Finished Su 2/24/19- February, 2019 selection for the Contemporary Book Club
From the author's page on wikipedia-
"Maile Meloy (born January 1, 1972) is an American fiction writer. Born and raised in Helena, Montana, Meloy received a bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1994 and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine.
Meloy won The Paris Review's Aga Khan Prize for Fiction for her story, "Aqua Boulevard," in 2001;the PEN/Malamud Award for her first collection of short stories, Half in Love, in 2003;and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004. In 2007, Granta included her on its list of the 21 "Best Young American Novelists."
Her work has appeared in The New Yorker,and she is a frequent contributor to The New York Times."
She's know for The Apothecary Series Trilogy. Set in London 1952 in which a family from Los Angeles relocates to London. 14 year old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows. The two go on adventures together. Sounds like Young Adult.
Meloy is also the older sister of Colin Meloy, frontman of The Decemberists and author of The Wildwood Chronicles.
Liv and Nora are cousins, best friends, and both married with two children. They all live in Los Angeles and Liv decides that they all should take a Xmas 2 week cruise down the coast to Panama.
Nora's mother had died of pancreatic cancer during the summer and wanted something different for Xmas. When Nora was very young, her mother remarried and didn't want children around, so Nora lived with Liv's family. They were like sisters. Liv's mother was a top litigator from Colorado.
In Panama the children are separated from their parents and kidnapped by criminals. The book is about how this tragedy affects the families.
The writing style reminds me very much of Harlan Coben, although Meloy is more Young Adult.
CHARACTERS:
Live is married to Benjamin; 2 children, Penny (11) and Sebastian (8)
Liv is a movie exec and Benjamin is a architect and structural engineer
Sebastian has type 1 diabetes and blood sugar must be carefully monitored. He has a pump?
Nora and Raymond are married; 2 children, Marcus (11) and June (6)
Nora is a very beautiful blonde and Raymond is a Hollywood actor
Gunther and Camilla are an Argentinian couple that they meet on the cruise ship.
They have two children: Hector (15) and Isabel (14)
The younger children idolize these two siblings.
Noemi is a young girl from Ecuador whose grandmother can no longer take care of her. She is being illegally sent to New York to live with her parents.
Chuy is her uncle. He probably has gang affiliations and is heavily tattooed.
Consuela Bolanos is the wife of a drug mule for the gangsters. This woman is killed when she confronts the criminals and demands money for the death of her husband.
Pedro is the guide from the cruise ship that has a sexual encounter with Nora that causes the children to be separated from their mothers.
When the ship reaches Panama the men decide to go golfing. Gunther invites Raymond and Benjamin to play with his Panamanian friend. The wives and Camilla want to go zip lining. On the way to the zip line place they get into a bus accident. Pedro says they are near a beach so the group decides to go swimming. Pedro serves the adults a rum drink and he and Nora leave to 'look for birds'. Liv falls asleep, Nora engages in mastorbation with Pedro, and the children are swept down the river when the tide changes. This is where the kids meet some criminals. The criminals have just buried the husband of Consuela Bolanos so they can't rescue the kids or they would be nailed for the murder.
Maria is the maid for the criminal's house
Oscar is Maria's teenage son and he gets the kids out of the house
Ofelia is Maria's daughter. This girl died of a drug overdose.
Kenji Kirby and Angela Rivera are Panamanian police that try to locate the kids. Angela was picked because she was fluent in English, but not because she was familiar with hostage/ kidnapping cases.
''HUMBLEBRAG" an ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud.
Nora says that Penny is a humblebrag and deserves to be slapped because she comes across as excessively bossy. I had never heard this word before and I think it's an excellent descriptive expression.
Benjamin's insulin port/ line?
Marcus- excellent with geography and probably on the spectrum
Noemi- 10 yrs old. Parents had gone to NY for two years
ECUADOR
Chuy gave Nomei with pink stuffed pig. Maria gave the real bunny to the kids.
Angela Rivera was from the sex crimes unit; lesbian
Raul; crazy, killed small animals as child- salamanders?
George- went to Berkeley
Benjamin's parents are Jewish; bad experiences during WWII. Mother very over protective father indifferent.
.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019
ENTRIES FROM A HOT PINK NOTEBOOK by Todd D. Brown
Finished We 2/20/19
This is one of my old trade paperbacks that I first read over a couple of weeks during September of 2005.
This is a coming of age novel of a fourteen year old boy who lives on the wrong side of the tracks during the Reagan Years in rural Maine.
Ben's father is an alcoholic, often unemployed man who believes in 'traditional values'.
Plumbco is the local factory and this is where many of the town is employed. Ben's father and mother both have worked at this plant. However, when Ben's father is let go, he slips further into alcoholism.
Later in the story Ben's mother works at McDonald's to make ends meet.
Ben's mother is basically the head of the household and primary breadwinner. She had to drop out of high school because she was pregnant with Ben's older brother, Jeff.
Jeff is a senior at Chautauqua High School where Ben begins his freshman year. Jeff is good at sports, yet he does little or nothing scholastically. Jeff's father has convinced him that he is destined to get a scholarship and nothing can end this dream. But, it does.
Jeff learns that he is not accepted at any school and he decides to join the army. Jeff's father thinks it's a great idea (It will make a man of you) and convinces Jeff. His mother is not convinced.
Marsha is Jeff's girlfriend and she is very smart and loves Jeff. She has gotten a scholarship to Harvard and she refuses to accept her destiny which would be to stay in the town, swallow her dreams, and to have a large brood of children.
For nearly his whole life Ben has been close to Mag. They are very close friends, yet Mag wants more out of their relationship. Ben only tells her of his true nature after he has been outed at school.
Ben begins to deal with his homosexual feelings and finds himself very much attracted to his history teacher Mr. Mariner. This man is unaware of Ben's feelings, but Ben is shocked and dismayed when Mr. Mariner gets engaged and then married.
Aaron becomes the object of Ben's affection when this boy moves into the school district. Ben lives in Tranten Township, which is the wrong side of the tracks, and Aaron's family lives in the town of Lipton.
