Finished Mo 6/15/15
Semi-autobiographical novel about the author's real-life relationship with Jimmy Buffet's sister, Catherine in the book.
A real flair for language, and although the main character, Chet, is an over-the-hill rock musician, nothing is about music. He refers to his career as 'jumping out of an elephant's ass while dodging baseballs from an automatic pitcher.
Set primarily in the Florida Keys
He has a mental block that his father is dead, but in the final chapter he reappears
Friday, June 19, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO HIMSELF by David Ambrose
Finished Fr 6/12/15 (in a couple of days while reading Phil Lesh's autobiography)
This is one of my books that I first finished on Fr 9/30/94. Nothing was written on the flyleaf and I still agree that it was a nice idea, but forgettably executed.
Rick Hamilton/Richard A. Hamilton are the same man, but from parallel universes.
Rick is married to Anne and they have a young son, Charlie. Harold is Rick's best friend and lawyer.
Richard is Rick in the other universe and he is a slovenly real estate agent married to Anne, but no children. In this universe, she has an affair with Harold.
Emma is a blind therapist in Richard's world, but Charlie's nanny in another world (and, she can see!)
It's not all that difficult to follow, but far less than electrifying.
LInk to Amazon Books-
http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Turned-Into-Himself/dp/B003156CJ4
This is one of my books that I first finished on Fr 9/30/94. Nothing was written on the flyleaf and I still agree that it was a nice idea, but forgettably executed.
Rick Hamilton/Richard A. Hamilton are the same man, but from parallel universes.
Rick is married to Anne and they have a young son, Charlie. Harold is Rick's best friend and lawyer.
Richard is Rick in the other universe and he is a slovenly real estate agent married to Anne, but no children. In this universe, she has an affair with Harold.
Emma is a blind therapist in Richard's world, but Charlie's nanny in another world (and, she can see!)
It's not all that difficult to follow, but far less than electrifying.
LInk to Amazon Books-
http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Turned-Into-Himself/dp/B003156CJ4
Thursday, June 11, 2015
SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND- MY LIFE WITH THE GRATEFUL DEAD by Phil Lesh
Finished Th 6/11/15
I ordered this from Amazon and received it on 6/2. I had recently seen Bob Weir's documentary, THE OTHER ONE- THE LONG STRANGE TRIP OF BOB WEIR on Netflix and I was watching Youtube videos from Lesh's TERRAPIN CROSSING site.
The biography is ten years old, and I was hoping for more of an insight into the drug problems within the band. The Grateful Dead seems to get a pass from any serious scrutiny in that their disastrous history with drugs and alcohol is generally chalked up to experimentation or 60's 'mind expansion', and Lesh glosses over his 'Heineken Years'. The decimation of the band due to addiction is largely ignored, and defended because, 'nobody wanted to be a cop'. Most members of the Grateful Dead Production have fallen to alcohol and drug abuse , but the reader is left with a kind of positive impression that these guys were somehow special. I don't think that the facts bear this out. The depiction of Garcia at his most drug addled and depraved is a tragedy, and nothing was done to help him but to continue to tour and support the massive financial burden of the 'Dead Entourage'.
And, Jerry Garcia did NOT teach his cat to fetch and retrieve. Of all the Dead Folklore, this is the most unbelievable.
I have read other Dead bio's, and some of Lesh's observations seemed familiar. I know that I have read that Keith tended to 'ape' Garcia's solo work when he was deep into his alcoholic phase, and this was a major irritant to the band, and Lesh repeats this verbatim.
I was kind of aware of Bruce Hornsby's work with the Dead, but I had never heard of Vince Welnick who was a keyboard player in the band during the 90's. He played for The Tubes and Todd Rundgren.
Link to Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Sound-Life-Grateful-Dead/dp/B0009GV1KI
I'd read almost anything about the Dead, and I'd rate this one about a C Plus.
I ordered this from Amazon and received it on 6/2. I had recently seen Bob Weir's documentary, THE OTHER ONE- THE LONG STRANGE TRIP OF BOB WEIR on Netflix and I was watching Youtube videos from Lesh's TERRAPIN CROSSING site.
The biography is ten years old, and I was hoping for more of an insight into the drug problems within the band. The Grateful Dead seems to get a pass from any serious scrutiny in that their disastrous history with drugs and alcohol is generally chalked up to experimentation or 60's 'mind expansion', and Lesh glosses over his 'Heineken Years'. The decimation of the band due to addiction is largely ignored, and defended because, 'nobody wanted to be a cop'. Most members of the Grateful Dead Production have fallen to alcohol and drug abuse , but the reader is left with a kind of positive impression that these guys were somehow special. I don't think that the facts bear this out. The depiction of Garcia at his most drug addled and depraved is a tragedy, and nothing was done to help him but to continue to tour and support the massive financial burden of the 'Dead Entourage'.
