Review of A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

I walked by the homeless in the streets while growing up in a city by the sea not unlike the one in this book. I was repulsed by their grimy faces, their missing limbs, their tattered and dirty clothes. Fearful I might catch their poor people diseases if I ventured too close, I would cross the street to avoid them. Sometimes throwing coins into their tin cups from a sterile distance-sometimes missing, and walking away praising my own charity.

Thank you Mr. Mistry for showing me the other side of the story. Thank you for putting into plain and powerful words exactly how unfair life in India is to the poor and lower castes. You have taught me more than any text book could about the injustices that daily occur in India. I hate you for your brutal honesty and for making me feel this way. Or perhaps, like you prophesized in the begining of this book, I am only blaming you for my own insensitivity.

For those of you considering reading this book, here is my warning. Mistry will seduce you with his flowing words and his gripping story. He will make you feel for his characters. He will show you a side of life that millions of people bravely struggle through. And soon you will begin to fear turning the page for fear of what might happend to the characters. And rest assured, when you turn the last page, and look for some solace, you will find none. For all is true. I have seen the Shankars and Ishvars and Oms. Go to any Indian city street corner, and you will too.



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Review of Loving Frank: A Novel (Paperback)

I have studied the work and bio of Frank Lloyd Wright for many years, even traveling to his Western headquarters, Taliesen West, and touring homes he built in four cities.I was well aware of his strengths and faults, but little has been published about the women in his wife, other than his domineering, smothering mother and his strident, domineering third (and last) wife. (I'm counting Mamah Borthwick, his lover for about a half-dozen years, as a second wife, since they would have married if his first wife had granted him a divorce; he and Borthwick lived together for several years).

Wright's towering ego is well known and well documented.By choosing to look at Wright and his work through the eyes of Mamah, his lover, in this fictionalized historical tale, Horan brings new insight into the demons and angels that inspired his vision.Wright's well-documented narcissism and inability to control himself personally is examined as well, but not as the fatal flaws offered by most biographers, but as components of an immensely complex and genius personality.

Mamah's (first) husband was first to see Wright's vision but Mamah was the one to embrace it wholly as Wright set about building them a home in Oak Park, not far from his own house.Wright was a star on the rise at that time, accepting commissions almost faster than he could manage them, but the affair he and Mamah embarked upon, which caused her to abandon her children, led to considerable scandal and major setbacks to his business.

Mamah was a recognized scholar and intellect until she was subsumed into a loveless marriage by the conventions of the time.In Wright she found the outlet for her passions and the independence she longed for, and the support and acceptance to rebuild her professional life, which became linked with that of the feminist Swedish scholar Ellen Keyes.Mamah's story, and that of the feminists of her time, is largely lost to history, and for reminding us of those seminal and important figures alone Horan deserves a deep bow.

Horan's work also exumes many litle-known facts about Wright and his times: his love for rural Wisconsin, where he grew up; his fascination with Japan and business in buying and selling Japanese antiguities; and his admiration for the classic Tuscan homes of northern Italy.As this book documents the times in which Wright was shaping his own vision with the help and guidance of Mamah, we can better understand the architecture for which he became so famous.

For those familiar with Wrights biography, the tragic end to his and mamah's affair is well known.For others, it will come as a shock.Horan is simply masterful in describing the events as they must have occurred.

I enjoyed the book tremendously, but I have one major quibble: Horan offers little documentation for her narrative for the reader who might want to learn as much as she does.As one generally familiar with the story I find it authemtic, but an appendix elaborating on the sources Horan used would add to the book's credibility.



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Review of The Road Home: A Novel (Paperback)

"The Road Home" is one of those books that succeeds in making you look at the world around you with new eyes. It's the story of Lev, a widower who immigrates from an unspecified country in Eastern Europe to the UK in the belief that it will be easy to find well-paying work there and thereby support his mother and daughter back home. Instead he finds that London is both considerably more expensive and less welcoming than he anticipates. Eventually he does find work and start to build some friendships, but it's far from an easy journey for him.

Rose Tremain makes us care about Lev and acutely communicates his loneliness and isolation. Occasionally he does things that we don't like, but he still maintains our sympathy and interest throughout the book. In fact, all of the characters are perfectly realized and feel incredibly real. The first two thirds of "The Road Home" are beautifully written: this is one of those books that you carry around with you so that you can read a bit more whenever you get a chance.It made me think about (and care about) the experiences of immigrants in a new way.

My one criticism of the book is the ending, which worked on one level but felt too contrived and too neat on another. It was also telegraphed well in advance, so that when it did eventually wrap up it felt almost like an anti-climax rather than a culmination of all that had gone before. I loved this book very much, but the final third did not grab me as much as what had gone before. Nevertheless, one of my favorite books this year.



