This vintage photo album with history-laden captions and introductions evokes the characteristics that made/make Chicago great: ethnic diversity, successful businesses built on hard work and in often unclean conditions and political moxie. Bridgeport was not a pretty place. Even the final chapter which promises, an “abundance of truly impressive architecture”, showed dour buildings and reminded me of how unappealing the 50’s and 60’s were.
But this is a fun read through the history of one of Chicago’s 77 communities. The early years and the creation of the I&M Canal, which ran through Bridgeport and Stearns’ Quarry, in the heart of Bridgeport, which supplied the limestone that built Chicago, were my favorite parts.
"Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" by Mary Roach, W. W. Norton, 2014
I listened to this book hoping it would deal somewhat with the role of the pancreas in digestion. It did not even mention enzymes in the digestive process, only how the chewed food is moved along from tongue to final, smelly end. Roach is an entertaining writer (science-lite). Learned more than I ever want to know about Elvis’s bowel problems -- it’s that sort of book.
Chicago Theater Catch-up: Four of Lesser Nobility and One Big Fabulous Prince
We’ve seen so much theater lately that it isn’t possible to devote a full post to each production. So here’s the abbreviated scoop.
C. S. Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert written by Max McLean, starring Max McLean and produced by Fellowship for Performing Arts – This one-man show, taken from the writings of Lewis, narrates his intellectual struggle with spiritually, belief in God and organized religion. Nominally raised as an Episcopalian, he became a professed atheist. When teaching at Oxford (still in his early 20’s) his companions in the English Department were some of the well-known intellectual Catholics, including J.R. Tolkien. Through his own exploration, he rationalizes that the life of a man cannot be completely without value or purpose, becomes a deist, then a Catholic. And there it ends. McLean has made a career of crafting the words of Lewis into stage productions. We enjoyed The Screwtape Letters several years ago. A worthy production, a minor prince.
Douglass created by American Vicarious and directed by Christopher McElroen – I was startled when the title character walked onto the stage and was an African-American. I thought this was a play about Stephen A. Douglas, the politician and debater who espoused the states’ rights and slavery. No, this was Frederick Douglass, former slave who became a unique emancipator prior to the Civil War. This is a well-told docudrama that shows the narrow path Douglass chose between radical Blacks, who advocated a return to Africa, radical Whites, who favored full emancipation, but never thought through the results, opportunists who were eager to exploit educated Blacks for nefarious purposes and those few both black and white who, like Douglass, favored a slow approach to change. A worthy production, but not a prince.
Our Lady of 121st Street by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Sarah Moeller, produced by Eclipse Theatre Company, written in 2002 – This is our third Guirgis play and his earliest for us. It’s a series of vignettes, conversations (usually angry ones) with two or three of the show’s 12 characters. It reminded me instantly of Balm in Gilead by Lanford Wilson, except that in Blam, everyone is talking at once and the featured conversation is spotlighted and all other conversations tone down. In Our Lady, the conversations are sequential, but because of the excellent set combining a bar, a funeral parlor and a confessional, most of the actors are able to remain present on the stage, but not engaged. Excellent acting, even though the play itself lacks a dramatic arc. A prince.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, produced by The Dead Writer’s Collective – who present the works of dead writers exactly as they were produced during the writer’s life. And this production clocked in at almost three delightful hours. All the characters were played in “earnest”, no hamming. The ensemble was all matched in diligence and style. Enhancing it were stunning costumes and a tiny set that appeared to be a pop-up style Victorian greeting card. Just as in the days of Oscar, this was a prince.
Company, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, produced by The Writer’s Theater of Glencoe and directed by William Brown, was splendid. We’ve always loved this musical, chock full of memorable songs and story lines. But this production was the best ever. For the first time, I felt this was homage to marriage, not a sad story of a man who can’t find a mate. Brown adapted the book, originally produced in 1970, so it did not feel dated. The changes were flawless and only enhanced the emotional impact. The only drawback was the performers were miked – which would not have been a problem except the sound engineer was asleep. When the big solo numbers came, the sound was way too loud, uncomfortably so. Ah well, those with low hearing were grateful. This show was a Grand Prince!
"Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition" by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, written in 1542, translated by Fanny Bandelier, published in 2002 by Penguin Books
Oh my! Shipwrecked on the west coast of Florida in 1527, Cabeza de Vaca and three other survivors spent the next nine years seeking “Christians” in the midst of Indians as they traversed the U.S., ending in New Spain, what is now Arizona. There were none. This small band was the first. In the beginning, they were reviled and enslaved. By the end, they were worshipped as healers and gods. In Arizona, they were discovered by a group of Spanish soldiers on an expedition to capture Indian slaves.
A rare first-hand account and an easy, short read -- a “must” read if you are interested in American history – and how completely populated the entire south of the now U.S. was with native tribes.
"A Doubter’s Almanac: A Novel" by Ethan Canin, (Random House, 2016)
What a roller coaster ride this book is! The first half tells the tale of a brilliant, self-absorbed, alcohol addicted, misogynistic, mathematician, Milo Andret, who goes from child wonder to adult ass. The second half is told from the POV of the son, Hans, yet another mathematician, addicted to pills, but with manners, morals and the wisdom to make and save real money. It is his role to try to explain his father to the reader. It almost works, but the bow at the end is tied a bit too prettily.
None the less, I loved this book. I made me think about choices we make. Helena, Milo’s secretary and then wife, when asked by her son why she stayed in the marriage so long and without apparent bitterness replied, “We make choices, then we make them the right choices”. When I discussed this with my niece, Tracy, a teacher of mathematics, she enlightened me how that phrase describes the world of quantum physics and mathematics. That every second in the universe is based on decisions and we can’t have a “do-over”; everything moves forward (or in whatever direction) as a result of each decision. I hadn’t expected Helena to be describing her life in her husband’s terms – but it is so fitting. And a good take away for anyone who agonizes over life choices.
"City on Fire" by Garth Risk Halbergs (Knopf,2016) - A long read...
Weighing in at 911 pages, this book can’t hold a candle to A Little Life (see previous review). I listened to it – 38 hours! City on Fire is a monumental first novel from a young writer, with a bright future. It’s all about New York City, from 1960 to approximately 1990, most of it focused around 1977 and the New York blackout. (Side note – I was stranded in an airplane at the end of the runway at LaGuardia when the lights went out. I buddied up with some other industrious travelers, found a cab to take us to a nearby motel, helped to empty their bar and slept in a sort of ok bed, rather than the floor at the airport. Made it to Miami the next morning.)
The saga is multi-generational, multi-class – stretching from middle class Long Island, to the drugs and anarchy of Hell’s Kitchen and Alphabet City, to the rich and bereft in the Upper East Side and Wall Street. As with any good fiction, these element all link together in epic fashion, most of it plausible. The “fires” of the title are set in abandoned buildings in the Bronx by the punks who want to show up the injustice of the haves vs the have nots. What they end up doing is devaluing the properties even further so financiers (Wall Street and Upper East Side) can have huge blocks of property condemned for blight. Then they step in, buy it for pennies and build anew. Ah, the naiveté of the young.
"A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara (Doubleday, 2015)
Clocking in at 720 pages, this is not a read for the faint of heart. But it is so worth the journey. The story is one of friendship, love, family, child abuse, molestation, despair and no redemption. The writing is excellent. Unlike 2014’s long book, The Goldfinch by Diana Tartt, which I found long and often uninteresting, A Little Life is like a sturdy raft on a smooth stream – the length slips by like water.
I gained insights into the loss of “self” that results from child abuse, especially sexual abuse. While reading the book, I had conversations with a friend who was severely abused and she confirmed what the book reveals – the development of two levels of existence in the adult survivor. Highly recommended, but not for the beach.
