he wakes up he finds most of his old life - and his old self - has wasted away, except for this newfound gift that continually astounds people, but more importantly freaks them out.
I guess my beef with the book was how much of it felt like filler and fluff. Even the more exciting parts of the book didn't reallllly contribute to the so-called climax of the story. I guess in reflection the story is a lot about checks and balances - ironic since a good deal of it deals with politics. An eye for an eye and all that..the big twist kind of falls in line with other elements of the plot but I can't say it was a BIG twist like say, in Secret Window. The characters fell flat, the descriptions were tideous to get through (and were often skipped), and good portions of the book failed to ignite tension, while others forced it.
I know this is classic Stephen King and I'm sure for the time it was quite a remarkable, exciting book...but other pop lit books I have read, like Peyton place or Valley of the dolls, have really inspired me as a writer and a reader...but King's book just didn't. It felt flat and pulpy. Sorry dude.
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Book #23: Valley of the Dolls
Title of Book: Valley of the Dolls
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Pages: 440-ish?
Grade: A
Buyability: 9/10
Status: Bought, owned & lent out to virtually everyone I know
Review: Another book for pop lit and probably my favourite to date, although I did enjoy Peyton Place this was just so much more crushing! Basically it follows the rise to fame for 3 young women in New York, from about age 20 to 40 and all the trials that befall them along the way. The book I think, is a satire on fame and feminism, given it gives the 3 girls a taste of pure joy but repeatedly crashes it down by punishing the girls with what they value (or are valued for) most...looks, personality, determination/wealth. The very things that get the girls to the top are the same things taht drag them to the 'valley of the dolls' - dolls being uppers and downers that play a significant role in the story.
I won't say too much about the plot, other than it has a lot of repetition...but for interesting reasons. The first time these repetitive storylines are introduced, you feel a ton of sympathy for the female characters. The second time, perhaps moreso, but it also shows how the cycle of fame is quite fickle and just that - a cycle. A neverending one.
What I liked (and simultaneously hated) about this book the best was the ending. There is no easy exit for these women from the lives they've created for themselves. I also loved how much the book shed light on celebrity - many of the patterns and commentary in this book is some of the same stories I've heard today! It really got me thinking about the celebrity world a lot more. Although the book isn't particularly...forceful...in its suspense, the very idea of how much bigger or how much worse or how much better can it be is what makes you keep on turning the pages.
Overall this is a great book - but the A- grade comes from the fact some of it is kind of dippy and fluffy and really unnecessary. The book is quite staggeringly long for its genre, but despite its pop lit/fluff motif, it also has some hard hitting lessons and commentary about women's power. If you want to borrow it, get in line, I'm shoving it down the throats of all my friends....the power of fame = deadly!
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Pages: 440-ish?
Grade: A
Buyability: 9/10
Status: Bought, owned & lent out to virtually everyone I know
Review: Another book for pop lit and probably my favourite to date, although I did enjoy Peyton Place this was just so much more crushing! Basically it follows the rise to fame for 3 young women in New York, from about age 20 to 40 and all the trials that befall them along the way. The book I think, is a satire on fame and feminism, given it gives the 3 girls a taste of pure joy but repeatedly crashes it down by punishing the girls with what they value (or are valued for) most...looks, personality, determination/wealth. The very things that get the girls to the top are the same things taht drag them to the 'valley of the dolls' - dolls being uppers and downers that play a significant role in the story.
I won't say too much about the plot, other than it has a lot of repetition...but for interesting reasons. The first time these repetitive storylines are introduced, you feel a ton of sympathy for the female characters. The second time, perhaps moreso, but it also shows how the cycle of fame is quite fickle and just that - a cycle. A neverending one.
What I liked (and simultaneously hated) about this book the best was the ending. There is no easy exit for these women from the lives they've created for themselves. I also loved how much the book shed light on celebrity - many of the patterns and commentary in this book is some of the same stories I've heard today! It really got me thinking about the celebrity world a lot more. Although the book isn't particularly...forceful...in its suspense, the very idea of how much bigger or how much worse or how much better can it be is what makes you keep on turning the pages.
Overall this is a great book - but the A- grade comes from the fact some of it is kind of dippy and fluffy and really unnecessary. The book is quite staggeringly long for its genre, but despite its pop lit/fluff motif, it also has some hard hitting lessons and commentary about women's power. If you want to borrow it, get in line, I'm shoving it down the throats of all my friends....the power of fame = deadly!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Book #22: Weetzie Bat
Book #22: Weetzie Bat
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Pages: 107
Grade: C
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned, but I think I donated it to a book drive recently
Review: I remember wanting to read Block's books when I was a kid...they are really airy, poetic stories, often retellings of fairy tales or myths or this or that, but set against the backdrop of new york or venice beach or something crazy. I never did read one of her bookst ill now, and this was for class - fairy tales - as its supposedly related to Cinderella. I made one note of them mentioning Cinderella but otherwise I didn't get it. I read this book in approximately 30 minutes it was so short - big type! Yay.
