VIDA by Marge Piercy

 Finished Sa 11/1/25

This is one of my ancient trade paperbacks that I had never read.

I loved the book and I had never read anything like it. It really delved into the personal lives of the anit-war movement people in the late 60's and early 70's. 

Although the political objectives were explained it was more about the intimate lives of the people themselves. 

Vida is married (I guess 'estranged' from her husband. He's a leftist radio host living 'above ground' and she's 'underground'), but welcomes lovers of both sexes. And, I think that it's put in such a way that you could believe that she is striving for something that 'might work'. Vida is definitely revolutionary in her sexual choices. I loved the book.  

From THE SUNDAY TIMES-

"Many people consider Vida to be one of the most important American political novels. It may well be, but when I sat down to write this piece I realised that I don’t care about Vida’s politics. (I have an unhappy feeling that Piercy, best known for her feminist sci-fi classic Woman on the Edge of Time, would disapprove, mightily, and wouldn’t want to be friends with me.) Instead, I love this novel for the absorbing details of Vida’s life underground, and the unmatched character development, and the racing narrative, and the sumptuous, sparkling prose. It’s a powerhouse of a reading experience, and I’m wildly jealous of anyone who gets to read it for the first time.

It’s impossible — literally impossible — to read Vida without questioning your own existence. What if you had to run, right now? Who would you turn to and how would you contact them? I have spent untold hours speculating with my husband about emergency meeting plans in the unlikely event that I become a fugitive. We’ll meet in the café in Queens Park. Or we’ll have a “brush contact” in the tunnel under the Finchley Road — the tunnel is perfect because the slight curve prevents visibility from either end. We’ll meet the third Saturday of every month at the Science Museum (down near the Wonderlab in case he has the boys with him and needs to keep them entertained).

What would your life be like if basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and healthcare became nearly unobtainable luxuries? What if, like Vida, you had to deflect the sexual advances of those who offered you refuge without offending them? What if you had to watch from the shadows as your husband found a new love? What if you had to be constantly vigilant, never allowing yourself to relax totally with a good book or a glass of wine or a delicious meal (not that you could afford those things anyway)? What if you couldn’t visit your mother in hospital or call your sister just to hear the sound of her voice? How would you stay relevant personally and professionally while living a marginalised existence (a struggle still as real for many people today as it was five decades ago)?

It’s also impossible not to sympathise with Vida. Yes, the limits on her life are her doing, but Piercy’s character development is subtle and nuanced. There are throughout hints that Vida doesn’t believe her own propaganda. When her boyfriend suggests that they stop running and get a small house somewhere, Vida reminds him sharply that she didn’t go under to hide, she needs to remain politically active. Yet privately she’s “astonished at the wave of nostalgia” she experiences just thinking about it.

When Vida’s former husband marries his young girlfriend, Vida has a straight-up jealous meltdown about whether her embroidered Cretan tapestry is still hanging above their bed. She wants it back pronto, and never mind that she has nowhere to hang it. Yet Piercy doesn’t make Vida an antihero; she makes Vida a hero, the character whose fate matters most to the reader. And that, my friends, is a dazzling feat of novel writing.

Vida’s politics are questionable at best, her actions criminal, her justifications transparent, her sense of entitlement shocking, yet, oh, how I love her. I love her intelligence and her complexity and even her stubbornness (although she’s wrong about the armed struggle thing). I care about her the way I care about all my loved ones. I want her to find love and happiness and an undocumented yet fulfilling job that will allow her to buy a remote farmhouse with a large hot water tank (Vida loves baths) so she can drink coffee with cream every morning in her pyjamas in her very own kitchen.

If I sound a little possessive, it’s because Vida long ago burst from the confines of the novel and now lives her fringe existence in my world. I see her in every woman who hides her face behind a newspaper in a café, every woman who keeps her head turned towards the window on a bus. It’s not exaggerating to say that my life would be duller without Vida in it, that if I had never read this novel, the loss to my creative life would be incalculable. And that makes one thing very clear: Marge Piercy has talent to spare."

