Review of A Miracle of Catfish (Hardcover)

'A Miracle Of Catfish' was unfinished when author Larry Brown died unexpectedly.Because the book was almost finished, publication of Brown's last offering to his fans was possible.The book uses ellipsis to show where editing was done, and though unfinished, includes the notes that Brown left behind as to how he planned to wrap up the novel.

In Brown's languid southern prose, he explores the lives of several people living in the quiet, countrified outskirts of a small town.Cortez Sharp, a 72 year old man who's wife is disabled, decides to dig out a large pond on his property and stock it with catfish.He lives a solitary life, preferring to be left alone with his vegetable patches and herds of cows.His daughter Lucinda lives in Atlanta with her boyfriend Albert, who suffers from Tourettes Syndrome.Cortez calls Albert 'The Retard', driving a wedge between him and his only surviving child.Cortez carries a dark secret with him, one of horrible proportions.

There's Jimmy, a ten year old boy with bad teeth, who lives near Cortez's farm in an old trailer.Jimmy struggles with his father's temper, his two half-sisters Evelyn and Velma, and his desire to fix the go-kart his daddy built for him.Jimmy's Daddy (known only in the book as 'Jimmy's Daddy') is a typical redneck loser.He drives around in his old '55 drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, fights with himself over trying to treat Jimmy better, and has an affair with a woman at the stove factory where he works that turns out bad (in pregnancy) which threatens his life and marriage to Jonette.

And then there's Cleve, an old black man who used to work for Cortez, mean as a polecat, and murderous to boot.He's been in prison twice and though he swore he'd never go back, he's not quite done committing crimes.

Typical of Brown's unhurried and languorous prose, there's lots of smoking, beer drinking, and driving around.There's surprises like DUI's, tractor accidents, unwanted pregnancies, affairs, fishing, hunting, and a young boy worried about having puppies.

These aren't exactly people you would want for neighbors, but Brown brings them out fully fleshed and alive, and you know there are people out there just like Brown's characters.Everyday folk struggling with everyday problems, inner monologues that both repulse and enchant, and scenes that will suck you into the story despite their slowly building climaxes.

While I highly recommend Brown's work, I would recommend 'Joe', 'Fay', and 'Father And Son' as a warm up to 'A Miracle Of Catfish', simply because this is an unfinished work and may leave the novice Brown reader feeling flat at the abrupt end.It's sad that this is the last time we will hear Brown's voice in the literature world.Enjoy!




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Review of A Few Corrections: A Novel (Paperback)

Midway through this exquisite novel the narrator recalls, through an alcoholic mist, that, "the most distant object visible by day--the sun-- lies some eight minutes away at the speed of light.The most distant visible by night--the Great Andromeda Galaxy--lies two million light-years away.In terms of visible boundaries, then, night is some 100 billion times bigger than day."Clearly (or murkily), that leaves much to explore.The primary object of exploration in A Few Corrections, Wesley Sultan, the quintessentially American salesman, has departed for the great darkness beyond life, and the obituary of the man is less than illuminating.The narrator methodically seeks to shed light on this mystery.

While the novel is organized around the attempt to make a few corrections to the memory of this rather ordinary Midwestern life, Brad Leithauser makes more than a few fascinating connections, extending to the extraordinary.Some connections work as metaphor.Of Wesley's sister, the babbling Adelle, he writes, "Her monologue is a wandering creek of so gentle a propulsion, you have to take on faith the notion that you'll eventually get out of the woods and into open waterways."The connections work at the larger structural level of the novel, which will have the careful reader returning to the beginning of chapters and earlier parts of the book to confirm the revelations.For fans of Brad Leithauser, there are even connections to his other works of fiction and poetry.I'm anxious to see where this novel will connect to his future work.

The novel is filled with humorous vignettes and is beautifully written.(It's better when you read it aloud.)Though Wesley Sultan is elusive, the narrator reaches small epiphanies with those who aid him in his quest.Leithauser treats his characters with great warmth and understanding.He also effectively evokes an earlier and lost time.A Few Corrections is fast-paced: it's a good read.At the same time, its richness makes it a good re-read, too.



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Review of Frozen Tears (Paperback)

Set in the wilderness of remote Alaska, this book offers all the elements for a good read-- love, loss, triumph over adversity, and the feel of a rich adventure in America's last frontier. Highly recommended.