Regardless, the story is about a girl named Weetzie who befriends a gay guy, gets 3 wishes from a genie that give her and her friend lovers and a house. Eventually she decides she wants a baby so the two gay guys and her boyfriend all sort of try to impregnate her and one of them does - not sure who - and her boyfriend leaves when he realizes what's happened so the gay guys help her raise her kid and then the boyfriend comes back...the end is sort of abstract and weird but that is the gist.
The point of Block's books though, clearly, aren't the plot because there really isn't any. She manipulates words in a way that paints a world that I'd picture if you could permanently take hold of the feeling of a happy drug - like ectasy or something. Everything is pink and bubbly and floaty and indie and sparkling, yet everything is so realistic at the same time. Her writing is beautiful, but shrouds any hope of 'understanding' the books she writes (i've read a short story of hers for class as well so I get the gist of how she writes).
I can't say I 'reccomend' the book persay because it's so...airy. But if you're into an extremely quick read fantastical long-form poem, then pick it up.
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Pages: 107
Grade: C
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned, but I think I donated it to a book drive recently
Review: I remember wanting to read Block's books when I was a kid...they are really airy, poetic stories, often retellings of fairy tales or myths or this or that, but set against the backdrop of new york or venice beach or something crazy. I never did read one of her bookst ill now, and this was for class - fairy tales - as its supposedly related to Cinderella. I made one note of them mentioning Cinderella but otherwise I didn't get it. I read this book in approximately 30 minutes it was so short - big type! Yay.
Regardless, the story is about a girl named Weetzie who befriends a gay guy, gets 3 wishes from a genie that give her and her friend lovers and a house. Eventually she decides she wants a baby so the two gay guys and her boyfriend all sort of try to impregnate her and one of them does - not sure who - and her boyfriend leaves when he realizes what's happened so the gay guys help her raise her kid and then the boyfriend comes back...the end is sort of abstract and weird but that is the gist.
The point of Block's books though, clearly, aren't the plot because there really isn't any. She manipulates words in a way that paints a world that I'd picture if you could permanently take hold of the feeling of a happy drug - like ectasy or something. Everything is pink and bubbly and floaty and indie and sparkling, yet everything is so realistic at the same time. Her writing is beautiful, but shrouds any hope of 'understanding' the books she writes (i've read a short story of hers for class as well so I get the gist of how she writes).
I can't say I 'reccomend' the book persay because it's so...airy. But if you're into an extremely quick read fantastical long-form poem, then pick it up.
Book #21: Peyton Place
Book #21: Peyton Place
Author: Grace Metalious
Pages: 372
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10 (probably in the library, but good enough to own)
Status: My sister got this for HER pop lit class, but I have absorbed it into my own collection
Review: This is a really famous book I read for pop lit class and I devoured it despite the fact it's a bit tough to read here and there cause it's so packed with information! Peyton Place (PP) is actually the basis for modern soap operas in a lot of ways...it really would have been a shocking book for its time so I get the appeal and shock value back then. Did you know the character of "Peyton" on One Tree Hill and the title of Melrose PLACE are both tributes to PP? Yep.
To sum up, it's the story of the inhabitants of a small New England town called Peyton Place, named after a black guy who managed to get a ton of $$$, build a castle, which attracted other people to the area, and then the castle looms over the place forever...the people in the town are BIG on gossip and there happens to be a lot of it to go around. It takes place over 3 sections of time - when the younger characters (Allison, Selena, Norman, Rodney etc.) are at the cusp of high school at 14, when they are just about graduated at 17, and a couple of years after that.
I can't really say much more about the plot cause it's SO interwoven. Nearly every character has a plot arc, some have several. Overall though this book is fabulous, definitely not just another 'school book' for sure! I loved the way it wove between stories so effortlessly, you never sat and read too much about one person or family and you were never bored, especially because you were always surprised. This was a GREAT book! Read it.
Author: Grace Metalious
Pages: 372
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10 (probably in the library, but good enough to own)
Status: My sister got this for HER pop lit class, but I have absorbed it into my own collection
Review: This is a really famous book I read for pop lit class and I devoured it despite the fact it's a bit tough to read here and there cause it's so packed with information! Peyton Place (PP) is actually the basis for modern soap operas in a lot of ways...it really would have been a shocking book for its time so I get the appeal and shock value back then. Did you know the character of "Peyton" on One Tree Hill and the title of Melrose PLACE are both tributes to PP? Yep.
To sum up, it's the story of the inhabitants of a small New England town called Peyton Place, named after a black guy who managed to get a ton of $$$, build a castle, which attracted other people to the area, and then the castle looms over the place forever...the people in the town are BIG on gossip and there happens to be a lot of it to go around. It takes place over 3 sections of time - when the younger characters (Allison, Selena, Norman, Rodney etc.) are at the cusp of high school at 14, when they are just about graduated at 17, and a couple of years after that.
I can't really say much more about the plot cause it's SO interwoven. Nearly every character has a plot arc, some have several. Overall though this book is fabulous, definitely not just another 'school book' for sure! I loved the way it wove between stories so effortlessly, you never sat and read too much about one person or family and you were never bored, especially because you were always surprised. This was a GREAT book! Read it.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Book #18: All Quiet on the Western Front
Book Title: All Quiet on the Western Front
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Pages: 295
Final Grade: B
Buyability: 2/10 (it's in the library, trust me!)
