LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult

Finished Fr 6/21/13
June 2013 Selection for The Contemporary Book Club, Springfield IL

    The book is a challenging examination of how a dysfunctional family handles the moral dilemma of whether or not to continue or withdraw life support to a love one, and the novel is presented as a literary conceit in which the social organization of a wolf pack is compared to how human families function.
    Luke Warren and his daughter are involved in a car accident and both are seriously injured, and Luke is in a coma and not expected to wake up. Luke's twenty-four year son has been absent from the family for six years after a violent confrontation with Luke, returns to his father's side, and is convinced that his father will never recover, and he should be removed from life support. However, Cara, Luke's daughter, passionately maintains that Luke will pull through, and heroic measures are absolutely necessary.
   That's the basic plotline of the novel, however the author employs a metaphor about wolves and how they interact as a pack to offer an allegorical dimension to the novel. Luke Warren was a world-renowned authority on all aspects of wolf behavior before the accident, and actually lived as a wolf with a Canadian wolf pack for a couple of years. His experiences with the wolves drives the novel, and how the wolves are a 'family', and how their behavior contrasts and compares to Luke's 'family' is the figurative subplot, and provides the literary prism through which the novel's events are viewed.  Although thought- provoking and enthralling, this metaphor comes off as a bit contrived.
    However, LONE WOLF is a fine novel, but I felt that the allegory between wolf packs and human families was intriguing, yet not very realistic. In the end, it seemed like too much of a reach, although I can't deny that I enjoyed the novel, I just couldn't accept the premise that humans and wolves share such similarities.

NOTES-
Beresford, New Hampshire
Luke Warren- Born Minn. to a junkie mother. Raised by grandparents
Georgie Warren (Ng)- divorced from Luke. Remarried to Joe Ng. Twins, Elizabeth and Jackson
Cara-Luke and Georgie's daughter. Lives mostly with Luke, and largely for the past four years before accident
Edward Warren- 24 years old, but left home at 18 and is presently an English teacher in Thailand. For most of the novel you are led to believe that he left because he 'came out' to his father and was rejected. Actually, he was going to tell his father, but interrupted his father in bed with another woman. He wanted to stay with the family, but a couple of days after this, he found the paid bill for an abortion for a child with one of Luke's assistants.
Helen Bedd- The Office of Public Guardian. Dresses in gray because her mother worked in a Gentlemen's Club, and Helen wants to be exactly the opposite. She is the 'state appointed' voice of Luke in a coma. If a relative cannot be found to act in the patient's best interest, she is called.
Zirconia Notch-Cara's hippie lawyer. Lives in far northern New Hampshire with goats and a llama. She is also a spirit medium between humans and their pets.
p. 393 The heart of Cara's dilemma
Abenaki Indians-many of the names that Luke chooses for his wolves are from this indian tribe's language.
p.536 Difference between Dream and Goal is 'a plan'.
p.539 Cara's actual role in the accident. "I hate you"  "You'll be the death of me"
Last chapter is entitled Barney, and seems to be someone who has Luke's kidneys after they've been harvested. Kind of stoooopid.

THE DISTANCE by Eddie Muller

Finished Tu 6/18/13 (I began this book on the flight back from Phoenix on The Pineaire Cleanup with Janny and Joe)

My post at Good Reads-

Although the novel contains elements of a whodunit, thriller, and murder mystery, it's more than that, and delivers a truly bewitching and noirishly atmospheric 'total immersion' into the world of boxing and journalism of late 1940's San Francisco. The author masterfully creates a demimonde in which the forces of politics, crime, and The Fourth Estate interact in an elaborate and sinister gavotte. 
The book begins at the scene of a murder and introduces an elaborately plotted storyline which eventually provides the reason for this crime, yet it's really just an opportunity to develop a most unusual and ultimately tragic love story. Because the action is set in the sordid world of boxing and shows how a tainted journalist covers the action and orchestrates the outcome, it allows the author to present some finely detailed characters who are not really full-fledged gangsters or corrupt athletes, yet are far from upstanding or morally upright citizens.
In a way, Eddie Muller, the writer, is really recounting the fictionalized biography of his father who was actually a well known San Francisco boxing journalist from the 1930's to the 70's, so the book really has the ring of truth. The book is very well written, and compares very well to anything by Dashiell Hammett. This is an amazing first book!