Ben's mother and father are progressive thinkers and they have lived the hippie lifestyle most of their adult lives.
Although when Aaron's parents learn of the nature of Ben and Aaron's relationship they move Aaron to another town. This ends Ben and Aaron's relationship.
Ben's grandmother lives in the house with Ben, Jeff, and his parents. This woman is deeply religious and wants Ben to accept Jesus and 'learn' to be straight. She arranges for Ben to attend a Christian summer camp.
The last part of the book is about Ben's experiences at this camp. Ben meets another boy, Peter, who is gay and is being abused by a bully, Vinnie.
I guess the point of this section is to allow Ben to come to terms with his gayness and to learn to stand up for himself. Vinnie is treated as a total negative character and almost a cartoon.
The novel ends when Ben's family picks him up from camp and he feels that he is ready for his sophomore year- 'wise fool'.
The novel is written as a journal. Ben bought a pink notebook at the beginning of his freshman year because this was the last one left at the local store.
In the final paragraph he muses that he might pick a different color for the coming year, but then he decides...."No...hot pink is good".
The novel is well written and Ben's outlook is wry and quite witty. Parts of the book are quite funny and this is an excellent coming of age tale. Although the point of the book is to highlight Ben's awakening gayness, he is also just like any other fourteen year old boy trying to handle the difficulties of growing up poor in a dysfunctional family.
This is one of my old trade paperbacks that I first read over a couple of weeks during September of 2005.
This is a coming of age novel of a fourteen year old boy who lives on the wrong side of the tracks during the Reagan Years in rural Maine.
Ben's father is an alcoholic, often unemployed man who believes in 'traditional values'.
Plumbco is the local factory and this is where many of the town is employed. Ben's father and mother both have worked at this plant. However, when Ben's father is let go, he slips further into alcoholism.
Later in the story Ben's mother works at McDonald's to make ends meet.
Ben's mother is basically the head of the household and primary breadwinner. She had to drop out of high school because she was pregnant with Ben's older brother, Jeff.
Jeff is a senior at Chautauqua High School where Ben begins his freshman year. Jeff is good at sports, yet he does little or nothing scholastically. Jeff's father has convinced him that he is destined to get a scholarship and nothing can end this dream. But, it does.
Jeff learns that he is not accepted at any school and he decides to join the army. Jeff's father thinks it's a great idea (It will make a man of you) and convinces Jeff. His mother is not convinced.
Marsha is Jeff's girlfriend and she is very smart and loves Jeff. She has gotten a scholarship to Harvard and she refuses to accept her destiny which would be to stay in the town, swallow her dreams, and to have a large brood of children.
For nearly his whole life Ben has been close to Mag. They are very close friends, yet Mag wants more out of their relationship. Ben only tells her of his true nature after he has been outed at school.
Ben begins to deal with his homosexual feelings and finds himself very much attracted to his history teacher Mr. Mariner. This man is unaware of Ben's feelings, but Ben is shocked and dismayed when Mr. Mariner gets engaged and then married.
Aaron becomes the object of Ben's affection when this boy moves into the school district. Ben lives in Tranten Township, which is the wrong side of the tracks, and Aaron's family lives in the town of Lipton.
Ben's mother and father are progressive thinkers and they have lived the hippie lifestyle most of their adult lives.
Although when Aaron's parents learn of the nature of Ben and Aaron's relationship they move Aaron to another town. This ends Ben and Aaron's relationship.
Ben's grandmother lives in the house with Ben, Jeff, and his parents. This woman is deeply religious and wants Ben to accept Jesus and 'learn' to be straight. She arranges for Ben to attend a Christian summer camp.
The last part of the book is about Ben's experiences at this camp. Ben meets another boy, Peter, who is gay and is being abused by a bully, Vinnie.
I guess the point of this section is to allow Ben to come to terms with his gayness and to learn to stand up for himself. Vinnie is treated as a total negative character and almost a cartoon.
The novel ends when Ben's family picks him up from camp and he feels that he is ready for his sophomore year- 'wise fool'.
The novel is written as a journal. Ben bought a pink notebook at the beginning of his freshman year because this was the last one left at the local store.
In the final paragraph he muses that he might pick a different color for the coming year, but then he decides...."No...hot pink is good".
The novel is well written and Ben's outlook is wry and quite witty. Parts of the book are quite funny and this is an excellent coming of age tale. Although the point of the book is to highlight Ben's awakening gayness, he is also just like any other fourteen year old boy trying to handle the difficulties of growing up poor in a dysfunctional family.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
"IN LINCOLN'S SHADOW- THE 1908 RACE RIOT IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS" by Roberta Senechal de la Roche
Finished Tu 2/19/19
I read an article in the Illinois Times a couple of weeks ago that named Springfield as one of the most segregated cities in Illinois and also the nation. This startling fact led me to 'The Springfield Race Riot of 1908'.
Although I was vaguely aware of the disturbance that occurred in Springfield in 1908, I had always thought that this incident was similar to the riots of the late 1960's where blacks felt that they had had enough and burned down their homes and businesses in rage and disgust. However, what happened in Springfield in 1908 was completely different.
The incident in Springfield was a concerted effort by the white majority to drive out all blacks from the city. Initially the riot was seen in a positive light and the newspapers posited that whites were 'reforming' the city and the dire moral situation left them no other choice but to forcibly take matters in hand.
The battle cry of the mob was, "Lincoln freed the niggers, and now we're gonna drive them out"!
After the Springfield Riot a few other cities experienced the same type of mob action, and the cry on their streets was...."'Give 'Em Springfield".
At peak times during the rioting of August 14th and 15th, 1908 there were two to five thousand whites on the streets of the city. In 1908 the population of Springfield was only around 50,000 so this means that a significant percentage of the white majority was either actively engaged in the mayhem or stood by and did nothing.