Status: Bought, and I still own it I think
Review:
I read this book for my pop lit class - it is truly the first 'war' novel as we know it today. And is it ever. This book is LITERALLY dead-on been copied by a book I read in my can lit class in first year (it was a third year class) entitled No Man's Land. Yet NML is the Canadian perspective of a battle in WW1, while AQOTWF (hereby AQ) is written, quite interestingly, from the perspective of a German solider during WW1. What I liked about the book is the ultimate message that Remarque was fighting to get out there - that fighting one another is insanity, that men of the same generation are driven to this place by men far older, less wiser, shrouded in lies to get their way.
I guess when I read it I didn't absorb as much as I could have - given I've already read NML, and I was speed reading this so I could have it done for Monday. There were some main images of interest to me, mostly Remarque's interest in boyhood and manhood and how there would likely be no place for these 'men' once they returned to their 'boy' lives. I also enjoyed the fact the book was written from a German perspective and found it astonishing how similar it was to NML - but then it supported my beliefs that war is quite stupid. It really painted a picture of the rawness of death and seperation and what it meant to the protagonist, Paul.
Finally, the best part of this book was the end. In one short paragraph Remarque manages to leave the most unsettling finish to a book I have encountered in some time - although I believe the same ending occured in NML, once again. But yes, after the amount of time you spend with Paul, in his head, in his actions, the more devastatingly interesting the ending is. A good read, although not my type of book, and not well received given I felt like I'd read it before (which is not Remarque's fault I don't think).
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Pages: 295
Final Grade: B
Buyability: 2/10 (it's in the library, trust me!)
Status: Bought, and I still own it I think
Review:
I read this book for my pop lit class - it is truly the first 'war' novel as we know it today. And is it ever. This book is LITERALLY dead-on been copied by a book I read in my can lit class in first year (it was a third year class) entitled No Man's Land. Yet NML is the Canadian perspective of a battle in WW1, while AQOTWF (hereby AQ) is written, quite interestingly, from the perspective of a German solider during WW1. What I liked about the book is the ultimate message that Remarque was fighting to get out there - that fighting one another is insanity, that men of the same generation are driven to this place by men far older, less wiser, shrouded in lies to get their way.
I guess when I read it I didn't absorb as much as I could have - given I've already read NML, and I was speed reading this so I could have it done for Monday. There were some main images of interest to me, mostly Remarque's interest in boyhood and manhood and how there would likely be no place for these 'men' once they returned to their 'boy' lives. I also enjoyed the fact the book was written from a German perspective and found it astonishing how similar it was to NML - but then it supported my beliefs that war is quite stupid. It really painted a picture of the rawness of death and seperation and what it meant to the protagonist, Paul.
Finally, the best part of this book was the end. In one short paragraph Remarque manages to leave the most unsettling finish to a book I have encountered in some time - although I believe the same ending occured in NML, once again. But yes, after the amount of time you spend with Paul, in his head, in his actions, the more devastatingly interesting the ending is. A good read, although not my type of book, and not well received given I felt like I'd read it before (which is not Remarque's fault I don't think).
Monday, April 30, 2007
Book #16: The Yiddish Policemen's Union
TItle of Book: The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Author: Michael Chabon
Pages: I think 400 or so?
Grade: B
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well I've been ranting and raving over how awesome Mr. Chabon is in here for ages. And yet I gave him a B? How can this "be"? The truth of the matter is, getting through this book was hard, as it dealt quite lightly with death and family and I have been going through stuff with death and family lately - so reading the book made me be like...oh. Really?
Anyway the other problem was I am a massive fan of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (hereby known as K&C) his first book, a pulitzer prize winner, and therefore no book can ever measure up to. None. Especially not one by the same author. So yeah, I kept on comparing the two.
With that in mind, I *heart* Chabon's writing. It never fails to capture me - and I liked that he had shorter chapters this go-round. The endings of each chapter were brilliant, as they left you at a movie style cliffhanger that you just had to turn the page to read on about. I've tried to figure out what makes Chabon's writing so likable - he uses a lot of unique metaphors, he keeps the language simple, his characters have 'true' voices...but he's got that Rowling-esque something special, that author's voice that urges you to stay engaged and keep on keeping on.
The story in this book is probably what prevented the book from taking off. It follows a down-and-out policeman living in the district of Sitka, part of the Alaskan 'Israel' if you will - that was once a proposal by Roosevelt instead of giving the Jews Palestine post-WW2. Sitka and all of Alaska is on the brink of termination as a protected area, soon to be taken over by the resident natives once again. In the midst of all this, Detective Meyer Landsman is woken up one night to investigate a mysterious execution-style murder of one of the hotel's other occupants. The rest of the book is a fast-paced hunt by Landsman and his unwilling companions, including his new boss and former wife, BIna, as he tries to discover why this man was murdered...before he is murdered himself by the foes behind the whole thing.