BREAD UPON THE WATERS by Irwin Shaw

 This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I finished on We 6/2/93. There was no comment on how I felt about the novel, but this time I really enjoyed it.

A few of the ideas are more than a little outdated, but the story was engaging. The treatment of heart attacks was positively mediveal. "Rest, naps, and absolutely No Stress". 

Basically, it's the story of a family that is befriended by a very rich man- Mr Russell Hazen. 

Father- Allen Strand

Wife- Leslie- misunderstood artist

Caroline- beautiful daughter/ Eleanor- competent, married to newspaper editor/ Jimmy- young music producer 

From Kirkus Reviews:

"The basic story is as familiar as TV's The Millionaire, as old as fairy tales about granted wishes: what happens to a reasonably happy, just-getting-by family when a chance encounter opens the doors to all sorts of experience and opportunity? The family is that of Manhattan public-school teacher Allen Strand, 50, who couldn't afford to be a historian and can't afford a vacation but otherwise is fairly content--with lovely wife Leslie (a piano teacher), tart daughter Eleanor (an ambitious businesswoman), guitar-playing son Jimmy. . . and tennis-playing Caroline, who one evening saves rich, powerful Wall St. lawyer Russell Hazen from muggers and brings the injured brahmin home for bandages and dinner. From that night on, lonely Hazen (estranged from his wife and daughters, guilty over the O.D. death of his homosexual son) gratefully adopts the Strands: he gives them concert tickets, invites them to his Long Island seaside manse, arranges for Caroline to get a scholarship to an Arizona college, introduces Jimmy to a music-biz titan, helps Eleanor's boyfriend to realize his dream of running a small-town newspaper. But soon--after Allen has a serious heart-attack while swimming at Hazen's--the benevolence turns sour: a recuperation trip to France is ruined by a nightmarish visit from the abusive Mrs. Hazen; Eleanor suddenly marries, moves to Georgia, and quickly faces real danger; Caroline (now with a beautifying, Hazensponsored nose job) becomes a freshman homewrecker; Jimmy turns into a ruthless showbiz clichÉ; Leslie starts spending time away from Allen in France, developing her artistic talent. ""The family was finished."" And, in the book's weakest subplot, Hazen (himself now falling apart) gets Allen a low-key private school job in Connecticut, also arranging a scholarship there for Allen's Puerto Rican protÉgÉ--an unconvincing genius-in-the-raw type who reads Gibbon but won't give up his violence. Throughout, then, the point is clear: ""opportunity is a two-edged weapon,"" fragmenting a family, bringing secrets to the surface (Allen learns that his family has always protected him from the truth), testing moral character. Unfortunately, however, to make that point, Shaw has filled this novel--his most serious book in years--with inconsistent characterizations and soap-operatic turns. And Strand, who ends up back where he started (but alone), is a fuzzy, if vaguely appealing, protagonist. Still, Shaw remains a genial, seductive storyteller, especially adept with money matters and comfy milieus." 

I enjoyed the book, but it really seemed to be stuck in the 70's and maybe that was the biggest part of it's appeal. 

UNNATURAL HISTORY by Jonathan Kellerman

 Finished Tu 10/14/25

This was a paperback that Janny loaned to me and it features 'Alex Delaware'.

I almost quit this one, but I kept going because it had one interesting idea. A photographer was using the homeless in LA ffor portraits. The first shot would be how they looked now, and the second picture was what they would look like if they were 'the person of their dreams'. Instead of homeless, they could be a doctor, explorer, astronaut, or president. 

Also, there is a subplot about a billionaire who is marrying woman, having one kid, and then divorcing. He would then go on to marry another woman and repeat the process. The reason for this behavior was never addressed. I guess he was 'just like that'.

A silly novel.... 

THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL by Greg Iles

Finished Tu 10/7/25

This is a very large paperback that Janny loaned to me and I really liked it. I just read 'THIRD DEGREE' by Iles and I liked this novel even more.

Set in Natchez, Mississippi and concerns a riverboat gambling operation that is laundering money and is also providing dog fighting and prostitution and this is highly illegal. The crime bosses are part of the Irish IRA and they are bankrolled by a Chinese billionaire.