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Review of Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-fix Remedy (Paperback)

Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy: A Novel is a delightful, anecdotic little book that is a welcomed break from the drama-filled fiction of late.The central characters, Jim and Louella, are a middle-aged, devoted Christian couple that discover a "gift of hearing" while rekindling their love life (which is rather steamy for an older couple).Jim and Louella, believing that all gifts from God should be shared, begin offering advice to their friends and neighbors on matters of the heart. Rumors of the "love couple" travel fast and their home is quickly overrun by the lovesick townsfolk in search of counsel.Much to their surprise they find some very lonely, neglected, and abused souls in their midst and quickly learn that despite their best intentions the outcome is not always what is expected.

Told largely in Louella's point of view, the reader will enjoy her sense of humor, her witty retorts, and her self-proclaimed "country" ways.The book has a wonderful cast of supporting characters that symbolically represent the good, the bad, the lost, and confused. Berry delivers a powerful message at the end, which we have come to expect as demonstrated in earlier works such as Redemption Song and The Haunting of Hip Hop.Her fans will not be disappointed because she is still on target with her keen storytelling ability and lyrical writing style.This little book is a keeper!

Phyllis
APOOO Bookclub



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Review of Home, Miss Moses: A Novel in the Time of Harriet Tubman (Paperback)

I found this book inspiring and enriching. It's a novel, but I learned a lot from it.It's a suspense story in some ways and a history lesson too.An intriguing, complex book, it follows a vast sweep of American history that this one woman's life covered in reality.Harriet Tubman was no ordinary woman.And you get an up-close and personal glimpse of her spirit and stunning courage and fortitude in these pages.The horrific injustice of slavery as she lived it and saw it leaps off the page.You get a window onto both the remarkable cunning and the deep heart of this visionary American patriot who sacrificed everything to end this shameful episode of our history.Although it's a bit of a struggle to get used to the "patois" of her voice (a slave dialect) and there are also a lot of people and places to keep track of as you read, keeping you on your toes, it's well worth it.Check it out.

Product Description
Inspired by the author's personal relationship with her, this compelling novel is a fictional account of the legendary Harriet Tubman and her life during the American Civil War. Told in the first person, the story begins with Tubman's life as a slave and follows her fearless pursuit of freedom, both for herself and countless others, on the Underground Railroad. Gripping and highly graphic, the novel reveals Tubman's days as a spy for the Union during battles in the South, presenting a new image of the horrors of war.



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Review of Half Way Home From Kinderlou: The Happy Childhood Memories of a Grandfather (Paperback)

I grew up a 'white boy' in Washington, DC. during the same years James Edward grew up in southern Georgia. The difference is now, 60 + years later, as plain as "black and white". James' description of family and school life in the black, segreated south tells me that he enjoyed relationships within his family and community that never existed in mine.
I thoroughly enjoyed this man's writings and only hope he follows through with more of his memories in later editions. And, I also hope he finally wound up with a copy of Black Beauty that he could call his own!

Product Description
Through a collection of short stories, a grandfather describes his happy childhood in the small town of Valdosta, Georgia. It was a simple time when children played simple games with simple toys. Those were the days when failure of a child to say "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" to grown folks was considered an act of disrespect which brought swift rebuke and punishment from the disrespected adult and the child's parents. Most homeowners in his neighborhood only dreamed of indoor plumbing, electric lights and home telephone service. Despite the prevailing social order, dictated by racial segregation which choked the advancement of some of his neighbors, little James Edward was often permitted broader liberties to expand his borders simply because all of the adults encouraged his growth. His timing was right. Colored adults nourished his self confidence as though vicariously rekindling their own aspirations. White adults saw a fast moving innocent youngster with a cautions and keen intellect, so letting him roam was a gift to a child which did not threaten their prerogatives. So adults of both races sought ways to assuage the harshness of segregation for little James Edward by smothering him with affection and special attention. The effects of this esteem is reflected in his pleasant memories of the post depression years and other events of that time.

About the Author
JAMES EDWARD ALEXANDER, ESQ. In 1951, on his 17th birthday, he entered the U. S Air Force. He was initially trained as a medical technician, but when the Air Force observed his communications skills he was further trained in journalism and broadcasting. Following his assignment as Station Manager of an Armed Forces Ratio/Television station in Greenland, in 1965, he was assigned as a senior instructor in broadcasting at the prestigious Defense Information School. In 1969, after 14 years of persistently attending military and civilian schools wherever he was stationed, he qualified for a one year leave of absence from military service to complete his college education. Alexander chose Indiana University, where, in 1970, he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Broadcast Management, he says, "With the support of my former spouse and our four children." Following his retirement from military service in 1971, he held management and sales positions with Time Life Broadcasting Company, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company, Combined Communications, Press Secretary for the re-election campaign of a U.S. Senator, and videotape operator for the ABC Network. He says, "At the age of 52, I felt the urge to complete a list of personal objectives. My path led me to the Whittier Law School, where, with the help of my present wife, I prepared to pass the California Bar Examination, on the initial attempt, at age 56." From 1991 to 2003, he was a partner in the law firm of Adams and Alexander, with law offices in Pasadena, and Beverly Hills. He is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of The United States, United States Circuit Court of Appeals (Ninth Circuit), United States District Court (Central District of California), and the State Bar of California. James Edward Alexander, and his wife Toian, live in Bluffton, SC.