The book combined so many elements - lots of Jewish mythology and culture - that I wasn't familiar with, but interested in. Yet unlike masters of the history-meets-action novel (cough Dan Brown), Chabon fails to clarify, or at least make it easy to follow and build up knowledge on, the history that is driving the seedy action throughout the story. The billions of characters don't make it any easier. What i did like was the fact, like a good movie, all of the little details came back to haunt or help Landsman in the latter half of the book. His dead sister, his fear of entering the tunnels, the string collection...every time I thought "okay why was that in there again?" within a chapter or two, as if Chabon had timed our conciousness to awaken at a particular time, all of a sudden that plot element would come back into play.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union is not flawed, so much as dense. It packs a lot in, much as K&C did, but it is rooted very heavily in Jewish culture, which I'm not familiar with. Still, I enjoyed reading it, and you will to - but if you're debating between this and K&C, the latter owns. Big time.
Author: Michael Chabon
Pages: I think 400 or so?
Grade: B
Buyability: 4/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well I've been ranting and raving over how awesome Mr. Chabon is in here for ages. And yet I gave him a B? How can this "be"? The truth of the matter is, getting through this book was hard, as it dealt quite lightly with death and family and I have been going through stuff with death and family lately - so reading the book made me be like...oh. Really?
Anyway the other problem was I am a massive fan of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (hereby known as K&C) his first book, a pulitzer prize winner, and therefore no book can ever measure up to. None. Especially not one by the same author. So yeah, I kept on comparing the two.
With that in mind, I *heart* Chabon's writing. It never fails to capture me - and I liked that he had shorter chapters this go-round. The endings of each chapter were brilliant, as they left you at a movie style cliffhanger that you just had to turn the page to read on about. I've tried to figure out what makes Chabon's writing so likable - he uses a lot of unique metaphors, he keeps the language simple, his characters have 'true' voices...but he's got that Rowling-esque something special, that author's voice that urges you to stay engaged and keep on keeping on.
The story in this book is probably what prevented the book from taking off. It follows a down-and-out policeman living in the district of Sitka, part of the Alaskan 'Israel' if you will - that was once a proposal by Roosevelt instead of giving the Jews Palestine post-WW2. Sitka and all of Alaska is on the brink of termination as a protected area, soon to be taken over by the resident natives once again. In the midst of all this, Detective Meyer Landsman is woken up one night to investigate a mysterious execution-style murder of one of the hotel's other occupants. The rest of the book is a fast-paced hunt by Landsman and his unwilling companions, including his new boss and former wife, BIna, as he tries to discover why this man was murdered...before he is murdered himself by the foes behind the whole thing.
The book combined so many elements - lots of Jewish mythology and culture - that I wasn't familiar with, but interested in. Yet unlike masters of the history-meets-action novel (cough Dan Brown), Chabon fails to clarify, or at least make it easy to follow and build up knowledge on, the history that is driving the seedy action throughout the story. The billions of characters don't make it any easier. What i did like was the fact, like a good movie, all of the little details came back to haunt or help Landsman in the latter half of the book. His dead sister, his fear of entering the tunnels, the string collection...every time I thought "okay why was that in there again?" within a chapter or two, as if Chabon had timed our conciousness to awaken at a particular time, all of a sudden that plot element would come back into play.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union is not flawed, so much as dense. It packs a lot in, much as K&C did, but it is rooted very heavily in Jewish culture, which I'm not familiar with. Still, I enjoyed reading it, and you will to - but if you're debating between this and K&C, the latter owns. Big time.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Book #15 The Line Painter
Title: The Line Painter
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: About 220
Final Grade: C+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: Hmm well I just wrote my Harper Collins review for this (another freebie yes) and I had mixed feelings that mostly slanted towards negative on this book. I didn't hate it, so a C+ feels like a bad grade, but it wasn't a particularly good book, it had no WOW factor for me. Basically it's a short book, with short tense chapters to try and build suspense in what I felt was a rather unsuspensful novel.
The main character is named Carrie and she is reeling from the fairly recent death of her boyfriend - or perhaps moreso the guilt she feels at their last exchanges prior to his accidental death. She jets off on a road trip and her car breaks down when a mysterious stranger offers to help her out on an all-night excursion to the nearest town, made slower by the man's job of painting the lines on the highways. What happens from there is a comedy of errors I suppose - Carrie finds the town she ends up in totally bizarre, as are the people and has encounters with bears, police officers, hotel clerks, and the man that drove her to town in the first place. It's only when she finally finds an escape from town does she realize what she's been escaping grief-wise, and what she's been missing that's right in front of her face.
I guess all throughout the book I was like okay...where the hell is the suspense part of the suspense novel? Seriously. After the first 20 (very short - some a few paragraphs long) chapters I was kind of like, okay it's misrepresented, she's obviously in good hands. While I can't say that is true, and therefore the book kept me guessing as to whether or not any drama *would* show up (and it does, but it's kind of ho hum). If anything I was more interested in the grief sub-plot than what was happening in the present day thrill-seeking events of Carrie's road trip.
I can't say I recommend this book, but it was a fun reading experience. I actually finished this book over the weekend in about two days because it was quite well-paced and speedy to get through. Just not my cup of tea because it lacked that something extra.
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: About 220
Final Grade: C+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: Hmm well I just wrote my Harper Collins review for this (another freebie yes) and I had mixed feelings that mostly slanted towards negative on this book. I didn't hate it, so a C+ feels like a bad grade, but it wasn't a particularly good book, it had no WOW factor for me. Basically it's a short book, with short tense chapters to try and build suspense in what I felt was a rather unsuspensful novel.