There are lots of scenes that involve bloody dog fighting. I didn't know that it's even a felony to 'watch' one of these shows. 

From Bookbrowse.com:

 "As a prosecuting attorney in Houston, Penn Cage sent hardened killers to death row. But it is as mayor of his hometown -- Natchez, Mississippi -- that Penn will face his most dangerous threat. Urged by old friends to try to restore this fading jewel of the Old South, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez, like other Mississippi towns, has turned to casino gambling, and now five fantastical steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market at Natchez like props from Gone With the Wind.

But one boat isn't like the others.

Rumor has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas to its Mississippi backwater. And with them -- on sleek private jets that slip in and out of town like whispers in the night -- come pro football players, rap stars, and international gamblers, all sharing an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport -- and the dark vices that go with it. When a childhood friend of Penn's who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, the full weight of Penn's failure to protect his city hits home. So begins his quest to find the men responsible. But it's a hunt he begins alone, for the local authorities have been corrupted by the money and power of his hidden enemy. With his family's lives at stake, Penn realizes his only allies in his one-man war are those bound to him by blood or honor.

Together they must defeat a sophisticated killer who has an almost preternatural ability to anticipate -- and counter -- their every move. Ultimately, victory will depend on a bold stroke that will leave one of Penn's allies dead -- and Natchez changed forever.

After appearing in two of Iles's most popular novels, Penn Cage makes his triumphant return as a brilliant, honorable, and courageous hero. Rich with Southern atmosphere and marked by one jaw-dropping plot turn after another, The Devil's Punchbowl confirms that Greg Iles is America's master of suspense." ken

  

MY SECRET HISTORY by Paul Theroux

 This is one of my truly ancient paperbacks that I first completed (I didn't read the final selection) on We 3/10/93 and this time I finished on Mo 9/22/25. This time I loved it. It's one of the best novels that I can remember.

It's a biography of Andre Parent who is a fictional character, but it could be viewed as a 'fictionalized memoir' of Paul Theroux. He (both Andre and Paul) grew up in suburban Boston and went to Africa to teach English in the Peace Corps. Later he becomes a travel author (just like the author of the book) and becomes involved with numerous women. 

The way Theroux describes the women in his life seemed 'real'. The guy had a lot of women, but he was really honest in his feelings and they were never sentimental. 

From Publishers Weekly:

"With a title that brings to mind the memoirs of a great spy or double agent, Theroux ( The Mosquito Coast ; Riding the Iron Rooster ) reveals the secret life and divided loyalties that make up a writer's world. The result is a witty and wise portrait of a writer as he travels the globe searching for self-understanding. Even if his goal proves to be elusive, his journey is adventurous and the cast of characters first-rate. Andrew Parent is a man of secrets, never letting anyone get near his deepest thoughts. As an altar boy in a Boston suburb in the 1950s, Andrew's secrets are sexual and religious: his passion for half-Jewish Tina Spector and his friendship with alcoholic Father Furty cause a scandal. While the priests would like to suppress Andrew's budding sexual appetite, the rituals of the Catholic church are a spur to his imagination. Women are his greatest stimuli to FUNNY! write, but his romantic involvements occasion more problems than pleasure. His escapades during college with a rich married woman and a pretty student disillusion him about love, and convince him to hide his emotions completely. While in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, he indulges in a marathon sexual spree. Finally, he marries an Englishwoman who gives him the security to begin to write seriously, but nothing can cure his restlessness, his need for solitude, his jealousy and narcissism. It is only at the end of the novel that, by now middle-aged and a famous writer, Andrew learns to integrate his imaginative life with his married life. In his exploration of the ambiguities of love and art, Theroux has created a character so humorous and vital that we forgive his flaws." 

THE UP AND COMER by Howard Roughan

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I first read and finished on Sa 11/1/03. This time Fr 9/12/25

This is a first novel by the author and I really liked it. It's about a young lawyer who loves the ladies- including his friends wives. It's engaging and almost a satire.

