CATCHING FIRE by Richard Wrangham

 

I know, I know. You were hoping that this was Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series. Sorry to disappoint. Maybe JJ will review that one in the near future. I'm sure it will be more engaging than this Catching Fire.

This is the second time now that I have been fooled by Michael Ruhlman. As much as I like what he writes, I can't go off his recommendations for reading anymore. First, his review of Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw prompted me to read that one. Then, I saw this video of Ruhlman talking about Wrangham's book:

Had Something to Say - Cooking from michael ruhlman on Vimeo.

Ruhlman sums up the book really well in this video. But his passion and excitement and the background music make the book sound more exciting than it actually was. Ruhlman makes his own leap about cooking and society around 2:22 but otherwise, what he says is what Wrangham writes.

There are some positives. The book isn't badly written. Despite being a Harvard anthropologist, the writing is very accessible. It's not like reading a scholarly journal. That being said, I had a hard time getting into it. Anthropology isn't a topic that interests me very much and I maintain a healthy degree of skepticism when we're making conclusions about how people lived thousands and millions of years ago. The remnants of life forms before us only give us some clues and from there, it's all speculation, usually based on some preformed concepts. Wrangham thinks cooking shaped how we evolved as humans. He may be right. He can fit the evidence to make it seem like it is so. And he certainly has the research to back his views. Over a third of the book is endnotes and bibliography. I'm sure there are anthropologists out there, though, that completely disagree with him, and can back their reviews with research as well.

The book certainly is different. My bias against the subject matter probably prevented me from liking it as much as a well researched and written book about another topic would. I just didn't care for it very much.And I'm going to stop listening to Michael Ruhlman when he has something to say about books.

--Jon

GOOSE by Molly Bang

An adorable picture book for children! A goose egg is swept out of the nest in a storm and comes to rest and hatch in a den of woodchucks. The woodchucks raise the goose as their own and the goose grows up thinking itself a very inadequate woodchuck.

The sad goose eventually goes away to see what she can figure out by herself.

Out in the world, she learns a lot, but in the end, she goes back home to her family, the woodchucks.

I grabbed this book out of a picture book bin, barely looking inside. The writing looked simple and the pictures cute, so it was a perfect book for me to take home to my kids.

The subject matter is so sweet. I’m considering buying a copy of this book for my friends who are adopting a baby from a culture other than their own.

It’s a good message of the strength of family. For those of you who read endless picture books to your children, this one will touch your heart. For anyone who is adopted or has an adopted child, I think you will appreciate this tender tale.


JJ

SHIZUKO'S DAUGHTER by Kyoko Mori

This book was hard to put down at first, but by the end I lost interest and skipped paragraphs of description. A poetic mind may appreciate the writing but I wanted to see what happened so I read quickly.

In the first chapter, twelve-year-old Yuki’s mother commits suicide. The book is about Yuki's life as a teenager and how she copes with not having a mother. Her relationship with her father and stepmother is strained and difficult. She adores her grandparents and they have a sweet relationship. But Yuki must deal with the passing of time and the natural progression of the aging process of her grandparents.

It’s a depressing book, but beautiful too.

On a personal note, I was shocked when I picked up this tattered paperback to learn of the subject matter. Yuki’s life is not unlike my own, having lost my mother in the same way when I was also twelve. This book would have probably helped me greatly when I was a teenager, as I felt a lot like Yuki felt in the book. A testament to the power of books!

This young adult book will give the reader much to think about. I would recommend this to any teenager who is dealing with loneliness, grief, anger, or confusion (does that describe every teenager?), but also to adults.  Many great books are hiding on the young adults shelves!

JJ

STRAIGHT MAN by Richard Russo

 

I really enjoy ESPN.com's baseball analyst Keith Law. We seem to share similar tastes in a bunch of things, especially books. Plus, he's a good writer/analyst. Shoot, I even have his Twitter feed in my RSS Reader (the only person about whom I can make such a claim (or would want to)).

