I listened to this 12-hour audiobook in record time, because after all, what could be more fun that having a funny, smart, good-hearted Democratic Senator chatting away in your ears. Al Franken began his life in comedy as a partner with his high school friend Tom Davis; they were among the original writers on Saturday Night Live. He writes about working with those greats: John Beloushi...
Making her way to Morocco just as World War I ended is impressive by itself; that Edith Wharton managed to see as much as she did and to write about it with great erudition is remarkable. She stayed in Paris during the war and made herself so useful helping refugees, the injured, and the unemployed that she was given the country's highest honor in 1916. This book was published in 1919 and...
Jane Austen's first novel is a comic take-down of the Gothic novels of her time. "Our heroine" Catherine is guided in her thinking in particular by The Mysteries of Udolpho, an actual novel by Ann Radcliffe. The beginning of Northanger Abbey, quoted below, gives an idea of how it goes on: No one who had ever seen Catherine Moreland in her infancy would have supposed her...
Francine Prose did an impressive job of writing about such a complicated character, a woman who was beset by insecurities and at the same time inclined to reveal herself fully. She was an avant-garde art collector and was instrumental in the launch of Jackson Pollack and others. She amassed an impressive collection now housed in Venice, including works by Picasso, Duchamp, Miro, de Chirico, Max...
The impetus for writing this novel was an incident that occurred when the author took her granddaughter to a way-off-Broadway children's musical. The budget was so low that the costumes were threadbare and the lighting director had trouble keeping the spotlight on the actors on stage. In the midst of what she thought would be a quiet moment, the 5-year-old asked her grandmother if she was...
This audiobook provided me with a nice long spell of pleasing listening. Jan Morris' desultory ruminations on that wonderful city were perfect for unfocused listening. As others who have written about it have said, it's not a book for undertaking a systematic study of the city, but you do learn much about Venice. Some of the treasured moments of this book are below: A list of the...
I came across this book on a list called Good Reading for Hard Times but I’m afraid it didn’t work well for me. It is set in in 1997 at a company of scientists called High Tech; the narrator is trying to isolate how fads spread. Each chapter begins with a brief description of fads through the years, from tulips (1600s), mesmerism (late 1700s), dance marathons (1920s), mood rings...
This is the story of William and his two sons: William fought in World War II, Robert fought in Vietnam, and Jimmy went to Canada. Eventually the story reaches back to William's father in the Great War and Robert's grandson who wants to enlist to fight the jihadists, leaving no doubt that the author is writing about the many ways war affects those who wage it. After Robert...
Having been moved to read Trespass by Tony's review of this book, I decided it was time to read this one. So I must say thank you again to Tony. We meet Gustav as a little boy living in a small town in Switzerland with his perpetually angry and unloving mother. He takes her advice and masters his emotions and gets on with life with kindness for others. He is never able to teach his mother to...
Reviews of this book that came out in 2012 said that it was challenging to read. I was influenced by that but took note that Jennifer spoke highly of it and now finally, I have listened to it. I loved it. In some ways the audiobook was challenging; it's almost inevitable that you miss the occasional bit if you listen while walking in a noisy place as I often do. In parts of this book...