Product Description
In Alaska's stunning but brutal interior, where white and Native cultures clash, Kale Weaver struggles to survive a devastating tragedy that becomes the genesis for her allegiance to wolves and the circumstances making her target of a primitive superstition. Aided by her best friend, a worn-out helicopter pilot, and the bond shared with a wolf shaman, she then struggles against what follows: the bigotry and rejection imposed on her and her half-breed son,until she is challenged by the ultimate ordeal. Whatever the risks, she must fulfill a wish for her young son that she had never imagined for him. But above all, Kale's page-turning journey shows that love can triumph over life's most dire challenges and painful losses.

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Review of Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes: A Darryl Billups Mystery (Hardcover)

Darryl Billups is a thirty-something reporter with the Baltimore Herald. He enjoys chasing down a good story. In fact, Darryl gave up his position as an editor in order to return to his true love of reporting.

Darryl is engaged to long term girlfriend Yolanda Winslow whom he has little in common. He is a middle class educated brother and she is a struggling sister with a GED. Yolanda is into hip hop; whereas Darryl enjoys listening to jazz. However, Darryl adores her four year old son. He believes that he is ready for the ultimate commitment until he and his sister Camille visit Yolanda's family. Classes collide and a break up ensues. Yolanda leaves Darryl for her son's father.

Darryl is devastated and he decides to focus on work. He is assigned a news breaking story about a dead body found in a storage unit.

Eighteen years ago, Baltimore jazz singer Adrienne Jackson warmed the hearts of many. She then mysteriously disappeared. No one suspected that she had been murdered and her body has been stored in a unit like an old piece of furniture.

Her former fiancé is the current powerful Mayor of Baltimore. At the time of Adrienne's disappearance, the citizens of Baltimore expressed their condolences to Adrienne's fiancé.

The discovery of Adrienne's body results in a gun battle. Two people die and a team of two Baltimore cops are wounded.

Scott Donatelli is a white detective who is from the old school. He resents his partner Thelma Holmes who is African American. He feels that Thelma is merely an affirmative action promotion to fill a quota. He has no real respect for her until she literally saves his life from the midst of gun fire. Scott now understands that they have one goal; he and Thelma must find the killer before more lives are lost.

The case takes a turn for the worst. The body is stolen from the Medical Examiner's office.

Darryl then launches his own investigation. As he tracks down the killer, Darryl suffers a series of mishaps. His tires are slashed and his house catches on fire. Is his ex-fiancé Yolanda responsible? Or are the incidents linked to the murderer?

Darryl and Baltimore detectives Thelma and Darryl become allies in their quest to solve the murder.

When they discover the real killer, the game is not over. With a surprise ending, DON'T BELIEVE YOUR LYING EYES is a fast paced and engaging mystery that will keep the reader turning page after page.



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Review of The Husband's Dilemma: Stories (Hardcover)

After her stunning "Places to Look for a Mother," Nicole Stansbury had a lot to prove with her second book, this collection of short stories. Unfortunately she succeeds only in part.
Despite some trenchant writing, particularly when she is writing about wives, as in "The Apology," most of the stories contained herein lack that Stansbury laser intelligence and insight: "And if you didn't treat a life that way-if she didn't rise each and every morning with determination and a checklist and consequences for sloth-you were bound, she was bound. To lapse into depression, and to feel trivial and female."
The title story of this collection should have been the centerpiece of this work, the piece around which all the other stories revolve. But instead, Stansbury has the "husband" go on and on about his wife Kathy: "...Why does she have to shop?...What's so important to buy?...Is she a sicko?...is she insane?...like her trying to prove she was good in bed." And on and on ultimately culminating in what amounts to a date rape. If this is an attempt at humor, it falls very very flat.
But when Stansbury's writing is right on...it is right on: "I thought my joy, my ecstasy really was from the baby, and a whole lot of it was. But what I didn't know was how the morphine went into the brain and revealed my secret garden...it smelled of heavy tomatoes on the vine...and all that beauty made me sentimental and everything made me cry."
At this very early stage of Stansbury's career you would have to say that her world is the world of wives and families. But I'd hate to see her limiting herself to these subjects. As Joyce Carol Oates says in regards to the old adage "Write what you know": "The artist can inhabit any individual for the individual is irrelevant to art."
Nicole Stansbury is a writer of uncommon insight and more importantly one who seems to possess a damn lot of horse sense. I'd just like to see her obvious gifts applied to other subjects, other emotions, other lives.