Much was made by the white majority of the 'moral depravity' in the downtown 'levee' section of the city. This was an area adjacent to the old courthouse where vice was allowed to flourish. Many blacks owned saloons and restaurants in this section of the city, and the licentious atmosphere was condoned by the city fathers because it was 'good for the business of tourism' and an area where state politicians could 'relax and have a good time'.
Because of the lawless nature of this area, it gave the white majority a locality to target their hatred of blacks. The Levee exemplified the duplicitous notion that blacks were 'shiftless, lazy, and perennially involved in criminal enterprises'. Although condoned by custom and local law, most whites felt that these blacks and their businesses should be forcibly removed- at any cost.
Also, successful and prominent blacks were targeted in other areas of the city during the mob action and their homes destroyed. Two black businessmen were lynched and the predominant feeling in the white community was that the reason for their downfall was that they were acting and comporting themselves 'as if they were as good as any white man'.
The Negro would be tolerated only if he 'knew his place' and passively accepted a subservient role in society. This sentiment was the dominant feeling in the white community and remained unchanged for the next several generations.
Joe James- a black man from Alabama who arrived in the city in June of 1908. He had hitched a ride on a railroad boxcar and was looking for work in the north. He was arrested for vagrancy after winning money from local blacks by playing pool. His new found companions alerted the authorities because they were mad at him for winning.
James spent some weeks in jail and was a model prisoner.
On the night of July 4th, 1908 he was drunk and walked from the levee to an area near 1135 North Ninth St. This was the home of Clergy Ballard, a wealthy white engineer. This man had ties to the railroad and The Springfield Watch Factory. He was well liked and a prominent figure in the nearly all white north end community.
His sixteen year old daughter, Blanche Clergy was awakened in her bed about 1am on the early morning of the fourth and claimed that there was 'a man in the room'. It was too dark to see who he was or whether he was black or white.
Clergy Ballard was awakened and confronted the intruder and chased him out of the house. In the fight that followed, Clergy was stabbed and later died of his injuries.
Friends of the Ballard's immediately scoured the neighborhood in search of the intruder and found Joe James passed out in a nearby yard. They immediately jumped to the conclusion that James was the man that had murdered Clergy Ballard. He was taken to the county jail at 7th and Jefferson.
The next incident that sparked the riot concerned a sexual crime between a black man and a white woman. Now there were two violent crimes that were racially motivated that occurred in the nearly all white north-end area of Springfield.
George Richardson was a black man who was identified by Mabel Hallam as the man who had raped her. William Earl Hallam was her husband and he was also a rich and influential figure in the white community. They also resided on the north-end at a home on north fifth street.
George Richardson was completely innocent of any charges. Mabel later admitted that she had lied about the rape to hide a sexual affair with a white man from her husband. Richardson had been working as a day laborer near their home and this is how she knew the man.
George Richardson was released weeks after the riot and was never compensated for his hardship. However, he did secure a janitorial position with the phone company and retired from Illinois Bell many years later.
On the afternoon of Friday August 14th these two violent crimes involving a black man and a prominent white family caused the city to explode into violence.
A mob formed in front of the county jail at 7th and Jefferson demanding that James and Richardson be hanged immediately. The sheriff asked a local white business owner if he would drive the prisoners to the Bloomington jail where they would be safe. The sheriff instructed the fire department to respond to a nonexistent fire hoping that this would divert the mob's attention so that they could get the prisoners safely away from the mob. The plan worked, but the crowd re-channeled their anger toward Harry Loper and his business. It was never known how the rioters learned that Harry Roper was the man responsible for saving Richardson and James.
Harry Loper was a restaurant owner in the 200 block of north fifth and he owned one of the first automobiles in Springfield. Loper had witnessed another race riot in another town years before and he didn't want to see that kind of mayhem again. This is the reason that he aided the authorities.
Another local business owner, Kate Howard was one of the most notable ringleaders of the mob and she was referred to as 'The Joan of Arc' of the rioters. She provoked the mob to burn Loper's car and then to destroy his restaurant. Both the car and the restaurant were reduced to rubble.
Kate Howard ran a cheap boarding house in the area and when later apprehended by police, she claimed that she was just going through the ruins looking for souvenirs, but she was actually stealing items from the restaurant that she could use at her boarding house.
Several weeks later, when she was brought to trial she took arsenic and died on the way to jail. Kate Howard was perplexed by the charges and was convinced that nothing would happen to her because the white citizens of the city would rally around her because she was only acting as 'a proud white american'.
On Saturday the rioters chose to seek out and destroy the homes of wealthy and successful black families. An 80 year old black man living near Spring and Edwards was lynched in front of his house. This wealthy black man was a long standing and highly regarded member of the community and married to a much younger white woman. His stature in the community and his interracial marriage were the likely reasons that he and his family were singled out.
A couple of grocery peddlers were familiar with where these influential blacks resided and were able to give this information to the ringleaders of the mob. One of these peddlers was named 'Humphry's', and I'm fairly sure that this man was a relative of the grocery store owner that continued to do business on the east side of Springfield into the 1990's.
Then a black barber who was attacked while protecting his shop and was lynched in front of his business.
'The Levee' was the area where the black businesses were attacked and destroyed. White businesses in the same area were saved. However, Fishman's Pawn Shop at sixth and Washington was looted and partially destroyed because the mob felt that this Jewish owner dealt primarily with blacks and needed to be stopped.
'The Badlands' an area boarded by 7th and 9th and Jefferson and Washington and was a slum where many blacks resided. This area was decimated, although white owners' homes were saved from destruction. White sheets were draped on white owned homes to alert the rioters to spare these houses. Today, this is the location of the Horace Mann Complex and directly behind The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. How very ironic!!!
Some months after the riot, all blacks employed by the police and fire departments were let go. Also, all blacks working for the city were terminated. This is the way the hiring practises remained for decades following the incident.
When I picked up the book at the library I also got a DVD that explained the riot of 1908. And, I also watched several YouTube videos that dealt with this most unusual racial incident.
I learned that fairly recently a ' Springfield Riot Walk' has been built in downtown Springfield to commemorate the race riot of 1908, and one of these days I want to 'walk the riot'.
