Category: Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: Jim Harrison

Title: The Ancient Minstrel

Review: Jim Harrison is the undisputed King of the Novella form. From is early efforts with Legends of the Fall through his death a few years ago, he continued to find maybe his greatest strength as a writer in this medium. This volume, written a few years before his death, pretty much sums up all his lifetime writing themes. The first story, set in Montana, is most clearly his own- dealing with his aging and swan song (the ancient minstrel), the second is one of those famous stories, for which he became mush acclaimed, told from a first person woman’s point of view and in the third he brings back one of his infamous UP (Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan) characters- the retired lecherous detective, Sunderson (no first name!) . I absolutely love these stories and have great sorrow that there will be no more. These are perfect for late winters afternoon reading.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: John Clarkson

Title: Bronx Requiem

Review: Wow…this one is barn burner. This is apparently a series featuring James Beck- former convict in the NY penal system- a pretty tough guy, wrongly accused for killing a cop, who gets his conviction overturned after eight hard years in the joints and sets out with his crew to make things right for ex-cons. a kind of Robin Hood crew of ex-cons who do a lot of good things and lot of very bad things to bad people. I could not put this book down even though I would not say the writing is “A” caliber. But the story is fast paced and tantalizing, the characters are great and the guy knows the Bronx- every inch of it. Certainly an escapist read…but I’m going for more.

Genre: Book

Grade: A+

Notable People: Paul Auster

Title: Brooklyn Follies

Review: Paul Auster is an absolute gem…a treasure…I try to sparse out my readings of his substantial catalog so as not to take these excellent books for granted. Many of Auster’s’ catalog of writings are very dark and morbid, but he may be having a change of life as I found this beautiful book to be quite uplifting and energizing. Aging man comes to Brooklyn from his life in the Burbs to get ready to die and finds family and renewal in a quirky set of characters and circumstances. I found the protagonists- Uncle Nat- to be downright heroic. Doesn’t hurt that there is a wonderful road trip to Vermont thrown in to the mix. Read Auster….soon.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: CJ Box

Title: The Highway

Review: Box is a rare bird. A genre writer (Crime fiction-Dark)…who is really just a very fine writer- regardless of chosen genre. His beloved Montana really shines in all his books as a co-star. I have been reading his game warden Joe Plunket series for years- but this is newer more recent thread of a series- focusing on a couple of deputy sheriffs in a corrupt department in central Montana. Box does one of the most unusual things you will find in literature in this one…a shocker…though I’m not seeing what. Awfully good read about the case to stop a serial killer that I polished off in a few nights. Rustic!

Genre: Book

Grade: B/B+

Notable People: Carl Hiassen

Title: Double Whammy

Review: This is one whacked out book- featuring the author’s favorite muse: the former and missing governor of Florida- now calling himself Skink and living in the depths of the Everglades on fresh roadkill. which gives you the ides of the whole book. Hiassen is a South Florid legend and his sense of the area is quite remarkable. Being in the Keys myself, at the moment, it is an excellent place to read one of his farfetched and over the top stories. He seems to walk a straight line between the eccentricity of Tom Robbins and the hard boiled romantic prose of his hero, John D. McDonald (the Travis McGee creator). This is one in a long line of whirlwind books he has produced and a decent thrill ride, though the deeply entrenched sense of irony gets to be a bit much for 500 pages. Best to read in the South Florida sun!

Genre: Book

Grade: B

Notable People: Jessica Keener

Title: Strangers in Budapest

Review: This was a shot in the dark choice for me…found it on the rack with the local “librarian’s choice recommendations” and liked the name of the book. It is an interesting first novel- set in Budapest in recent times. The story is chronicled from the eyes of two characters: Edward a sickly 76 year old man in Hungary to avenge what he believes was the murder of his daughter before he dies himself. And, Annie- a thirty something wife of an intent entrepreneur who has randomly gone to Hungary with her young child – to support her husband’s thirst to make his own success in the ever expanding world of internet communications. The story is compelling and the flashbacks are pretty informative, but it does not hold together all that well, and seems overly dramatic and poorly written in spots. Still, I got pretty engaged in it and finished it in a number of days. The setting of the story, which was well executed, contributed a lot to that.

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: Paul Kix

Title: The Saboteur

Review: I very rarely read non-fiction, but saw a review of this in the NY times book review and since I had just finished several WWII era novels- was intrigued. It is the story of Robert de La Rochefoucauld (pro. Roke- Foo- Coo)- a French resistance fighter (resistante) during the war who was known as the aristocrat who became France’s “most daring anti-Nazi commando”. Absolutely fascinating story of the French underground and its impact on the war. I was riveted by it. Gave it an “A” even though a bit slow at times and maybe not the best ever written book….but such a story! This man was a true hero of the 20th century. Relatively short read.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-

Notable People: Martha Hall Kelly

Title: The Lilac Girls

Review: Completely engrossing true story of three women living lives dramatically altered by the world war two experience. The most main character, Caroline Ferriday, was an extraordinarily courageous woman who organized help for Nazi- displaced French children through the French embassy in New York and later became involved with the “Rabbits”- the group of mostly Posh women who were tortured and endured deforming and often fatal medical experiments at the Ravensbrauck concentration camp. The book follows Caroline and two other woman: Kasia- a Polish woman hauled off to the camp by the Nazis at the outset of the war, and, Herga, a young German doctor who became the only woman doctor involved in these horrible Himmler-driven medical experiments at the camps. The book follows the three in alternate chapters from the pre-war fright of ate late 30s through the cold war peak in the late fifties. Maybe not brilliantly written, but an incredibly well researched and thought out story..…I did not want this one (a Christmas gift from my daughter ) to end. mandatory reading in these times- in my book.