http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Thu, 16 Jun 2005 10:13:16 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/16/101316.php Kevin HoltsberryI stumbled upon Michelle Herman's most recent novel, Dog, quite by accident. I was wandering around the book store looking for nothing in particular when the cover caught my eye. As you can see above, it has a very cute puppy on the cover. Being a dog owner, and having a weakness for puppies, I was drawn to see what this short novel was all about. I was further intrigued when I found out that the author was from the same town (Columbus, Ohio) and was a professor at Ohio State University. Given the size, the topic, and the fact that the author was local and might be talked into an interview, I figured I had to buy this book.I did buy the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will admit it was not the type of work I usually read: female author, female lead character, heavy on inner thoughts and emotions, etc. But I found the characters endearing, the writing honest and insightful, and the wry tone just right.J.T. (she found her given name Jill too "girlish," too "lightweight") Rosen is a poet and professor at a Midwestern university. Unmarried, childless, and solitary, she is settled in her way of life. She has the house she adores set up just the way she wants it (built-in bookcases, reading lights in every room, tchotchkes placed just so) and has grown accustomed to being alone. Having given up on romance and nearly abandoned hope of close friendship, she nevertheless has a quiet sense of something missing.One night she finds herself having rather morbid thoughts about being alone and ends up Googling the name of the town she lives in and "adoption," "foster," and "home." What turns up, to her surprise, is hits about dogs, not children. Soon she is clicking into these sites and, almost by accident, deciding to adopt a dog: It had all occurred almost without her participation. The website, the photograph, the phone call, the visit&#8212all of it, as if she had been sleepwalking. Suddenly, she has a dog. She finds her life has become a situational comedy, or what she thinks of as a situational comedy (not having watched television since she moved out of her parents house): The thrust of the situation being that she'd soon be forty-five, with fifty just around the corner, that she was a tenured professor with two volumes of poetry to her name&#8212neither one in print now, but they could be found in libraries, and in boxes in a closet in her office on campus&#8212a charming wood-frame house, and that her life now boiled down to the care of one small dog. Now this doesn't seem like a terribly interesting plot does it? A middle-aged woman learns to take care of a dog. But like Herman's other writing, plot is not the point here. Instead, she uses this situation to describe and explore the experience Rosen finds herself in. Herman looks back on Rosen's early romances (a boyfriend named Phillip like the dog, in particular), her lack of friendship, her struggle to fit in to the academic world, even her relationship with her family.The descriptions and emotions involved ring true. Here is a section where Rosen looks back on her expectations when entering academia: When she had first begun this job, had moved from New York City to the Midwest, she had imagined that she would be among friends always. It pained her now to think of this. She had imagined a world in which people spoke of, thought of, nothing but books&#8212in which there would be cocktail parties where people drew their heads together close to talk about a new poem in The Nation, the new book by Robert Hass, the miracle of Bishop; where they would quote Berryman, make arcane jokes that featured Pound or Joyce, press brand-new novels upon one another ("You must read this at once! and call me, no matter how late, and tell me what you think!"), exchange list of favorites, desert-island books, the books you knew you had to reread at least once before you died.Herman captures these type of moments and thoughts perfectly (and there are a number of these moments in Dog). And I think this is what makes her writing interesting&#8212outside of the obvious skill she brings to description, inner dialogue, etc.&#8212her writing is almost emotional and psychological cartography. It is something everyone can relate to and wrestle with, and yet, because Herman's characters are just different enough from us, the exploration is fresh and new.Dog is a short, quiet little book, but it is a pleasure to read. Herman's creative ability to capture the thoughts and emotions of her characters and her lively prose make her short works aesthetically pleasing and intellectually insightful. They may be small but they pack an understated punch. If you are looking for something different to read this summer, and something that is easy to take with you, I would encourage you to pick up Dog. Books31109@blogcritics.org Thu, 16 Jun 2005 10:13:16 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/14/162703.php Kevin HoltsberryFor those of you not paying attention, we are shining the spotlight on Michelle Herman this week. (And by "this week," I mean "an indiscriminate period of time".) Thursday we tackled her first novel Missing, today we move on to her next book, A New and Glorious Life, which is a collection of three novellas that inaugurated Carnegie Mellon's short fiction series.The first novella in the collection, Auslander, was first published in Twenty Under Thirty: Best Stories by America's New Young Writers. The story centers on a translator living in New York who is asked to translate some Romanian poetry. The catch: she is asked to do so by a stranger who found her number in the phone book, and the poetry is his wife's, and she doesn't want her work translated. For a variety of reasons&#8212pity, curiosity, the faint hope of a discovery&#8212she agrees to meet with this gentleman; and subsequently agrees to read the poems but not to translate them without the author's permission. Slowly but surely, Auslander finds herself caught up in an awkward triangle between the wife, and brilliant poet, who refuses