From KIRKUS: 

"First-timer Roughan knocks one out of the park with this satisfyingly lean and propulsive thriller.

As the titular up-and-comer, Philip Randall narrates his story with an easy confidence that’s almost impossible to resist. A cocksure young lawyer at the Manhattan firm of Campbell & Devine, Randall’s just about reached the tipping point of complete, unalloyed success. His wife, Tracy, is acquiescent and from money, and his tough-as-nails boss, Jack Devine, has taken a shine to him. Not one to leave things as they are, though, Randall complicates matters by conducting a torrid affair with Jessica, wife to one of his friend Connor. The author deftly elides Randall’s hollow conscience by the casual callousness of the affair, never letting Randall slide into a caricature of an American Psycho–style Master of the Universe: he’s not a monster, he’s just a cold-hearted heel who really doesn’t care much about anything or anybody. Having drifted into law simply because it was something he could do and make money at, Randall is more believable a protagonist than the brainy, suited Supermen who populate so many legal thrillers. Roughan’s created such a compelling character that he wisely waits until almost halfway through the story before springing the trap.Tyler, one-time pothead and pseudo-friend of Randall’s from his prep-school days, pops back into his life unexpectedly with some upsetting news: He’s been following Randall and photographing his liasions with Jessica. The price for his silence: $100,000. From this point on, Roughan tightens the screws on Randall with steady, masterly skill. Randall’s sly cynicism is ground away by Tyler’s relentlessly sadistic hounding, slowly turning Randall into the kind of nervous wreck that he would have mocked from his once-lofty perch. The dénouement is classically noir, a penitence spoken with the grave, self-mocking humor of one brought low by his own arrogance.

An impressive debut."  

THIRD DEGREE by Greg Iles

Finished Mo 9/8/25

This is a paperback that Janny loaned me and one of the most thrilling novels I've read in a long time. It's a true page-turner and I loved it.

Basically, it's the story of a 'domestic/hostage' situation. A well respected doctor has barricaded his wife and two children in his home. He is demanding that his wife reveal to him the name of her lover. She denies that she has cheated, but she has. The lover is part of the rescue operation and he flies a helicopter. The doctor has a program that he is running on his wife's computer to uncover her passwords, so the clock is ticking.

I expected more of a 'legal thriller' from Iles, but this was just a well crafted story that keeps you riveted to the page. 

 From the book's page at Goodreads: "In the span of twenty-four hours, every-thing Laurel Shields believes about her life and her marriage to a prominent doctor will be shattered -- if she survives a terrifying ordeal. The day begins with the jarring discovery that, soon after ending an affair, Laurel is pregnant. But when she returns home to find her husband ashen, unkempt, and on the brink of violence, a nightmare quickly unfolds. In the heart of an idyllic Mississippi town, behind the walls of her perfect house, Laurel finds herself locked in a volatile standoff with a husband she barely recognizes. Confronted with evidence of her betrayal, she must tread a deadly path between truth and deception while a ring of armed police prepares a dangerous rescue. But Laurel's greatest fear -- and her only hope -- lies with her former lover, a brave man whom fate has granted the power to save both Laurel and her children -- if she can protect his identity long enough...."

The book's page at Publishers Weekly: "While not as twisty as True Evil (2006), bestseller Iles’s new thriller injects both depth and novelty into a genre convention—the jealous husband who’s tipped off to his wife’s infidelity. When Laurel Shields, a 35-year-old mother of two, discovers she’s pregnant, she can’t be sure her physician husband, Warren, is the father. Meanwhile, Warren is in trouble with the IRS. Laurel believes his obsessive search for a document in their Athens Point, Miss., home is related to a federal Medicaid fraud investigation focusing on his medical partner, Kyle Auster. As the Feds prepare to swoop down on Warren and Kyle’s office to collect the evidence of false billings and bribes to patients without any actual illnesses, Warren takes Laurel and their two children hostage. Iles squeezes every drop of suspense out of the prolonged standoff between the doctor and the police. While the ending may be a little too pat to be plausible, Iles avoids turning Warren into a clichéd bad guy by making his descent into madness understandable."