The $500 Cup of Coffee: A Lifestyle Approach to Financial Independence by Steven Lome and David Kramer
I loved this little ebook. Written by a man I met at BEA, Steve Lome. I offered to talk with him about PR - so I had to read the book to be of any help - and loved it. It is well researched, well-written and well-organized. It reminds me of the self-help financial books the Wall Street Journal published, but this one is fun to read.
OK, so there was lots of information in this book that I already know - and am too old to put into practice. I'll be long dead before saving $100 a month with compound interest from wise investments is going to help fund my retirement. I did learn about robo-investing and will look into that. But for Millennials, for high school and college grads, for folks leaving the military - this book is a financial bible. And, it does not tell you "what to do". It explains all of the financial options so you can make wise decisions. It is no "get rich quick" lecture. It is more the tortoise than the hare, but it contains the keys to financial security - at least in the world as we know it today.
The Old Filth Trilogy by Jane Gardam
Old Filth (Europa Editions 2006)
The Man in the Wooden Hat (Europa Editions, 2009)
Last Friends (Europa Editions, 2013)
What delightful reads – well written, humorous and melancholy at the same time. The trilogy deals with the lives of “raj orphans”, children of British colonials sent back to England for education, and to get them out of the parent’s hair. Once in England, most attend boarding schools, but in the case of Edward Feathers, the main character, he was too young, so with distant cousins was sent to live with a stingy Welch couple who made life hell for all.
Tragedies are not dwelt on throughout the trilogy – stiff upper lip and all. These books respectfully tell how raj children made their adolescent lives in England, their careers back in the colonies and their retirements in England. Abandonment is a big theme. Edward Feathers’s nickname, Old Filth” is an acronym for “Failed in London, try Hong Kong”. Once educated, the raj children were more successful returning to the colonies than in England, where they lacked social continuity.
Highly recommended for the tight, yet easy writing and the "new-to-me" information about yet another aspect of British colonial life. Good stories, too.
Scary Fairy Tales with a Russian Twist
There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Penguin, 2009)
Why couldn’t I put this book down? Same reason Grimm’s Fairy Tales still captivate us – how awful can it become for these victims? I must continue to read to see the macabre outcome.
To add spice, these tales come from Russia, so are tinged with Slavic pessimism, deep, dark woods, snow covered steppes and hangovers of Soviet deprivation and nihilism. Yum. These are not scary fairy tales for children. These are adult to their anguished soul. Read one a night and enjoy Petrushenskaya’s craftsmanship.
A good read for everyone: "The Horse Lover: A Cowboy's Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs" by H. Alan Day
I wasn't prepared to love this book. OK, horses are beautiful, even the nags that run at Rillito Park here in Tucson. And, I was raised with a horse (that delighted in biting me) at my grandparents' home in the Ozarks. But, anyone who loves animals will fall in love with Alan Day and his horses.
After a few chapters, I thought the book was incorrectly titled. It should have been "The Mustang Lover", but no, this book is about every horse that Alan Day loved, most of whom he lost. Day was a big time, successful rancher in Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota. Think Sandra Day O'Connor, but she figures not at all in this tale.
Woven into the horse tales are words of wisdom, strength, endurance and optimism and a more than a few curse words for the Bureau of Land Management. The ranch hands say, "Cowboy up!" when they face hardship in life and on the trail. Alan epitomizes that. His attitudes and actions will be uniquely meaningful to each reader. Treat yourself to a good read. Oh, and the book is just the right length, 243 pages. I could not put it down, so finished it in three sessions.
If you read only two books in 2014…
Rarely have two books had such an influence on my understanding of the New World prior to 1492 and my understanding of the world post 1492. OK, I’m a history geek, but these two books, 1491 and 1493, both written by Charles C. Mann, a journalist, not a historian, are readable, captivating and will expand the boundaries of how you think about many “assumed truths”.
Here are the complete titles:
1491: New Revelations of the America before Columbus
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
Don’t purchase or read these books on an electronic reader. They are heavily annotated, have maps and photos, none of which do well on an electronic reader. You need to be able to flip around in the books at will. 1491 has a revised paperback edition published by Vintage in 2006. This is the one to read as Mann was able to make corrections and add newer research to this edition.