The main character is named Carrie and she is reeling from the fairly recent death of her boyfriend - or perhaps moreso the guilt she feels at their last exchanges prior to his accidental death. She jets off on a road trip and her car breaks down when a mysterious stranger offers to help her out on an all-night excursion to the nearest town, made slower by the man's job of painting the lines on the highways. What happens from there is a comedy of errors I suppose - Carrie finds the town she ends up in totally bizarre, as are the people and has encounters with bears, police officers, hotel clerks, and the man that drove her to town in the first place. It's only when she finally finds an escape from town does she realize what she's been escaping grief-wise, and what she's been missing that's right in front of her face.
I guess all throughout the book I was like okay...where the hell is the suspense part of the suspense novel? Seriously. After the first 20 (very short - some a few paragraphs long) chapters I was kind of like, okay it's misrepresented, she's obviously in good hands. While I can't say that is true, and therefore the book kept me guessing as to whether or not any drama *would* show up (and it does, but it's kind of ho hum). If anything I was more interested in the grief sub-plot than what was happening in the present day thrill-seeking events of Carrie's road trip.
I can't say I recommend this book, but it was a fun reading experience. I actually finished this book over the weekend in about two days because it was quite well-paced and speedy to get through. Just not my cup of tea because it lacked that something extra.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Book #14: When The World Was Young
Book #14: When the World Was Young
Author: Tony Romano
Pages: about 310
Final Grade: B+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: This is yet another First Look book, meaning it won't be out for a few months. The story is set in Chicago's Italian sector in 1957 and follows the life of an immigrant family (well the parents anyway, the kids are first-gen Americans and the culture gap is massive) as they undergo and try to make sense of a series of tragic events that are only curtailed by deception and unspoken agreements.
Agostino & his wife Angela Rosa are trapped in a relatively loveless, once arranged marriage - Agostino is prone to giving into his desire for other women while Angela Rosa's life is wrapped up in being a mother, not a wife. Their children are a different story altogether - focusing primarily on the two eldest, the just and determined Santo, and the wild and rambunctious Victoria. I can't pinpoint the main focus of the story without giving away too much, but basically the two children and their parent's affairs are inextricably linked through a series of unfortunate events (Lemony Snickit what?) where a series of lies is woven to keep the family structure together, particularly after a tragic event early on.
The plot weaves between a few 'future flashes' from the other three son's perceptions in 1977/78, twenty years after the story's main events take place. Although at first I was confused at this - the other son's stories give away a good deal of what happens in the 57 chapters - I found they provided a valuable way of puzzling together the plot, culminating in what I call 'lightbulb moments' where all of a sudden I'd be like "OH that makes so much more sense now". Because the three youngest siblings are the ones telling their perspective of what happened in the 50's, it makes the story far more interesting because they were far less informed than the four main characters.
Overall this was a pretty enjoyable book - the prose was a bit drawn out and stuffy at times, but I found I could easily breeze through the 300-odd pages quite quickly. I think I would have liked for *more* to happen, at least more often, rather than inexplicably stated in flash forwards or flash backs, but looking back the book does pack a LOT into it. A decent read if you're interested in family drama and the irony of deception.
Author: Tony Romano
Pages: about 310
Final Grade: B+
Buyability: 3/10
Status: Owned (freebie) but since given away to charity
Review: This is yet another First Look book, meaning it won't be out for a few months. The story is set in Chicago's Italian sector in 1957 and follows the life of an immigrant family (well the parents anyway, the kids are first-gen Americans and the culture gap is massive) as they undergo and try to make sense of a series of tragic events that are only curtailed by deception and unspoken agreements.
Agostino & his wife Angela Rosa are trapped in a relatively loveless, once arranged marriage - Agostino is prone to giving into his desire for other women while Angela Rosa's life is wrapped up in being a mother, not a wife. Their children are a different story altogether - focusing primarily on the two eldest, the just and determined Santo, and the wild and rambunctious Victoria. I can't pinpoint the main focus of the story without giving away too much, but basically the two children and their parent's affairs are inextricably linked through a series of unfortunate events (Lemony Snickit what?) where a series of lies is woven to keep the family structure together, particularly after a tragic event early on.
The plot weaves between a few 'future flashes' from the other three son's perceptions in 1977/78, twenty years after the story's main events take place. Although at first I was confused at this - the other son's stories give away a good deal of what happens in the 57 chapters - I found they provided a valuable way of puzzling together the plot, culminating in what I call 'lightbulb moments' where all of a sudden I'd be like "OH that makes so much more sense now". Because the three youngest siblings are the ones telling their perspective of what happened in the 50's, it makes the story far more interesting because they were far less informed than the four main characters.
Overall this was a pretty enjoyable book - the prose was a bit drawn out and stuffy at times, but I found I could easily breeze through the 300-odd pages quite quickly. I think I would have liked for *more* to happen, at least more often, rather than inexplicably stated in flash forwards or flash backs, but looking back the book does pack a LOT into it. A decent read if you're interested in family drama and the irony of deception.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Book #11: The Perfect Manhattan
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Authors: Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey
Pages: About 445
Final Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Borrowed
First I'd like to preface this by saying this book earned its grade because I was surprised at how good it was. I'm using good as a relative term - no this was not Chaucer or Proust, hell it wasn't even Sophie Kinsella (whose writing style incidentally drives some people batty) but what it was an excellent, light, but gritty and fascinating portrayal of the under belly of the 'good' life and the 'night' life.