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Review of Spotted Lily (Paperback)

SPOTTED LILY is a remarkable novel of dark satire.It is brutal and terrifying.It is painful and beautiful.It is profound and I think it has the makings of a classic.This is far from an easy read, and it is not commercial -- it simply cannot be, not with the nature of themes it explores:god is dead and ultimate ennui.

Herein lies a peculiar, resonant, and bitter combination of Bulgakov's THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, a very adult version of Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS, and frequent touches of Kafka and Marquez's ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE.

The satire is dark and biting and yet it is the pathos of Angela that got to me, her humanism and vulnerabily and the subtle nature of the fragile self and self-image hell (on earth!) she wallows in -- it broke my heart.

The novel is steeped in a succession of naturalist and surreal details -- sensual, beautiful/ugly dissonance and erotic fetish, frequently shocking and supremely memorable.There is loss of dignity and the redemption of self, over and over; a dance.

And the Australian heart is there -- I who have never been to Australia feel that now I have; the Bush is IMPRINTED upon me. Her childhood home, the secret place her father wept... flowers placed in ordinary jam jars to bloom in small private wonder.

The journey of Angela is ultimately an amazing piece of pshychological portraiture.And her deal with the Devil is merely the tip of the iceberg.

This is, to me, a work of literary significance, far transcending the boundaries of genre of the fantastic -- Anna Tambour makes an amazing novel debut.

Product Description
Angela Pendergast, escapee from the Australian bush, grew up with the smell of hot mutton fat in her hair, the thought of her teeth crunching a cold Tim Tam chocolate biscuit-the height of decadent frivolity.

Now, though her tastes have grown and she knows absolutely what she wants, her life is embarrassingly stuck.

So when the Devil drops into her bedroom in her sharehouse in inner-city Sydney with a contract in hand, she signs.

He's got only a Hell's week to fulfil his side, but in the meantime he must chaperone her-or is it the other way around?

A Locus Recommended Reading List Selection

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Review of Beneath the Plastic (Paperback)

Beneath the Plastic was a very good book that kept me interested till the end.I usually read before bedtime and regularly had to cut myself off from reading too late.It wasn't a super long book though so I didn't lose too much beauty sleep.Anyway, there were so many funny one liners that relate to people in mine and probably your own lives you can't help but laugh out-loud. I thought this story would make a good movie and, although not altogether like "Fight Club," it exudes the same kind of clever and quick witted observations.Bottom line - Beneath the Plastic is worth the read and will at least keep you from falling asleep.Ha! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Product Description
Rather than fixing his unsatisfying life, Charlie has created multiple lives, each seperate from the others. But when Charlie finds a life he wants, a life with a single mother and her son, Charlie slows enough for the rest of his lives to catch up.Specifically, his life as a member of The Brotherhood of Panhandlers, an anarchist group of homeless men led by a mad man, Cleveland, who is willing to destroy Charlie, and everyone close to him to get what he wants.

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Review of On/Off - A Jekyll and Hyde Story (Paperback)

On/Off is a novel that shows a thoughtful progression of suspense and storyline rather than a traditional series of dramatic events as in other horror novels.On/Off has a great balance of dramatic plot line, humor, as well as a dark undertone that builds throughout the story.In some ways the story line is almost a commentary on what is now the common college experience.Jamie Pepper is as believable as any of the real life friends who shared my dorm.I recommend this book and author, you will not be dissappointed

Product Description
"If this works, it will let you live again." Those words convince eighteen year old Jamie Pepper to undergo a risky, experimental operation to treat the debilitating symptoms of early-onset Parkinson's disease. Within months his world is changed for the better. By the fall his college plans are seemingly back on track. Yet as Jamie enters the college world of classes, drinking, girls, and sex, visions from his past, and flashes from an unfamiliar present suggest that all is not as it would appear. Has Jamie been prowling in the night when he thinks he's been sleeping? And if so, is there now blood on his hands? On/Off follows a young man as he explores modern college life, the realms of the body and the mind, and the ways the past seems to sneak up and scramble even the most carefully plotted plans for the future.

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Review of Self-Help (Paperback)

Lorrie Moore has long been a favorite writer of mine.Her short fiction, which has appeared regularly in THE NEW YORKER and elsewhere, is unbeatable.Her humor is sharp, her descriptive powers awesome, and her stories (almost) always feel as though they actually go somewhere.