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Review of Beaming Sonny Home (Paperback)

"Beaming Sonny Home" is the first novel I have read by Cathie Pelletier, and I intend to read her entire body of work.
What a storyteller! She is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This is some of the best writing I've read in my entire life.It is easy to follow, very descriptive about it's characters and everything that evolves around them. She knows how to make a story funny and touching at the same time. Also, this story kept me glued.It was hard to put down as I was having such a good time reading it.
It's about a family, well, mostly it's about, Mattie Gifford, the mother of "Sonny", of the title.To grab the attention of his estranged wife, Sonny kidnaps two women and a dog and holds them hostage in a trailer park. Sonny isn't your usual criminal.He seems like a happy go lucky guy, that just can't get it together. Now he has gone and lost it, really lost it. Although, you can't help but love this character.
Mattie also has three adult daughters that drive her crazy.Even though she doesn't seem to have the same close bond with her daughters as she does with her criminal son, Sonny, you see that there is love in this family unit.Extended family, and Mattie's dead husband, Lester are more characters that come bounding from the story.
This is a writer who knows how to write great characters with strength and integrity.There are so many tender momments sprinkled throughout the story that bring laughter to the lips and tears to the eyes.
The story starts when the crime happens, and follows the family throughout the next few days.It is a great story about relationships and how they evolve when tragedy strikes.Mattie is a character that I can sympathize with, and I admire for the changes she goes through in the story's outcome.
The book reminded me a bit of "Divine Sisters of the Ya Ya", in the sense of the family relationships and the humour. Although, I think that Pelletier is the better writer.She is simply divine, and so is this story.
I am highly recommending this one, it's a good one!



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Review of Home School (Hardcover)

I've always been irritated by the fact that all anyone ever remembers about The Graduate is the seduction of the protagonist by the archetypal Older Woman Mrs Robinson.While of course this is a pivotal aspect of the story, the book and film have so much more to say about alienation and obsession.I reread the novel recently and was particularly taken by its anti-consumerist stance, especially given it was published in 1963, before the ideas it presented became truly trendy.

These themes are picked up again in Home School, which stands alone as a well-conceived continuation of the lives of the characters first introduced in The Graduate 44 years ago.The book is set 11 years after the tumultuous events of that novel.Ben and Elaine are still together and now have two young boys whom they are teaching at home so that they don't have to go through the educational system that Ben is still chafing against.

Home School is a fine example of Webb's droll style and ability to record the minutia of life we cling to in stressful times; the arguments while making coffee or brushing teeth, the need to maintain the quotidian while our lives threaten to fall apart.The story takes some surprising turns and I had a strong sense that these characters mean as much to Webb now as to the young man who wrote the first novel so many years ago.Certainly there is a youthful vigour in the writing, and the book is at times laugh out loud funny.

This is not some pointless cash-in sequel, but a fine and mature novel that complements its predecessor but can be read without any knowledge of what went before.

And yes, Ben and the marvellously monstrous Mrs Robinson have a rather interesting trip down memory lane that brings the novel to a deeply satisfying conclusion.



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Review of Home Remedies (Harvest Original) (Paperback)

Angela Pneuman has a sharp sense of humor and great delivery in her short story collection, Home Remedies. Once you read the first story about a young girl who begs her skilled, elderly babysitter to take out her tonsils, you're sucked into worlds you've never seen quite like Pneuman describes them.

A Christian girl, not allowed to date, tries to hide her phone calls with a boy. But the young girl's perceptions are off; the boy isn't interested when his old girlfriend comes back to him. She has to discover this scenario in the lunchroom at school. Tragedy and comedy are meted out side by side in these stories of conflict, parental control, Christian values and the harsh realities of life.

The greatest gifts of these stories are Pneuman's endings to every story. She leaves the readers wondering in their own mind how everything played out. She doesn't give you the sugarcoated, everything-turns-out-fine kind of ending that the reader may expect. She leaves it up to the reader to decide how the stories end. Were the girl's tonsils removed? Did the boy dump the girl because she was Christian and couldn't date?

Armchair Interviews says: Riveting stories for any reader.



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