The story follows a recent college grad of Columbia who is saddled with debt and a slightly useless creative writing degree (perhaps why I relate?) named Cassie, who decides to enroll in bartending school, ultimately fails, but manages to lie and smile her way to the 'top' of the bartending scene, and indirectly, the social scene of Hampton's once she lands a gig at a hot club. Of course she deals with a romantic relationship with an extremely well-to-do Hamptonite, and it's quite obvious throughout the book how things will turn out in Cassie's love life...but I have to give the writers credit for the romantic conclusions they draw between Cassie and her boy James' love lives....they handled the relationship between them in a fairly realistic manner throughout, not the least of which was found in the end of the book.
But forget the love story or the 'thrill' of getting an insiders guide to Hampton's bar life - the thing I found most interesting about this book was the extremely graphic and somewhat digusting description of what it means to be a bartender. From the opposite side of the counter, suddenly all of the things Cassie internally dwells on rung true, whether exploring misogyny, sex, or wealth I always found Cassie to be exceptionally insightful - which gave this book the depth it needed to earn it an A- grade! I recognized the trappings of what I've heard from bartending (and waitressing) friends, and it also reminded me of an IPP presentation for the girls in the year above me in cre com who did a documentary on how working at a restaurant such as Earls encourages alcoholism. I found the lifestyles of the main characters in this book so insanely bizarre (getting home at 7 am and being up and at em a few hours later? hungover? ICK!) that it just drew me in regardless of the somewhat 'flat' characters throughout. As I said, the insights of Cassie probably came more from the two girls who wrote this book, former bartenders and likely aspiring writers at the time, and as such I found this a very valuable book in learning to tip and be a bit more polite at bars! A good read for anyone interested in a fun story that more than makes up for its lack of concrete plot in its insider look at the service industry.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Book #10: The Book of Air & Shadows
Book #10
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
Title: The Book Of Air & Shadows
Author: Michael Gruber
Pages: 464
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Owned (freebie)
Well at first glance, at least by the book's description, you might think, as I did, that this book is a Da Vinci code rip-off with a literary focus. And yes it's in the same wave - an intricately woven novel of suspense, mystery, and history mixing up a lost Shakespearean play with the stories of two men trying to get their lives on track. But Gruber refuses to fall into the that trap by creating fully realized, dynamic characters, using a lot less user friendly but more literary prose, and designing a book that doesn't read like a movie, but like a book.
The story alternates between the first-person perspective of Jake Mishkin, a sexaholic corporate lawyer whose background is in copyright law, and the third-person perspective of Al Crosetti, a late-twenties slacker who is stuck in a basement cataloguing antique books while he dreams of moving out of his parents house and going to film school. The two men's lives become intertwined upon the discovery of a set of letters from the 1600's that unlock some secrets to William Shakespeare's life - including the potential whereabouts of a hand-written Shakespeare play that was never produced. The twist? Well everyone and their mom (including Crosetti's mom) appears to want to grab a hold of the letters and subsequently the play - including the Russian mafia, the Jewish mafia, a number of professors including one who is tortured to death, librarians, historians, cryptographers and many many more!
Although I was at first overwhelmed by certain elements of the book - Mishkin's overbearing persona, the olde englysh (ha) of the Bracegirdle letters which mark the end of each chapter and the rather complicated act of encrypting the text - I eventually just got drawn in. The lengths of the chapters are appropriately spaced so reading one feels like a good bout of information, you can take a break, mull it over, and then come back. It was rare that I wanted to stop a chapter midway, and rare that I was able to consume more than 2 at a time.
I liked the massive number of questions that popped up as well - the book was not solely about the hunt for this manuscript, but a million other things as well. The payoff, as such, as not just about whether or not they found the manuscript and whether or not it was authentic either. The characters all had their own intriguing storylines and sub-plots that compelled me to read along - minor or major. I also liked the fact the book took style cues from a variety of genres - such as old mystery novels with last names, action books like The Da Vinci Code, literary fiction and so on...
My only warnings would be to be prepared to involve yourself a lot more heavily than you would have to with something written by Dan Brown. This is not exactly a book of light reading, but one of rewarding and enjoyable reading. The story manages to flow lightly and feeds you clues to the puzzle throughout making for an enchanting story that I quite literally could not put down last night just to finish it! My only other complaint would be the last three or four chapters seemed a bit rushed. There was so much slow boiling to the climax that it felt cramped with action of the movie variety.
All in all a great book and I look forward to seeing the response it receives from the reading community - Gruber is one to watch, that's for certain.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Book #9: Little Altars Everywhere
Book #9
Title: Little Altars Everywhere
Author: Rebecca Wells
Pages: 200
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Borrowed
This isn't *really* my kind of book - it reminded me eerily of something like Margaret Laurence's "A Bird In The House", given it is a collection of interwoven short stories told from the perspectives of different members of a small-town Louisiana family, most notably from the character of Siddalee. So how did it get an A? Well there wasn't anything I didn't like about it. I found the prose easy to get through and imaginative. The stories for the most part were captivating and enchanting. The characters were well developed and familiar despite our polar opposite lives. The plot moved enough from section to section to keep me interested. I can't justfiy giving it a lower grade just because it's not my preferred style (ie: novel over short stories) or preferred subject matter (ie: modern day as opposed to the past).