Notes-
Billy Nichols (Nicholovich) is 'Mr. Boxing',  local newspaper fight reporter. The novel is set in San Francisco-1948. Billy is drawn into the  murder of Gig Liardi who was the fight manager of Hack Escalante.
Billy falls in love with Claire Escalante who was forced into a blackmail scheme to tarnish local crime boss Eddie Ryan.  Eddie is a crooked fight promoter, and his brother, Jimmy, is a loan shark.
Claire becomes pregnant by Billy and she is murdered because she stole Eddie's blackmail info from an old acquaintance of Billy's, Burnell Sanders. This guy is the one who started all the mayhem, and he's a short little thug that Billy had known since childhood. He wanted to be a 'player' at any cost.
Francis O'Connor is a homicide detective that suspects Billy and Hack were connected to the killings in some way.
The novel opens when Billy goes to Hacks aid and buries the body of Gig in Golden Gate Park. Hack admits that he did it, but it was an accident. Gig called his wife a whore, and, of course, she was.
This is really a very fine first novel.

DRINK-A SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICA by Andrew Barr

Finished Fr 6/7/13 (This was the night before 'The Pineaire Cleanup' when I flew to Sun City with Janny and Joe)

The book is a fascinating examination of the role that alcoholic beverages have played in the social, cultural, and political history of America. It's an amazing array of facts that, at times, is almost overwhelming, but I guarantee that anyone who picks up this book will find something about the subject that they did not know. I was surprised to find that plain water, especially cold water, was thought to be hazardous, and alcohol was believed to be a much healthier beverage for everyone, including children. And, I really can't believe that even today, many counties and municipalities have such severe regulations and restrictions concerning a legal product.
The book is so chock full of data that you can skim it or study it, and still enjoy an absolutely delightful reading experience. 

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THE MASAKADO LESSON by William P. Kennedy

Finished Su 6/2/13

My Post on Good Reads-

This is an interesting novel about a confidence game that happens to be set in the world of computers. However, the novel was written in the late 1980's and the Information Age of that era now seems altogether quaint, so the setting of the book is more than a little dated. Also, the author plays to America's fear and apprehension over Japan's ability to achieve global economic dominance. Back in the eighties, this view had a certain degree of traction, but these days those same feelings have been transferred to the Chinese. Although, if you can overlook those two shortfalls, you'll find THE MASAKADO LESSON is a well-written tale of competing grifters who become so entangled by their own games that they can't sort out who is playing who. Even though the novel was written and set nearly a quarter century ago, the story would have worked equally well if the characters were conspiring to steal the design of the first printing press, or the quickest trade route to the Orient rather than the race to see who could develop the world's first supercomputer.

THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD by Mark Hudson

Finished Tu 5/28/13

My post on Good Reads-

This is one of my favorite novels, not so much that it's beautifully written, but the fact that it masterfully celebrates 'style' over 'storyline'. Mark Hudson's vivid and immoderate descriptions are so feverishly gushing and hyperbolic that the 'purple prose' brilliantly highlights and underscores the shallow and superficial nature of his lead character. Andrew 'Litch' Litchfield is a washed up, very minor figure in the music industry who, a couple of decades earlier, inadvertently stumbled upon the music of West African bandleader, Sajar Jopp, and was able to garner him some much needed international recognition. In a masterful and unceasing exhibition of self-delusion, Litch has always blindly maintained that it was his uncanny appreciation and understanding of all that is great in popular music that allowed him to pluck Sajar Jopp from obscurity, yet the fact of the matter is that it was probably just chance.  The book provides a delightfully detailed description of a man who loves music, but distances himself from the music itself, and actually is just more enthralled with the 'idea' of great pop music. Litch Litchfield is a man who is driven by his own very misconstrued notions about himself and his relationship to nearly everything, and he is undoubtedly my most favorite 'unreliable narrator' that I have ever come across.

