WOMEN WITH MEN by Richard Ford

 This is a hardback that I bought at 'the warehouse' book sale on Fr 3/30/07. I think this used to be the Sears warehouse on the far south side at Outer Park. I never read the book and I noticed that this is a signed copy by the author.

The anthology is divided into three novellas; 'The Womanizer', 'Jealous', & 'Occidentals'. I read 'The Womanizer'. 

Martin Austin is an American businessman who meets a French woman in Paris named Josephine on a business trip to Europe. She has a young son and is in the process of getting a divorce from her husband. They have an affair and soon after he returns to the states he decides that he's met the 'love of his life' and leaves his wife, Barbara and plans to reunite with Josephine. 

He goes back to Paris and it's not at all what he expected. The book is an example of a love affair where one person 'loves' more than the other. 

It's a well written book and I plan to read the other two novellas at some time in the future. 

From the author's page at Wikipedia:

"Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land and Let Me Be Frank With You, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories. Ford received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1996 for Independence Day. Ford's novel Wildlife was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name. He won the 2018 Park Kyong-ni Prize."

MEXICO SET by Len Deighton

 Refinished Mo 4/17/23

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I first completed We 4/6/16- "after $55 visit from Dick Van Dyke to 'unlock' countertop induction range". God, how I hated that appliance and I still can't believe that this was touted as such a fantastic piece of equipment. It wasn't!

This novel is about governmental intelligence services and how they actually work. Not like  James Patterson or Ian Fleming novels that are driven by plot, but this is more of a character study of the neurotic, bored, middle aged white men (and women) that work in secret to keep their nations safe.

Bernard Sampson works for British Intelligence and his wife has recently defected to the Russians. He was married to Fiona for twelve years and they had two children and Bernard had no idea that she was a major Russian asset. Now Bernard is put in charge of a plan to 'enroll' a major player in Russia's intelligence operation and bring him to the west. 

The novel is a second in the Sampson Trilogy; 'BERLIN GAME', 'MEXICO SET', and 'LONDON MATCH'.

From a reader at Goodreads:

"Having loved, “Berlin Game,” I was keen to read the second Bernie Samson novel. “Mexico Set,” sees Bernie, and Dickie Cruyer, in Mexico. They are there to persuade a senior KGB agent, Erich Stinnes, to defect. As always, though, life is never uncomplicated in Bernie’s life and Stinnes works for Fiona, Bernie’s wife, who was found to be a KGB agent in the previous novel.

Previously seen as an outsider, due largely to his class, and education, Bernie is now viewed with greater suspicion. Those in London suspect he knew of Fiona’s disloyalty and even suspect him of involvement. As this novel veers between London, Mexico City (‘they call it, ‘Mexico’ Bernie’ drawls Dickie, before leaving Bernie and heading off to California) and Berlin. All of the characters we met in the previous novel are her too, as well as some new names. There is Bernie’s old school friend, Werner, and his young, ambitious wife, Zerna. There are those in London – Brett and Cruyer – and there is Henry Tiptree, Dickie’s young friend, who seems to pop up all over the place.

One of the things I love about these books are the characters and the sense of realism. Although he is a spy, Bernie still has to deal with his children, financial troubles, a domineering father in law and a jealous brother in law. There are also the complicated feelings he has to Fiona and the sense that all is not quite what it seems… I cannot wait to read on and find out more of Bernie’s story".

From the novel's page at Wikipedia:

"Mexico Set is a 1984 spy novel by Len Deighton. It is the second novel in the first of three trilogies about Bernard Samson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Mexico Set is part of the Game, Set and Match trilogy, being preceded by Berlin Game and followed by London Match. This trilogy is followed by the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy and the final Faith, Hope and Charity trilogy. Deighton's novel Winter (1987) is a prequel to the nine novels, covering the years 1900-1945 and providing the backstory to some of the characters.

Mexico Set continues the story that began with Berlin Game, where Bernard Samson's wife Fiona was unmasked as a KGB double agent.

The story begins in Mexico, where Samson is on the trail of his Soviet opposite number: Erich Stinnes, a KGB major working in East Germany whom London Central wishes to coax over to the West.

The task of laying the delicate and elaborate groundwork for Stinnes' defection propels Samson from Mexico to London, Paris, Berlin, and the East-West border. What happens along the way—a temporary abduction, an unnecessary murder, an inconvenient suicide—happens so fast that Samson hardly seems able to keep London Central informed of developments. Or is it that Samson wants to keep his colleagues in the dark? Certainly London Central's entire senior staff—from Samson's immediate supervisors, locked in their endless internecine office warfare, to the dotty Director-General himself—would have reason to suspect that Samson might be working for the other side. He was, after all, closer than any of the other to the former traitor-in-their-midst.