to have her work translated, and the husband whose inability to let the issue go seems to be threatening the marriage.What I found interesting about this novella was the way Herman weaves in the story with Auslander's life. This, in my opinion, is Herman's most appealing talent. She is a sort of literary portraitist; she skillfully sketches the history and mental furniture of her characters to the point where you feel like you know who they are; you feel like you would recognize them if you fell into a conversation with them. At the same time she is able to create tension within her stories despite the lack of a complex or detailed plot. There is very little action in Auslander and yet it has tension and suspense.The next novella is the title piece. A New and Glorious Life tells the story of Demitrious Gadol, known to his friends as Gad, a mid-evel composer in residence at an artist's colony. Gad has taken up residence at the colony, in part to get away from his wife. Gad is a serial philanderer who has recently given up his roaming ways in an attempt to save his marriage, or at least make peace with his difficult wife. He finds that, although he has been very productive artistically, he doesn't fit in at the colony. He awaits the rumored newcomer to the colony with the anticipation that he might yet make a connection with someone.And he does. Gad connects almost instantly with Hannah the exuberant and beautiful poet, in a way he could hardly have imagined. As in her other stories, Herman intertwines this new relationship with Gad's past and present life and thoughts. Remarkably, she crafts a rather tender love story out of the connection between these two unlikely soul mates. Herman ably captures the emotions, the elation and insecurities, that come with falling in love. She also captures the despair and frustration of being stuck in an unwanted place; of catching a glimpse of your dream and wondering whether you have the strength to reach out for it.Hope Among Men, the final novella in this collection, is also about complicated relationships; about falling in and out of love; about trying to understand who you are and how you got here. But it also has a tongue-in-cheek narrator (or perhaps post-modern or meta-fiction) who tells the story of Hope's relationships with two men labeled "Misery" and "Heartache." The story told by the narrator has classic Herman touch-points: multiple relationships, a move from New York to the Midwest, a focus on the thoughts and feelings of the characters rather than dialogue and/or action orientated plot, etc. In fact, Herman mocks critiques of her style in the narration: . . . I can see I have been remiss in many ways. I've told almost the whole story in summary&#8212rushed through months (years) of Hope's life at breakneck speed, with hardly any dialogue, the barest hint of "setting," and no background on the characters (who are these people, anyway? Where are they from? Who are their parents? At the very least I could have told you what Hope, Misery, and Heartache look like)&#8212but there doesn't seem to be much point in slowing down now. I am not an expert on meta-fiction nor have I fully explored any of the deeper psychological or intellectual issues that might lie beneath the surface of Herman's stories, but I appreciate her style and how it is both artful and humanist in the sense of communicating a deeper understand of what it means to be human. I was struck by the ideas flushed out in a review of this collection in the American Literary Review. Two things stood out. One was that Herman was trying to communicate that There is nothing in the human condition as neat, precise, or clean as we would have it be. That strikes me as accurate and one of the things I find attractive about her writing. The reviewer also goes on to, in my mind, accurately characterize Herman's writing:The writing reflects all this, and it is occasionally tough but also rewarding going, never quite descending to the utter unintelligibility that has seemed permissible and even desirable since Joyce and Faulkner. It is, in other words, complex enough to engage the professional, while lucid enough to remain accessible to the general reader. There ought to be more writing like it--it remains sadly rare. A seeming bog of exposition yields an astonishing poetic flower. I agree. This is not the type of work I would think of myself as enjoying (a woman writing about feelings, emotions, relationships, etc.), but I found it to be enjoyable and thought-provoking. I echo the sentiments above and would recommend this collection to "literary professionals" and general readers alike. ***Originally posted at Collected Miscellany*** Books31023@blogcritics.org Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:27:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/09/082535.php Kevin HoltsberryMissing tells the story of Rivke Vasilevsky, an eighty-nine-year-old Jewish widow who finds herself alone in her New York (Brighton Beach) apartment to ponder the ravages of time. Her husband's death creates a void, and her children (and grandchildren) are caught up in their own lives and visit less and less. Rivke, who in the not-too-distant past never had a moment to herself, begins to reflect on what has brought her to this point, when a set of beads turns up missing. This is the title's literal reference, but as the story unwinds much more is missing than mere beads. Rivke wrestles with the complex and often strained relationships that have made up her life: her parents, her husband, her children, and even her grandchildren (in fact, the person she feels closest to is her granddaughter). She also wrestles with the slippery nature of memory and communication. Through the fog of emotion and time, she is trying to piece together the truth about her life; not so much the mere circumstances of the past, but the emotional and relational truth.What is amazing about Missing is the ability of Herman to take us inside this world. It is a feat of creative imagination to paint such a compelling picture of the life of the elderly. But Herman is not simply a realistic reporter of what life might be like for those whom life seems to have