Ed and I were fortunate to travel to Peru in 2013. I knew virtually nothing about Peru’s history except Incas, Pizarro, guano, pisco and rape of the jungle. Oh, does 1491 fill in the gaps of the Indian civilizations. Not just in Peru, but Cahokia, IL, the eastern seaboard of North America, and, most amazingly the many thriving civilization in MesoAmerica, the lower part of Mexico. The images that we have from our history books are of Indian cultures that were initially passive, static, easily enslaved or just pushed out of the way. By going back in archeological history, long before we were taught there were settlements in North and South America, Mann constructs portraits of highly civilized, vibrant cultures with huge cities (Teotihuacan, aka Mexico City, may have been the largest city in the world at its height of power.) He reconstructs the agriculture necessary to feed the citizens and the agricultural acumen necessary to develop maize, the most influential crop in the world. The skills needed to develop strains of potatoes and grain that would grow in high and low altitudes, etc. etc.
And what decimated the Indian cultures was a combination of wars among various groups, climate changes that led to drought and starvation and ultimately the diseases brought by the Europeans. But, the Indians as a whole were in a severe population decline before the advent of Columbus.
1493 illustrates the impact of Columbus’ landing and introduction of New World crops to Europe and beyond as the seminal event in the redevelopment of the Old World and the East. Moreover, the looting of Indian wealth brought to Europe untold riches that enabled them to prosper beyond their wildest imaginations – and with practically no investment of labor or capital. I could go on and on, but read for yourself and enjoy a much more comprehensive understanding of the impact of Christopher Columbus on the world.
San Antonio Diary: Texas Book Festival San Antonio Edition, Saturday, April 13, 2013
DBH overlooking the Guadalupe River at 1011 Bistro
When you drive from Tucson to San Antonio, it takes two days over and two days back - and then some as you will see at the end of this post. DBH and I left Tucson on Thursday morning, heading for glorious Ft. Stockton - eight hours later for most drivers; nine to ten hours later for us as DBH never met a Diet Coke he didn't like nor a rest stop he shouldn't visit. Nothing lurks in Ft. Stockton except low and middle market motels and fast food. So we packed our cooler and ate dinner sitting in bed, watching trash TV. On to San Antonio on Friday. Since I'm eating vegan, I now Google cities along the way for vegan cuisine. And we have found some really good restaurants as a result. First is 1011 Bistro on the Guadalope River in Kerrville. Sort of a "ladies who lunch" place, but what a location and excellent crab cakes. I know, not really vegan, but I forgave myself.
In San Antonio, we stayed with DBH's cousin who lives in a spectacular retimement community, The Towers, directly across from the entrace to Ft. Sam Houston. They have lovely rooms for visitors and we get lots of time for family catch up. Twice while in San Antonio, we ate at our fav restaurant, Cappy's in Alamo Heights. No River Walk tourist trade, this is just a lovely local eatery.
The purpose of our trip was to participate in the Texas Book Festival, San Antonio Edition. One of my authors, Sarah Cortez, was featured for both her spiritual memoir, Walking Home: Growing Up Hispanic in Houston and her just-released book, co-edited with Sergio Troncoso, Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence.
What a great day we had to share with you! This was the first Texas Book Festival held outside of Austin, where it originated in 1994, under the leadership of Laura Bush. The weather was cloudy and a bit breezy, and it felt good to be indoors and outdoors as long as you had a jacket. The San Antonio Central Library hosted the day. It was a maze of streets and alleys with meeting rooms spread among various buildings in the complex. But signage was good and lots of volunteers pointed the way.
Ursuline patio
Kudos to the Library Foundation and the Texas Book Festival with the elegant and unflappable Clay Smith at the helm.