One of the best pieces in "Self-Help" is probably the first Lorrie Moore piece I ever read."Self-Help" was published the year I graduated from college, and I think a college friend gave me a copy of "How to Become a Writer."Note the "become" instead of "be."Moore acknowledges the process involved in writing and lets her readers know that writers are not sprung fully-formed from the head of Zeus or anyone else.Listen to this beautifully assured, resonant, yet hilarious passage from "How to Become a Writer":

"First, try to be something, anything, else.A movie star/astronaut.A movie star/missionary.A movie star/kindergarten teacher.President of the World.Fail miserably.It is best if you fail at an early age--say, fourteen.Early, critical disillusionment is necessary so that at fifteen you can write long haiku sequences about thwarted desire.It is a pond, a cherry blossom, a wind brushing against sparrow wing leaving for mountain.Count the syllables.Show it to your mom.She is tough and practical.She has a son in Vietnam and a husband who may be having an affair.She believes in wearing brown because it hides spots.She'll look briefly at your writing, then back up at you with a face blank as a doughnut.She'll say: 'How about emptying the dishwasher?'Look away.Shove the forks in the fork drawer.Acccidentally break one of the freebie gas station glasses.This is the required pain and suffering.This is only for starters."

Moore likes to do that--throw in references like Vietnam, then spin things around a little so that it comes out funny.One of my favorite Lorrie Moore bits had to do with a woman who said something awful before she could stop herself--Moore described the blurted insult as being "a lizard with a hat on."Wacko as that sounds, you still know exactly what she means.That is her great gift--she makes life sound wacko and off-kilter, but you completely, utterly GET IT anyway.



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Review of A Secret Word: A Novel (Paperback)

I'm not one to write reviews for books, not even those I really like, but I feel compelled to weigh in on A SECRET WORD. I read it weeks ago and told my sisters and my mother and some friends at work about it, telling them that they would have to read it, and some have, and those who did loved it, too. But what I have to weigh in on is its remarkable story, or plot, which couldn't be more energized or more thorough in its representation of all aspects of female life, or maybe all life in general really. Between the plotlines of the three main characters, we've got two tragic deaths (one accidental, one intentional), a multitude of failed love affairs, love-at-first sight, a good marriage, a bad marriage, divorce, mother/daughter relationships, father/daughter relationships, brother/sister relationships, girlfriend friendships, a gay guy/straight girl friendship, drug use, rock 'n roll, tennis, dance, acting, abortion, depression, 9-11, and countless coming-of-age situations that are immensely funny or sad and always memorable and inspirational and which occur in locales as diverse as Florence, Italy; Destin, Florida; Washington, D.C.; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and New York, NY. Yet, somehow, with all this activity and diversity, the plotlines merge and develop in subtle ways that some readers, if they read too fast, won't be able to appreciate. If you're wanting to race through this book, and think you can or you should because it isn't long and because the language is clear and conversational, be warned: you will be missing out on much beauty, much music, much art, much real life. Be good to yourself, is my advice, and take in everything. If you race through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you might think a Monet is just a simple blur of color and not much else. This book, I assure you, deserves either to be read slowly or to be reread. I opted, incidentally, to do both.



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Review of The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest: A Novel (Paperback)

Author and Silicon Valley insider, Po Bronson, writes a very funny novel about four quirky guys with the right stuff who want to create something that matters in the realm of computers.From cutting edge software and hardware development companies to Palo Alto think tanks, the plot follows the creation of a less than $300 computer from a list of low priority projects at the think tank level to the actual modeling of a prototype that gets one rival top dog engineer's undies in a knot.The trials and tribulations that face the group compare to the highs and lows of an EKG with enough back-stabbing, personality manipulation and corporate espionage to keep the reading at a wonderous pace up until the last 20 or so pages. The crafting of the dramatic persona, especially the four progtammer/hardware specialists hinges closely to the usual stereotypical portrayals of techno geeks seen in movies and television shows.However this does not detract from the fun level of the story; indeed one gets the sense that these portrayal closely model reality.What does detract is the rather abrupt ending which winds down what could have been an all out page-turning business adventure with a stop-on-a-dime conclusion that certainly did not satisfy me.

Perhaps having seen the rather burlesque film version of this novel, I naively was expecting more bells and whistles and a more thorough troncing of rival engineer and threat Benoit.It never came, but perhaps that is due to the fact that I know nothing about the world of Silicon Valley where Bronson's could-be spoofs on the computer industry's behind the scenes star would lose their bite.Happily, the novel does not force a romance between Caspar and his housemate as in the movie version; here the attraction is noted and the reader can use his imagination to determine the outcome. Thank you, Po.