passed by. No, just as the real focus of Rivke's struggles is emotional, Herman's skill comes in letting us look inside the psychological rather than just the physical. Sure, Herman touches on how age can effect the physical: the inability to sleep in a bed alone after a lifetime of sharing with a spouse; the sheer exertion required to take a bath; the inability to do the chores one used to complete on a daily basis, and that are required to keep even a small apartment clean and well organized; the difficulty of keeping straight the complicated number and nature of the many medicines prescribed; not to mention the aches and pains that build up when one is living in one's ninth decade.Herman captures Rivke's surroundings well&#8212in the kitchen with a cup of hot water and lemon; lying awake on the couch at night, only to nap sitting up during the day; having the TV on just for the company&#8212but the real skill lies in getting inside her head and heart. Herman creates a nuanced and realistic portrayal by avoiding cliches and stereotypes. Rivke is neither the perfect doting grandmother nor is she the old shrew. She has aspects of both, but her emotional make-up is more complex and thus more real. Capable of kindness and openness, seen mostly in her relationship with her favorite grand-daughter, and yet capable of selfishness and a stubborn refusal to forgive.As Rivke looks back on her life and her relationships with her family, Herman peels back the layers of memory and emotion. Despite the lack of action or complex plot, Herman creates suspense and tension as the reader seeks to understand what brought Rivke to her present circumstances. The missing beads are soon forgotten but there remains the mystery of layers of family secrets, emotional wounds, and dysfunction. The reader wants to know how Rivke comes to terms not only with her life as it is, but who she is and what it means.Missing is a poignant gem of a book. In the course of telling the story of an elderly women who finds herself truly alone for the first time in her life, Herman touches on complex issues like self-deceit, the slipperiness of memory, and the fragile nature of relationships. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys exploring this inner world, or who just enjoys tight and elegant language. Books30772@blogcritics.org Thu, 9 Jun 2005 08:25:35 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/20/115516.php Kevin HoltsberryWhen I first came across James C. Davis's The Human Story I was fascinated: the history of the world in less than 500 pages?! That would be quite an accomplishment if it could avoid a mere encyclopedia-like listing of key events and actually tell a story or hold a narrative. Unfortunately life, and other books, intervened and I never quite got around to reading it.Until now, of course. After having my first child and taking some time off of work, I figured I better dive into some bigger history books before my free time shrinks even more. So, in what seems apropos, I dived in and finished The Human Story while holding my newborn child or watching her sleep. And having read this history of the world I must say that I was pleasantly surprised how interesting and informative it was even for a history buff (M.A.) like me. It was sort of like a quick tour through the centuries; a birds-eye view of history with a few good vignettes used to exemplify larger experiences.Davis labels his chapters with short pithy statements meant to give a quick idea of the subject: We fill the earth; We found the worldwide faiths; We find each other; Here and there, the people rule; Some of us do well; etc. This gives you an idea of the tone of the work. It is conversational and laid back. Davis realizes his job is impossible&#8212there is no way he can really cover the material&#8212so he tries to paint the big picture dipping into the smaller details only to illustrate the larger pattern.Since Davis is telling the "Human Story" his perspective is global. When he talks about "we" he means humans, not Westerners or Americans. He describes the events from a sort of realistic yet slightly optimistic point of view. As he says in his introduction to the reader: "In spite of all we hear and say, the world has been improving for a good long time." Davis seems to be saying that for the vast majority of time man has had a pretty rough lot in life and there is no sense in sugar coating it or looking for sinister forces to blame; that is just life. But he also points to the ingenuity and drive man has to improve himself and his place in life.Those looking for the nitty-gritty details of history will be largely disappointed. This is not that kind of book. But anyone interested in getting a better grasp on the scope of history and its basic structure will find The Human Story useful and enjoyable. In big strokes Davis outlines the migrations of early humans; the growth of the major early civilizations; the push and pull of population growth and famine, war, and pestilence; imperialism and the New Imperialism, the growth of science and technology and their positive and negative consequences; the development of democracy and totalitarianism; and the "brave new world" we seem to be entering in the 21st century. As he moves along Davis studies smaller and smaller chunks of time, starting out with millennia and ending up talking about decades. In discussing the last 500 years or so, he gives the reader a good overview of the people, places, and ideas that dominated each century. While rulers, politicians, and "great men" are discussed, Davis focuses more on broad historical and social trends than on politics per se. Wars are dealt with, but more as examples of how societies interact and change than as straightforward military history. Davis spends more time on the development of agriculture and the impact of the plague then he does the political development of Europe. Again, it is the "Human" story.Those looking for controversy will probably find it. - Although Davis treats Christianity, and other faiths, with respect and views Jesus as a real historical figure his perspective is anything but orthodox. He admits that he views Jesus as an itinerant prophet preaching the end of the world, not as the literal Son of God.