ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT by Susan Isaacs

 Finished Mo 7/25/22

This is one of my new books that I ordered on Amazon because I loved 'LILY WHITE' by Isaacs. I received the novel on Sa 7/16/22.

Amy Lincoln is a successful young woman who has never been able to accept the fact that her mother abandoned her when she was only ten months old. Her maternal grandmother raised her and her father was in and out of prison. 

She finally confronts the woman and the big 'reveal' is that mom had never been worth the effort. She meets the woman and realizes that mom actually was a shallow and selfish person, so she ended the relationship. 

Susan Isaacs is a great writer and her books are funny, witty, and insightful. 

From the book's page at GoodReads:

"Amy was barely born with a spoon in her mouth let alone a silver one. Her mother abandoned her before her first birthday and her father, a small-time crook, was in jail more time than he was out. Raised by her flaky and slightly felonious grandmother, Amy worked hard and managed to get scholarships to boarding school, then Harvard, then the Columbia School of Journalism. But now -- a few years into her stint as a reporter for a prestigious magazine -- she doesn't know who she is or how to connect with the world. Seeking answers, she sets out to find the mother she never knew...and maybe a place to belong."

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Publisher's Weekly

A political reporter in her late 20s goes in search of the mother who abandoned her when she was a baby in this jaunty if rather jerky 10th novel by Isaacs (Long Time No See; Red, White, and Blue; etc.). Amy Lincoln was brought up in the projects by her Grandma Lil, a leg waxer and devoted Falcon Crest viewer; her amiable father, Chicky, spent most of Amy's childhood in prison on a series of minor theft raps. A boarding school scholarship rescues Amy from lower-class oblivion; she goes on to Harvard and Columbia, then lands a job at In Depth, a highbrow weekly. Upbeat and self-deprecating, Amy spends little time bemoaning her past, but an encounter with college student Freddy Carrasco, who claims he's the illegitimate son of a Democratic presidential candidate, gets Amy wondering where her own mother might be. While advising Freddy how to approach his father, she uses her reporting skills to track down her elusive mother. The political subplot is anticlimactic Amy doesn't even get a scoop and Amy's eventual reunion with her mother, revealed to be a chilly suburban housewife, is credibly if rather disappointingly subdued. The parade of lavishly and loopishly described secondary characters and gossipy New York scene-setting give the novel its zing; Amy's rocky relationship with her documentary filmmaker boyfriend provides a jolt of romantic excitement and a happy ending. Agent, Owen Laster. (Oct. 5) Forecast: This might not do as well as Isaacs's last novel, Long Time No See, which reintroduced popular Isaacs protagonist Judith Singer, but a major marketing campaign including heavy promotion in the New York area and a seven-city author tour should help it hit some bestseller lists. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information."

KINDRED by Octavia E. Butler

Refinished Th 7/22/22

This was one of my ancient paperback books and according to the flyleaf I 'began & finished on Sa 12/19/93.

A young California woman from 1976 (the book was published in 1979) is 'magically' (the mechanics of the 'time travel' is never explained) transported back to Maryland of the early eighteen hundreds. The young woman is black and her husband is white.

The novel highlights the psychological differences of existing in a society without slavery and one that does. I think this would be an excellent book to recommend to high school age students. I really liked the book.

From the novel's page at Wikipedia:

"Kindred is a novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler that incorporates time travel and is modeled on slave narratives. First published in 1979, it is still widely popular. It has been frequently chosen as a text for community-wide reading programs and book organizations, as well as being a common choice for high school and college courses.

The book is the first-person account of a young African-American woman writer, Dana, who finds herself being shunted in time between her Los Angeles, California home in 1976 and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. There she meets her ancestors: a proud black freewoman and a white planter who has forced her into slavery and concubinage. As Dana's stays in the past become longer, the young woman becomes intimately entangled with the plantation community. She makes hard choices to survive slavery and to ensure her return to her own time.

Kindred explores the dynamics and dilemmas of antebellum slavery from the sensibility of a late 20th-century black woman, who is aware of its legacy in contemporary American society. Through the two interracial couples who form the emotional core of the story, the novel also explores the intersection of power, gender, and race issues, and speculates on the prospects of future egalitarianism.

While most of Butler's work is classified as science fiction, Kindred is considered to cross genre boundaries. It has been classified also as literature or African-American literature. Butler has categorized the work as "a kind of grim fantasy."

The link to 'KINDRED' on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindred_(novel)

 

NELSON ALGREN: A Life on the Wild Side by Bettina Drew

 Refinished Sa 7/16/22

This is one of my old trade paperbacks that I bought at The Old Book Barn on Sa 6/1/96 and according to the note on the flyleaf that I finished on Sa 8/3/96 "in 2 days".

Best known for his 1949 novel, 'THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM'. I ordered this book from Amazon and I remember seeing the movie (Frank Sinatra, Arnold Stang), but I don't think I've read the novel.

Also, famous for his sexual affair with Simone de Beauvoir (THE SECOND SEX). They were friends and lovers for decades, yet Jean-Paul Sartre was the true love of her life.

Born in Detroit, but spent most of his life in Chicago.

He attended the University of Illinois at Champaign, Il. during the roaring twenties. I found it odd that all he wished for during his 'riding the rails' phase during the 20's was not to get 'conned' by all the shady characters that he was hanging around with. 

Algren is known as an author of the 30's and 40's who couldn't adjust to the changing times. When he went to Vietnam during the sixties to cover the war he got involved with smuggling items from the PX. He failed at this and was beaten up by other thieves. 

Nelson Algren (3/28/1909- 5/9/1981)

A THIN DARK LINE by Tami Hoag

 Finished We 7/6/22

This is a relatively new paperback that I bought at the library book sale on Sa 1/11/20. I recently read another novel by Hoag and I am going to loan both books to Janny. She and Joe are supposed to drop by tomorrow with some home-grown zucchini.  

Tami Hoag is more of a storyteller than a writer, but she presents a beguiling tale. My only fault is that it might come across as a little too romantic, but I think that's what she's going for. 

Set in Set in Bayou Breaux, Louisiana which would be just east of Lafayette, LA.

From GoodReads:

"A suspected murderer is free on a technicality, and the cop accused of planting evidence against him is ordered off the case. But Detective Nick Fourcade refuses to walk away. He’s stepped over the line before. This case threatens to push him over the edge.

He’s not the only one. Deputy Annie Broussard found the woman’s mutilated body. She still hears the phantom echoes of dying screams. She wants justice. But pursuing the investigation will mean forming an alliance with a man she doesn’t trust and making enemies of the men she works with. It will mean being drawn into the confidence of a killer. For Annie Broussard, finding justice will mean risking everything—including her life.

The search for the truth has begun—one that will lead down a twisted trail through the steamy bayous of Louisiana, and deep into the darkest reaches of the human heart."

"A Real estate agent is found dead and mutilated in one of her vacant listings. There are several other deaths peppered throughout southern Louisiana that have had the same MO. The authorities are stumped until Nick Fourcade a detective finds evidence pointing toward a man who knew the victims, however, the incriminating evidence is thrown out on a technicality. The local public becomes enraged and father of the latest victim try's to shoot the suspect, on the courthouse steps, upon his release.

Annie Broussard is the deputy who found the body and is doing her own investigation into who is committing these gruesome murders. Late one evening while she is off duty, Annie comes across intoxicated Nick Fourcade while he is beating said suspect. She must for his own good arrest him before he beats the suspect to death. This makes her very unpopular with the locals and she is completely shunned by her fellow officers. This in turn makes her even more determined than ever."