I read an article in the Illinois Times a couple of weeks ago that named Springfield as one of the most segregated cities in Illinois and also the nation. This startling fact led me to 'The Springfield Race Riot of 1908'.
Although I was vaguely aware of the disturbance that occurred in Springfield in 1908, I had always thought that this incident was similar to the riots of the late 1960's where blacks felt that they had had enough and burned down their homes and businesses in rage and disgust. However, what happened in Springfield in 1908 was completely different.
The incident in Springfield was a concerted effort by the white majority to drive out all blacks from the city. Initially the riot was seen in a positive light and the newspapers posited that whites were 'reforming' the city and the dire moral situation left them no other choice but to forcibly take matters in hand.
The battle cry of the mob was, "Lincoln freed the niggers, and now we're gonna drive them out"!
After the Springfield Riot a few other cities experienced the same type of mob action, and the cry on their streets was...."'Give 'Em Springfield".
At peak times during the rioting of August 14th and 15th, 1908 there were two to five thousand whites on the streets of the city. In 1908 the population of Springfield was only around 50,000 so this means that a significant percentage of the white majority was either actively engaged in the mayhem or stood by and did nothing.
Much was made by the white majority of the 'moral depravity' in the downtown 'levee' section of the city. This was an area adjacent to the old courthouse where vice was allowed to flourish. Many blacks owned saloons and restaurants in this section of the city, and the licentious atmosphere was condoned by the city fathers because it was 'good for the business of tourism' and an area where state politicians could 'relax and have a good time'.
Because of the lawless nature of this area, it gave the white majority a locality to target their hatred of blacks. The Levee exemplified the duplicitous notion that blacks were 'shiftless, lazy, and perennially involved in criminal enterprises'. Although condoned by custom and local law, most whites felt that these blacks and their businesses should be forcibly removed- at any cost.
Also, successful and prominent blacks were targeted in other areas of the city during the mob action and their homes destroyed. Two black businessmen were lynched and the predominant feeling in the white community was that the reason for their downfall was that they were acting and comporting themselves 'as if they were as good as any white man'.
The Negro would be tolerated only if he 'knew his place' and passively accepted a subservient role in society. This sentiment was the dominant feeling in the white community and remained unchanged for the next several generations.
Joe James- a black man from Alabama who arrived in the city in June of 1908. He had hitched a ride on a railroad boxcar and was looking for work in the north. He was arrested for vagrancy after winning money from local blacks by playing pool. His new found companions alerted the authorities because they were mad at him for winning.
James spent some weeks in jail and was a model prisoner.
On the night of July 4th, 1908 he was drunk and walked from the levee to an area near 1135 North Ninth St. This was the home of Clergy Ballard, a wealthy white engineer. This man had ties to the railroad and The Springfield Watch Factory. He was well liked and a prominent figure in the nearly all white north end community.
His sixteen year old daughter, Blanche Clergy was awakened in her bed about 1am on the early morning of the fourth and claimed that there was 'a man in the room'. It was too dark to see who he was or whether he was black or white.
Clergy Ballard was awakened and confronted the intruder and chased him out of the house. In the fight that followed, Clergy was stabbed and later died of his injuries.
Friends of the Ballard's immediately scoured the neighborhood in search of the intruder and found Joe James passed out in a nearby yard. They immediately jumped to the conclusion that James was the man that had murdered Clergy Ballard. He was taken to the county jail at 7th and Jefferson.
The next incident that sparked the riot concerned a sexual crime between a black man and a white woman. Now there were two violent crimes that were racially motivated that occurred in the nearly all white north-end area of Springfield.
George Richardson was a black man who was identified by Mabel Hallam as the man who had raped her. William Earl Hallam was her husband and he was also a rich and influential figure in the white community. They also resided on the north-end at a home on north fifth street.
George Richardson was completely innocent of any charges. Mabel later admitted that she had lied about the rape to hide a sexual affair with a white man from her husband. Richardson had been working as a day laborer near their home and this is how she knew the man.
George Richardson was released weeks after the riot and was never compensated for his hardship. However, he did secure a janitorial position with the phone company and retired from Illinois Bell many years later.
On the afternoon of Friday August 14th these two violent crimes involving a black man and a prominent white family caused the city to explode into violence.
A mob formed in front of the county jail at 7th and Jefferson demanding that James and Richardson be hanged immediately. The sheriff asked a local white business owner if he would drive the prisoners to the Bloomington jail where they would be safe. The sheriff instructed the fire department to respond to a nonexistent fire hoping that this would divert the mob's attention so that they could get the prisoners safely away from the mob. The plan worked, but the crowd re-channeled their anger toward Harry Loper and his business. It was never known how the rioters learned that Harry Roper was the man responsible for saving Richardson and James.
Harry Loper was a restaurant owner in the 200 block of north fifth and he owned one of the first automobiles in Springfield. Loper had witnessed another race riot in another town years before and he didn't want to see that kind of mayhem again. This is the reason that he aided the authorities.
Another local business owner, Kate Howard was one of the most notable ringleaders of the mob and she was referred to as 'The Joan of Arc' of the rioters. She provoked the mob to burn Loper's car and then to destroy his restaurant. Both the car and the restaurant were reduced to rubble.
Kate Howard ran a cheap boarding house in the area and when later apprehended by police, she claimed that she was just going through the ruins looking for souvenirs, but she was actually stealing items from the restaurant that she could use at her boarding house.
Several weeks later, when she was brought to trial she took arsenic and died on the way to jail. Kate Howard was perplexed by the charges and was convinced that nothing would happen to her because the white citizens of the city would rally around her because she was only acting as 'a proud white american'.
On Saturday the rioters chose to seek out and destroy the homes of wealthy and successful black families. An 80 year old black man living near Spring and Edwards was lynched in front of his house. This wealthy black man was a long standing and highly regarded member of the community and married to a much younger white woman. His stature in the community and his interracial marriage were the likely reasons that he and his family were singled out.