In a chat of his recently, another reader, inspired by Law's love of books, stated that he wanted to become a reader and asked Law for a good first book to read. Law went with Richard Russo's Straight Man. Law is a big fan of Russo's but I had never heard him mention this book. Some of Russo's other books have been on my to-read list but I haven't gotten around to him until now.

Straight Man was fantastic. The story takes place at a college in a small Pennsylvania town. The main character, William Henry Devereaux, Jr. ("Hank"), is an English professor at the college and interim chair of the department. He is fifty years old but often behaves like a man much younger (say twelve). His father, a noted professor, left him and his mother for one of his graduate students when Hank was younger but has now reappeared in his life for the first time in decades. The department has no budget yet and Hank is suffering the brunt of the blame. The stress in his life has resulted in urinary problems. He fantasizes about his wife cheating on him. Hank has a lot of problems.

I think what makes this book great is that Russo is able to take a guy with a lot of problems (and the other characters do, too) and show the humorous side. Like in real life, there are good moments and bad. Russo balances the dark with the light extremely well. The characters are flawed. There are alcoholics, jerks, professors who sleep with students, guys who cheat on their wife, a couple who overspend their means. People who are greedy, envious, lazy. In short, they are normal.

Maybe they're a little funnier than usual. And the professors in the book might sleep with their students more than is typical (at least I'd like to think it's atypical). But really the human factor makes the characters interesting and many of them likable.

That being said, the more I think about it, the more I think the book might be a little light on plot. There's tons of conflict, the conflicts are resolved in a very nice fashion. The book moves fast with a lot happening just over the course of a week. I think the frenetic pacing coupled with the complex characters carries the book.

This was definitely one of the best books I have read this year and I look forward to reading more of Russo down the road.

--Jon

FREE-RANGE CHICKENS by Simon Rich

 

I'm not going to spend too much time reviewing this book because it won't take much for this review to exceed the length of the actual book. It's the third time I have read this book which says more about the size of the book than the quality. This is a quick read. Like twenty minutes quick. It's really funny, though. Rich is a young Harvard grad, former president of the Harvard Lampoon who now writes for Saturday Night Live. This is his second book and it provides some irreverent takes on childhood, religion, acupuncture and a host of other topics.

Come on in and sit down and read it. It takes about as long as it would a magazine (and did you know you can now sign out magazines at the Strasburg-Heisler Library? You can!) and it'll likely leave you in good spirits.

--Jon

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson and translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland

I had to wait two months for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo once I put it on hold.  Even now there are 31 holds on this book. This international best seller was published in 2009, so why all the interest in 2010? And was it worth the wait?

Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who has just been found guilty of libeling a large corporation, agrees to investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger 40 years ago, in exchange for the real dirt on the libeled corporation. He has help from Lisbeth Salander, the one with the tattoo, who is a crackerjack investigator and computer hacker.

The book starts slowly as the many players connected to Harriet’s disappearance are described and as the scene is set in a small Swedish town. The pace picks up as the investigation progresses. Old photos of a traffic accident on the day that Harriet was last seen are used to identify suspicious characters. Harriet’s family is linked to a series of old murders. Mikael is attacked as they get closer to the answer. This is a well-written suspense thriller that kept me engrossed to the very end. 

However, Larsson continually points out Sweden’s bad track record with regard to the treatment of women. In fact, few men in this story are respectful or even kind to any of the women. Harriet’s disappearance and Lisbeth’s quirkiness are a result of being taken advantage of at a young age. 

So was it worth the wait? It is a good read, but why not try something by Henning Mankell?

SS

WAITER RANT by Steve Dublanica

This book that started as a blog by an anonymous waiter in an upscale restaurant is a memoir of sorts. The premise: A 31-year-old ex-seminary student who was laid off from a health care job begins waiting tables during hard times and becomes consumed (sometimes for better/sometimes for worse) by the restaurant lifestyle. He writes a blog ranting about his coworkers, his customers, and his own – fragile at times and hardened at other times – state of mind. The anonymous blog eventually leads to this book, Waiter Rant: Thanks for the  Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter.