- His descriptions of the conquest of North and South America certainly don't spare the gruesome details but they also don't harshly castigate the Europeans as genocidal maniacs as some in the academy might. He also describes the barbarism and violence of the Mayans and the Aztecs. His perspective is neither politically correct nor politically-motivated revisionism.- His brief discussion of the Cold War leans perilously close, at least in my mind, to moral equivalency. The Soviet Union and the United States were both powerful nations bent on empire for a variety of reasons. To be fair this may have more to do with scope and tone than anything else. And Davis does describe the terrible death and destruction that followed in the wake of Lenin, Stalin, et al.- If anywhere he falls into advocacy, it is in a section on man's impact on the environment. He makes an impassioned case that man is in danger of despoiling the entire planet through his selfish and destructive actions; that for the first time man's ability is bigger than nature. While acknowledging doubters, he views global warming as mostly a man-made phenomenon.- In the same way he describes Darwinian Evolution as consensus fact and portrays Darwin as an unlikely hero (he was never good in school, etc.)- Davis ends the book with his vision of what might lay in the future. He sees computers made out of molecules; a flight to Mars and maybe even a colony there; the genetic engineering of children; and medical cloning of humans. His tone here is one of wonder and excitement with no sense of the ethical or moral problems this world might present: This stereoscopic view should make this clear: in the decades after World War II our species crossed a line. Of course, as individual humans we didn't change; we look and feel the way we did before. But as a species we achieved a previously undreamed-of mastery of life. Although to be fair, the final sentence in that chapter is: "If any species does destroy us, it will surely be our own."Davis ends the book with a poem he wrote to sum up the story. This is a pretty creative device and it is an effective summary. The last two lines capture his attitude well: The world's still cruel, that's understood, But once was worse. So far so good.The Human Story is an ambitious undertaking. To attempt to tell the history of the human race in less than 500 pages is no easy task. As a result there are plenty of criticisms that can be thrown at a work such as this. But most of them come down to "I would have done it differently." Davis is to be commended for undertaking such a task and carrying it off with such aplomb. If you think history has to be dry, and full of dates and overwhelming detail, this book could change your mind. I would recommend it to anyone interested in history or seeking to gain a better understanding of the past. It might not capture all the details but it certainly provides a broad foundation for later study. ***Originally posted at Collected Miscellany** Books29813@blogcritics.org Fri, 20 May 2005 11:55:16 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/16/110348.php Kevin HoltsberryThere are few things better in this world than an album release by one of your favorite artists. I was reminded of this one night while listening to The World Cafe. I heard a song that sounded remarkably like a John Prine song. After a few more seconds I knew yes this was a John Prine song. But I didn't recognize it and I have the complete collection box set. Then it hit me: John Prine has a new studio album coming out! As soon as I got home I checked to see when it was available. Not for a couple of weeks, drat. But not to worry I survived the wait and the album is now safely in my hands. And I can report that it was worth the wait. It is classic Prine and will go into regular rotation in my "listen often" pile.John Prine is often referred to as a cult favorite. What this basically means is that he has millions of fans and yet gets little to no radio play on mainstream stations. One of the reasons for this is his genre defying music. Part folk, part country, part singer songwriter, part blues, part you name it. He can make you laugh, he can make you cry, he can make you dance, and he can make you think.Fair and Square illustrates this eclectic nature well. It starts out with the folksy Glory of True Love, and upbeat easy going tune with foot tapping rhythm and mandolin riffs.John Prine's quirky sense of humor and story telling lyrics shine in Crazy As A Loon, the song I heard on the radio. It's a country song that laughs at the stereotypical country song. And the lyrics will bring a smile to your face: So, I headed down to Nashville To become a country star Every night you'd find me hangin' At every honky-tonk and bar Pretty soon I met a woman Pretty soon she done me wrong Pretty soon my life got sadder Than any country song That town will make you crazy Just give it a little time You'll be walking 'round in circles Lookin' for that country rhyme You'll be waitin' on a phone call At the wrong end of a broom Yea, that town'll make you crazy Crazy as a loonPrine can get serious, however, and when he does his melancholic tone can be both beautiful and sad. Long Monday captures the sadness and emptiness of being away from the one you love; Taking A Walk the complexities and awkwardness of relationships; My Darlin' Hometown is a melodic and nostalgic description of both one's real hometown and the search for peace; while Clay Pigeons describes the lonely and tired feeling that comes from starting over and moving on. Some Humans Ain't Human will be sure to raise some eyebrows for its political commentary. It is a serious song about the lack of tolerance and genuine concern for others among far too many of the human race. It also contains this jab at the current occupant of the White House: Have you ever noticed When you're feeling really good There's always a pigeon That'll come shit on your hood Or you're feeling your freedom And the world's off your back Some cowboy from Texas Starts his own war in Iraq Prine adds a touch of blues style in Morning Train