All in all, I enjoyed the novel; I just wish it had a longer ending.



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Review of Blessing in Disguise (Paperback)

This was my first Eileen Goudge book, and I think the general premise and story is pretty good.I also liked most of the main characters, but I also got frustrated with the repetition and indecisiveness of those characters.I believe this could have been an equally good, or better, book and been two-thirds as long.(I do hestitate to say something like that because I have great respect for writers' autonomy and integrity.)

Eileen Goudge is particularly good at descriptions--her house and garden descriptions here are wonderful.Her character development of Cordelia Truscott is also excellent.Cordelia is ultimately the strongest and bravest character in this book, and it is fitting that it ends with her.



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Review of Singing With the Top Down (Paperback)

If you liked Secret Life of Bees, you'll love Singing With the Top Down. Williamson's novel is a wonderful treat, a must read for those who love Americana. It's fun, fast and substantial. You won't regret spending time with these amazing characters.



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Review of The London Pigeon Wars: A Novel (Hardcover)

Karen Miller, ten years out of college, is working for the city of London Transit Committee when she is assigned to become the "pigeon czar." The city's pigeons have divided into two warring factions, attacking each other in flight, flying into apartment buildings, and breaking windshields of BMWs when they plummet dead from the skies. In dual, compelling narratives, Patrick Neate reveals the progress of these pigeon wars, told from the point of view of Ravenscourt, a pigeon soldier supporting Gunnersbury, and from the perspective of Karen and six of her friends, ten years after college. Skewering the aimlessness of these "twirty-somethings," who are so busy looking at the ground that they ignore the world above them, he reveals them to be much like the pigeons, living in the instant, lacking direction and purpose, reacting rather than thinking, and often fighting.

When the mysterious Murray, a Mephistophelean friend from college, arrives in town, he exerts the same vibrant spell on his friends as he did in the past, when he was famous for "Murray-fun," or, perhaps, "social terrorism." When he suggests his latest idea, all are ready for a change. Karen is in the midst of a bad love affair. Freya Franklin, a hat designer, is struggling with a new business. Tom Dare, an unhappy teacher, has had affairs with both Karen and Freya. Emma, a new mother suffering from some sort of wasting disease, is married to Tariq, whose business has failed. Kwesi, a poet of "ghetto chic" gives readings in which his delivery, manner, and accent are worse than his poetry, and Ami is a TV weather-girl. The reader soon observes Murray's growing power as he plans his newest "fun," which requires "enough" guns. Meanwhile, the pigeons are at war, sabotaging each other, struggling to capture the "Remnant of Content," and interacting with the "peepniks" (people) and particularly with Murray, whom they call "Mishap."

Neate's use of language is fascinating and often "cute," especially in the pigeon narratives. "Slowtion," "flixtures," and "nobirdy," for example, are obvious elisions which contribute to a different language for the pigeons, who also refer to "coochies," "geezes," and "squibs," the meanings obvious through context. Neate, with a fondness for philosophy, puts his characters (and pigeons) into the wider context of the "time before time," wondering if "content is really the height of my dreams, and will I ever even dream again?" As the wars wind down and the fate of Murray hangs in the balance, Neate requires the reader to think, even as he entertains and satirizes the "society" in which both peepniks and pigeons operate. Mary Whipple




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Review of Who's Who in Hell: A Novel (Paperback)

Sorry about the corny title, but I had to think of something.
I was given this book on my birthday and pretty much read it straight away. I was really intrigued by the title and the premise. I must say it took me a while to get into it, but after a while I could not stop reading Who's Who, until I finished it in one go.
I really wanted the actual compiling of Daniel's book to extend further into the novel, but that's not what it is really about. The relationship between Daniel and Laura is really the crux of the story. At times I was getting (annoyed) with it, but by the end I was hooked. Obviously I will not say what happens, needless to say I had no idea and could not stop telling people about it afterwards.
I have read a lot of books recently, very glutinous, but this one stood out becuase of the range of emotions that it produces. The final scene is amazing, I wish I could publish it here, but that would wreck the ending to a bloody brilliant novel.



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Review of The Reasons I Won't Be Coming (Paperback)

The first few stories here are best left quantified as 'good' or not in terms of personal tastes rather than the type of subjective judgments usually found on reader review pages. I liked them all -- but since the styles vary quite a bit, you may end up with two or three favorites, while others may not work as well for you.