A couple of grocery peddlers were familiar with where these influential blacks resided and were able to give this information to the ringleaders of the mob. One of these peddlers was named 'Humphry's', and I'm fairly sure that this man was a relative of the grocery store owner that continued to do business on the east side of Springfield into the 1990's.
Then a black barber who was attacked while protecting his shop and was lynched in front of his business.
'The Levee' was the area where the black businesses were attacked and destroyed. White businesses in the same area were saved. However, Fishman's Pawn Shop at sixth and Washington was looted and partially destroyed because the mob felt that this Jewish owner dealt primarily with blacks and needed to be stopped.
'The Badlands' an area boarded by 7th and 9th and Jefferson and Washington and was a slum where many blacks resided. This area was decimated, although white owners' homes were saved from destruction. White sheets were draped on white owned homes to alert the rioters to spare these houses. Today, this is the location of the Horace Mann Complex and directly behind The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. How very ironic!!!
Some months after the riot, all blacks employed by the police and fire departments were let go. Also, all blacks working for the city were terminated. This is the way the hiring practises remained for decades following the incident.
When I picked up the book at the library I also got a DVD that explained the riot of 1908. And, I also watched several YouTube videos that dealt with this most unusual racial incident.
I learned that fairly recently a ' Springfield Riot Walk' has been built in downtown Springfield to commemorate the race riot of 1908, and one of these days I want to 'walk the riot'.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
THE DECEIVERS by John D. MacDonald
Finished Tu 2/12/19
A 'one off' by the author of the Travis McGee series. I loved this story of suburban infidelity that's set in the late 1958's and written in 1958.
Suburban Connecticut (Crescent Ridge)
A three or four day sexual affair between Carl Garrett and Cindy Cable. The couples are nextdoor neighbors.
Joan is Carl's wife and Bucky is Cindy's husband.
THE PERFECT STORM:
Joan is to spend several days in the hospital with an operation somewhat like a hysterectomy. Their two teenage children are at a summer camp. Bucky owns a small plane and he crisscrossed the country for various business meetings and he will be gone for many days, and their two very young children are staying at Bucky's parents.
The first night that Joan is in the hospital, Carl goes nextdoor to check on Cindy and they have their first kiss.
They agree that it would be wrong to begin their sexual affair in their spouses homes, so Carl rents a motel room for three days in a motel off the interstate thirty miles away.
They both see Joan in the hospital, but spend the night together at the motel.
Carl works his executive job (that he hates) during the day. He is merely a humorous 'yes-man' and feels directionless and underutilized.
On the second day of the affair Cindy confesses to Carl that 'now is the time'. She feels that they are in love and it's time to tell their families and begin a new life.
Carl realizes that this is NOT what he wanted, and he sees that what he really wants is his routine family life and he begins to feel shame.
Cindy's marriage is in much worse shape and feels that her children are young enough so that they wouldn't be affected and Bucky is a 'mommy's boy', and wouldn't really miss her.
Cindy spends the days swimming in the pool. The motel manager is haughty and sees through the pretense that this is a young couple and the reason for their stay is that the interior of their house is being re-painted.
Carl continues to work but there are red flags on the job. One of his equals, calls him out about his lackadaisical attitude on the job.
Also, neighbors have noticed Cindy's absence and Bucky called late at night and got no answer on the phone. He phone a neighbor to knock on her door in the middle of the night, and got no answer. When Cindy gets on the phone with Bucky the next day, she says that she heard the banging, but thought it unsafe to answer the door in the early morning hours.
They awake on the third night together, look out the window, and Bucky is sitting on a chair by the pool.
Carl walks out of the room and they try to find a way for Cindy to leave through a window, but it can't be done. Cindy hides under the bed. Carl meets with Bucky and says he is with a woman from his office, but she has left. Bucky doesn't believe him because he's been watching the room since before dawn.
Bucky and Carl enter the room, and Cindy is discovered hiding under the bed. She is humiliated, and then Bucky begins to administer a savage beating to Carl. The room is damaged and Carl is pretty badly injured.
The motel owner calls a doctor, Dr. Kacharian who befriends Carl and is sympathetic to his predicament (up to a point).
Kach takes him to his home/ office and he stays over night. He also takes him a few miles a way to a small park with a foot bridge that he tells Carl that he can say that he fell from to explain his extensive injuries.
The next morning before Carl visits Joan in the hospital he talks with Cindy to find out what happened after he was knocked out in the motel room.
Cindy says that Bucky dragged her back to their home, forced her to strip, and then he beat her backside with a putter. She can't even sit down do to the extent of her injuries. She also overheard Bucky on a telephone call to his parents. His mother tells Bucky that he will always be welcome at his 'real home', and she will help him get custody of his two children.
Later in the day while Carl is at the hospital with Joan, he gets a call from Cindy saying that he should come to her house immediately. Joan is shocked, but still feels that all of them are 'best friends'.
Cindy is hysterical because she has learned that Bucky has crashed his small plane and was killed. When she called his parents to tell them of their son's death, his mother tells Cindy that they are aware of her affair and they will make it impossible for her to get custody of the kids.
Carl checks with a lawyer and weighs the pros and cons of Cindy's possible custody fight.
Nothing is mentioned of 'Domestic Abuse' because this concept didn't even exist in 1958.
Joan is brought home and still knows nothing of the affair.
Carl brings Joan to the small foot bride near the motel and tries to tell her the lie that he fell. He breaks down and admits to the truth.
Joan has looked down at the ground, and the novel ends as she raises her head to look him in the eye. You don't really know if their marriage can survive.
I loved the book, and I've got a Travis McGee book to read soon. 'THE DECEIVERS' and 'THE BRASS CUPCAKE' are two 'one off' novels that I've recently read and loved.
A 'one off' by the author of the Travis McGee series. I loved this story of suburban infidelity that's set in the late 1958's and written in 1958.
Suburban Connecticut (Crescent Ridge)
A three or four day sexual affair between Carl Garrett and Cindy Cable. The couples are nextdoor neighbors.
