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 Someone to Catch My Drift (Paperback)

This book is full of drama but the aothor made things a little bit too obvious. She didn't give the characters a chance to show that they were more than just people looking for love in all the wrong places.

Product Description
Aspiring singer Nikai Parker is depressed. Her boyfriend has been sent to jail for dating an underage girl, and she feels abandoned and desperate. That is, until her best friend, Sheila, convinces her that a night of clubbing is exactly what she needs to forget her troubles and lift her spirits. While at the club, Nikai's luck begins to improve when she meets a handsome firefighter named Robert Hayes-whom she believes may just be the man of her dreams. As their relationship progresses, Nikai falls completely in love and begins making plans to spend the rest of her life with Robert. However, lady luck has other plans-because he is involved with another woman, and this sassy hairdresser named Karen is not going to give up her man without a fight.

About the Author
Jacqueline Powell lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Review of Call Me Ted (Hardcover)

I was looking forward to reading CALL ME TED, but being busy and multitasking, I decided to by the CD version.

I listen and re-listen to Ted's story. What amazed me most about this package was that Ted recorded every page of his 500 page book while recovering in the hospital - it took him 40 to 45 hours to record.

This in itself is a world breaking record to begin with. Does he understand what being tired means? I don't think so... you can hear his voice weakening in some moments, but that was the best part of why I find it inspirational.

They keep saying that his life was difficult, or his childhood was a complex one. At that time not many kids had the brightest of childhoods, but none of them were like Ted. He was about what you want for tomorrow in your life, and how you want the day after tomorrow to unfold. That is Ted Turner to me as his reader (or in this case, listener). He is a hard working, very intelligent and creative, long vision and determined, most honest, loving, caring, and a patriot to the core. What is most important, Ted Turner, achieved all of this alone, he created ideas all alone, he managed to make it happen all alone, and he stands all alone. I read almost every biography of successful people and by far this one tops them all. I am very thankful to be able to read someone's life as great as his in a most straight to the point and yet inspiring way. Whatever happens behind closed doors in his real life, this is what we need to see and read, to feel inspired, and this book did it for me. Thank you.



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Review of The Gold Coast (Paperback)

This was my introduction to Nelson DeMille and I am thrilled to have discovered him. THE GOLD COAST is a fast-paced, thrilling, and highly irreverent read set in a fabled and affluent section of Long Island. Life will never be the same for attorney John Sutter and his beautiful wife Susan after the most famous Mafia don of New York purchases the estate next door.

John seems to have it all---a good profession, a quirky and sensual wife, an enviable estate---but he is facing the doldrums of a mid-life crisis and needs excitement in his life. Enter Frank Bellarosa, a man Sutter describes as "an unindicted and unconvicted felon as well as a citizen and a taxpayer. He is what federal prosecutors mean when they tell parolees not to consort with known criminals."

A chance meeting at the local nursery leads to friendship, to favors, to Sutter representing Bellarosa when he is charged for murder, and even to perjuring himself to save the Don.

I haven't read as compelling a book about the Mafia since THE GODFATHER nor such a poignant tale of longing since THE GREAT GATSBY, both novels to which this has been compared.

But it is DeMille's writing in the first person voice of John Sutter, his wickedly funny lines, his clever repartee, his upper class snobbery, his ability to capture the heart and soul of the Mafia don that lifts this book to greatness.

DeMille's relentless foreshadowing of doom builds tension with each chapter until the reader is totally caught up in the life of John Sutter, his wife Susan, and the next door neighbor who both enhances and destroys their lives. I'm sure these characters will stay with me a long time and I will often remember John Sutter saying "Mamma Mia! It shouldn't happen to a High Episcopalian."




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