But keep reading. Get to the last story, a novella called 'A Tale in Two Cities'. This entry alone makes the book worth substantially more than the price of admission -- and more importantly rewards your decision on how best to spend valuable reading time. It stands alone as one of the best short stories I've ever read.

'A Tale in Two Cities' is objectively superb writing as it combines the suspense of well crafted crime fiction with serious literature. Perlman accomplished this delicate feat to a startling degree in his novel 'Seven Types of Ambiguity', but he may have topped even that excellent work here. You'll get so caught up in the story that you may not even realize, at first anyway, that you are experiencing nothing less than an artful telling of the effects of the Holocaust, oppression in Soviet Russia and the modern day conflict in the Middle East.In both physical and emotional terms none of the characters are left unscathed by history.

As this goes on and the story unfolds, we get to know a modern family and see the strains that addiction can cause. These large themes are set inside of a good old fashioned detective story (complete with a cameo by a barmaid practically saying in perfect noir dialect 'yeah, so what's it to ya copper?' and a brilliantly funny Private Investigator). It all keeps the reader engrossed until the final skillful conclusion.

Yes, all the stories in this book are good and varying themes and styles are explored. But in the finale, Perlman speaks with what is undeniably his best voice. Stories like this are why I love great fiction. Based on that alone I can not recommend this book any higher.



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Review of More Die of Heartbreak (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This isn't the one to choose if you've never read Bellow. Seize the Day (think brevity) is the place to start. From there, Henderson the Rain King, Humboldt's Gift, or Herzog make the best long reads. Augie March is the most renowned, but a good 200 pages too long if you ask me. After that, Mr. Sammler's Planet rounds out the best of Bellow. Dangling Man and The Victim are quite different from the rest, and are most interesting (I think) as points of reference to watch the evolution of a great mind.

More Die of Heartbreak ranks with The Dean's December and Ravelston as books to read only if you've already fallen for Bellow. Or, I suppose, if you're interested in reading what a Nobel Laureate thinks about sex.(For there is no book in which he tackles the topic more directly than this).There are times when the author seems to lose even himself in the mad confusion that spills from Ken Trachtenberg's head. This, I believe, would be enough to drive impatient readers away from Bellow.

But More Die of Heartbreak, like all of Bellow's work, lifts the reader above the mundane. Its force doesn't come from plot, but observation. His gift is to take the ordinary, the accepted, and acceptable and expose it for something extraordianry, corrupt, or even contemptible. His success, I think, comes from a steadfast and good-natured optimism in the face of Western decline.


Product Description
Kenneth Trachtenberg, the witty and eccentric narrator of More Die of Heartbreak, has left his native Paris for the Midwest. He has come to be near his beloved uncle, the world-renowned botanist Benn Crader, self-described "plant visionary." While his studies take him around the world, Benn, a restless spirit, has not been able to satisfy his longings after his first marriage and lives from affair to affair and from "bliss to breakdown." Imagining that a settled existence will end his anguish, Benn ties the knot again, opening the door to a flood of new torments. As Kenneth grapples with his own problems involving his unusual lady-friend Treckie, the two men try to figure out why gifted and intelligent people invariably find themselves "knee-deep in the garbage of a personal life."

About the Author
Saul Bellow, the only novelist to receive three National Book Awards, is the author of numerous novels, novellas, and short stories, including The Adventures of Augie March and Humboldt's Gift.

Martin Amis is a bestselling author whose many works include Time's Arrow, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and, most recently, Yellow Dog.

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Review of Roscoe (Paperback)

Roscoe Conway, a fixture of the Albany political machine for 26 years, from post-World War I through the Depression and Prohibition and World War II, wants out. As the country celebrates V-J Day and the end of the war, Roscoe finds himself weary of wheeling and dealing. Unmarried and still pining after his first love, who married his best friend, Elisha Fitzgibbon, Roscoe questions the meaning of it all.

"I have to change my life, do something that engages my soul before I die," Roscoe tells Elisha, who observes that Roscoe has kept his discontenthidden. Roscoe explains, "I have no choice. I have no choice in most things. All the repetitions, the goddamn investigations that never end, another election coming and now Patsy wants a third candidate to dilute the Republican vote. We'll humiliate the Governor. On top of that, Cutie LaRue told me this afternoon George Scully has increased his surveillance on me. They're probably doubling their watch on you, too. You'd make a handsome trophy."