And Samson himself is losing control—indeed, events seem to be controlling him. As he finds himself in a series of ever more incriminating positions, as one by one the avenues of escape or vindication close before him, the novel winds back toward Mexico.. and toward the astonishing climax - at the scene of the defection Samson has so painstakingly orchestrated—in which the allegiances of all involved are finally and fatefully revealed."

 

BRAZIL by John Updike

Refinished Mo 4/10/23

This is one of my ancient trade paperbacks that I first completed on Tu 4/18/95 at The Club.

"MAGICAL REALISM"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism

I cannot believe that this is the same author that wrote the Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom series. 'BRAZIL' is a kind of retelling the story of 'Tristan and Iseult 'which is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illicit love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult.

A black street kid meets a white girl at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's eternal love at first sight and the couple have trouble because they are from two different classes and two different racial groups, so they flee to the uncivilized interior of the country.

Brazil is a 1994 novel by the American author John Updike. It contains many elements of magical realism. It is a retelling of the ancient tale of Tristan and Isolde, the subject of many works in opera and ballet.

Tristão Raposo, a nineteen-year-old black child of the Rio de Janeiro slums, spies Isabel Leme, an eighteen-year-old upper-class white girl, across the hot sands of Copacabana Beach, and presents her with a ring stolen from an American tourist. Their flight into marriage takes them from urban banality to the farthest reaches of Brazil’s wild west, where magic still rules. Privation, violence, captivity and poverty afflict them; his mother curses them, her father strives to separate them, and neither lover is absolutely faithful. Eventually, ancient charms change him to white and her to black. Yet Tristão and Isabel hold on to the belief that each is the other’s fate for life, as they develop in ways they never thought possible.

The novel is compelling reading and the style is descriptive, but I prefer his beautiful work on the Rabbit Series. 

I will keep an eye out for 'THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK' and give that novel a shot. 

THE WINNER by David Baldacci

Refinished Tu 4/4/23

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I first completed on Sa 3/28/09.

A poor young woman with a small child is offered the chance to win $100 million in the lottery. A man will take her winnings, invest it, and make an incredible return. Jackson (the man behind the scheme) uses chemicals on the pingpong balls that determine the numbers that will be picked. 

A wild ride of a novel and this was a taste of very early Baldacci.

'The Winner' is Baldacci's 3rd book; 1997. Now, he has published 47 novels. 

A review by a Kindle customer on Amazon:

"Almost everyone in Rikersville, Georgia, grew up poor and would remain poor, perpetuating a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next. Lu Ann Tyler was no exception. Like most other girls her age, she quit school in 7th grade in order to get a job. After her mother's death left her with no place to stay, she moved in with loser-with-a-capital "L" Duane Harvey, and barely out of her teens soon had a baby girl, Lisa. Lisa became Lu Ann's pride and joy and reason for living. However working as a waitress at a truck stop brought in little more than enough to pay the bills. Most women in Lu Ann's position would resign themselves to living their remaining years with little to look forward to. But Lu Ann had a few things most others did not: despite her 7th grade education, she had an above average intelligence; extraordinary attention to detail; a stubborn streak and iron will; and exquisite beauty.

Lu Ann received a telephone call for a job interview at a rented storefront in the local mall. The man on the phone said the pay would be $100 dollars per day for two weeks, maybe longer. With the $1,000 that she would make, Lu Ann was planning her getaway from Duane and Rikersville. However, at the interview Jackson, the man she had spoken to on the telephone, offered her a more enticing option: Guarantee of winning the lottery, no less than $50 million. Jackson did not tell her if she refused he would have her killed. Lu Ann knew if she accepted the money there would be conditions that went along with the payout. Nobody offers millions of dollars out of the goodness of their heart. But the thing that bothered her most of all was it would be no different than stealing, and Lu Ann was intrinsically an honest person.

Jackson had given Lu Ann a deadline, after which the offer would expire. Lu Ann had resigned herself to follow her honorable instincts when certain events unfolded leaving her with the desire to leave Rikersville sooner rather than later. Lacking enough money to go anywhere, Lu Ann accepted Jackson's offer with only minutes to spare. Romanello, the assassin hired by Jackson, was in position to kill Lu Ann and was called off by his employer in the nick of time. Sensing there was something far bigger going on, Romanello decided to follow Lu Ann. When Jackson discovered the trouble Lu Ann was in, he was not pleased. Pursued by the authorities and a lethal assassin, Jackson agreed to help her change her name and get her out of the country as soon as she collected her lottery winnings, with the caveat that Lu Ann never return to the United States. But her desire to give Lisa a somewhat normal life caused Lu Ann, after an extended period of time, to reconsider the deal she had struck with Jackson.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The pace was steady and picked up gradually until the very exciting conclusion. There was no cliff hanger as I expected the outcome that was presented, however the story was compelling enough to keep the pages turning. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to root for the underdogs in this world."