Joan is Carl's wife and Bucky is Cindy's husband.
THE PERFECT STORM:
Joan is to spend several days in the hospital with an operation somewhat like a hysterectomy. Their two teenage children are at a summer camp. Bucky owns a small plane and he crisscrossed the country for various business meetings and he will be gone for many days, and their two very young children are staying at Bucky's parents.
The first night that Joan is in the hospital, Carl goes nextdoor to check on Cindy and they have their first kiss.
They agree that it would be wrong to begin their sexual affair in their spouses homes, so Carl rents a motel room for three days in a motel off the interstate thirty miles away.
They both see Joan in the hospital, but spend the night together at the motel.
Carl works his executive job (that he hates) during the day. He is merely a humorous 'yes-man' and feels directionless and underutilized.
On the second day of the affair Cindy confesses to Carl that 'now is the time'. She feels that they are in love and it's time to tell their families and begin a new life.
Carl realizes that this is NOT what he wanted, and he sees that what he really wants is his routine family life and he begins to feel shame.
Cindy's marriage is in much worse shape and feels that her children are young enough so that they wouldn't be affected and Bucky is a 'mommy's boy', and wouldn't really miss her.
Cindy spends the days swimming in the pool. The motel manager is haughty and sees through the pretense that this is a young couple and the reason for their stay is that the interior of their house is being re-painted.
Carl continues to work but there are red flags on the job. One of his equals, calls him out about his lackadaisical attitude on the job.
Also, neighbors have noticed Cindy's absence and Bucky called late at night and got no answer on the phone. He phone a neighbor to knock on her door in the middle of the night, and got no answer. When Cindy gets on the phone with Bucky the next day, she says that she heard the banging, but thought it unsafe to answer the door in the early morning hours.
They awake on the third night together, look out the window, and Bucky is sitting on a chair by the pool.
Carl walks out of the room and they try to find a way for Cindy to leave through a window, but it can't be done. Cindy hides under the bed. Carl meets with Bucky and says he is with a woman from his office, but she has left. Bucky doesn't believe him because he's been watching the room since before dawn.
Bucky and Carl enter the room, and Cindy is discovered hiding under the bed. She is humiliated, and then Bucky begins to administer a savage beating to Carl. The room is damaged and Carl is pretty badly injured.
The motel owner calls a doctor, Dr. Kacharian who befriends Carl and is sympathetic to his predicament (up to a point).
Kach takes him to his home/ office and he stays over night. He also takes him a few miles a way to a small park with a foot bridge that he tells Carl that he can say that he fell from to explain his extensive injuries.
The next morning before Carl visits Joan in the hospital he talks with Cindy to find out what happened after he was knocked out in the motel room.
Cindy says that Bucky dragged her back to their home, forced her to strip, and then he beat her backside with a putter. She can't even sit down do to the extent of her injuries. She also overheard Bucky on a telephone call to his parents. His mother tells Bucky that he will always be welcome at his 'real home', and she will help him get custody of his two children.
Later in the day while Carl is at the hospital with Joan, he gets a call from Cindy saying that he should come to her house immediately. Joan is shocked, but still feels that all of them are 'best friends'.
Cindy is hysterical because she has learned that Bucky has crashed his small plane and was killed. When she called his parents to tell them of their son's death, his mother tells Cindy that they are aware of her affair and they will make it impossible for her to get custody of the kids.
Carl checks with a lawyer and weighs the pros and cons of Cindy's possible custody fight.
Nothing is mentioned of 'Domestic Abuse' because this concept didn't even exist in 1958.
Joan is brought home and still knows nothing of the affair.
Carl brings Joan to the small foot bride near the motel and tries to tell her the lie that he fell. He breaks down and admits to the truth.
Joan has looked down at the ground, and the novel ends as she raises her head to look him in the eye. You don't really know if their marriage can survive.
I loved the book, and I've got a Travis McGee book to read soon. 'THE DECEIVERS' and 'THE BRASS CUPCAKE' are two 'one off' novels that I've recently read and loved.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
THE DESERT ROSE by Larry McMurtry
Finished Fr 2/8/19
This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I bought at The Book House on Sa 12/4/93. That was the old house that was converted to a bookstore near St. Louis. I used to take the Shadow there many years ago. I finished the book the first time at The Club in July of 1994.
According to the prolog to the novel, McMurtry wrote this during his work on 'LONESOME DOVE'. This was his very long saga about an 1880's cattle drive from west Texas to Montana. He got a call from a Hollywood screen writer to ask if he might want to take a crack at a 'mother and daughter' story. McMurtry was happy to put the long cowboy book aside for a bit, and he was taken by the new project since it also dealt with 'characters who history had passed by'.
In 1880's America, the cowboys were a dying breed, and this new novel dealt with 'show girls'. These were Las Vegas women who were merely stage decoration. They stood and posed, barely covered in feathers and silk. Soon, they would be replaced by dancers and women who took a more active role in the presentations.
Harmony- mother and 'the prettiest show girl on the strip'- many years ago. She's 39, and her boss has told her it's time to leave the profession.
Ross- He's Pepper's father, but left the family fourteen years before. He and Harmony never bothered to get a divorce and Ross works as a light man in Reno.
Pepper- Harmony's sixteen year old daughter. She is 'now' the prettiest girl on the strip. She has been offered the understudy for the lead dancer in the show. Also, a very rich older man has asked to marry her.
Myrtle- an old woman who shares the townhouse with Harmony and Pepper. This is an isolated development far from the downtown strip. Myrtle drinks vodka and has a miniature goat, Maud, for company. Although in her sixties, she has two boyfriends. Wendell owns an Amaco station, and he isn't aware of Myrtle's other friend, Bobby. He's a very sad and tired , yet sensible man.
Mel- a very wealthy man who is basically a recluse. He loves photography and takes 'semi porn' shots of the local kids. This is how Pepper meets him. He loves Pepper and will give her all the freedom she needs. It's kind of a creepy relationship, and I'm not sure what the reader is supposed to feel about this couple.