The stories revolve around two points in the character's lives - their childhoods in the 1960's and their relatively young adulthood in the early 1990's. Vivi is their eccentric, perhaps dangerously so, mother who also features in the ya ya sisterhood book I'm assuming. Interestingly enough this book was written before (and publicized after) the ya ya sisterhood - yet there are frequent mentions of the ya ya's and some dark secret they share and so on...so I'm guessing that book was simultaneously in the works as this one. Big Shep is Vivi's husband, a working class man who makes a few poor choices that make him forget how to love. Their children include the eldest daughter Siddalee, who is probably the most identifiable as the main character in the book. Sidda goes through several phases of independence/autonomy and relying on her family for guidance. Her younger brother Lil Shep doesn't feature much in the book other than his desire to be freed from the nasty secrets his family is keeping. I can't remember the next siblings name, I think it's Lulu, stars in my favourite story in the book about petty thieves and liars. Finally there is Baylor, the youngest, who lives in a dream both as a child and an adult.
Overall I can't say I recommend or don't recommend this book. I enjoyed it yes, but I wasn't floored to be gushing about it. A nice read for winter days.
Title: Little Altars Everywhere
Author: Rebecca Wells
Pages: 200
Grade: A
Buyability: 7/10
Status: Borrowed
This isn't *really* my kind of book - it reminded me eerily of something like Margaret Laurence's "A Bird In The House", given it is a collection of interwoven short stories told from the perspectives of different members of a small-town Louisiana family, most notably from the character of Siddalee. So how did it get an A? Well there wasn't anything I didn't like about it. I found the prose easy to get through and imaginative. The stories for the most part were captivating and enchanting. The characters were well developed and familiar despite our polar opposite lives. The plot moved enough from section to section to keep me interested. I can't justfiy giving it a lower grade just because it's not my preferred style (ie: novel over short stories) or preferred subject matter (ie: modern day as opposed to the past).
The stories revolve around two points in the character's lives - their childhoods in the 1960's and their relatively young adulthood in the early 1990's. Vivi is their eccentric, perhaps dangerously so, mother who also features in the ya ya sisterhood book I'm assuming. Interestingly enough this book was written before (and publicized after) the ya ya sisterhood - yet there are frequent mentions of the ya ya's and some dark secret they share and so on...so I'm guessing that book was simultaneously in the works as this one. Big Shep is Vivi's husband, a working class man who makes a few poor choices that make him forget how to love. Their children include the eldest daughter Siddalee, who is probably the most identifiable as the main character in the book. Sidda goes through several phases of independence/autonomy and relying on her family for guidance. Her younger brother Lil Shep doesn't feature much in the book other than his desire to be freed from the nasty secrets his family is keeping. I can't remember the next siblings name, I think it's Lulu, stars in my favourite story in the book about petty thieves and liars. Finally there is Baylor, the youngest, who lives in a dream both as a child and an adult.
Overall I can't say I recommend or don't recommend this book. I enjoyed it yes, but I wasn't floored to be gushing about it. A nice read for winter days.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Book #8: Forever In Blue
Book #8
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Title: Forever In Blue
Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 260
Grade: A-
Buyability: 8/10
Status: Owned (bought)
There isn't too much to say about this book, in part because if you haven't read the series this review'll mean nothing to you! This is the fourth and (supposedly) final chapter of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series - which detail the summers four best friends spend, sometimes apart, sometimes together. They are of course, as per the legend, bonded together by a pair of 'magical' pants that give them the strength of the love they feel as friends even when they aren't together.
In all fairness I read the third book quite some time ago so reading the new fourth one was a bit of a cognitive leap - I could barely remember a lot of what happened in the past! Anyway in this one the girls are bridging the gap between their first and second year of university. They've actually shared the pants year-round this time because they have spent the year at different colleges etc. That should be your first clue something is up - the girls are very very much so a lot more individual characters this time around, which was both refreshing and problematic. Of the latter, it was good because I was sick and tired of how cheesy and overemphasized their relationship was - although some sappy moments still exist towards the end, they are certainly toned down. But in the abscence of their friendship it almost defeated the purpose of the book, and the pants of course.
This time around the girls spend most of their summer apart. Tibby is still in New York working and taking a summer class and wondering whether she has made the right choices when it comes to her relationship with Brian. Bee (my fave as always) is in Turkey getting back to basics on an archeological dig site and wondering whether the best alternative to missing her boyfriend is not missing a single thing her hot professor does. Carmen has surprisingly shrunk into her shell over the last year, and fallen under the wing of a supposedly protective, glorious friend, who turns out to be anything but as their summer continues. Lena is at art school and enraptured with a guy, shockingly this time, not the love of her life, Kostos.