and The Moon Is Down. Granted both include Prine's acoustic guitar and mournful twang but they also have a deeper base and blues rhythm. Not surprisingly they center on the loss of a women, the quintessential subject of both blues and country.Just when things start to get a bit down Prine picks things up with She Is My Everything, a catchy guitar driven song about the perfect women. It reflects both Prine's sense of humor and his nimble lyrics: She uses Eveready batteries to keep Her electrical appliances going steady She can do fourteen things at one And then the phone'll ring She is my everything She know everybody From Muhammad Ali To teaching Bruce Lee How to do karate She can lead a parade While putting on her shades In her Masarati She know everybodyJust getting warmed up, soon Prine launches into another jam. Bear Creek Blues kicks up the pace another notch with a country rock/bluegrass feel: The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine. The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine. One drink of that water, You stay drunk all the time. Prine, and fellow musicians Paul Griffith, Dave Jacques, Jason Wilber, and Pat McLaughlin get in a good jam at the end. This is a song you would love to here live as you have to think they will do an extended jam for a live crowd.As if this isn't enough, Fair and Square includes two bonus tracks recorded live. Other Side of Town and Safety Joe are classic Prine story telling. Other Side of Town is a comic look at what a husband dreams about as his wife lays into him: My body's in this room with you just catching hell While my soul is drinking beer down the road a spell You might think I'm listening to your grocery list But I'm leaning on the jukebox and I'm about half ... way there While Safety Joe is a tongue in cheek look at a man who never took any risks.As I hope I have captured above, Fair and Square is a welcome addition to the John Prine catalog (and temporary fix in my addiction). The more I listen to this album the more I enjoy it.If you appreciate well crafted lyrics with insight and a sense of humor; if you enjoy the sound of a guitar and a warm rich voice; if you are looking for something different and real; check out John Prine you wont be sorry. Music29546@blogcritics.org Mon, 16 May 2005 11:03:48 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/10/122100.php Kevin HoltsberryWilliam F. Buckley Jr. (WFB) is an iconic figure in my life. I will spare you the details (for more see here and here), but suffice it to say when a new WFB book comes out I rush to pick it up. Such was the case for Last Call for Blackford Oakes. It is fitting that as Buckley begins to pull back from some of his more famous activities (The Firing Line, public speaking, his boat, control of National Review, etc.) that he wrap up the series of spy novels centered around Blackford Oakes.Despite my love of all things WFB, I have always been a fan of the type of spy novels Blackford Oakes was designed to counter: dark, gray, ambiguous; full of what conservatives would call moral equivalence. I used to read Le Carre, Deighton, et al voraciously. But this didn't keep me from reading and enjoying Buckley's spy novels.The Blackford Oakes series is interesting because it sheds light on Buckley and his way of thinking; or perhaps more importantly, his imagination. They are usually historical "what ifs" or "what might have beens." Blackford Oakes is the dashing young American spy out to thwart the evil empire and its minions. The Americans are always the good guys and the Communists are always the bad guys. In his defense, Buckley's bad guys are intelligent and believable, not simple caricatures. The books also include wry notes about National Review, key conservative politicians, and even Buckley himself. This is lively entertainment. They may not be his best work (Brothers No More is probably his strongest novel), but they are part of the larger Buckley phenomenon.Those who have followed the series so far will likely enjoy this final volume (although Buckley hints that his assistant might "revive" the series). Picking up where he left off in A Very Private Plot, Last Call is set in the Reagan Era when Gorbachev is rolling out Perestroika and Glasnost and the US once again suspects a plot to assassinate the Russian Premiere. The aging Oakes is again sent to defuse the situation on orders of the President.This time, however, the assassination plot is a false alarm. Instead Oakes finds himself embroiled in a personal battle with the legendary British traitor Kim Philby. Oakes travels to Russia under the cover of a book publisher promoting potential works for translation into Russian as part of a cultural exchange. His former partner, and CIA contact within the US mission, Guy Windels, introduces him to Ursina Chadinov, a strikingly beautiful Moscow urologist. Oakes, lonely after the death of his wife, falls deeply for the enigmatic Russian and things get complicated.It turns out that Chadinov's best friend and former roommate is married to "Andrei Fyodorovich Martins" who turns out to by Philby. Thanks to Oakes's sloppy cover Philby is able "make" Oakes and strike back at him through Chadinov. Philby's ugly taunting sets up a personal battle between the two aging super spies. It all builds to a climatic conclusion worthy of the book's title.After a slow start, Last Call settles into a suspenseful and emotional battle of wits and intrigue. Throw in glimpses of characters as diverse as Ronald Reagan, Gary Trudeau, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, and Graham Greene, and you have another Buckley romp/thriller. This isn't literary fiction by any stretch of the imagination, but it is entertaining. Buckley fans will be sure to pick up Last Call for Blackford Oakes to add to the collection, and perhaps to wax nostalgic as the WFB era seems to wind down, but those looking for some light summer reading might want to check this one out as well.***Originally Posted at Collected Miscellany*** Books29278@blogcritics.org Tue, 10 May 2005 12:21:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/06/115217.php Kevin HoltsberryIt is almost a cliche at this point, but I was one of the legion of boys and girls who were captivated by J.R.R. Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I loved the adventure and the magic of exploring another world. I soon jumped from Tolkien to writers like C.S. Lewis, Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov, Anne McCaffrey, Roger Zelazny & Robert Sheckly, etc. I am not an avid reader of fantasy novels these days but I do dip into the genre now and again; particularly children's or young adult (see here and here).Recently I was intrigued by the upcoming release of a new fantasy trilogy. What first drew my eye to The Crimson Sword by Eldon Thompson was the fact that the author was a college football player before turning to writing. For some reason college quarterback turned fantasy novelist seemed worth exploring. So I dug in and committed myself to reading this over 500 page work. The result was mixed. The larger story arc is interesting and imaginative and the characters are well drawn for the most part. But the prose was a bit heavy at times and the story gets off to a slow start. It is not surprising that a first time author would struggle with some of the finer points, but Thompson certainly shows promise. I am sure fantasy readers will enjoy having a work like this to dive into and further volumes to look forward to. (This is volume one of a planned trilogy.)**Minor spoilers ahead**The central character of The Crimson Sword is Jarom, Guardian of Diln. Jarom is a mild mannered young man living in a rural, almost idyllic, part of the kingdom of Alson. Jarom, along with his friend and expert archer Allion, is responsible for keeping the village safe. Given its size and agricultural nature, this isn't a particularly dangerous job.The village's peaceful isolation, however, is destroyed when the King of Alson is assassinated. A mysterious wizard appears to lay siege to the capital city. Unable to overcome the wizard's magic, the city is soon laid to waste throwing the kingdom into chaos. The Queen flees the city pursued by soldiers of the invading army.Jarom and Allion save the Queen from her pursuers only to have her arrival change their lives forever. It turns out the Jarom is in fact Torin, second child of the slain King Sorl. The Queen soon relates how she despaired for the kingdom after her first born son, corrupted by his hedonistic father, was banished for attempting to poison the king. She faked her second son's death and had him placed with her youthful love in Diln to be raised up in a virtuous and responsible way; and thus able to rule the kingdom when the time came.Jarom can hardly believe his ears as this story is related. His identity and life have been pulled out from under him. All of the trust and peace he has built up over the years is destroyed in a moment. The village council, however, decides that he should journey to a nearby kingdom to ask for help against the invading wizard. After wrestling with all of this new information, he agrees to the undertake the journey with his friend Allion.Behind the scenes, however, are a mysterious race of "avatars" known as Entients who have other plans for Jarom. This is where the Crimson Sword comes into play. The sword is a powerful talisman from a long-since disappeared race of elven lords, and is rumored to have incredible powers. Jarom has dreamed of finding the sword since he listened to tales of its creation and disappearance as a child. With a little help from the Entients and his own imagination Jarom and Allion are soon searching for the Crimson Sword instead of returning to Diln (after they had been turned away at the border on their original task).Another twist involves the awakening of the Demon Queen Spithaera who has loosed her own evil minions out into the world. The Dragon-spawn who are soon attacking and destroying cities across the realm are not the work of the wizard, as many assume, but part of a plot by Spithaera to take over the world. The combination of Jarom's quest and the Demon Queen's desire set him on the path to achieve his destiny,or die trying, while wrestling with his own personal demons on top of the actual ones.Throw in assassins, secret cannibal tribes, a love interest for Jarom with a secret of her own, regular attacks by demonic creatures, and epic battle scenes and you have a active and complex story. Put this in the epic adventure category.So did the former college QB choose the right profession? I would have to say yes. In general Thompson shows remarkable imagination. There are a variety of characters and they are well drawn for the most part. The plot is suspenseful, and has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested. The imaginary world in which the story takes places is fleshed out enough to provide the necessary background, but is also left mysterious to create a sense of history; sense of having existed, of depth. The world seems complete and complex enough to provide for the continuation of the story. Obviously Thompson is no Tolkien, despite the similarities in story and genre, but he shows promise for a first time novelist.Perhaps because of this relative inexperience, however, Thompson at times seems to load the story down with description and inner dialog. He goes to great length to describe the landscape and creatures that Jarom and company encounter in great and effusive detail. Additionally, Jarom is constantly wrestling with inner doubt and guilt over his choices and actions. This ends up being a drag on the pace of the story. Just as the pace begins to find its rhythm with steady action and suspense, Thompson adds in Jarom (or some other character's) inner thoughts of doubt, etc. I had the feeling that some skillful editing could turn this 500-page-plus tome into a fast-paced thriller.But perhaps this is just taste. After all, many readers might enjoy the thick description and psychological musings of the characters. Maybe my tendency to want to rush through a book causes me to under-appreciate the detail and back story involved. Heck, maybe I just struggle with reading large books in my ever shortening spare time; unlike the remarkably free high school and college years.Fantasy adventure fans