Gary- He is one of Harmony's closest friends and confidants. He is a gay man who works with the showgirls as a stage manager and develops their costumes.
Madonna- This woman is Pepper's ballet teacher. This is an older woman who believes that Pepper has a real shot of being a world-class ballerina. She had a career in dance, but now is a teacher and probably in her late fifties or early sixties.
Jackie Bonventre- He is the boss of the show. He does the hiring and firing. He wants to let Harmony go, and he doesn't want a show in which a mother and daughter share the same stage. Maybe the villain of the novel, but in a way he's just a businessman giving the customers what they want.
Buddy- Pepper's immature, yet very handsome boyfriend. He's very rich and spoiled- drives a Cadillac and is given almost anything he wants from his rich, but absent parents.
Woody- A very fat pinball wizard who is a close friend of Pepper's. She confides in this boy, but they're not romantically involved.
After Harmony is let go as a showgirl, she begins talking with Ross. He invites her to be a hostess in Reno and in the end of the book Harmony leaves Vegas and there's a chance that she will continue her marriage with Ross.
I liked the novel as it was kind of a light read, and an interesting look at a mother and daughter who are in a strange relationship. In many ways Pepper is more mature than her mother, Yet, I wonder what this relationship will be like in years to come. Will Pepper become more mature emotionally. She is very self-centered, but she is 'the prettiest woman on the strip', but nothing is forever.
This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I bought at The Book House on Sa 12/4/93. That was the old house that was converted to a bookstore near St. Louis. I used to take the Shadow there many years ago. I finished the book the first time at The Club in July of 1994.
According to the prolog to the novel, McMurtry wrote this during his work on 'LONESOME DOVE'. This was his very long saga about an 1880's cattle drive from west Texas to Montana. He got a call from a Hollywood screen writer to ask if he might want to take a crack at a 'mother and daughter' story. McMurtry was happy to put the long cowboy book aside for a bit, and he was taken by the new project since it also dealt with 'characters who history had passed by'.
In 1880's America, the cowboys were a dying breed, and this new novel dealt with 'show girls'. These were Las Vegas women who were merely stage decoration. They stood and posed, barely covered in feathers and silk. Soon, they would be replaced by dancers and women who took a more active role in the presentations.
Harmony- mother and 'the prettiest show girl on the strip'- many years ago. She's 39, and her boss has told her it's time to leave the profession.
Ross- He's Pepper's father, but left the family fourteen years before. He and Harmony never bothered to get a divorce and Ross works as a light man in Reno.
Pepper- Harmony's sixteen year old daughter. She is 'now' the prettiest girl on the strip. She has been offered the understudy for the lead dancer in the show. Also, a very rich older man has asked to marry her.
Myrtle- an old woman who shares the townhouse with Harmony and Pepper. This is an isolated development far from the downtown strip. Myrtle drinks vodka and has a miniature goat, Maud, for company. Although in her sixties, she has two boyfriends. Wendell owns an Amaco station, and he isn't aware of Myrtle's other friend, Bobby. He's a very sad and tired , yet sensible man.
Mel- a very wealthy man who is basically a recluse. He loves photography and takes 'semi porn' shots of the local kids. This is how Pepper meets him. He loves Pepper and will give her all the freedom she needs. It's kind of a creepy relationship, and I'm not sure what the reader is supposed to feel about this couple.
Gary- He is one of Harmony's closest friends and confidants. He is a gay man who works with the showgirls as a stage manager and develops their costumes.
Madonna- This woman is Pepper's ballet teacher. This is an older woman who believes that Pepper has a real shot of being a world-class ballerina. She had a career in dance, but now is a teacher and probably in her late fifties or early sixties.
Jackie Bonventre- He is the boss of the show. He does the hiring and firing. He wants to let Harmony go, and he doesn't want a show in which a mother and daughter share the same stage. Maybe the villain of the novel, but in a way he's just a businessman giving the customers what they want.
Buddy- Pepper's immature, yet very handsome boyfriend. He's very rich and spoiled- drives a Cadillac and is given almost anything he wants from his rich, but absent parents.
Woody- A very fat pinball wizard who is a close friend of Pepper's. She confides in this boy, but they're not romantically involved.
After Harmony is let go as a showgirl, she begins talking with Ross. He invites her to be a hostess in Reno and in the end of the book Harmony leaves Vegas and there's a chance that she will continue her marriage with Ross.
I liked the novel as it was kind of a light read, and an interesting look at a mother and daughter who are in a strange relationship. In many ways Pepper is more mature than her mother, Yet, I wonder what this relationship will be like in years to come. Will Pepper become more mature emotionally. She is very self-centered, but she is 'the prettiest woman on the strip', but nothing is forever.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
'THE TROUBLED MAN' by Henning Mankell
Finished Mo 2/4/19
This is one of two Henning Mankell novels that I ordered on Amazon a few weeks ago. This was a hardback library copy (discarded from The Sonoma County, CA Library). This is the last book in the Kurt Wallander series.
I learned at the 'Feb 3rd' page at Wikipedia (I was checking out famous people that were born on my birthday: Pretty Boy Floyd/ Frederick Mendelsohn) that Mankell and I were both born on Feb 3rd, although he was born in 1948 and died of lung and throat cancer in 2015. In his later life, he lived both in Sweden and Mozambique where he ran a theater that staged plays and operatic performances that were budget priced.
This is the last installment of the Kurt Wallander series. The last paragraph of the book informs the reader that within a couple of years Wallander slips into the abyss of dementia. I wish that there was at least one more episode because I think that would have been very interesting to have a detective that was dealing with memory loss. It might be more of a procedural burden than Mathew Scudder's problems with alcohol.
PLOT NOTES:
Kurt's adult daughter has a partner, Hans, and gives birth to Kurt's grand-daughter, Karla. Hans is an investment banker in Copenhagen. They live near Ystad and Han's drives over an hour to work. Kurt has finally moved from the city and he lives in an isolated small house near the sea.