This statement establishes William Kennedy's mid-century Albany in the seventh book of his Albany cycle - a city run by a small, closed circle whose primary function is to maintain power, constantly besieged by similar cabals whose goal is to grab that power for themselves. The weapon of choice is the scandal, of which there are plenty to go around, real or manufactured. And the best defense is a ferocious boomerang of a spin, at which Roscoe excels. The reasons he wants to retire are the same reasons why he can't. Roscoe's life is inextricably entwined with the Democratic Albany machine and both Roscoe and his city are ailing.

Albany is run by a triumvirate of boyhood friends - Roscoe, Elisha Fitzgibbon and Patsy McCall, none of whom hold office. Hours after Roscoe announces his intent to retire, his friend Elisha commits suicide. Puzzled and shocked, Roscoe's political antenna tells him Elisha had a good reason, probably to do with protecting his family. He postpones his retirement to help Veronica stave off a nasty family scandal, his youthful hopes of romance rekindled.

As the Republicans position themselves for attack, and Roscoe plies his skills, Kennedy splices the teeming past into the melodramatic events of the present, history repeating itself with infinite variation. Roscoe's World War I experiences (and his first foray into "spin"), the numerous internecine battles among New York state's and Albany's democrats, the roles of big politicians like Al Smith and FDR and the big criminals like Legs Diamond, the opportunities of Prohibition and the ever-present dangers from muckrakers and power grabbers from outside the machine and feuds and jealousies within among the cops, judges, civil servants and vice purveyors who keep things volatile, all of it feeds the machine. The cast of characters is big and the novel's scope is vast but Kennedy engages the reader with his own fascination for history and ambitious, unscrupulous men.

Kennedy, an Albany native and winner of the Pulitzer for "Ironweed," gives us a portrait of a man and a city, mirror images, both full of heart and wit and delight in clever scheming. Roscoe is Albany, his fate rooted deeply in the city's. His father before him was a cog in the machine and Roscoe's first steps were orchestrated by (and a tribute to) his father's ambitions. When Roscoe says he never had a choice, it's the truth. He can no more escape the clutches and drive of Albany than Albany can shed the machine that makes it run. As the reader recognizes this, Roscoe is driven to greater feats of political brilliance and sleight-of-hand. But no man can control the passions of others or the quirks of fate.

Kennedy's prose is as big and ebullient as his sprawling story. In Kennedy's hands Albany history has a legendary, mythic feel. Though the cast of characters and dizzying panorama of events sometimes taxes concentration, Kennedy's black humor, sharp irony and the perverse likability of rascally Roscoe continually enthralls, right up to the final irony of the perfect ending.



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Review of Almost: A Novel (Paperback)

As an avid reader, it is embarrassing to admit when I've bought a book at the simple prompt of a beautiful cover at a well-placed exit, but that's exactly what Ms. Benedict's book and a bookstore combined to do. I thought from the first page that I would enjoy the change of pace of a more directly sexual main character, and I was right. (As an aside, I had been reading far too many classics lately.) From start to finish, this is a great read. At times the author depends a bit too much on foreshadowing, but I have come to think that may have been exactly as she intended, for her main character is an author who ghost writes celebrity tell-alls, which are notorious for using old tricks as page-turners. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story. It is a beautiful look at a complicated life caught during an extraordinarily complicated time. If you enjoy reading about real people and real lives, this is a great summer read. If you'd rather read a romanticized view of marriage and relationships, this is probably not your style. For me, it was well worth the price of admission, and I'm 'almost' sure you'd like it too. :)



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Review of The Lake, the River & the Other Lake (Paperback)

From the moment this book crossed my desk at the library where I work, I couldn't put it down.That's not to say it's heavy on plot.It's the characters that keep you reading and I'm always a sucker for interesting character development.My favorite person in the book is definitely Roger Drinkwater, a Native American/Vietnam Vet/swim coach/beef jerky maker who has a bit of a problem with jet skis.It was nice to live through him vicariously as he carried out his vendetta in some explosive ways.

As you read the book (and you should definitely pick up a copy), get yourself some fudge and surf over to www.steve-amick.com where you can listen to the soundtrack for this book, the Weneshkeen Jukebox.

It's a great summer read. I hate saying this about a book, but I wish there was a sequel or a TV series made out of this one. I miss the characters already.



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