Category: Books

Genre: Stories

Grade: B+
Notable People: Tom McGuane
Title: Crow Fair

Review –McGuane is a GREAT writer- in my view, one of the five best living American authors. And, he is a master of the short story form, which is not all that common. His books take place in modern day Montana and are filled with large than life characters; diverse and mesmerizing- pseudo punk- hippie cowboys. A lot to like. That said, his characters may be the most consistently depressing in modern literature. They are full of betrayal, loathing, greed, deceit, despair and orneriness. Not a likeable one in the bunch…which does detract from the big picture for me. Fortunately, the stories are short and you don’t have to wallow too long in their misery. Got to be in certain mood for this, preferably with a full stomach and slightly inebriated in some form. Read “92 in the Shade” for a McGuane primer.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-
Notable People: C.J. Box
Title: Stone Cold

Review – Talk about guilty pleasures- I read this book in two days! Box’s 13th in the fish and game warden Joe Picket series continues to thrive- getting more exciting with each effort. Set in the wilds of Wyoming and filled with unforgettable characters- Box is becoming a master of the genre. The side character Nate Romanowski is one for he ages. Pretty well written but not going to make anyone’s classic lit list…but good guilty pleasure for sure.

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+
Notable People: Pat Conroy
Title: The Great Santini

Review –A pretty interesting book; early 60’s story of crazed marine fighter pilot and his family which he runs like a marine unit. Conroy writes well and clearly knows his subject, though I got a bit bored with his lengthy ruminations on Catholicism and all things marine. The story is dynamic and very dramatic- a movie waiting to happen- which it was in 1979 with the great Robert Duvall in the role of a lifetime. Jenn had gotten into Pat Conroy’s books (Prince of tides and the ilk) and I bought her a few for Christmas; had no idea he had long ago written this book, which seemed out of character. A good read- but, honestly, go rent the movie if you want the total package.

Genre: Novel

Grade: B
Notable People: David Handler
Title: The shimmering Blond Sister

Review –Handler’s series of books featuring Mitry and Berger are neither amazingly written nor deep stories- but a nice guilty pleasure. Set in a fictional Connecticut blue blood town in an idyllic setting, the 6 foot one imposing black state trooper (her) and the former “doughboy” Jewish New York film critic make both love and war on the masses. I can’t help liking the books- ten in the series and this in one of the more recent ones and more interesting. Could keep you occupied this summer?

Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+/A-
Notable People: Jonathan Letham
Title: Fortress of Solitude

Review –Wow- this guy is prolific- churning out existential novels of growing up in NYC. This is the third one I’ve read and each has been successively weirder- though not necessarily in a bad way. Letham is a Jewish New York John Irving type, in that the themes are constants in his books. Mothers disappearing, crackheads in Brooklyn or Queens, late 60s rock, Marvel comics and hapless fathers. Letham is VERY intellectual- so a lot of challenging verbage- but always interesting. This one has a lot of race relations, superheroes, escape to Vermont, escape to Berkeley and a mother disappearing to become a sort of Crab. It’s a long book and I found it hard to read a lot in one sitting- so has taken me about three weeks to finish. If you want a challenging writer with lot of weird shit and a novel 30 years in scope-to be read a bit at time- check it out, Letham also really knows his music scene- from the Village 60s folk scene to sixties soul music.

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+
Notable People: Patrick Modiano
Title: Missing Persons

Review – This is a very strange but intriguing book. Modiano won the Pulitzer Prize for his book “The Honeymooners” and I heard him referenced on NPR with a spectacular review. This book is dark- film noir like. Basic story is a of a man in 1960’s Paris trying to find his identity that he lost during the halcyon days on the Nazi occupation. It’s short and very dramatic read- best done in small segments. The story traces back to before the first world war-and, I must admit, left me a bit dazed and confused. Very well written with great English translation from the French. Short and worth a try

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+
Notable People: Jonathan Letham
Title: Dissident Gardens

Review – Letham is really interesting writer. If you grew up in the 50s-60’s or have been around someone who has a good deal, …and are a communist leaning, New York , Jewish intellectual…then this book is right up your alley. Depending on how many of those criteria you meet- may determine whether or not you appreciate this book. Letham writes from a very intellectual perspective- you practically need a dictionary/ thesaurus to get through his work, but a lot of wry humor and insights galore. Hard to describe what this story is about- but traces a set of characters over 40-50 years in the far left reaches of the time. Not much in the way of likeable characters- but they are interesting, and a vivid portrait of the times. No happy endings here…a challenging but worthy read.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-
Notable People: James Lee Burke
Title: Feast Day of Fools

Review –If you haven’t read Burke-shame on you. A living American master. He has written the magnificent Dave Robicheaux series, set in the Louisiana Bayou, for over 25 years. If you’ve read these –you are probably a big fan. In more recent years he started a companion series about an aged Texas lawman, Hackberry Holland- a Korean war vet whit countless demons in his closet, trying to come to grips with his life, his mortality and the world around him in his eighth decade. There are a lot of similarities between the two series- but mostly they are just really well written, suspenseful, and soulful stories of an America very few of us are really aware of. Burke is an American treasure and still going really strong is his 80s. Classic Americana in every sense of the word.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A+
Notable People: Carlos Luis Zafon
Title: Shadow of the Wind

Review –An absolute masterpiece! A book within a book within a book…the story takes place in Barcelona during and after the second world war- but traces backwards to the nineteen teens. Sweeping, dramatic, engulfing, rich characters, magnificently written. . The work of really great writer with an excellent translation. My book of the year.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-/B+
Notable People: Terry Kay
Title: Shadow Song

Review –I REALLY liked this book- but I may be skewed on this one. Writing is good- not great, but the story tugged at my heart strings. Georgia boy comes to the Catskills to be a waiter at one of the traditional resorts in mid 50s- meets rich Jewish girl- impossible future. Book lovingly portrays the culture of the classic Catskills as well as its decline. Filled with symbolism, and a very nice forty year love story at its heart. It made me weep at times but maybe that is because of my own mirrored experience. The back of the book had a rave review from Barbara Bush (Honest)- but I recommend it in spite of that.