If you are an avid collector of music or a fan of the sounds of West Africa, or auditorily addicted to nearly any genre of music, this might be the book for you. The overpowering allure and intensity of the love for any kind of popular music seems to come from the same place, and if you share that frenzied view, you'll have no trouble recognizing Litchfield's diabolically distorted 'take' on the nature of True Pop.  And, this novel also has a soundtrack (THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD-various artists) by the same name and serves as an excellent introduction to the real musicians on the 70's and 80's African Pop Scene. Hudson uses pseudonyms for most of his characters, and Sajar Jopp is modeled rather closely on Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade. And, Litch Litchfield might be any one of a myriad of fanzine and magazine writers, borderline musical producers, and self-deluded 'movers and shakers' who are hypnotically drawn to the Music Biz.



novel that comes with its own soundtrack cd

Andrew 'Litch' Litchfield   Sarah 'Her' She'

Sajar Jopp

Tekrur (country)

N'Galam (city)

Confuses the music for what it represents. Wouldn't buy a record unless the act of passing on it would cause a lifetime of self recrimination.

The last twenty pages covers Litch's personal life.

Fevered, gushing, hyperbolic

THE PARADISE EATER John Ralston Saul

Finished Fr 5/24/13

The novel is packed with seedy atmosphere and sleazy characters, but lacks a compelling storyline. These seamy qualities seemed to put the lock on a dynamite 'noirish' thriller, yet the book fails to satisfy. John Field is an Canadian expatriate journalist who has lived in Bangkok for over twenty years, and has never once been back to the west. He no longer is in the writing trade and makes a spotty living as a kind of  'middleman' putting together business deals for various shady characters. His life basically consists of hanging out with his pals, drinking and carousing with local prostitutes. He's divorced and has one daughter, Songlin who attends Catholic boarding school and she is being raised strictly to become a native Thai. One of his best friends, Dr. Meechai Wuthiwat, is a local community leader who runs The Bangkok Nursing Home and is treated John for a particularly virulent strain of STD. In an odd manifestation of humanity, John buys the contract of young prostitute, Ao, to get her a better start in a straight life. Then, he does a deal in Laos for an old girlfriend and her husband, and finds them brutally tortured and murdered. He becomes ensnared in a huge heroin smuggling operation that has ties to members of the military and the government.

John has a lot on his plate, but it's more 'bumbling around' than a 'hard hitting, fast paced dramatic action'. All the elements are in place to make John Field the Jason Bourne of The East, yet not much happens. This really could have taken off in a big way, but, unfortunately, it never does.

My post on Good Reads-


 The novel is packed with seedy atmosphere and sleazy characters, yet the book cries out for a compelling storyline that is never provided. These seamy qualities might have put the lock on a delectable 'noirish' thriller, yet the book ultimately fails to satisfy.
 John Field is an Canadian expatriate journalist who has lived in Bangkok for over twenty years, and has never once been back to the west. He no longer is in the writing trade and makes a spotty living as a kind of 'middleman' putting together business deals for various shady characters, and his life basically consists of hanging out with his pals, drinking and carousing with local prostitutes. He gets caught up in an international heroin smuggling operation involving powerful and shady figures in the military and national government, he's implicated in a vicious double murder, he buys the contract of a young prostitute to get her 'out of the life', he raises his daughter to be an educated Thai, and finally contracts an STD seemingly impervious to treatment.
 However, it's a real letdown when the reader realizes how little excitement is generated. The book is fairly well-written, yet the storyline reflects more 'bumbling around' than 'hard hitting' drama. All the elements are in place to make John Field the Jason Bourne of The East but unfortunately, not much tension or drama is introduced. This really could have taken off in a big way, but, unfortunately, it never does.

THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf

Finished Su 5/19/13
Selection for The Contemporary Book Club, May 2013

My post on Good Reads-

The story grabs you immediately, and it's hard to put down. I read the entire novel in one afternoon. I only have two rather mild objections to the novel. One, it really should be considered 'Young Adult'. I think the book would be ideal for teenagers- especially girls, and that should be the target audience. And, finally I thought that although each chapter offered a different point of view, the 'voice' always remained the same. The chapters by the children sounded identical to the adult characters such as Martin or Deputy Sheriff Louis. Although Calli's chapters are 'third person', and the rest are 'first person', they all shared the same 'voice'. The novel might have worked better if the author had used the omniscient narrator throughout.