Hakan and Louise Von Enke are Hans's parents. Hakan is a retired naval commander and Louise is a homemaker. Kurt is invited to Hakan's 75th birthday party and he pulls Kurt aside to talk to him. He seems distracted, nervous, and was possibly being followed. He is the 'troubled man' of the title, but ironically it could also apply to Kurt.
Hakan has extreme anti-Soviet views and sees America and NATO has Sweden's only hope for political safety.
Hakan disappears and within a week or so, Louise is also missing.
Later Louise's body is found. It seems that she had committed suicide, but Kurt contacts someone he knew that specialized in drugs used by the East Germans. This man identified the drug found in Louisie's body and says that this was used to kill people and make it look as a suicide.
After questioning several of Hakan's friends and co-workers Kurt tracks Hakan to an isolated small island where Hakan was hiding in a hunting cabin. He claims that he was on the run from persons unknown but he suspects that his wife, Louise, had been a spy for the Russians. He claims that over the years (decades- this began during the sixties) various papers appeared to be disturbed in his safe.
The big reveal is that Louise is not a spy for the Russians, but Hakan was a spy for the Americans and he set Louise up as his cover.
In the climax to the novel Kurt and Hakan's best friend travel to the hunting cabin and confront Hakan. The friend hides near a window and listens to the exchange. Hakan admits to Kurt what was really going on and then pulls a gun and shoots himself in the head, but the wound is not fatal. Kurt leaves the cabin to try to contact emergency services. The friend enters the cabin, shoots Hakan again and kills him, and then he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.
Kurt leaves the island but conceals his part in the suicide pact. He lets the authorities figure it out, but he has erased his connection to the crime.
He spends the next several months writing down exactly what and how the 'spy ring' and murder operated. He will send this anonymously to the authorities. This is Kurt's last work.
The book ends with a short and very sad paragraph:
"After that this is nothing more. The story of Kurt Wallander is finished, once and for all. The years-ten, perhaps more- he has left to live are his own. His and Linda's, his and Klara's; nobody else's. "
There are quite a few loose ends to the plot and they are mentioned in the final chapter of the book, but never explained. Kurt was dealing with secret spy organizations of the Russians and the Americans and it's expected that they would cover their tracks very well.
I loved the book (and the series) and I want to read them all. And maybe I'll see if I can watch some of the movies and television series that are based on the Wallander books. Kenneth Branagh plays Wallander in the English version and there is a Swedish Kurt as well.
This is one of two Henning Mankell novels that I ordered on Amazon a few weeks ago. This was a hardback library copy (discarded from The Sonoma County, CA Library). This is the last book in the Kurt Wallander series.
I learned at the 'Feb 3rd' page at Wikipedia (I was checking out famous people that were born on my birthday: Pretty Boy Floyd/ Frederick Mendelsohn) that Mankell and I were both born on Feb 3rd, although he was born in 1948 and died of lung and throat cancer in 2015. In his later life, he lived both in Sweden and Mozambique where he ran a theater that staged plays and operatic performances that were budget priced.
This is the last installment of the Kurt Wallander series. The last paragraph of the book informs the reader that within a couple of years Wallander slips into the abyss of dementia. I wish that there was at least one more episode because I think that would have been very interesting to have a detective that was dealing with memory loss. It might be more of a procedural burden than Mathew Scudder's problems with alcohol.
PLOT NOTES:
Kurt's adult daughter has a partner, Hans, and gives birth to Kurt's grand-daughter, Karla. Hans is an investment banker in Copenhagen. They live near Ystad and Han's drives over an hour to work. Kurt has finally moved from the city and he lives in an isolated small house near the sea.
Hakan and Louise Von Enke are Hans's parents. Hakan is a retired naval commander and Louise is a homemaker. Kurt is invited to Hakan's 75th birthday party and he pulls Kurt aside to talk to him. He seems distracted, nervous, and was possibly being followed. He is the 'troubled man' of the title, but ironically it could also apply to Kurt.
Hakan has extreme anti-Soviet views and sees America and NATO has Sweden's only hope for political safety.
Hakan disappears and within a week or so, Louise is also missing.
Later Louise's body is found. It seems that she had committed suicide, but Kurt contacts someone he knew that specialized in drugs used by the East Germans. This man identified the drug found in Louisie's body and says that this was used to kill people and make it look as a suicide.
After questioning several of Hakan's friends and co-workers Kurt tracks Hakan to an isolated small island where Hakan was hiding in a hunting cabin. He claims that he was on the run from persons unknown but he suspects that his wife, Louise, had been a spy for the Russians. He claims that over the years (decades- this began during the sixties) various papers appeared to be disturbed in his safe.
The big reveal is that Louise is not a spy for the Russians, but Hakan was a spy for the Americans and he set Louise up as his cover.
In the climax to the novel Kurt and Hakan's best friend travel to the hunting cabin and confront Hakan. The friend hides near a window and listens to the exchange. Hakan admits to Kurt what was really going on and then pulls a gun and shoots himself in the head, but the wound is not fatal. Kurt leaves the cabin to try to contact emergency services. The friend enters the cabin, shoots Hakan again and kills him, and then he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.
Kurt leaves the island but conceals his part in the suicide pact. He lets the authorities figure it out, but he has erased his connection to the crime.
He spends the next several months writing down exactly what and how the 'spy ring' and murder operated. He will send this anonymously to the authorities. This is Kurt's last work.
The book ends with a short and very sad paragraph:
"After that this is nothing more. The story of Kurt Wallander is finished, once and for all. The years-ten, perhaps more- he has left to live are his own. His and Linda's, his and Klara's; nobody else's. "
There are quite a few loose ends to the plot and they are mentioned in the final chapter of the book, but never explained. Kurt was dealing with secret spy organizations of the Russians and the Americans and it's expected that they would cover their tracks very well.
I loved the book (and the series) and I want to read them all. And maybe I'll see if I can watch some of the movies and television series that are based on the Wallander books. Kenneth Branagh plays Wallander in the English version and there is a Swedish Kurt as well.
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