The reader (or in my case, the listener – as I enjoyed this as an audio book downloaded from OverDrive) is given a glimpse into the seedy underworld of the restaurant business. The animosity between the kitchen workers and the wait staff, the illegal immigrants, the bribery and corruption between the boss and the staff, the waiters sucking up to the snooty clientele, or worse - the waiters sabotaging the dining experience for disagreeable customers.

Fascinating? Yes. But healthy for me to know? Hmmmm. Not sure. If only I could go back to a time when I didn’t know about the kitchen staff playing hockey on the floor of the kitchen with a customer’s hamburger after he sent it back twice because it lacked flavor or about two people using the restroom for lovemaking. Stories like that make this book not unlike a car wreck – I don’t want to look but I shamelessly and enthusiastically do.

The waiter does have deep insight into the customers’ behaviors. He is blessed with a philosophical slant that helps us see why some people act the way they act, which no doubt stems from his religious training. His boss infuriates him, but yet he is able to see the world from the boss’s point of view and extend a bit of grace.

The cursing in this book shocked me – it may have been because I heard the “f” word over and over. Had I been reading, perhaps I would have skimmed over the profanity. That said, I am sure a point is made with the unsavory language, like he is giving us a look at how restaurant workers speak. But for me, it was just a turnoff.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who can handle offensive language and some aggressive references to sex, drugs, and alcohol. If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, I’m sure you might appreciate learning of another’s view of the biz. If you like dining out, beware! You will never look at things the same way again!

JJ

THE ART DETECTIVE by Philip Mould

I didn't fool around with getting this book. One copy was entering the library system and I put a hold on it before the library even got it. It came in to their branch and went right back out to me. Art forgery is of huge interest to me. I wasn't exactly sure if The Art Detective was about forgeries or not but it sparked my interest.

The author, Philip Mould, is an art gallery owner and part of the Antiques Roadshow broadcast in England who has specialized in portrait paintings. Each of the six chapters of his book details the story of some interesting find he has come across during his career: Chapter 1 tells the story of a pack rat who hoarded portraits in a dilapidated church in rural Vermont; the second chapter talks about a Gainsborough that had been so overpainted as to be unrecognizable; overpainting plays an important part in a chapter on a Rembrandt and a lesser role when Mould covers a purchase of a Queen Elizabeth I painting. There is a chapter on Norman Rockwell forgeries and then Mould concludes with a tremendous, unfinished at publication, Antiques Roadshow tale involving an unusual Winslow Homer found in a pile of garbage.

Perhaps what amazed me the most is how much overpainting has been done on paintings of noted artists. Overpainting is what it sounds like. Another artist goes and paints over the original painting for various reasons. In the case of the Rembrandt, it was done in order to update the painting to fit the time period in which it was displayed. Sometimes it is done to cover up damaged areas of the painting. Restorers can painstakingly often remove the overpainting and bring the painting more towards its original appearance. One of the fascinating things about the book is the before and after photos of some of the paintings, especially the Rembrandt.

My only complaints about this book are petty. One, I wish the pictures were with the chapters in which they are discussed. There are two sections of photos, each about a third of the way from the ends of the book. I didn't like leafing back and forth or seeing the pictures of future chapters before I read about them. Second, the book is too darn short. Six chapters? I could have read twenty or more. Lastly, as with most non-fiction, I would love a list of references, especially for the chapters on QEI and the Antiques Roadshow where Mould and his assistant conducted a lot of research. What tools does he use?

I really enjoyed Mould's writing. He is very engaging and he realizes that the stories, and not Mould himself, are most important (at least to the reader). Just a thoroughly entertaining and fascinating read. It appears, too, that Mould will be hosting a television show in England called Art Sleuth which will be in much the same vein.

--Jon