And, Jerry Garcia did NOT teach his cat to fetch and retrieve. Of all the Dead Folklore, this is the most unbelievable.
I have read other Dead bio's, and some of Lesh's observations seemed familiar. I know that I have read that Keith tended to 'ape' Garcia's solo work when he was deep into his alcoholic phase, and this was a major irritant to the band, and Lesh repeats this verbatim.
I was kind of aware of Bruce Hornsby's work with the Dead, but I had never heard of Vince Welnick who was a keyboard player in the band during the 90's. He played for The Tubes and Todd Rundgren.
Link to Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Sound-Life-Grateful-Dead/dp/B0009GV1KI
I'd read almost anything about the Dead, and I'd rate this one about a C Plus.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
TROPICAL FREEZE by James W. Hall
Finished Sa 6/6/15
This is another of my books that I never got around to reading, but according to the flyleaf it was bought at west branch for a buck on Sa 6/15/07.
Thorn is building a house in the Florida Keys, and his FBI buddy, Gaeton, is murdered by a nitwit named Ozzie. Ozzie kills the agent because he thinks he's the boyfriend of Darcy, the local TV weather personality. But, he wasn't the boyfriend, but the brother. A stupid waste of a life.
Benn, a Nouveau-Rich criminal who is kind of working undercover is offering international criminals new identities (for a hundred grand), and then killing them on his property. The latter part is not sanctioned by his agency.
The novel is a kind of grizzly black comedy. Not bad, and I'd read another by Hall. I wonder if he might revisit some of these characters, I'd like that!
This is another of my books that I never got around to reading, but according to the flyleaf it was bought at west branch for a buck on Sa 6/15/07.
Thorn is building a house in the Florida Keys, and his FBI buddy, Gaeton, is murdered by a nitwit named Ozzie. Ozzie kills the agent because he thinks he's the boyfriend of Darcy, the local TV weather personality. But, he wasn't the boyfriend, but the brother. A stupid waste of a life.
Benn, a Nouveau-Rich criminal who is kind of working undercover is offering international criminals new identities (for a hundred grand), and then killing them on his property. The latter part is not sanctioned by his agency.
The novel is a kind of grizzly black comedy. Not bad, and I'd read another by Hall. I wonder if he might revisit some of these characters, I'd like that!
TELL NO ONE by Harlan Coben
Finished We 6/3/15
This was my first experience with Ebooks from the local library. I should have downloaded the novel to my Kindle, but it worked OK as an additional tab on Google Chrome (Galaxy tablet). I talked with one of the librarians and although she couldn't help me with my questions, I did sign up for a class at the library on Thursday, June 25th.
- Can I have a book on more than one device?
- How many of the books are on Kindle and how do I do it.
I streamed the French film the first of June, and I decided to read the book. The film is an excellent adaptation, however the ending is slightly different from the novel.
Dr. David Beck's wife was murdered eight years ago, and suddenly he is getting strange emails from someone who knows details of his life that only his wife would know. Is she still alive?
The mystery turns on a very rich man by the name of Scopes. His son Brandon, was a sexual predator and he was murdered by Dr. Beck when he attacked the doctor's wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth's father devised an elaborate cover-up so that he could protect his daughter and family. When Elizabeth contacts David, the secret is out, and Scope's assassins try to avenge the death of Brandon.
All of Coben's books are worth a look, and I definitely want to use Ebook in the future.
Link to the book at Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-No-One-A-Novel/dp/0440245907
This was my first experience with Ebooks from the local library. I should have downloaded the novel to my Kindle, but it worked OK as an additional tab on Google Chrome (Galaxy tablet). I talked with one of the librarians and although she couldn't help me with my questions, I did sign up for a class at the library on Thursday, June 25th.
- Can I have a book on more than one device?
- How many of the books are on Kindle and how do I do it.
I streamed the French film the first of June, and I decided to read the book. The film is an excellent adaptation, however the ending is slightly different from the novel.
Dr. David Beck's wife was murdered eight years ago, and suddenly he is getting strange emails from someone who knows details of his life that only his wife would know. Is she still alive?
The mystery turns on a very rich man by the name of Scopes. His son Brandon, was a sexual predator and he was murdered by Dr. Beck when he attacked the doctor's wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth's father devised an elaborate cover-up so that he could protect his daughter and family. When Elizabeth contacts David, the secret is out, and Scope's assassins try to avenge the death of Brandon.
All of Coben's books are worth a look, and I definitely want to use Ebook in the future.
Link to the book at Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-No-One-A-Novel/dp/0440245907
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