This book definitely took on a more mature tone than the others - most of it dealt with sex and relationships and very little of it focused on friendship and personal self-growth - although most of the storylines evolve to give the girls those moments of epiphany. Although I enjoyed the storylines a lot more this time it almost felt like the characters were under-used and less developed because there was far less crossover opportunities given their summer was spent so far apart emotionally and physically. Brashares does a good job wrapping up the series though - I realized why she decided to do a fourth (i completely assumed the third would be the last) as each book is kind of meant to represent each of the four girls.
All in all a fitting conclusion to the series that represented, quite honestly, the realities of growing up and moving away when it comes to those true blue friends you thought you'd never forget, and those true blue jeans you thought you'd never lose.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Book #7: Lipstick Jungle
Book #7
Title: Lipstick Jungle
Author: Candace Bushnell
Pages: 430
Grade: A
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Owned (bought)
I had mixed feelings going into this book to be honest with you. On one hand, Candace Bushnell has skyrocketed to fame as the author of Sex and the City, and rumours had been abuzz that LJ (not LiveJournal - Lipstick Jungle) had been optioned for a TV Show on NBC or something. On the flip side though, I really didn't like "Four Blondes" - Bushnell's collection of novellas, and I hadn't heard the greatest things about Trading Up, which my sis owns but I have yet to read (FYI - there is a crossover mention of the character of Janey from 4B & TU in this book). Regardless, I was kind of excited when this book came up in my reading roulette because the last two I read were pretty dense.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story - I devoured it in three short days! The book is about three women in their early 40's - Victory, Wendy, and Nico, who are corporate magnates in their glamorous fields, fashion design, executive movie producer, and magazine editor respectively. Being powerful women doesn't come without its challenges though as these women deal with the boys in a messy corporate sandbox filled with gender expectations and rules that the women are both striving to break and afraid to. Victory is negotiating her financial stability between business obligations and relationships as she tries to blossom into a huge-name designer. Wendy is trying to deal with intense pressure at work and intense problems at home when her stay-at-home husband gets fed up with her. Nico is trying stuck in two games where she is trying to KO the other person before they KO her. Their storylines interweave with the fact they are best friends (although missing the camaraderie one would expect from Carrie Bradshaw's creator) and they have a ton of mutual people in common among the society set.
The things I liked about this book were the fun, fantastical lifestyles of the women and the light easy prose of the book that felt neither flaky nor overdone, it still managed to stay fresh. I also enjoyed the girl power aspect that shed some harsh and some enlightening light on what it's like to be a corporate top gun as a woman. The ending was a bit - wow, okay it's done? - but left plenty open for further exploration in say, a TV show? My one concern with reading this book is the slightly skewed nature of the girl power aspect. While these woman are powerful and manage to work things out in very creative and strong ways, they can really only afford to do so with money. Although the money aspect of the story definitely adds to the interest level, it also is a bit disheartening that you can only solve problems with oodles of dough at your fingertips.
Still a great, fun read and one I would surely reccomend - by far the best of anything I've read by Bushnell.
Title: Lipstick Jungle
Author: Candace Bushnell
Pages: 430
Grade: A
Buyability: 6/10
Status: Owned (bought)
I had mixed feelings going into this book to be honest with you. On one hand, Candace Bushnell has skyrocketed to fame as the author of Sex and the City, and rumours had been abuzz that LJ (not LiveJournal - Lipstick Jungle) had been optioned for a TV Show on NBC or something. On the flip side though, I really didn't like "Four Blondes" - Bushnell's collection of novellas, and I hadn't heard the greatest things about Trading Up, which my sis owns but I have yet to read (FYI - there is a crossover mention of the character of Janey from 4B & TU in this book). Regardless, I was kind of excited when this book came up in my reading roulette because the last two I read were pretty dense.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story - I devoured it in three short days! The book is about three women in their early 40's - Victory, Wendy, and Nico, who are corporate magnates in their glamorous fields, fashion design, executive movie producer, and magazine editor respectively. Being powerful women doesn't come without its challenges though as these women deal with the boys in a messy corporate sandbox filled with gender expectations and rules that the women are both striving to break and afraid to. Victory is negotiating her financial stability between business obligations and relationships as she tries to blossom into a huge-name designer. Wendy is trying to deal with intense pressure at work and intense problems at home when her stay-at-home husband gets fed up with her. Nico is trying stuck in two games where she is trying to KO the other person before they KO her. Their storylines interweave with the fact they are best friends (although missing the camaraderie one would expect from Carrie Bradshaw's creator) and they have a ton of mutual people in common among the society set.
The things I liked about this book were the fun, fantastical lifestyles of the women and the light easy prose of the book that felt neither flaky nor overdone, it still managed to stay fresh. I also enjoyed the girl power aspect that shed some harsh and some enlightening light on what it's like to be a corporate top gun as a woman. The ending was a bit - wow, okay it's done? - but left plenty open for further exploration in say, a TV show? My one concern with reading this book is the slightly skewed nature of the girl power aspect. While these woman are powerful and manage to work things out in very creative and strong ways, they can really only afford to do so with money. Although the money aspect of the story definitely adds to the interest level, it also is a bit disheartening that you can only solve problems with oodles of dough at your fingertips.
Still a great, fun read and one I would surely reccomend - by far the best of anything I've read by Bushnell.
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