DBH and I were free to attend one of the early presentations featuring two Texas political authors: Erica Greider and James L. Haley. We learned a lot of relevant info about Texas history in 45 minutes. Erica's new book, Big, Hot, Cheap and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas is almost to the top of my reading list.
Sarah's first appearance was in the Storyteller Booth signing her YA anthology, You Don’t Have a Clue.
Walking Home: Growing Up Hispanic in Houston was featured in a joint presentation with Beatrix de la Garza, who wrote of her family’s cross-border history in From the Republic of the Rio Grande: A Personal History of the Place and the People. Many people in the audience were interested in writing a memoir to honor family histories.
Sarah and Beatrix de la Garza
Sarah's last presentation was with co-editor, Sergio Troncoso, as we launched Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence (Arte Público Press 2013). Cecilia Balli moderated and shared her own family’s loss of cross-border experience.
As Sergio and Sarah signed copies of the new book, we were joined by retired US Border Agent Hipolito Acosta, author of The Shadow Catcher: A U.S. Agent Infiltrates Mexico’s Deadly Crime Cartels. His years of police activity on the border are yet another aspect of the U.S.-Mexico border. The day was crowned by an energetic reception on the terrace of the library.
Sarah and I fit in many business meetings throughout the day and she excelled at "selling" me to all of her author friends. It appears a good deal of work will result from it. Thank you, Sarah! DBH and I had a few minutes at the reception to chat with my new client, Chitra Divakaruni and her husband. Chitra's newest book, Oleander Girl, received sterling reviews when it was released last month.
Monday and Tuesday, DBH and I visited some real estate of which we are part-owners. In Austin, we had a lovely visit with our friends, Judy and Werner Kozian, who now live in Sun City, TX, just north of Austin. Ate at an amazing restaurant, Trulucks. They specialize in seafood, seafood, seafood.
Tuesday afternoon we began our return voyage - made it into lovely Ft. Stockton with no trouble - dined on leftovers from Trulucks sitting on the bed watching trash TV. Up and out Wednesday morning for the long haul to Tucson. Googled vegan for El Paso and up popped on the the best restaurants ever: Tom's Cafe. Just a tiny adobe cottage, so crowded we ate on the side porch, commenting on the high winds.
DBH enjoys mac and cheese and crayfish tails at Tom's
We left about 2 pm and as we got on I10 saw a flashing sign that I10 was closed due to high winds and low visibility. We tried to skirt the problem by driving north to Hatch, but when we regained I10, it was really closed, all the way through AZ. So we camped in a cheap and cheerless motel, ate leftovers from Tom's sitting on the bed watching trash TV . Up at three am and into Tucson by nine am. Overall, a great trip.
©annboland.com 2013
Unopened Books - musings on current reads in progress
Originally published April 30, 2012
Am I the only one who approaches a new book with mixed feelings? What if it disappoints? What if I don’t care about the characters? What if there are no good maps? Sometimes I will let a book “ripen” in the stack by my bed, whiling away evenings reading the newspaper or a magazine, until I guiltily pick the book up, review the jacket, read “About the author”, take a deep breath and plunge in.
Two nights ago, I did that with The Lost City of Z by David Grann. DBH and I are great readers of adventure/explorer non-fiction. Z is “a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon”. And, after two evenings, I’m hooked. Even the maps are good. The explorers are suitable megalomaniacs and the Amazon jungle is deathly and uninviting.
At the same time, I’m listening to The Tiger, A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant. This is about the Amur tiger in the easternmost province of Russia, nestled just above China on the Sea of Hotsk. No maps in CD book unfortunately, so I had to pull out the atlas. Though the stars are the tigers, Vaillant craftily weaves stories around the incredible Russians, some from the West, most indigenous people, and how they survive in this completely hostile environment. Vaillant’s photo on the website reveals an extraordinary amount of chest hair for a blue-eyed blonde. Hmmmmmm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvIVQFw_444
Beginning a book that I listen to either from my MP3 player or in the car, does not share the risk of the unopened book. Recorded books are to keep my mind occupied while my hands are doing other work: driving a car, sewing, gardening, cleaning. They make the time fly. I still fondly remember listening to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (all 63 hours or it) while gardening in the intense Indiana heat and humidity at our home in Beverly Shores. Yes, I did fast forward through the endless repetition of John Galt’s philosophy.