will want to check out this rookie effort. And if you enjoy exploring fantastic worlds and reading about personal quests and epic battles full of legend and myths, you should pick up the Crimson Sword. I will be sure to keep my eye out for part two. It will be interesting to see both how the story and the author's skills develop. ***Originally Posted at Collected Miscellany*** Books29110@blogcritics.org Fri, 6 May 2005 11:52:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/02/094720.php Kevin Holtsberry***Originally Posted at Collected MiscellanyOur Napoleon in Rags by Kirby Gann is an ambitious novel. It attempts to capture the anger, frustration, and despondency of those trapped in lower middle class urban life and yet at the same time describe the community and friendships they have built. The work seeks to get at these larger social issues through its character's lives. Our Napoleon in Rags is a dark tale about the search for meaning in modern life. While it doesn't always live up to its promise, it is an interesting exploration of character and setting.The setting is an urban neighborhood called Old Towne; part of the city of Montreux. Reflecting the reality of many cities, Old Towne was once an upscale part of a thriving downtown but time has not been kind. Despite efforts to revitalize it, this part of the city has become a "broken-streetlight district" where "dark house-stoops offer no welcome."The story centers around a motley group of characters whose only connection is the Don Quixote - the Old Towne bar they frequent. The central character is Haycraft Keebler. Haycraft - the Napoleon in Rags of the title - is bipolar and in his mind a budding civic revolutionary. Also involved are the bar owners Beau and Glenda Stiles; Romeo Diaz and his stripper/porn star girlfriend Anantha Bliss; Chesley Sutherland, the suspended cop that provides security for the bar; Mather Williams, "a gentle but damaged soul" whose paintings and verse are viewed as a type of folk art; and Lambert Dellinger a fifteen year-old male prostitute.Each of these characters is trying to build some meaning into their life. Haycraft sees meaning in trying to resurrect the neighborhood; to revive the city and its downtrodden people. Chesley just wants to get back on the police force and bust bad guys. Each of them has a dream to cling to despite the fading hopes and each ends up at the bar looking for the solace and community the larger city no longer offers.The plot takes off when Haycraft become infatuated with Lambert and brings him into the Don Quixote group. A secondary plot develops out of the brooding violence of Sutherland. There is not a great deal of plot involved, however, rather the chapters are closer to character sketches that bring each of the patrons at the bar into closer focus. The tension builds slowly as the character's lives are revealed.What makes Napoleon in Rags difficult to judge is deciding what the author was trying to accomplish. Was Gann trying to create a "scathing commentary on contemporary America" as the book's back flap claims? What about the "hot button issues of mental illness, homosexuality, police violence, and racism?" To be honest, I don't think Gann has achieved a particularly strong social commentary or critique of contemporary America. There isn't a great deal of insight into the problems of urban blight or mental illness here.No, I think what Gann was getting at was the interesting characters that make up this part of urban America. It seems to me that Gann is fascinated by the type of people who end up trapped in places like Old Towne and how they fight to bring meaning to their lives. The strength of Napoleon in Rags is its evocation of a community that shares little more than broken dreams and a bar where they can share them.What was somewhat problematic for me was the weakness of the central character Haycraft Keebler. Although he isn't the narrator, he is the focus of much of the book. But I found other characters more fully drawn and more interesting. Keebler too often seems like Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces but without the comic absurdity and instead burdened by his mental illness.The section on Romeo Diaz is one of the livelier sections. Romeo is a character with a little more depth. There is a tension to him; with his hyper-atheism, macho-ism, and disdain for those who think differently. But he also has a sense of decency and humanity that he doesn't exactly know what to do with. He is one of those people who just can't quite get it together; whose fate always rises just before it falls yet again.I also thought more could have been done with the bar owners Beau and Glenda. They represent this search for something bigger in life; a search for meaning as one's dreams fade. Glenda is a motherly figure for both Haycraft and Mather but finds the giving, when combined with her own physical labor at the bar, is wearing her down to the point where she must beg stimulants from Haycraft.Gann throws in a twist at the end when the narrator is "revealed." I found this rather confusing; the perspective wasn't clear for me so the revelation was jarring. Nevertheless, loose ends are tied up and the agitation of the story's closing scenes fade. Fittingly, the novel closes on pessimistic note about "how very little a man can do to change the world."As I said at the start, Napoleon in Rags is an ambitious work. In the end I am not sure how I feel about it. In many ways I was a victim of the hyperbole of the book's back cover and the accompanying press material. I know this is a rather lame and weird criticism, but there it is. In recommending itself it promises too much. Relatedly, at times the work seems to force the issues and ideas to achieve social relevance. The strength of the work doesn't lie in "hot button issues" or "scathing commentary" but in the descriptions of character and setting. This part of urban America is worthy of exploration and description and Gann should be commended for taking it on. Books28924@blogcritics.org Mon, 2 May 2005 09:47:20 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/28/154100.php Kevin HoltsberryMy Antonia by Willa Cather is one of those books I have a hard time reviewing. As I read it I was just swept up in the writing and the story and I really didn't think about what I might say or write when I was done. I just enjoyed reading it. Since I have allowed several weeks to elapse since I finished it, I feel even less confident I can capture the beauty of this book. Let me venture a short description . . .The title character is Antonia Shimerda, a Bohemian immigrant transplanted with her family to frontier Nebraska. The narrator, however, is not Antonia - as evidenced by the "My" of the title - but Jim Burden, a native Virginian sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska when his parents die. The introduction sets up Jim's reflections on Antonia by having two friends meet on a train and start reminiscing about their childhood in Nebraska. The anonymous author in the introduction asks the adult Jim to write down his memories of Antonia. The rest of the story is his story.There are two things to note about the book: its wonderful descriptions of the landscape and life on the frontier; and its capturing of the emotions of the characters. Here is an early example of both (Jim is describing his trip from the train to his grandparents farm): I tried to go to sleep, but the jolting made me bite my tongue, and I soon began to ache all over. When the straw settled down, I had a hard bed. Cautiously I slipped from under the buffalo hide, got up on my knees and peered over the side of the wagon. There seemed to be nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, no hills or fields. If there was a road, I could not make it out in the faint starlight. There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made. No, there was nothing but land--slightly undulating, I knew, because often our wheels ground against the brake as we went down into a hollow and lurched up again on the other side. I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had got over the edge of it, and were outside man's jurisdiction. I had never before looked up at the sky when there was not a familiar mountain ridge against it. But this was the complete dome of heaven, all there was of it. I did not believe that my dead father and mother were watching me from up there; they would still be looking for me at the sheep-fold down by the creek, or along the white road that led to the mountain pastures. I had left even their spirits behind me. The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not whither. I don't think I was homesick. If we never arrived anywhere, it did not matter. Between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out. I did not say my prayers that night: here, I felt, what would be would be. You might say that Cather captures the interior and exterior landscapes; the physical and emotional terrain. This allows her to create - or perhaps recreate - a full and believable world. This is one of the gifts of great literature: it allows us to see how others might have lived; to imagine the possibilities and contours of life outside of our own experiences.I realize there are literary, historical, and even political issues involved (modernism, the idealized frontier, Cather's suspected lesbianism, etc.) but I really just enjoyed it as a great story written with skill and artistry. Books28776@blogcritics.org Thu, 28 Apr 2005 15:41:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/25/104657.php Kevin Holtsberry**Originally posted at Collected Miscellany**Although it is set in and around the beautiful canals of post-World War Two Venice, Joseph Kanon's latest novel Alibi is nevertheless a dark and gritty tale. It shares with Venice a sense of mystery and history; a sense that you are never really seeing everything. This mysterious and tense style, combined with a suspenseful and twisting plot, makes for an intriguing and enjoyable read.Post-war Venice wants nothing more than to put the past behind it and focus on a brighter future. But history is always there, threatening to resurface and cast a pall over the future. The story centers around Adam Miller, a former US Army war crimes investigator visiting his widowed mother who has retired to Venice. Adam is also trying to put the ugliness he has seen behind him. But although Venice is as beautiful as ever - having been sparred the bombing unlike so much of Europe - he isn't quite comfortable or sure of his new post-army life.Enter Claudia, a native Venetian, but also a Jew who suffered horribly during the war. Despite their differences, Adam and Claudia begin a passionate relationship. At first the relationship is centered on the physical; passionate assignations in hotels and secret meetings. But Adam is soon clearly in love with this enigmatic women.Things begin to get complicated, however, when Adam realizes that his mother is serious about her new boyfriend Gianni Maglione. Maglione is from one of the old families of Venice, and was a friend of the family before Adam's father died, but Adam is suspicious and untrusting of his mother's suitor. When Claudia and Maglione have an ugly encounter at a party, Adam is convinced there is a darker side to Gianni's story and will do anything to uncover the truth.This search for the truth sets in motion a series of plot twists and escalating tension. Adam insists on pushing forward even as events tumble out of control and the truth becomes harder to decipher. Soon he is at the center of complicated web of murder, deception, and intrigue. Adam, always the one with what he thought was righteous anger, also finds the moral questions changing from black and white to a muddy gray. It becomes hard to tell who is the hunter and who is the hunted.I won't give away any of the plot twists because they are an important element of the pleasure of reading a book like this. But Kanon has created an evocative and intriguing story. Part historical drama, part murder mystery, part spy thriller Alibi is a tense and gritty story set in an exotic time and place. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense, tension, and intrigue with a little history and romance mixed in.More on Alibi here Books28598@blogcritics.org Mon, 25 Apr 2005 10:46:57 EDT