In the car, I’m listening to T.C. Boyle’s When the Killing’s Done. Not my favorite T.C. book, but he usually takes you to a new place and perhaps a new point of view. This one is about the battle on the California Channel Islands between the US Park Service, who want to return the islands to their original condition by eliminating all the non-native species introduced over the past 500 years by humans, and the PETA-type who are against killing any living thing, non-native or not. As with most T.C. books, there are no real winners, a just lot of losers trying to do what they think is right.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe resides on my Kindle. He’s been there for about a year, as I only use the Kindle when I fly and I try to only download books in the public domain, which are free. Last year was the 100th anniversary of the publication of UTC, so it received a bit of press and even a book written about the book. I’d never read it. The book is largely written in slave dialogue which makes it a bit of a struggle. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, used that same technique and was offputting to many readers.
Hilary Mantel just wrote a small article in the Review section of the Saturday WSJ about the language challenge of writing books set in the 16th century. Her books (Wolf Hall, winner of the Booker Prize) cover the royalty, the serfs, the servants, Brits and foreigners. In the 16th century, written English was emerging. Educated men and women wrote and spoke Latin. Her challenge is to create a language understandable to the modern reader that still feels somewhat evocative of the age depicted. Evan Connell does an excellent job of crafting 13th century “speak” in his book, Deus Lo Volt, the memoire of a Crusader. It’s just strange enough that the reader has to “work” at rhythm and pace of the words, but not so challenging that you are put off by the effort.
So many books…so little time.
©annboland.com 2013
War Horse: the movie, the book, the play
I love horse stories. There wasn’t a Marguerite Henry book in the 50’s that I did not read many, many times over. King of the Wind was my favorite, closely followed by Misty of Chincoteaque. Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse was originally published in the UK in the 80’s and I did not hear of it until it was adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford, featuring the Handspring Puppet Company as the horses. And now adapted to a movie from Steven Spielberg. I have now read the book and seen both productions.
I loved War Horse the movie. It is memorable and remarkable. Young people need to learn about war and death and horror and we adults need to be reminded of it. The most popular vehicle for those images today is video games – what do you imagine our young people are learning from those? This story of a horse, trained, loved and lost by a boy who becomes a soldier and the horse that also becomes a soldier in WWI, teaches all of us. The book is better than the movie, though both are schmaltzy and predictable. Most great stories are. I plan to discuss it with my great nieces and nephews - the war, the cruelty to animals, to humans and how it continues to this day. Well done, Spielberg. You have made a great vehicle for learning.
But the play – with the huge puppet-horses, attacked all senses. There was no question that the puppets were real horses – they were “more real” that horses, jerking at tufts of grass, flicking their tails, snorting, and galloping right off the stage. The production was alive with puppeteers, never concealed, but visibly manipulating their puppets until you realized there were not two entities involved, but one – the goose, the bird. And the horses with six and sometimes eight puppeteers who became the one horse.
The play is more horrifying than the movie – when the animal dies, the puppeteers die as well. And, to fit the abbreviated stage length, large bits of the story are left behind. But these were parts that more humanized War Horse, and we are left with a more visceral taste of the horrors of war.
Other memorable books about The Great War came rushing to mind as I reflected on this trio:
Johnny Got His Gun – a didactic, horrifying novel by anti-war activist and black-listed author Dalton Trumbo
Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road – a trilogy by Pat Barker about the psychological effects of war. The Ghost Road won the Booker in ’95.
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks haunting novel about sappers – the men, mostly British coal miners, who tunneled under the trenches in WWI.
Goodbye To All That – Robert Graves autobiographical recollections of WWI, some of which is reflected in the Pat Barker trilogy.
©annboland.com 2012